Chapter Eight
The next morning Luke rolled over at the end of a happy dream, as hinted to by the smile on his face. The bright sun fell upon his eyelids and washed out any possibility of new dreams. Oh, that was great flying through space to all those stars and galaxies. reminded me of all those astronomy books when a kid.
Busy daytime thoughts slowly moved in and replaced the peaceful ones when first awakening. He went from the child’s world to that of an adult. Where is my car? I don’t feel comfortable here. Darn, I don’t feel comfortable anywhere; maybe with Angie. These thoughts waned against the flow of the Sun’s light coming through the window that held the cold at bay.
He remembered the two of them lazily talking on a similar morning. Neither one of them was in the ‘doing’ mode, just ‘being’. Not even love making was necessary. Angie was that window for him, holding back that busy, cold world while letting through the ‘being’ world. He felt no need to perform, to be clever or to wear a ‘mask’. Once she had been sick and he read that massage helped people to get well. As he massaged her back she started humming a country and western tune. Luke was soon weaving words into the humming. There were many cliché’s, but he felt good. Later, he made up his own tunes and words, whenever feeling dismal. He sighed and that Caribbean travel poster at work came to mind.
“Well, ma’ Chevy’s buried in a foot of snow
Walk a mile, dig it out and go
Drive to freedom, maybe a thousand miles
Swim a day to those sunny isles
yippy, yi, ti yippy yeh.
He felt better after that and jumped from the bed. He went to the window and searched the area outside,
“Where’s my tree? I’m sure it followed me. I heard that ‘Whoosh’ sound just before my car stalled and saw those lights last night. Where did it go?”
He changed into fresh clothes, put on some deodorant assuming there was no time for a shower, and brushed his matted hair. He went to reach for his cellphone, out of habit. Darn. Where is it? He searched all over and then remembered something seemed to have fallen out as he entered the truck the night before. Well, there is a phone here. Then, he slowly opened the door.
I’ll try to sneak out without being noticed, but where will I go? Might as well try swimming to those isles. He straightened up from his sneaking position and walked towards the stairs. He pass a bathroom on the way that his ‘Morning Nature’s Call’ could not resist. As he sat upon the old cracked ‘throne’, some slow, heavy steps passed outside the door. Soon the steps returned.
“Say Luke, are you in there? You can have breakfast downstairs in the kitchen and then we can get your car and try to start it.”
A relieved voice responded. “Yes sir, I will be down in a minute.”
Once downstairs, Luke’s nose led him to the kitchen. It was a big one. The kind people would love to have for parties since that is where most guests end up anyway. There was a huge, old black stove in a corner. Luke whimsically saw it holding an entire cow for some large family reunion, like the one in the photo he had seen in his bedroom. There was a large butcher block style table in the middle. The sun light found every corner of this kitchen. The floor was worn bare wood with spaces between many of the planks. Great for sweeping away crumbs.
Herman was sitting at the table listening to a radio tell of the previous night’s storm. Two small kids and one that seemed to be a teenager were also at the table. Luke entered. The kids were busy eating, grabbing food and teasing one another. The two ‘Flopems’ sat on the floor waiting for falling bits of food. They arose, startled from their food meditation, and barked at Luke. Four startled faces looked his way.
”Hi mister” said the little girl. “I’m Mary.”
“And I’m her twin brother, Mark.”
Luke waved to both. Herman turned off the radio and went to Luke with the dogs following and wagging their tails. Herman seemed very large as he blocked the Sun over Luke.
“You are just in time Luke. Better eat before the crew finishes it all.”
“I do thank you for your hospitality Herman” while not quite able to look Herman in the eyes.
Herman pointed to the table and Luke followed with the two dogs behind. He sat and nervously ate the left over scraps. The two young ones sat and watched him while whispering to one another. The teenager pretended no interest.
“All right you two. Leave our guest alone and where’s your manners?”
Without a word the teen got up and brought over the last pancakes and plopped them onto Luke’s plate,
“You guys. Matt is going to take you upstairs and help you wrap your Christmas gifts.”
Matt, the teenager herded Mary and Mark out of the kitchen. He looked back at Luke while rubbing sparse whiskers on his chin.
Soon Luke was stuffed and sat back while looking out the window scanning the weather outside. Herman sat across from him watching. At some point he jumped into Luke’s quiet.
“Any idea why your car stalled out there?”
“Well, it had been coughing even before starting my trip.”
Herman got up from the table,
“Ah! Let’s go out and find it. See if we can get it started. ”
Once outside, Luke felt better. The air was cold, but free of last night’s chaos. Herman’s truck took the snow easily, but the passengers bounced around inside as it fumbled to find the road edge. Luke stared at the heavy layers of snow that had been slapped against the west side of tree trunks and branches. They looked fresh against the clear blue of the cold winter sky. Just like his teen years at home, Luke wanted to sneak away, but could not. He had felt isolated from his folks and the kids at school. His parents were real ‘stick in the muds’ as he called them. They rarely went anywhere, maybe to a movie twice a year. They never seemed to think that Luke might be a boy yearning for activities with friends, and for a girl. He never seemed to have it in him to ask them for help or to go off alone.
It was just he and Herman now. Luke needed Herman, just like he had needed his father and yet he could not relax. He was lost again in the wilderness in his mind, but now with one other human.
“Nice big family you have Herman. I saw that photo in the room last night.’
Herman chuckled. “Did you notice Herman Sr.? First row, middle. Biggest smile of them all.”
Luke could not resist prying into his own fear. He remembered that painting in the motel office made by none other than, Herman Sr. Why was Herman Sr. smiling so?
Herman’s head quickly went left. “There’s your car. It’s just a bump in that snow drift.”
The truck stopped and Herman grabbed two shovels and a broom, giving Luke an old dirt shovel. They worked for 20 minutes digging around the car then, Luke swept the car body clean with the broom.
“Well now we can check your engine. You get inside. I’ll try a few ideas here under your hood.”
Meanwhile Luke had become impatient for an answer to his question.
“Crank it over, Bud.” A cough and then some smoke out the back lead to a running engine. Not real smooth, but running.
Luke muttered out of range of Herman. “Thank God!
“Follow me Luke, in your car. I want to check something else to smooth out that engine of yours. You park inside the barn”
Luke slowly followed the truck. His car groped for some hold until finding it in Herman’s deep tire tracks and then his driving eased. He felt calm, and knew he would soon be home and warm. His use of the word ‘home’ surprised him. Which ‘home’ did he mean?
Soon they were inside the family barn. It was a world of cows, hay, sacks of seeds and a tractor at the far end. His heater fan feed him all the related odors, baking them into his nostrils. Even the cow dung did not smell that awful. He enjoyed this new world and all the new sights. Herman approached his window.
“Stop the engine, Luke! Tryin’ to kill me and my stock?”
“Sorry Herman.” Luke had that same sinking feel in
his gut when his dad made him feel stupid.
“Pop the hood. I’ll show you something.”
As Luke exited his car, he saw Herman pull out a knife, lift the hood and insert it into a ‘somewhere’.
“Oh Damn! Your coil is damaged, Luke.”
Luke then remembered and restated that question.
Why was Herman Sr. smiling so much in that photo?
“Luke it’s lunch time. I’ll tell you a story and you can maybe help answer some questions I’ve had for a long time.”