Totalled out the Ford today. What is that, five vehicles destroyed since April? The Jeep, Grumman stepvan, the little Smart, Travelall, and now the Ford. Wait, I almost forgot the Kawasaki. So I guess that's six. Of course that is not counting the numerous cars I have had to shove off the sides of the road to get a clear path. I few of those were rolled down embankments and were mangled. I admit that sometime I go out of my way to intentionally wreck them. It can be very therapuedic to roll an Escalade down a hill into a bridge abutment. It's good thing I don't have to pay for insurance.
But at least this time it was the other guy's fault.
I was coming to the intersection of 58 Hiway and SW AA Hiway. AA has a stop and 58 does not. I glanced both ways on AA (actually I think its AA on one side and something else on the other.) I saw the truck but was just too surprised to put on the brakes. When the dust cleared the two of us just stared across the expanse of warped sheet metal between us. I think we were trying to decide which one of us was a figment of the other's imagination. More so in his case, because I hae already met other people. He was an older black man, maybe in his seventies bald on top with crown of white hair on the back and sides. At first he looked angry and my eyes glanced over his shoulder at the shotgun occupying the gun rack behind him. But then he grinned and bust out laughing. He told me that his first thought was that he hadn't paid his insurance in months. I told him it was ok, I was driving on expired tags and I wouldn't tell if he wouldn't.
He introduced himself as Martin J. Fisher. I asked him what the J stood for. He somewaht reluctantly tole me it stood for Jewels. I mean Jules.
"Godammit, Now I don't want no dumb white boy calling me Jewels!" he told me. When I introduced myself he laughed and said that Jewels was better than the name that was hung on me.
On investigation, it was determined that neither of our trucks was driveable. So we walked back to his place. On the way I asked him if he'd encountered any of the wraiths. His responce was to hold up his shotgun and ask "What the Hell do you think this is for?" But he called them "Bodachs" after some demonic creatures in a series of books by Dean Koontz.
Back at his place he pulled a Gator out of his garage. Not the toothy kind that will eat you given half a chance, but a six wheeled John Deere. We took it back to the scene of the accident and hauled our gear and fuel cans out of both trucks and hauled it back.
Jewels has decided to come with me to Osceola. He seems to be a very intelligent and well educated man, but he downplays his intelligence at times. I am going to see if he will write a journal entry for me. I think it would be a good idea to have more that one point of veiw here.
I wish I had some way of communicating with Katherine. Cell phones died months ago, I think service went dead long before I knew there was anybody to talk to. My walky talky range is about five miles as long as there are no hills intervening. Probably wouldn't be a problem in Kansas, but we are talking about Missouri here.
In the morning we will be going down the road to one of his neighbor's houses to "borrow" their truck. In the meantime Jewels has prepared an excellent meal out on his grill. Even has a cooler with some cold beer.
© 2009 R. Keith McBride
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