All Aboard! Romance on Route 66

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  “I bought him breakfast and I will never forget him and his boys as long as I live.”

  A round of applause started up and then Slim thought he had broken the ice. For the next hour or two he could hear the sounds of chatter going on upstairs and Lilly sitting down with him had a big toothy smile for her man.

  Lilly couldn’t believe what beautiful country she was traveling through. About the only thing green were small pockets of forest and meandering lines of small trees lining the creeks coming off the Ozark Mountains. Fields were golden brown and waving in the wind like a field full of Lilliputians watching a parade go by. Occasionally farmers could be seen loading up hay bales for winter storage for their animals. Other farmers, not so affluent could be seen using hay forks loading loose hay onto a wagon being pulled by a tractor. Hot dusty work, Lilly thought. Farmers worked hard from daylight to dark barely putting beans on the table for their large brood of kids. Big families were the order of the day on a farm. She both envied them and pitied them as life was hard and the rewards small. But what she saw and felt in the towns and stories she was hearing, they were a happy lot and proud of their lives. Lilly smiled out the window and thanked God for the farmers of America.

  It was noon when they pulled into Arlington and stopped for lunch. This town was a regular stop on Slim’s run and he loved the old restaurant that served up a truck driver’s appetite. He told the passengers he would fill up and be in after he checked his bus. By now the passengers were in full swing again talking a mile a minute and enjoying the stop to stretch their legs. The summer heat was still evident, but by now most accepted the hot muggy weather in the South.

  Lunch time at a truck stop is something to behold. Truckers from all over the States sat and talked about things truckers talk about: trucks and models and engine size. Diesel motors had eaten into the old gas pots, such as IH and Diamond Rio. The diesel trucks had more power, but were a lot heavier and couldn’t haul as much payload. Up and down the counter drivers were a raucous bunch of people. Thermos bottles lined the counter waiting to be filled for the next leg of the journey. Few drivers didn’t wear a hat and there was no doubt who was a driver as their left arms resting on the door window were brown and the right arms were mostly white. Lilly looked at the checker board arms at the counter. First a white arm would raise the coffee cup and then the brown arm would come up with a sandwich. It was like a puppet show: up and down white to black. Almost amusing she thought.

  Slim came through the door making his usual entrance known with the door bells and spied his Lilly sitting with Pete. He very carefully sat down at the table and jockeyed his legs into position for the lunch to come. Pete was in a talkative mood and Slim heard the end of the conversation with Pete saying, “… and she will meet me in Chicago.”

  Lilly smiled and told him that was wonderful that the two of them would make a go of it again. Then she turned her attention to her big man and asked him what he was going to consume for lunch today.

  “What are you having,” he asked.

  “I’m having a chicken salad,” she replied. Slim wiggled his nose and noticed a tag displaying the day’s special: meat loaf.

  Slim caught the eye of the waitress and she came over to their table holding the coffee pot high in the air like it was more precious than anything in the restaurant. If the truth was known, most waitresses hate being asked for more coffee and making special trips back and forth with the pot. So a good waitress will take her pot with her making the rounds of her customers. Patty, her name tab stated, was no exception to this rule. She didn’t need a pencil or paper to remember what her customers wanted, she listened and remembered. Patty said a hello to Slim and he gave her his usual boyish smile and said, “I’ll have the meatloaf special Pat and make it a double please and heavy on the gravy.” She filled his coffee cup and took off on the run holding her pot in the air like a Confederate soldier holding his unit flag during the war facing the Union at the front.

  Lilly said, “Pat is it? You’re on a first name basis with every waitress from coast to coast. I’m getting a little jealous now,” she said with a poke to his ribs making him jump and spilling his coffee and Pete just in time saved his water glass.

  “Now look what you made me do,” he said to Lilly as ‘High Pot’ came running over with a rag to wipe up fill his cup again.

  “I’m sorry Patty, but I forget sometimes what a tall man he is and with those long legs, a reflex action is a complete unknown to most of us short people.”

  “No problem it happens every time he comes in. All of us are used to Slim and some of the other clumsy oafs that habit this places,” she said with a smooth voice of friendship. “Besides he tips well and sometimes we fight for his table with the towel ready.” Everyone laughed and Patty took off to fetch his lunch.

  Pete and Lilly continued chatting and Slim took in other passengers. Rick and Diane were stuck together in one booth looking like Siamese twins but of the opposite sex; Jasper and Frieda were with Hugh and wife with Hugh waving his fork in the air like a mother playing airplane with a baby trying to get the baby to eat. Frieda was watching the flying fork chewing a mouth full of meat loaf with an anxious look on her face afraid the fork might land on her plate. Over in another booth Carl was smiling through bites of lunch talking to Carol and Slim noticed Carol’s head bobbing answering his conversation in the affirmative. Slim’s face dropped a little when he noticed Norm and his wife quietly eating and not talking. He wondered if something was bothering them and made a note to talk to Norm on his way back to the bus. I feel like a babysitter he thought. I love driving, but as a tour guide and marriage counselor I’m a poor excuse for one of those he thought again while Patty dropped an extra large plate of meat loaf and mashed potatoes in front of him. Slim tucked his napkin in his neck and dug in all but forgetting what he had seen a few moments ago. Food was a great stress reliever he thought as he took a large roll and filled it up with butter.

  Slim after one piece of pie and ice cream gave up on lunch. He never felt better. Like his bus, fueled and ready to go, he untangled his legs and made his way to the cash register and paid the bill. Herm was behind him and Slim waited for him to pay the bill and they left together. Herm’s wife had stopped at Lilly’s table and Slim noticed they were looking serious. Outside Slim said, “I hope everything is fine with you today. I haven’t had much time to talk to you and wondered if all was well?”

  “I’m fine, but just a little homesick is all. We love the trip, but after we get to Chicago, we are thinking we might take a plane back home. We like our own bed and house and are not comfortable with a new place every night.”

  “Herm, I haven’t told anyone yet, but we are going to spend two days in St. Louis and really do the town up brown. Greyhound has booked us into a fine hotel and I think you will feel more comfortable there. We both don’t get a chance to do this very often in our lives, so let’s make the most of it,” as they approached the gleaming bus. Slim had had the bus washed for the trip into the big city as the media would be there to greet them.

  “Ok, Slim I will cheer up and have some fun. You are so right we don’t get a chance to do this but once in a life time and the wife and I will put on a happy face for the rest of the trip.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Slim said. Most all of the passengers were standing on the shady side as Slim started the motor and then crawled back down the stairs to wait for the bus to cool down.

  Lilly and Hugh’s wife walked up with Pete in the lead. Slim did a head count and all were present and accounted for. He called for their attention and told them the plan for the next two days staying in St. Louis at a fine hotel and a schedule of sightseeing on the Mississippi River and other things. Like a bunch of school kids going on a field trip the passengers clapped and made happy sounds with each other. Lilly was a little afraid of the big river as she couldn’t swim and a knot of fear gripped her stomach. Slim noticed and wondered what was wrong, but kept a brave face on as he told
them about Greyhound making a commercial about their trip and it would be shown on the Steve Allen show later in the fall. With that, he asked them to board and after all were situated he pulled out on the highway and headed to St. Louis.

  Lilly was in her own world as the bus made its way to St. Louis. Her thoughts were in the landscape and her and Slim’s future. Where would they live and what kind of a place would they both like? She knew Slim was thinking about a farm, but what did he or she knows about farming? Fear of the future started creeping up her body from stomach to her throat which felt like a lump the size of a walnut was lodged in it. Flashes of her mother came to the front of her mind and the lump got bigger. This, she thought, was the first time she really had time to mourn her passing. Tears started welling up in her eyes until they flooded over and ran down her cheeks passing off her chin and finally dripping onto her arm which was under her chin as she stared out the window. As the bus twisted and turned up the mountain and through the valleys, an occasional reflection of her in the window revealed a woman who was suffering from grief due to a loss of a parent. So far from home, she remembered. It was two thousand miles from here to Pasadena and her old house where she lived for as long as she could remember. Now a new life with a man she just barely met a few weeks ago would take the place of her mother. The pit of her stomach pain grew larger as a fear of the future cast doubt on her ability to cope with a new life. How can I do this and am I being fair to Slim with his trust that I will share the life forever with him? She began to feel a panic like never before, as a cascade of tears and some sobs erupted now and then. She was totally oblivious to all around her including Slim who was glancing back and forth from the road to her. To his credit, he left her alone as did Rick and Diane who always sat behind Slim due to her motion sickness.

  Lilly continued to reflect on her mother’s face as she lay dying on the bed. Lilly remembered her saying, “Lilly, when I’m gone the house will seem like a graveyard. You must sell the place and find a new life out there. It’s a big world and full of new things and happiness is just around the corner. Look for it in the places you would never think about finding it. Sometimes it might just fall at your feet! Meet people and expose yourself to the world. You have lots of money and spend it in your new life. Even if you make a mistake, put it behind you and move on. Don’t waste your time being unhappy. Life is too short, as you can see from me lying her dying; promise me you will search for happiness after I’m gone.

  “I promise mother,” she remembered saying to her with tears the size of alligators running down her cheeks. She remembered her mother wiping her tears from her face and continued to talk as the pain wracked her body from time to time.

  “Lilly another thing, long ago I had an affair with a man from our office. He was married and I was lonely after your father was gone. I almost ruined his life and his marriage. I was selfish and wanted to feel loved again. Lucky for me, his wife came to me in this house and had a very adult conversation with me. It was almost like she could see into the future. She knew what I was feeling and told me that I would not find what I was looking for in her husband. An hour later after coffee and me confessing my sins, she and I became friends and her husband was relieved to hear the affair was over. Lilly, I didn’t beat myself up about it, I moved on and found love where it surfaced. Companionship is where you find it and don’t be judgmental of those who befriend you. Humans have lots of strengths and weaknesses. Overlook their weakness and concentrate on their strengths. Follow your heart and be full of encouragement and not defeatism. We can overcome all obstacles and barriers. Rational thinking will lead you to the end you seek and if once you get there and don’t like it, make a U turn and head down another path of unknown destination. Each road will have something to offer and when enough is offered, that is where you will find happiness, but not without some barriers to overcome. Lilly, you have all the qualities of a good person and sooner rather than later you will see it unfold before your eyes in a form quite unknown to you.”

  Lilly’s tears had dried up and she smiled to herself as she mused that the “unfolding” came in the form of a tall man falling at her feet in Pasadena called Slim. Did her mother foresee this in her life? Well, she thought her mother told her when she was close to passing-on, visions came in the form of dreams that showed what the future held for her and it would seem her daughter too. Could that be true? Do we see the afterlife when we are about to leave the living world?

  The day her mother died, Lilly was with her to the end. Between brief periods of waking and long periods of sleep, Lilly stayed with her hold her hand. On one of those wakeful times her mother said, through a croaky voice, her throat dry from the medicine, “Lilly, are you there?”

  ”Yes, mother, I’m here,” as she squeezed her mother’s hand. “I’m listening and what do you want to tell me?”

  “I’m going now. I see a white bridge and it is drawing me to it like a magnet. I must follow it and see what’s on the other side of the bridge. I can hear voices, but don’t know where they are coming from. I can’t see any people, but I can feel the warmth and comfort the closer I get to the bridge. A low fog or mist moves about my feet as I walk on the boards leading to the bridge. I can feel the fog and it tickles my legs and feet. My vision is clear and sharp. The voices are getting louder and now it feels like I’m walking on air and………..good bye my darling, I love you.......” And that was when Lilly felt her mother's hand loosen its grip and she saw a smile on her mother’s face as she passed on.

  Lilly woke up as Slim announced their arrival for lunch in Arlington. She didn’t remember falling asleep, but remembered clearly her dream of talking to her mother. She looked over at Slim who was concentrating on his driving into the city. A quick glance from him and he smiled knowing now she was fine.

  Slim pulled the bus into a large parking lot filled with trucks loaded with various and sundry items for markets throughout the states. It was hot outside as usual and all the passengers hurried into the restaurant. Lilly waited for Slim to make sure all was well with the bus and then she took his arm and they hurried to the entrance. This place was an old haunt for Slim and he used to love the atmosphere of drivers discuss things that over the road drivers talked about: freight, narrow highways, new models and motors; and of course their lives back home usually bringing on a downcast look at most were away from home weeks at a time. Few could afford to sleep in motels and most spent their time sleeping in their trucks. The smell in most truck stops mixed with body and grease, somehow gave off a home away from home feeling. And this truck stop was no different as Slim and Lilly found a booth just vacated by a couple of drivers headed back out on the road. Their coffee cups empty contrasted with the full ashtrays of spent cigarettes still smoldering. A bus boy hurried to clean off the table as they stood off to one side while he emptied the ashtrays and spent plates in his already overflowing tub of dirty dishes making Lilly cringe not wanting to eat after seeing what lay ahead of them shortly. This gave her time to look around and see what the other passengers were doing and where they were sitting. Most were looking at the menu and that gave Lilly more time to check out the kitchen. She had learned if the cooks looked clean and their white shirts were not soiled from sweat and grease, then she could forecast a welcome lunch prepared with care; she hoped.

  Settled in after Slim grunted and groaned trying to fit his legs under the table Lilly picked up a menu as their waitress walked up to the table saying, “Slim, long time no see tall man.” Slim almost looked her at eye level as his eyes were about the same level as the short person with the name of Brenda on her starched blue uniform. Lilly had some trouble fixing her age, but through the heavy rouge and red lipstick and short black going to gray hair somewhere near her late fifties. Lines ran down her face like a road map and her voice bespoke the years of smoking Chesterfields which stuck out of her side pocket next to her book of order slips. The smile she gave him was real and honest Lilly noticed and Slim returned the greeti
ng with the friendship she came to know he had up and down the line of restaurants he stopped at over the years.

  Brenda looked at Slim and then looked at Lilly knowing full well what was what between the two of them. She smiled at Lilly and without asking she nodded her head and then said, “Congratulations and you couldn’t have found a better man than our Slim.”

  “I think so and in the past week or so I have been fortunate to have met a lot of Slim’s friends and he has been lucky too having such nice people like you to stave off the lonely miles all of these drivers have to endure day after day.”

  “You know, I can remember when the first time Slim walked in here. It was at noon like today and the place was full of truckers. He had on his uniform and hat. All were brand new and he stuck out like a sore thumb even if he wasn’t seven feet tall. He tried to sit at the counter, but his legs wouldn’t fit under him or anything like that. So he moved to a table back in that corner,” she pointed with her pencil at a small table for two in a dark corner where nobody was sitting and it looked like it was used for the waitresses to sit and take a break after the rush was over, “and he looked like a kid in school being punished for something. Anyway, he managed to knock over a chair with his long legs and that brought the place to a standstill as everyone looked in the direction the noise came from. Next thing we knew he stood up and with a red face said he was sorry for the noise, but it wasn’t his fault he was so tall.” Brenda laughed and so did Slim at the story he had forgotten over the years.

  Brenda said, “The usual Slim?” and wrote down his order without waiting for his reply. Lilly told her she would have a clubhouse and coffee and Brenda scurried off ignoring the other customer’s shouts of requests for her being at their table for so long gabbing about old times. Brenda could have cared less as Slim told Lilly he’d know her for over twenty years and in her younger days she was quite the looker. Lilly had to look hard to see it, but took his word for it.