Syncopated Rhythm

by Erik Schubach

  She was fanning her face like a southern belle. “You have no idea how hawt it is that you can do all of this.”

  My cheeks felt like they were on fire as I pushed my glasses further up on my nose. “You have to stop teasing me like that.” I sounded like a whining kid to myself.

  She shrugged and wandered off to get into the passenger seat saying, “You keep thinking I am kidding. Newsflash Potato, I'm not.”

  Gawd, I was going to die of embarrassment right then and there. I called out, “Watch it Cornfed!” She had no idea what she was doing to me! I slammed the hood down to make sure it latched and discarded my trash and hopped in. I grinned at her and coaxed Baltar to life. “So what booty ya get fer us Amber?”

  She grinned and started sifting through the bags. “Chips, string cheese, jerky, some sort of danishes, water, cola, and...” She held up two apples like she was proud of herself. “We can pretend that we are being healthy!” She locked her grin and eyes on silly mode and I snorted at her, shaking my head. Then she glanced back at the store with an mischievous grin. “I think I gave the poor clerk in there a heart attack. He'll have something to tell his friends tonight.”

  I snickered at her evil playfulness as we pulled out onto the road and turned up onto the on ramp. Once we were out of town, she looked nervously around and asked, “So like how long before we need gas again?”

  I grinned at her. “Well, a little known fact about Gremlins, their oversized twenty one gallon gas tank allows you to travel around five hundred miles between fill ups. So we can drive straight through, barring any potty breaks at rest stops along the way. So around five hours. I usually stop off at the half way point in Vantage before I cross the Columbia River to relieve myself.”

  She grinned. “Good.” She unzipped her coat to get comfortable. Then she reached up and unpinned her wig and hair. Then she let her hair down, running her fingers through it to fluff it up. Gawd she was distracting me with that gorgeous mane, I needed to concentrate on the road.

  Then she suddenly looked at me shyly and spoke way too sexily at me, “I can't tell you how good it is to relax and just be me around you Ky.”

  I could feel my blush returning. “I have some news for you Amber. This big difference you 'think' that exists between Amber Lee LaLanie and 'Amber LaLanie', doesn't exist. You ARE the fun that you think your supposed alter ego embodies. I wish you could see that and not hide away from everyone.”

  She quietly looked away and to the road. Then she glanced back, finally smiling a little, and started the music back up. But this time she didn't sing. She somehow snuck her hand into the hand I had resting on the automatic gearshift between us. I tried not to move or even breath for fear of her pulling away. I'm sure I had a silly smile on my face as we drove into the snow covered Cascade Mountains in a comfortable silence.

  We started playing the alphabet game, you know, you try to find a sign as you drive that has a word that starts with the letter A then the letter B and so on. Once we crested the mountains over Snoqualmie Pass, we munched a little on our snacks. Amber was looking around holding her string cheese wrapper. “You got a trash bag or something?”

  I grinned and rolled my eyes then much to my own embarrassment, I snagged the wrapper from her and flung it into the back seat. The startled high pitched giggle she uttered took me by surprise as she slapped her hands over her mouth. Then she went about combining our snack bags and using one for an impromptu trash bag and started grabbing wrappers from the floor and the ones she could reach in the back seat and put them in it. Then with a comical mothering tone she said, “We'll get you all trained up yet Ky.”

  I put a look of mock hurt on my face. “Hey lady, I was going to clean Baltar out soon!”

  She raised a skeptical eyebrow and snagged a fast food receipt from the back seat and looked at it then mumbled, “Three months old.” Then looked at me as she put a shit eating grin on her face and said in that same mothering tone, “Whatever you say dear.”

  I stuck my tongue out at her, because, hey, that's what you do when a certified rock star is mocking you... right?

  We both chuckled and continued our letter search. I glanced over at her. “So tell me more about Amber Lee.” She smiled and we started a round of 'I tell you something you tell me something'. I loved every detail of her life she shared, some of it fascinating and surprising and some embarrassing. I found myself blushing on more than one occasion at the stuff I was sharing with her about myself.

  We had left the mountains behind and had been crossing the desert-like tundra that was punctuated with farms. Freshly tilled fields and brown husks from crops that had been harvested a couple months before. I actually didn't mind this area during the growing season as it was all lush green corn fields and amber wheat fields then.

  We had just passed Ellensburg and I almost jumped out of my skin when she cut our talk short and blurted out excitedly, “Q! Quincy!”

  I glanced at the Vantage twenty five miles, Quincy fifty two miles, information sign and started chuckling. “Yup, that is always a great standby sign for the Q in the alphabet game. And going the other way to Seattle, the triple X Root Beer sign in Issaquah is a lifesaver when you are stuck on X.”

  She paused and tilted her head in thought. “This would be a boring game by yourself. I take it you did this with your friends or your mom?”

  I nodded in the bitter sweet memories. “Yeah... mom and I would play it every time we went anywhere. Sometimes we could actually get through it in the short drive from Post Falls to Spokane. You have to get really lucky on the Q, X and Z though.” I smiled a little. “I remember mom cussing when the Zippy Stop gas station on the fringes of Spokane had gone out of business years ago. We hit the city limits with the final letter beating us. So frustrating.” I smiled at the memory.

  She squeezed my hand. Hey! When had the minx grabbed my hand again without me noticing? Truth be told, I'm sort of getting used to this rock diva holding my hand. It felt, right. A sharp pang of sadness hit me at the realization that in two weeks, she'd be out of my life forever and my hand will miss hers in it for that same forever. So I took a moment to bask in the warmth radiating from our contact.

  She tilted her head again, and her smile was replaced with a questioning look. Her sparkling eyes earnest in their inquiry. I gave a sad smile as I glanced between her and the road then shrugged and raised our hands a little, scared that she would pull her hand back when I said, “Sorry, I was just thinking about how I like this.”

  That cute shy look was back on her face. What does she have to be shy about? She's Amber LaLanie! I'm just her assigned keeper for a couple weeks. She bit her lower lip and just nodded cutely. Frack! I was warming up in all the right places again.

  I broke the silence that had settled in the car. “You need a break to relive yourself or stretch your legs? We are almost at Vantage, the half way point, after that we cross the Columbia and climb back up out of the canyon and get into the home stretch.” She nodded wordlessly and grabbed her pink wig and started arranging her hair. Crap, did I blow the moment? Achievement unlocked: boneheaded maneuver.

  She must be a mind reader, she gave a reassuring smile as she was finishing pinning up her wig using the rear-view mirror she had commandeered from me. Her smile turned into a silly grin as she said, “Taa daa! And Amber is back!”

  I let go of her hand to playfully slap her shoulder. “She never left, you weirdo.”

  She wiggled her eyebrows. “Says you Potato.”

  I waggled my fist at her. “Watch it Cornfed.”

  Her giggling chuckle was infectious, and I found myself joining in as we took the exit ramp into the tiny, lazy town of Vantage. I swear if it wasn't for the three gas stations in the group of like twenty five buildings in the town, Vantage wouldn't exist and nobody would ever visit. But it is the most convenient refueling point for people making the trip to Seattle.

  I drove past the gas stations and turned onto Ginkgo Avenue which is almost out o
f town. Amber's voice sounded comical as she said, “Oh God. You're going to bury me in the desert aren't you? Or worse, make me pee in the desert.”

  I winked at her and pushed my glasses father up on my nose. “Don't tempt me lady.” Then I turned into the parking lot of the Ginkgo Gem Shop near the entrance to the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park.

  I grinned at her. “They have a restroom inside. I thought you might find this interesting. Most people don't even realize this place is here.” I zipped up my jacket, preparing for the bone chilling wind and cooler temperatures I knew were waiting for us out there, she did the same. Then with one last glance at the alluring creature in the passenger seat, I blushed and got out into the cold.

  Amber squeaked, “O-M-G Ky! That wind is biting!” She snorted when she saw the life sized dinosaurs in the parking lot then she rushed over and looped her arm in the crook of mine. I led her into the shop. I swear I heard her sigh in relief when we the heat of the room hit us.

  I grinned at her and nudged my head and we perused the shop. I don't know why, maybe just to make conversation, but I shared with her. “Mom showed me this place back when I was like twelve when we were going to Seattle. I never knew that there was a petrified forest in Washington, let alone a national park dedicated to it.”

  She acted all innocent as she asked, “Petrified forest? I wonder what it is so afraid of.”

  I barely stopped myself from snorting at the terrible joke. “Ha ha, lady. Fine, I won't share.”

  She looked almost concerned at that, I put her at ease by continuing. “She always did stuff like this, showing me the things most people didn't even know were there or didn't take the time to see. I blame my insatiable curiosity on her.”

  She hugged my arm that hers was still looped in. “That's actually pretty cool Ky.”

  I shrugged. Then I gave her a brief history of the park, like my mother had with me. Then I added, “It's a little too cold to go visit it today, it is best to visit in late spring or early fall. I just... I don't know... wanted to share it with you for some reason. Stupid I know, but...” I shrugged and called the elderly woman from behind the counter to us.

  Amber whispered, “I'm glad you did.”

  The smiling woman came up to us and said, “How can I help you? You two make such a cute couple.” This surprised me for a couple reasons. First that she thought we were a couple, yeah, I wish. But second was the fact that most people that I know over forty have a problem with the fact that I really have no sexual preference.

  I know I shouldn't stereotype like that, but it made me like this woman. I guess that makes me just as bad as people who insist on labels like 'lesbian'. I smiled back at the woman with my cheeks burning. I opened my mouth to let her know we were just friends when Amber chirped out, “Why thank you ma'am, and I agree.” She smiled at me and I melted, I think I forgot to speak for a second. I really wish she wouldn't tease like that.

  The woman's eyes were smiling when she replied, “You can see the spark from miles away ladies.”

  I blushed deeper then pointed in the case. “May I please see that necklace with the little piece of polished petrified wood there?”

  The woman smiled and took the necklace out of the case. Amber released my arm as I examined it. I really liked it, it was on a slim, dark leather string instead of a chain. The rich chocolates streaked with the white minerals of the petrified wood complimented it well. The tag read, fifteen dollars. I let Amber look at it. She grinned. “It's so pretty.”

  I nodded and took the tag off of it and handed the tag to the woman. I held it out toward Amber who looked shocked and bowed her head a bit. As I slipped it over her head I whispered with my lips almost against her ear, “It is pretty, it reminds me of your beautiful hair.”

  I turned to the register before I could embarrass myself further. Once I paid I turned around to see Amber hadn't moved. She was looking at me with an unreadable face. Then she smiled softly and her cute shy expression returned. I pointed to the restrooms. “Last chance until Idaho.”

  She spun and walked into the restroom and I started breathing again. I did a quick mental calculation. Gas, breakfast, necklace. So I was down to about a hundred dollars in the bank. Payday was Tuesday. About sixty would fill the gas tank for the return visit, so forty for food for tonight and part of tomorrow until we return to Seattle. I nodded to myself, doable.

  Amber popped back out of the restroom and before I went in the woman behind the counter spoke, “Wait, you are Amber LaLanie, and that new sensation... ummm... Babette Stevenson aren't you?”

  It was a simple question, her calm demeanor stopped me from panicking. I nodded. She just smiled and said, “I thought so. It is a shame how they are throwing your personal lives all over the news. You're such a nice couple and don't deserve that.” She gave us another smile then went back to cleaning the shop.

  I wanted to find a point singularity to hide in just about then, instead I went to the restroom to relive myself and blush in peace. After washing up I went back out and Amber was buying a book about the Petrified Forest, from Maribel, I overheard her telling Amber.

  Amber looked at me standing by the restroom door as she started toward the exit. “Coming Potato?”

  I squinted an eye and shook my fist at her. “Watch it Cornfed!” Her eyes were twinkling with mischief as I got to the door and she looped her arm with mine. We waved at a smiling Maribel then we exited into the cold and biting wind.

  We rushed over to the car and jumped in. She grinned. “Holy frickin' wind!”

  I shook my head at her and smiled fondly. “You're from the mid-west lady, you should be used to this. Just what are you like in the middle of winter?”

  She gave me an evil smirk. “I'm warm. In my hotel room. As God intended.”

  I chuckled. “Wimp,” I said as I slowly coaxed Baltar to life.

  She said in an overly dramatic voice, “He's alive!”

  I slapped her shoulder playfully then put the car in gear and backed up. Moments later we were driving back into Vantage. The instant we were back on the freeway, her hand snaked into mine and she laced our fingers. I took a chance to glance over and saw her just staring down the road and absently rubbing the necklace I had bought her between her fingers with a small smile on her face.

  I pointed out the billowing windsocks on the bridge over the mighty Columbia River. Even at this point, a thousand miles from its point of origin, it was still a huge and awe inspiring site. She was looking between the windsocks that looked ready to tear off their mounts and the majesty of the river so powerful they wrote the Roll On Columbia song about it.

  Then we were rising up from the canyon, I pulled over at the scenic view area and pointed to the ridge. “See the wild stallion sculptures up there along the ridge?” She was smiling and nodding as I continued while smiling at the childlike amazement on her face. “The monument is called 'Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies'. It represents a Native American tale about the Great Spirit releasing a herd of wild horses above the Columbia.”

  She stared at the silhouettes for a moment then turned to me smiling. “This is like an episode of The Secrets of Washington with Babette Stevenson.” She chuckled at her own humor and then smiled. “But really, this stuff is cool. And here I thought it was going to be a boring ride.”

  I shrugged and blushed as I backed out and we were on our way again.

  We started talking about everything again, the topics were flowing smoothly for about an hour. She broke out some drinks for us and we munched on the apples. I had to keep reminding myself to watch the road, not her lips. We were up to V on the alphabet game now.

  She cued up some music and we sang. I don't think I have laughed like this in years. We had just crested the hill above the valley that hid the large city of Spokane, Washington when a thud, whump whump, whump sound came from the rear passenger side. I muttered, “Crap, a flat.” I pulled over into the shoulder.

  We zipped up then got out for a look.
Sure enough, the friggin' tire was flat. I shook my head and glanced at the pink haired imp with her scrunched up face. She said, “Call triple A?”

  I don't know where the confidence came from but I winked at her with a cocky smile and said, “Sure thing. Why don't you get inside where it is warm.” She did and then I popped the hatch back and dug around under the carpet with Amber shooting a confused look at me over the seats.

  I pulled out the spare tire and wiggled my eyebrows at her and then the jack and tire iron. I got to work changing the tire. Amber was looking back watching me the whole time. Holy crap Batman! Who tightened these lug nuts? The Hulk? I finally got the lug nuts loose by almost standing on the tire iron and jacked the car up until the tire just cleared the ground, then took the lug nuts off and removed the flat.

  I slid the spare in its place and hand tightened the lug nuts and lowered the jack until the ground just pushed against the tire. Then I tightened each lug nut a half turn, alternating side to side like my high school auto shop teacher taught me. Then I let the jack down the rest of the way and then tightened the lug nuts as much as I could, pulling up so that I could use the ground for more counter force.

  Moments later I was putting the flat tire and the tools back into place in the back and I rejoined Amber in the front seat. I grabbed a napkin and started wiping the dirt from my hands. She was just staring at me.

  She licked her lips. “Is is wrong that I want to take you right here and now Ky? That was so hawt!”

  I think I eeped, I'm not sure because my pulse was roaring in my ears and my face heated up in a blush. I whispered, “Please don't tease.”

  She looked away, breathing deeply. “Why do you always think I am teasing. I already told you I'm not.”

  I sat there for a few long seconds trying to get my breathing under control and spoke more to myself as I coaxed Baltar to start. “I wish.”

  I swear she raised one eyebrow before Baltar backfired and she squeaked in surprise and started giggling like a woman possessed again. I grinned. She gets so much pleasure out of Baltar.