A Little Drive - Chapter 4

Chapter One - The Bum

Chapter Two - Stuart

Chapter Three - What's Your Destination

Chapter Four - Waiting

Wednesday was spent at Stuart's. In the morning he helped Dee Dee with the house and her daughter, Francine. playing with little Francine made Charles feel better than he had in weeks and he was amazed by how fragile she looked and wondered how babies managed to survive the first year.

When Stuart came home, they ate and watched television until about 10:20. Not much was said, it was as if they couldn't decide what they wanted each other to know.

Thursday brought added anticipation to Charles as he knew that after receiving his final check he could leave whenever he wanted. He met Phil at one of the local hotels and as he suspected, Phil tried to convince him to stay, even offering him an extra dollar an hour. While they sat and enjoyed a local band, Phil told Charles that he would consider letting Charles use one of the companies trucks to get his own seeping jobs. Charles was not too impressed by the offer because he had made the same offer to Richard three years earlier and had still not kept his part of the bargain. When Charles left to go home he was amazed that he had ever worked for Phil at all.

Friday was the final day of preparation as Charles had decided to leave for San Francisco at around one o'clock on Saturday afternoon so that he would have time to get there and look around a bit, maybe even have dinner at Fisherman's Wharf and not be too tired. He began his day by getting a tune up and oil change, then he checked the tires and had the radiator flushed and refilled Finally, he went to t a car wash to have the car washed and polished, vacuuming out the inside himself.

With the car as clean and polished as it was going to get (or had been in at least a year) he headed for Stuarts. Immediately after getting back, he packed his car up. The trunk was loaded up with his toolbox, spare tire, a case of oil, two gallons of anti-freeze, spark plugs, oil filter, spark plugs, fuel filter, brake fluid, tire sealant and even extra windshield wiper blades. Charles felt prepared for anything that might arise on his trip. All the parts were packed in boxes and his suitcase full of clothes was on the other side of the trunk.

The backseat had two more suitcases of clothes, a box of books and a box of assorted personal items. The front seat held his cds, maps and a cooler to be filled in the morning. When he had finished prepping the car, he decided that he didn't want to travel with so much stuff so he left one of his suitcases and his books and his personal things at his brother's house. He did not bolt the trunk to the car as he thought it might invite thieves.

When Stuart got home, he, Charles and Dee Dee all sat down for dinner. After dinner Dee Dee brought out a cake and some champagne.

"I just want you to know", Dee Dee began, "that will we will miss your greatly and will look forward to your return. And I want you to know that every night until you get back, I'm going to leave the kitchen light on for you. It's something I saw in a movie once.

"And we have a couple of things for you to take with you", said Stuart as he took out three small wrapped packages. The first one turned out to be a small, round digital clock which could be stuck on the dashboard. The second was a bumper sticker which read, "Don't honk, I'm pushing as fast as I can" and the third was a sun shade. After Charles had opened the packages, Dee Dee got up and came back with a book. She said, "This bible was given to me by my grandmother just before she died. I'm lending it to you, maybe it will give you something to think about when you are alone and maybe it will help keep you safe until you get back."

Charles tried to get out of taking the book because he was afraid he might lose it and he didn't plan on reading it anyways. Stuart settled the issue by telling him that once Dee Dee made up her mind there was no changing it and that she would only be upset if he didn't take it.

"Well, I want to thank you both for everything", Charles said. "I feel really lucky to have such great relatives, it almost makes me want to stay; but, only almost, because I still want to go. I promise to return the book when I get back in a couple of months.

After the cake they all sat down to watch television, eat some popcorn and drink some beer. Around 11:00 Dee Dee and Stuart went off to bed. At around 11:30 Stuart came out of the bedroom to get a drink and as he went back to the room he waved to Charles. At two in the morning the baby began to cry, so Charles went in to check non her. He changed her diapers and gave her a bottle. When he got back to the living room he found Stuart there.

"Thanks Chuck", said Stuart, "I tell you it sure is hard the first few months. It seems as if she cries every two hours and it's even harder on Dee Dee with her being here all day."

Stuart said, "No problem. I kind of enjoy doing it and I wasn't asleep anyways. It's kind of nice to see her little eyes go soft when you give her the bottle. I like watching as her little fingers try to grab it. You are a lucky guy".

Yeah, I guess so; but, I don't know sometimes I sort of resent her. It's weird but Ill get mad at her for all the time Dee Dee spends with her. I mean I love her and all; but, I still get irritated when Dee Dee says that she has to do this or that for the baby and cant spend time with me. Its like she is either is taking care of the baby or too tired to spend time with me. I guess I'm just being selfish and don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change anything. I mean I wouldn't give up the baby for the world. Jees, I gotta go to bed. It's too late for me to be up yapping with you. Goodnight and thanks for taking care of the baby.

"Goodnight Stu", answered Charles.