A Little Drive - Chapter 5 - Part 2

When Charles awoke he found himself being in the throes of the flu. "Damn" he said to himself and the rooms green walls. "I guess I'm going to be stuck in this hotel for longer than I thought." He ached all over and felt as if his skin was being rubbed with ice and then being set on fire. His head felt as if it were full of soup busily sloshing around and sometimes spilling out of his nose. The one part of him that wasn't sick was his stomach and that was calling out for nourishment. He decided to call for room service and hoped that the hotel had it as he had neglected to ask when he registered the night before. The number of the office was written on the phone so he called the front desk clerk.

"Hi, this is Charles Leed in room 16," he said, "I was wondering if I could get some food delivered to my room."

The clerk told him that the hotel was not equipped with a restaurant. Charles considered which was the worse fate, to starve to death or crawl to the nearest restaurant.

"By the way, Mr. Leed, will you be checking out today? If so, remember that checkout is at eleven-thirty", said the clerk.

"No, I think I'll stay at least another night. Could you tell me if there are any restaurants that deliver around here?" asked Charles.

After a short pause, the clerk said, "There is a pizza parlor that delivers here; but, they don't deliver until after five."

Charles said goodbye and then left to find a restaurant and a store. He found a coffee shop that looked good for breakfast about five miles from the hotel. He parked his car, went in and sat down at the counter.

A pretty young brunette of about 25 approached him and after saying her name was Judy and that she would be his waitress she asked if he wanted a menu. She stood about five feet six with lightly tanned skin. As she handed him his menu, he noticed that her eyes were not quite right. One seemed to pay little attention to where the other was looking, a result of which was it's wandering around ever so slightly while she was talking to him.

"Thanks," said Charles through stuffed nasal passages. "I just want a large glass of orange juice, some bacon, scrambled eggs and a cup of coffee".

"That's our wayfarer special and it comes with toast, an English Muffin or hash browns" she replied.

"I'll have the English muffin", Charles replied.

"Would you like jelly, jam or marmalade?" she continued.

"Just butter, please," said Charles, "and some extra napkins." Then he blew his nose in the one napkin that he did have.

When the meal arrived he put some ketchup on his eggs and began to eat. After every other bite he would blow his nose or cough in one of the napkins. When he had finished his eggs he noticed that the other patrons were looking at him. He could feel his ears getting hot and began to imagine that people were laughing at him and began to eat quicker so that he could leave sooner. During one of his coughing fits the waitress came over to refill his cup (though it was only half empty and he preferred to usually finish his cup before getting a refill).

"You don't look to good, you should be at home," said the waitress.

"I would be; but, I gave up my apartment and am driving across the country," said Charles.

"No kidding. Damn. I always wanted to do that." said Judy. "Problem is it takes a lot of money. A lot more than I can afford and I have never been able to save enough up, something else always seems to come up. Anyway, I don't think I could ever really find the time", she said.

"Sure you could, I only have a couple grand and I'm doing it." Charles explained.

Judy seemed to think about it for about a tenth of a second and then said, "I don't know, I just don't think I could. Oops, I'd better get to the other customers."

After finishing his breakfast and paying the bill, Charles got up to leave. Judy wished him good luck on his trip and waved goodbye.

When Charles got outside a young man in jeans and a tee sheirt with a denim jacket came running up to him. "Hey, are you headed south and if so can you give me a lift to Cannery Row?" they young man asked.

"I'm sorry, I'm not from here and don't know where it is", said Charles.

"That's okay, it just right down the street and I know where it is", said the young man.

"II'm sorry", said Charles, "But I'm really just about to go looking for a store to pick up some things."

"Great, look there's one on the way to the Row", answered the boy, "come on, be a friend, it's just a couple of blocks."

"Alright, hop in", Charles said. When they were both in the car Charles asked him where to go.

"Just down the road about a mile and then make a left", said the boy.

Charles started the car and they drove away as he had been directed. Hoping to make some conversation, Charles said, "You lived her long"?

"Shut up faggot and give me your money", was the young mans reply.

"Huh?" was all Charles managed to say.

"Give me your money mother fucker or I'll blow your fucking nuts off asshole". was the next response from the young man who proceeded to pull out a gun and point it in Charles' direction.

Charles took out his wallet and the young man grabbed it and removed all the cash that it held.

"Where's the rest of it, this is only $400 and I heard you tell the waitress you had a couple grand." said the man.

"The rest is in traveler's checks," Charles explained.

"Give them to me too." he was told.

Charles turned over the checks and was told to pull over to the side of the road. Once he had he was told to get out of the car.

As Charles watched his car pull away he cursed everything he had ever heard of  with every curse that he had ever known. Then he blew his nose on his hand and coughed.

Charles looked around not quite sure what had just happened and tried to decide what to do next. He chose to walk back to his hotel then decided to go to the restaurant instead and call the police as it was closer. As he began walking back he noticed the sky for the first time that day and it was turning grey looking as if it might let loose some rain.

"Damn", he thought, "I don't even have my jacket."

He walked down the road and actually noticed where he was for the first time since arriving. He thought about how beautiful Monterey was and hoped that he would once again have the chance to enjoy it from the privacy of his own car. As upset as he was over losing his money and his car, he was thankful that he had left the receipts for the traveler's checks in his suitcase at the hotel. He tried to get a ride by sticking his thumb out but after being passed for a good half hour he decided that he wouldn't pick up someone who looked like him either and gave up.

An hour later he was within sight of the restaurant. While heading for it a police car came up behind him and stopped him.

"Boy, am I glad to see you. Some asshole just stole my car and my money," he said to the approaching officer.


"Would you put your hand on my car?" asked the large man dressed in blue.

The officer patted him down and then turned him around;;but, not quite face to face. The policeman eyed him suspiciously then less so as Charles explained what had happened. The officer told him to wait where he was and then called in the report of the stolen car and ran a check on Charels' license.

When the policeman returned he was slightly more pleasant. He asked Charles where he could be reached and Charels told him the name of the hotel he was staying at and some other information. The officer then returned to his car and drove off.

"Shit!" Charles thought, "I should have asked for a ride back to the hotel." Charels walked into the restaurant and sat back down at the counter.

"Back so soon? Did you forget something?" Judy asked him.

"Yeah, I forgot to never give rides to hitchhikers."

"What happened?" she asked.

Charles told her the story and then didn't now what else to say. "I was coming here to call the cops; but, they stopped me on the road and I already told them. I'm not quite sure what to do now."

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" she asked.

"Don't have any money left and won't till I call the traveler's check people and I can't do that till I get back to my hotel." Charles explained.

"No problem. It's on me." she said.

As Charles drank his coffee and had a cigarette he found the need to continue to blow his nose on the napkins. He heard Judy telling one of the other waitresses about what had happened to him. Judy returned and asked what he was going to do.

"I guess I'll go back to my hotel, try and get new travelers checks and watch T.V." he replied.

"Where are you staying?" she asked.

He told her and she said that he couldn't walk the five miles back as sick as he was.

"Listen," she said, "I get off in three hours and I'll give you a ride there. It will take you about that long just to walk there anyways in your condition. Looks like I have a new customer, I'll be back in a minute.

Forty minutes later the lunch crowd came in and Judy was too busy to talk to Charles. He watched the people come in and out and began to think about how all the coffee shops were the same no matter what the tables looked like.

When Judy got off work, she drove him over to his hotel. "Thanks a lot for the coffee, the ride and everything", he told her as she stopped the car. "I would ask you to come in but I don't have anything to offer you and I'm pretty tired."

"That's okay, Maybe I'll see you before you go. What do you think you are going to do, go home?"

"I don't know, I'll have to see if I get my car back tonight or not."

After Judy left, Charles went into his room to look for his travelers check receipts. He called the 800 number of the check company and was told he could not get new ones issued until the next morning as the banks that took that checks were closed in Monterey on Sundays.

Charels got undressed and watched T.V. from the bed. While watching some documentary on the life and death of the Mammoth butterfly and eating a soggy sandwich that he had made from his soggy supplies that he had kept in the cooler the phone rang.

"Hello, Is this Mr. Charles Leed?" a voice asked.

"Yes sir".

"This is officer Garr, Monterey Police. We have found your car."

"Great! Thanks, where is it."

It's being held by the Prunedale police. It can be picked up tomorrow between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Harrison Garage on Twelfth in Prunedale. There is a charge of $50 for garaging the car.

"Thanks, thanks a lot. I'll pick it up tomorrow." was Charles response.

After hanging up, Charles began to try to figure out where Prunedale was on the map and then he tried to figure out how he would get there. He decided that he could take a bus there after he got her new travelers checks. "Well", he thought to himself as he went to bed, "by this time tomorrow, I'll be back on the road."