Indigo Road (17 page)

Mike moved from the front of the van to the
rear and started looking through the engine. It wasn’t long until
we heard his disembodied voice.

“Ah, here’s your problem. You’ve got yourself
a split hose and the water pump failed.” Alex and I both sighed in
relief as Mike sounded triumphant.

“Can you fix it?”

“Not today.” He stood and looked at his
watch.

My relief turned to disappointment.
“Damn.”

“
Sorry, boys.
It’s getting late and I was supposed to be home half an hour ago. I
need to find out why the pump failed. It could be from the split
hose or a problem with the thermostat or the radiator. Worst case
is a blown head gasket. Best case, you need to replace the hose,
the pump, and the thermostat housing. Gotta
make
sure it hasn’t had any
impact on the heads, which is usually the problem with the
Vanagons. The engine looks really good, though, so I hope for your
sake it’s not the gasket. But even without any other problems, I’ll
need to remove and probably replace the timing belt as
well.”

“No point calling the AAA, is there?” I
asked.

“All they’ll do is give you a tow here or to
some other mechanic who may or may not know that much about older
cars. Especially these ones. There’s no temporary fix to this and
you’re already here.”

“
Damn.” I
looked
at
Alex.
“Where are we going to stay?”

“You boys sleepin’ in the van?” Mike
asked.

Alex nodded. “Yes, we’re on a road trip. Is
there a cheap hotel nearby?”

“Tell you what. Let’s push her ’round back.
The yard is fenced and secure and you can stay the night in the
van. We’ll talk in the morning about what the next step is. I’ve
got the right hose, so that’s not a problem, but I’ll need to call
my parts guy in Houston first thing and see how soon I can get a
new pump here.”

ALEX AND I
spent an uneasy night in Maude in the small, contained yard
of
Mike
the
mechanic. We were surrounded by spare tires, large metal drums
holding who-knew-what, and an assortment of old cars and discarded
parts. I’m glad we weren’t staying
inside
the shop; the smell
outside was bad enough.

The next
morning, Alex and I went to the Starbucks on the corner for
breakfast while Mike had a good look at Maude and called his guy in
Houston. It wasn’t looking good for us, though, as even if he could
get the parts today
and
get it fixed, we still had a
five-hour drive ahead of us.

“
I need to
call Jed in Beaumont. We’re supposed to be
there
tomorrow morning to help
out.” Alex pulled out his phone and brought up the contact Elsie
May had given him all those months ago.

Alex was apologizing to Jed over the phone,
but I wasn’t really listening until I heard him say something about
a Greyhound bus.

“What?” I mouthed at him.

Alex waved
his hand at me to shut up and continued talking
into
the phone. “Uh-huh. I
understand, Jed. We don’t want to put you out either and we
committed to this months ago. I know the timing is tight, but I’ll
check on the Greyhound schedule and get back to you about when I
can be out there. If the van can’t be fixed today, which is looking
unlikely, I’ll be on the next bus.” A pause, then, “Sure. And
someone will be there waiting to take me to your ranch? Yes… Sure,
we can work that. Josh can stay here in San Antonio, then come join
me once the van’s fixed. Okay. Thanks, Jed. I’ll call you back
soon.”

What? I’m staying here?
I raised
an eyebrow. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”

“Uh… Jed’s in a real tight spot and he needs
one of us there ASAP. They’re shorthanded and even though we don’t
have any experience, anything we can do is going to be a big help.
At first, Elsie May said it would just be one of us to fill in for
Craig, but Jed was actually going to hire both of us when he
realized how much work there was to do. He needs one of us, at
least.”

“Okay. We committed to it and we don’t want
to let him down, but… I don’t like the idea of you going by
yourself.”

“I’m a big boy, Josh, and it will only be for
a few days until Maude’s fixed and you can join me. We need to see
what Mike says first before we start planning anything else.”

“But…” I started.

“But what?”

“You’re gonna make me say it, aren’t
you?”

Alex crossed his arms and leaned back in his
seat. A smirk spread across his features. “Yes, yes I am.”

“I’ll miss you,” I mumbled.

“See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

I grumbled at him as we walked back to Mike’s
to receive the news.

And it was bad.

Not bad as
in
your head gasket’s
blown
bad, but as in
Houston parts guy doesn’t have any water pumps
in stock and there’s none available in Texas at the moment
bad.

“
Johnny’s
ordered a pump from his guy in California and is getting it shipped
straight here, but it’s going to take a few
days,
” Mike told us as he sat in
his office. He had just ended the call to Houston. “Today’s
Thursday so the earliest it will be here is Monday, but most likely
not till Tuesday. Then I’ll install it and have you on the road
again by Wednesday afternoon.”

I turned to Alex, who appeared resigned to
his fate of a Greyhound Bus to Beaumont. “That’s great, Mike.
Thanks. Obviously the sooner the better, but we can’t do anything
about the timing. Do you have WiFi here? If not, we’ll go to
Starbucks down the street. I need to look up some things.”

Mike scribbled on a Post-It. “Here, this is
the login and password. I don’t mind you guys hanging around for a
few days if you need to. Y’all can sleep in the van until we need
to work on it, but I can’t let you stay over the weekend. There’s a
Best Western a few blocks north that’s reasonably priced.” I’d
heard Texans were the most friendly and Mike seemed bent on helping
us out. It was a nice feeling.

We thanked Mike again and Alex and I stayed
in the back office while Mike headed into the workshop. It wasn’t
an ideal situation, but we couldn’t do anything until Maude was
fixed.

Once Alex had
logged onto the office Internet, he tapped away
on
the laptop. “Okay, there’s a
bus from San Antonio at 2:00 p.m that will take me through Houston
and get me to Beaumont just before eight o’clock tonight. Then I
can start work
for
Jed first thing in the morning. I’ll need to pack my duffel
and take a cab to the station within the next hour if I’m going to
make it.”

I didn’t say
anything, and after Alex
closed
his laptop, he looked at me with a sad smile. He
must’ve sensed my mood,
because
without a word, he grabbed my hand and led me
out the back door to Maude, where he said goodbye in a way that
wasn’t meant for public viewing.

AFTER
ALEX
left, I felt a little lost and I
kicked myself for being such a sap. He’d texted me to say he was at
the station, ticket in hand and waiting to board. Thirty minutes
later he texted again to say he was on his way to Beaumont via
Houston and he was angry at Maude for breaking down. I was angry
with her too. She’d become such a huge part of our journey and we’d
looked
after
her with regular maintenance and oil changes. Sure, she was
a little dirty, but she ran well. She repaid our loyalty by
breaking down and forcing us to separate. And that sucked. When I
texted Alex this, he LOL’d and said if she sucked, I wouldn’t have
a need for him. I LOL’d back and said I missed him.

We texted a lot that afternoon. Alex didn’t
have anything to occupy him on the bus and I had nothing to do
except sit in Maude and wait for the day to pass. Occasionally, I’d
sit in the office with Alex’s laptop. Mike was very accommodating
and said I could use anything I wanted—coffee, tea, anything. I
just couldn’t stay in Maude over the weekend because the shop was
closed.

Alex called me that night to say he arrived
safely in Beaumont, and although he missed me, he was looking
forward to working for Jed. He said Jed seemed like a nice guy and
was appreciative of the help. I knew we were doing the right thing
by not letting Jed down after we had committed to the work, but it
didn’t help close the Alex-shaped hole in my heart.

I snuggled down in the back of Maude, buried
my head in Alex’s pillow, and let his scent envelop me as sleep
came.

I slept
fitfully. On more than one
occasion,
I reached out in the
middle of the night, patting the mattress trying to find Alex’s
hand to hold. It took me long seconds to remember he wasn’t there
anymore. Once, I woke up and thought he’d just gone outside to pee,
but when I looked out the side window, he wasn’t there, and I saw
only the darkened shapes of cars and barrels.

THE NEXT
morning I was woken by my cell ringing. It was still dark and my
heart tried to climb into my throat as I thought something had
happened. The only people who called at that time of the morning
were calling to tell you someone had died.

“Alex?” I said breathily, trying to calm
myself and sit up at the same time. “What is it, is something
wrong?”

Alex chuckled quietly, but it was a distinct
laugh and I sighed with relief. He wouldn’t be laughing if
something had happened. “No, dumbass. I just wanted to say good
morning before I started work. I miss you.”

I flopped back onto the mattress and covered
my eyes with my spare arm. “Who the fuck starts work at this time
in the morning? What time is it, anyway?”

“Just after five, and people who work on a
ranch do. They’re a little crazy here. I don’t think the rooster is
even up yet.” Alex laughed again and it was nice to hear. We hadn’t
been apart in so long and I missed him more than I thought I would.
“Look, I gotta go. I’ll call you tonight and tell you how my day
went. Don’t expect me to be too coherent, though, it sounds like
I’m going to be run off my feet. I love you.” Alex hung up before I
could reply.

“I love you too,” I whispered before rolling
back over and falling into an easier sleep.

I woke later
that day, then said good morning to Mike before heading to
Starbucks for breakfast with the laptop. I couldn’t go far with no
wheels, so after a coffee and muffin, I walked
the couple
of blocks in search of
the Best Western Mike had mentioned the day before.

The prices
weren’t too bad and best of all they had a communal laundry and
in-room WiFi. I texted Alex and told him staying at a hotel for the
weekend wouldn’t the same without him. He didn’t
reply
but I didn’t expect him to;
he’d be too busy playing cowboy on the ranch.

Alex called later that night sounding
exhausted. “Oh my God. Now I know what you went through in Montana.
Mucking out stalls is hard work. Even my blisters have
blisters.”

I laughed, feeling a little smug.

Alex’s voice
took on a needy tone. “Don’t laugh. I need you to
massage
me back to
normal. I
need
you, Josh.”

“Stop complaining, you’ll be fine… in a week.
Now tell me what they’ve got you doing.”

“
Most of the
hands are out with the round-up so I’m staying at the ranch
helping
the couple
of guys left behind to do the general chores. Mucking
stalls, oiling the
tack
, stacking the hay, that sort of thing. I rode an ATV this
afternoon and helped fix a fence. Well, sort of. I basically handed
the guys the tools they needed and unraveled a length of wire for
them. They won’t let me ride a horse because I confessed I’d never
done it before and they don’t have time to waste on a
rookie.”

“Sounds like you’ve been a big help. Are the
people there okay?”

“Oh yeah, everyone has been really welcoming
and friendly. I met everybody last night when I arrived.” Alex
grumbled incoherently and I heard the rustling of fabric.

“Did you just roll over in bed?”

“Yeah. Fuck, I hurt. Now I know why you were
such a crabby bastard. Tomorrow will be easier, I’m told. I’m
helping Katy, that’s Jed’s wife, in the kitchen with the meals
before going back out to the yard.”

“Go have a hot shower, jerk off, and take
some ibuprofen if you can. You’ll feel worse tomorrow when your
muscles stiffen up.”

“I don’t have the energy to jerk off,” Alex
whined.

“Just think of what you could be doing to me
right now if you were here.”

“You’re a cock tease, but I love you
anyway.”

I SPENT the
weekend watching crappy TV, surfing the Internet, and doing
laundry. I wandered around the local area for a while just to get
out of the hotel room, but there wasn’t much in this part of town
within walking distance. I dabbled on the laptop, creating a few
designs using a new paint app I stumbled across during my web
browsing, and I made a logo for the travel blog Alex kept. I had a
degree in graphic design so it wasn’t long before I immersed myself
in the creative bubble that I hadn’t been in since leaving
college.