The time was coming up for my vacation to Artesia. The day before, I had a lot of work to do. One of the things I needed to do was my laundry. However, I didn't have any money and the next day was also payday. I had a Nintendo GameBoy system that my Mom had given me for Christmas the year before. A few months earlier when I needed some money, I tried to take it to a pawn shop. They said they wouldn't pawn it, but they would buy it from me for $5. I declined the offer.
Since I really needed that $5 to wash my clothes, I took the GameBoy and the games to the pawn shop. There was a line of people waiting inside and more kept coming in behind me. I asked the guy behind the counter if he would still buy the system for $5. He said he would. I suddenly heard a lot of groaning from some of the other people standing in line. Someone said, "I could have bought that for my kid for $5." I felt bad because I would have taken sold it to that guy if he had the cash, but the guy behind the counter already had the system and the games. I got my money and washed my clothes.
So, up to this point, I hadn't heard from Kelz in a couple of days. She knew what day I was going to Artesia, but she hadn't called me to confirm. I didn't know if she was coming along or not. There was a part of me that really wanted her to go meet my family and another part that really didn't. I was so torn.
I got a call from her around 3am. I asked her if she was still going with me to Artesia. She said she was, but she needed me to come out to La Mesa to pick her up. I drove out to the usual house and got her. She was going to sleep at my apartment until I got back from work. (I still had to work that day so I could get my paycheck.) On the way home, she said she had some news.
"I'm pregnant!" I stared at her and tried not to crash the car. "Don't worry. It's not yours." I really didn't think it was. I asked the usual questions, like how far she was along and when she was expecting, but she didn't have the answer. She hadn't been to see a doctor yet.
I dropped her off at the apartment and went to work. It went by pretty quickly. I was able to cash the check with no hassles and drove back home. Since I still had some of Kelz' clothes at my apartment, I was able to get her to pack a few things, but most of her stuff we were going to have to wash when we got there.
Usually, on my road trips to Artesia from San Diego, I would stop and fill up with gas in Yuma, AZ. However, before we got there, I could hear this loud racket coming out of the engine. The car was still able to move at the speed limit, but I could definitely hear the racket. I didn't know what was going on. We kept driving. Finally, I started getting really worried about the noise and we pulled over in Gila Bend to spend the night. I figured I could call my Dad the next day to figure out what to do.
Kelz and I checked into a motel. We stayed up until 2am watching TV. We cuddled a little bit, but didn't kiss. We finally fell asleep.
After I woke up, I called Dad and got the answering machine. I explained what happened, gave the number to the motel and our room number. I hoped he would be calling back soon. At this point, I hadn't told Dad or Mom that Kelz was coming with me. (However, they were aware about what happened between us.) I didn't say anything to them about Kelz coming beforehand because there was a very good chance she wasn't going to come with me.
About 30 minutes later, Dad called. I described to him what was going on. He said that my standard transmission was likely out of oil. It wasn't transmission fluid, it was oil. I just needed to take it to a garage and have them put oil in it and do nothing else. He said that if that didn't help, just to keep driving until the car broke completely down and he would come out to get me. This was the point that I told him Kelz was with me. He said he would still come out to get us.
Kelz was still sleeping. I looked in the Yellow Pages and found a mechanic about a quarter-mile away. I drove up and explained what they needed to do. They quoted me a price of $32. That sounded good to me. They put the oil in and started the car. They put it into gear and it made the sound again, but only for one second. After that, it sounded fine. They'd actually fixed it!
I drove back to the motel room to get Kelz so we could be on our way. The car was still working fine. We started driving toward Tuscon. I had planned to stop at a Waffle House and get something to eat. When we approached the exit, I slowed down and took the car out of gear. However, I wasn't able to put the stick back into first gear, or second, or third, or fourth or fifth! We coasted up the ramp. I had to get out and push the car into the Waffle House parking lot. I really wanted to eat and try to figure out what we were going to do next.
After we ate, I went to a payphone and called AAA. They told me I was going to have to wait an hour for a tow truck and the closest service center was a Pep Boys. I called Dad and told him what was going on. He told me that if they quoted too much, I just needed to call him, and again, he would drive out to get us.
While we were waiting for the tow truck, I decided to start trying to get the stick shift to go into the gears. After numerous attempts, I was able to get it to slide into fifth. Then I got it into fourth, third, second and finally, first. I was able to get the car moving again. Yay, me! But before we left, I had to call AAA to cancel the tow truck. I also called Dad and let him know we would be on the way.
In addition, I called Mom and let her know that Kelz was coming with me. We were going to meet her and Dend in Ruidoso, where they owned a cabin. This would be my first time to see their cabin since they bought it. She didn't seem all that thrilled that Kelz was coming with me because she knew what she was putting me through. And I'm also pretty certain she was afraid some of her stuff was suddenly going to "disappear."
We got to Ruidoso without incident around 7pm and were able to find the cabin. When someone tells me they have a cabin, I automatically think of a log cabin. In a part of my life I haven't written about, I helped an old man in Artesia clean up his cabin in Cloudcroft during the summers of 1984 and 1985. THAT was a log cabin. But Mom and Dend's cabin looked more like a regular house, inside and out. I certainly got no indication that this was "roughing it," as it would have been at a REAL cabin.
My cousin Ricd (Aunt Cind's youngest child) was staying with Mom and Dend at the time. We didn't do much after we arrived. I know we ate something. Mom set up the guest room for Kelz. Ricd and I were going to share the sleeper sofa in the living room. Mom and Dend went to bed. Kelz and I spent time with Ricd. He was rather entertaining. At this point, Kelz started flirting with me in a non-verbal manner. While we were standing next to each other, she playfully brushed her bare foot against mine. We watched Ricd play a few video games while we cuddled a little bit on the sofa. Eventually, we all turned in.
Monday: Kelz meets Dad.
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