Worlds Unexpectedly Collide... Again!

After the Christmas debacle at Mom's house, Kelz and I left for our next destination: Clovis. That's right. We were going to see Chez and Joad again. But this time was going to be different. Chez and Joad were living on their own, so I wasn't going to have to deal with Jyd and Kyd. This was going to be a quality visit.

I knew that Kelz had no interest in seeing Chez again. But I wasn't going to be able to leave her at Mom's house while being away for at least eight hours. Mom would not be able to put up with that. I had to bring Kelz with me.

However, Kelz' presence was going to put a cramp in my agenda while I was visiting Chez. I had it in my mind that there was a possibility that Chez and I were going to try to make love. I had packed condoms just in case. I just had to figure out how we were going to make that happen if Kelz was hanging around. I really didn't get my hopes that high, but I know I would have gotten angry at myself if the opportunity had presented itself and I was unprepared.

When Kelz and I left Artesia, Mom did not extend an invitation for her to come back again. I think she learned her lesson. Kelz and I drove up to Clovis without incident.

An odd coincidence was that Chez now lived below the apartment where I used to live in Clovis. I have no idea how that happened, but I was glad she didn't wind up in the welfare slums.

When we got to the apartment complex, Kelz said she was going to stay in the car while I visited her. My first thought was, "This resolves all my problems!" I went to Chez' door and knocked. Chez answered and we quickly hugged. She told me Joad was asleep. "This keeps getting better and better!" I thought. Then Chez asked, "Where's Kelz?" "She said she was just going to stay in the car." "Well, she just can't wait out here. I'll go tell her to come inside." DAAAAAMMMMNNNN!

Kelz begrudgingly got out of the car. We went inside. This was the first time I had set foot in this unit. One thing I didn't know until I went in was that it contained the hot water heater for the entire complex. In the living room! I recalled that if the downstairs apartment was running hot water, I wouldn't get any. This explained why.

Chez and I sat on the couch. Kelz sat on the floor in front of the TV. A syndicated episode of "The Simpsons" was on. Chez and I caught up on stuff and we were acting a little flirtatious toward each other, but there was no touching. I didn't realize it at the time, but Kelz was getting very jealous. I would find out later that she thought I was rubbing this in her face. I really wasn't. (I figured out later that she must have found the condoms. Since we weren't having sex, it probably didn't take her long to figure out who I was planning to have sex with.)

Joad woke up and I got to spend a little time with him. Afterward, Chez and I hugged and said our goodbyes. Kelz and I started driving home. I had planned to get us all the way into Arizona before we stopped, but I was feeling very tired when we came to Alamogordo. We stayed at the Alamo Inn.

The next morning, I was ready to hit the road, but Kelz didn't want to leave just yet. I was hoping to get back to San Diego early that day so that I would get a chance to rest up before returning to work, but she refused to move. We just sat around and watched reruns of "The Dukes of Hazzard" on TNN. About 15 minutes before we were supposed to check out, Kelz finally got out of bed and got ready to go.

And this was another "same planet, different worlds" scenario that I finally realized. In my world, you only stayed at a motel during a road trip to get some sleep. When morning came, you got up and hit the road. In her world, you got your money's worth out of a motel by staying there until someone came over and kicked your butt out. I should be thankful that didn't happen while we were there.

We got home without incident and I returned to work the next day. But things weren't normal for long. Another earth-shattering event was just around the corner. That will be coming up soon.

An actual conclusion to part of this tale: I didn't know this while it was happening, but that would be the last time I would see Chez and Joad. We did continue to keep in touch for the next year. Then all communication broke off. I've already written of her current whereabouts. As for Joad, I found a recent photo that his father posted on Facebook. I'm not certain where he's living, but he looks like a speed freak. I really feel sorry for the environment in which he was raised.

But it's not my problem.