Natasha had Kermit vaccinated and brought home the papers.
Edgar bought Mexican Car insurance.
☼
In the end, they had a screaming session. Natasha would not quit screaming. Edgar had promised to leave this day and it was already afternoon. She wanted to leave and get it over with, or stay and wait until the creditors threw them out.
Edgar had wanted to sort through things more. A few hours more would have saved them later grief. Edgar was afraid her screaming would draw unneeded attention. He stuck the key in the motorhome ignition and posted a welcome note on the door. He loaded Natasha and Kermit in the car. He could not look at the motor home as he eased down the gravel road to the gated camp entrance.
Nobody in camp seemed to notice them as they rolled over the cattle guard and eased over the speed bump.
They left Quail Canyon at 3:10 pm, on Wednesday, September 4, 2003. The remaining Labor Day traffic was traveling in the opposite direction. Not until Sunday September 8, did they realize the losses they had suffered.
Natasha quieted down. She was on an adventure.
Kermit, however, screamed incessantly, He would not ride in his cat travel box.
Edgar had to pull over on the apron of Interstate 8 to let Kermit out of his box. Natasha feared that Kermit would go back to curling up and sleeping by the brake pedal. However, Kermit was content to curl up in the shade under the rear window. For the duration of the trip, Kermit behaved much better than Natasha behaved.
They drove tediously into the afternoon sun. At least, the car had air conditioning.
The Gila Bend tire shop sign reminded them of the path not taken.
As they left the Gila Mountains
☼
The lonely and long desert drive gave them plenty of time to dwell on their regrets and fears.
Natasha regretted her life of drinking. What was she to do? It was in her genes. Her mother had sent her to several drug stores with prescriptions from several doctors. Her mother, a nurse, had been addicted to pain pills.
Edgar, for his part, wished he had conquered his obsessions and compulsions, early in life. He wished he had taken high school more seriously. After working in the fish-packing houses of downtown Los Angeles
☼
The desert sped past--vacant and unpromising. Did it foretell the desolation and bankruptcy waiting for them in Mexico
Of course, the desert was full of living things--special things--adapted to survive the parched baking summer days and bitter freezing winter nights. Nevertheless, two jobless, penniless migrants with a house cat would not last long out here where vigilant Highway Patrolmen , desperate illegal aliens, and ruthless highwaymen roamed the lonely ribbon of highway like buzzards.
Heat waves continued to rise from the blacktop. The road into the sun appeared to bubble and boil in the searing heat. The tires bowed out, almost flat, under the tremendous load Edgar had packed into the car and into the car top carrier. Edgar fully expected to have a blowout before they ever reached the borderlands.
☼
There had been no good reason to stop early. The more miles they put between Quail Canyon Yuma sat right on the border between Arizona , California , Baja California , and Sonora
☼
The sun sank visibly, now. On-coming traffic began to show their headlights.
A Highway Patrolman in the on-coming traffic turned on his red and blue blinkers. He crossed the wide median and came up behind them.
Natasha grabbed her vodka bottle and tried to think where she could hide it. “Is he after us?”
Edgar carefully watched his sped and tried to will the overloaded car to become small and insignificant.
☼
As the sun sank out of sight, Edgar spotted the Wellton off-ramp.
☼
They found a pizza parlor in the fading light. They ordered a medium pepperoni with anchovies and a mug of beer.
While they waited, they could not help noticing the teenagers in the window booth. An adult male chaperoned the group, They were conducting a student government meeting. Both Natasha and Edgar took in the proceedings with interest. Neither of them had ever participated in student government.
The adult counselor was full of himself--even before finishing the pizza. He guided the student council members through ‘their’ first meeting. He suggested one proposal after another. The student council members, so excited to have been chosen to represent their classmates, giddily approved every proposal the counselor suggested. He received carte blanche treatment.
Natasha, “Do you suppose all ‘student’ governments operate this way?”
Edgar, “I think all governments and businesses are dictatorships. Woe to he or she who questions authority.”
☼
In Yuma, where US-95 intersected I-8, they found a Regal 8 Motel. They hoped the dark desert night would conceal the cat carrier. Edgar obtained a west-facing room, around the corner, but not far enough, from the office. They moved their necessaries to the room. Edgar bought a few Cokes.
When there was a lull in activity outside the room, Edgar retrieved crying Kermit and his box.
Kermit spent the night in the bathroom with food and water.
They lay in bed. The events of the day sank in. There was no going back.
Natasha, “What if they stop us at the California
Edgar, “They have no reason to.”
Natasha, “What if they don’t let us take all this stuff into Mexico?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where we gonna cross?”
“Tecate!”
“I never heard of it!”
“It’s a quiet little border town I discovered in 1960.”
“Where do we turn off?”
“Boulevard!”
“Boulevard what?”
“Have a drink, It’ll help you to sleep.”
☼
Just before turning out the light, Edgar saw the sticker on the mirror: “NO PETS.”
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