We're Off

I was going to go West.  That was the only thing I knew and it was the only thing I wanted to know.  I practically ran home across the city.  I almost got hit by 10 cars, but my mind was in a trance.  I didn’t care about anything but getting in the car and going.  I didn’t want to bring a map, or even look at one, this was going to be a trip done entirely spontaneously.  I knew that I could just follow signs towards points of interest, and that I eventually wanted to end up in San Francisco crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.  That was it.

            I was about to get in my old car that my parents gave me for my 18^th birthday when I realized something.  Who goes on a cross-country trip, especially without a plan, by themselves?  I had friends, right?  Besides, someone needed to be the DJ.  I called my friend Ethan, who didn’t have a job right now either.  He picked up after the second ring.

            “Yo” 

            “Hey bro, what are you doing this week?”

            “Like nothing I guess, I was planning on going to the gym. Once.  Eventually. Don’t judge me.”

            “As fun as that sounds, I’m driving cross-country. Wanna come?”

            “Wait what?  Do you have a plan? This is kind out of the fucking blue…”

            I told him I just decided to go West and what Sal had told me. 

            “I don’t know, I just guess I need to do something…” I continued.

            “I’m in.  Let’s do this”.

            After throwing the only clean clothes I had left in a duffel bag, bringing my phone charger, and quickly texting my parents explaining I hadn’t died, I got into the car and ran five red lights on my way to pick up Ethan.  It was such a relief to finally get on the Road.   He got in and after our customary dap, we were off.  We didn’t say anything.  We looked straight ahead, almost petrified of the excitement that lay ahead on the open road. 

            It took some time to leave the hubbub of New York.  The skyscrapers lingered in the distance as we drove through the industrial wasteland of Hoboken.  Finally, I looked in the rear view mirror and New York was gone.   I looked at Ethan, and we both knew—there was no going back. 

            After driving for three hours through the entirety of suburbia New Jersey and the beginnings of Pennsylvania, we stopped in a little town called Milton and looked for a place to get a bite to eat and coffee.    We stopped in a little shop called Lisa’s Milltown Deli and sat down at the counter.  There was a nicely dressed guy sitting a couple of seats down from us and he looked out of place.  The rest of the people sitting in the place were in working clothes and looked like they could be extras from a movie about small town America.  We nodded at each other and he asked us where are we from, because we didn’t look like we belong either. 

            “We’re actually going cross-country, we just graduated college and we’re from New York City.”

            “ REALLY!” His face lit up.  “I’m actually a professor.”  He said this with such gusto, he thinks we will automatically connect because we went to college.

            “Oh, very nice.” Ethan said, in a way in he assumes will end the conversation.  Our coffee and turkey sandwiches arrived and we quickly look down at them.

            “Now, let me ask you guys a question? What do you think of Russia?  What do you think of Putin?” 

            I looked at him kind of shocked, and return the question.

            “I’m actually a big fan of Russia, I think it is what this country needs.  I’m actually going to give a talk about this around the Midwest to various communities” 

            We get into a long discussion about Russia and the authoritarian views within the country.  Eventually we just almost ignore him, we don’t agree with what he says, and he is starting to attract unwanted attention around the shop. 

            “I need to get on my way, but it was nice meeting you.  Give Russia a chance!”  He finally leaves the Deli and we breathe a sigh of relief.  There was something unsettling about this small town.  Nothing seemed to change, even the people in the shop.  They never left.  We quickly got in our car and got back on I-80.  Ethan was driving and we were trying to get to Cleveland, our first stop before midnight.  What a relief to be on the road.  We were finally free from everything and nothing could stop us.