Chapter 6

We all took a shower and for the first time in a long time, we slept naked and didn’t even make love.

As much as I like making love to each of them, and as much fun as we have fucking like wild animals, I like sleeping naked next to the ones I love, just as much.

Bobby and I woke up as the sun shone through the east window. He and I both drank a cup of coffee from the small pot in the room as we sat on the balcony overlooking the river a few blocks away.

Maren came out a few minutes later, with a cup and hugged Bobby; then sat naked across my lap.

We sipped our coffee in the warm morning air that carried the smell of the sea, the river and the ever lingering smell of a two hundred year old city.

La Nouvelle-Orléans, as the French named it in 1718; after Phillipe II, Duke of Orleans.

Some of the richest history in America lies in this city, built below sea level; it also harbors some of the seediest history as well.

“Maren, Bobby and I are going down to check the bus out, we’ll met you and the others in the dining room in an hour or so, take your time, we’re in no hurry.” I said as she lay her head on my shoulder.

When she stood up, she sat right back down, across Bobby’s legs now, and they cuddled for a few minutes while I was pulling on my clean shorts and shirt.

I was dressed when they came in from the balcony, grinning at some closely shared secret or joke.

As I looked at them, I couldn’t help the swelling of pride inside my chest. I love Bobby as much as if he sprouted from my own seed, and Maren was the most perfect fit for a teacher and traveling companion we could have possibly found in a lifetime.

Bobby was dressed in a flash, he could dress or undress as fast as anyone I had ever seen.

“Murphy, where are we headed now, you got a place in mind or are we just going to go until we see a place we like.?

“I think we will just go west on I-10 until we find a place we think looks like fun and stop to check it out, what do you think?”

“I’m with you, I just love this shit, don’t you?” He said, and I had to laugh out loud, he looked at me and laughed too.

We checked the bus from front to back, the tow dolly and the little Subaru were faring well from being dragged all up and down the coast and into the city of New Orleans.

“Hey Beautiful Ladies, may we join you for breakfast?” I said as we walked in the dining room to find Meghan, Maren and Kelly sitting at a table, laughing and talking as if they had been up for hours.

It seems we had started a tradition, one that we kept up for years. When Bobby and I, or either of us alone, for that matter, walks into a room where these three were, they all stand and we each kiss and hug.

We were a close family now, sharing the love of our bodies and our hearts.

The same parking attendant that was here yesterday; was on duty and I slipped him a ten.

“Yas’suh Boss Man, y’all jus’ swang that big wagon ‘round heah and I’ll be watchin out for y’all.

“Ride easy on down th’ road and y’all come on back to see us sometime, ya’ heah.”

He stopped traffic both ways as we pulled out wide into the street and headed back over to Canal Street.

Soon we were on I-10B, and on our way out of downtown New Orleans.

“Where are we headed now Murphy?” Meghan asked as she sat beside me in the little buddy seat.

“I thought we would stay on I-10 all the way to San Antonio, maybe drive out to see The Alamo tomorrow and then swing down to Corpus Christi for a day. That sound alright with you?”

“That sounds great, hey Bobby, we’re going to the Alamo tomorrow.” She yelled back to where Bobby and Maren were heads down in their books and laptops.

“WoooooHooooo,” He yelled from the back.

Meghan got her laptop fired up and looked at the map to see where we were going and how to get there.

“It’s 544 miles and a little over eight hours to San Antonio from New Orleans, but I’m sure you will shave some off that.” She smiled and smooched me a kiss with her lips.

The speed limit in Louisiana is 70 mph on the interstate, but the traffic was eating us up, so I kicked it up to 78 and we stayed right with them.

A few minutes before 1:00, we crossed into Texas. Not bad, four hours from downtown New Orleans, I thought.

“Murphy, when we get through Beaumont, pull over and let me drive some.” Kelly said

“Kelly, are you sure, we’ll only be a few miles form Houston when we get to Beaumont.”

“OH DANG, then after we get through Houston, I’ll drive, I sure don’t want to be driving when we get to Houston.” Kelly laughed.

The speed limit in Texas is 75 and I kicked it on up to 80 like all the other mad drivers. The traffic on I-10 through the middle of Houston wasn’t bad, we caught it at the right time of the day, or we could have been there for a day.

I saw a sign that said Katy, TX, twenty-five miles, and figured that was as good a place as any to stop and let Kelly drive some. We would have basically an open road with no major cities until San Antonio, and she could get some good experience driving.

I took the second Katy exit, and hit a service road parallel to I-10, and stopped at a small mini-mall, with a large parking lot. I saw signs ahead that led back to I-10, and knew Kelly would be fine getting back into traffic again.

“Kelly, this is as simple as driving your car; it’s just bigger, the transmission is automatic, so there’s no shifting. Remember, that we have the Subaru behind us, and you’ll have to allow plenty of room when you pass.”

I showed her where the parking brake was, and how to release it, I cautioned her, about applying the brakes too hard, to keep us all from sitting in her lap, when she got stopped.

“OK, I’m ready, ALL ABOARD!” Kelly yelled, and laughed, as she released the brakes, and eased the bus slowly back out onto the service road.

I was sitting beside Kelly, watching as she drove; not really paying attention to the road, as much as I was her.

She slammed on the brakes, and nearly threw me out of my seat.

“What happened, Kelly?” I asked, as she reached across me, and hit the lever that opened the door.

I looked down to see a young girl, carrying a cardboard sign with: ‘San Antonio, PLEASE!’ written on it. She was carrying a large duffel bag, and I took it, as she started up the steps. She was dressed in a pair of cut off jeans, and a t-shirt, just as we were.

“Hop in here, and make yourself at home, Honey, we’ll be in San Antonio before dark,” Kelly said, as she smiled at the girl.

“Hey, thanks, I’ve been out here since before noon, and no one would stop. I am Gabriella Sanchez, my friends call me Gabby,” the girl said with a pretty smile.

I moved over to let her by, and Meghan grabbed her, and pulled her down onto the seat next to her, ‘here we go’, I thought, as Kelly closed the door, and hammered the bus. She wheeled back into traffic, and was soon passing all but the fastest of the big rigs.

I looked at the dash clock, and it was now 4:00 p.m., we’d be in San Antonio before 7:00 with ease, the way Kelly was handling the bus.

I sat beside Kelly, and listened as Gabby and Meghan talked. Soon, Meghan had her talking as if they were old friends, just as I knew she would.

She was on her way to live with her older sister. Their Mom had died two months before, and she had stayed to get her estate taken care of. Her Mom wanted to be cremated, and she had her ashes in a sealed urn in her duffel bag.

I looked back, and Gabby looked up at me, and smiled; she had long straight black hair, pulled back, and tied with a red scarf. She must have Mexican in her ancestry, she was darker than we were, and her eyes were almost black, as I looked at her.

Her eyes flashed from one point to another, as she looked around the bus, and at each of us.

I heard her tell Meghan she had graduated from high school last spring, and was hoping to find a good job in San Antonio so she could help her sister take care of her two small kids.

This sounded like another sob story, and I instantly threw up the defenses, as well as the fences.

Gabby told Meghan that her sister’s husband was in Iraq, and was serving his second tour. He was scheduled to be home in December. This all sounded alright, and I lowered the defenses; just a little.

I looked back, to see Bobby eyeing the girl, he looked her over carefully, and I watched, as their eyes met for a few seconds, Bobby smiled a slight smile, and nodded at her, he then went right back to his laptop, as he sat next to Maren.

“Aren’t you afraid to travel alone like this, with all the crazy people running around these days?” Meghan asked her.

“Yes, but I didn’t have the money to buy a bus ticket, so I had no choice. I caught a ride with a man in a pickup before I got out of Houston, and he started in on me about sex, as soon as we started out on the four lane; I pulled my knife, and told him I would cut his dick off, if he messed with me.” Gabby said, and pulled her knife out from under her t-shirt, where she had it stuffed inside the waist of her shorts.

The knife was short, with a small handle, and a double edged blade.

I looked at Meghan, at the same time she looked at me.

“Gabby, would you mind if I put your knife in your duffel bag, as long as you are here on the bus with us? Not that we don’t trust you, but just so you, and all of us, will know there is no need for weapons, as long as you ride with us.” I told her.

“Sure, I didn’t mean for you to think I was a bad person when I showed it to you, I just wanted to get it out of my shorts.” She said, with a smile, and handed me the knife, handle first.

“When is your sister expecting you, Gabby?” Meghan asked.

“She doesn’t even know I’m coming; I told her I may stay with Uncle Carl and Aunt Iris, and try to find a job there; but after a week of him trying to get in bed with me at night, I decided I’d just take my chances on the road. That’s when I took the knife out of the drawer in his gun cabinet, and hid it in my duffel bag.”

“Do you have your sister’s phone number?” Meghan asked, I knew she was still trying to find out if the girl could be trusted, and if her story was true.

“No, but her name is Valeria Shuman, and I know what street she lives on, I can find her when I get there.”

“What’s her husband’s name, I’ll look her up for you, and get her phone number; we can call her, and let her know you’re coming. Murphy said we would be there before dark today.”

“His name is Stephen, Stephen J. Shuman. I remember seeing his name in the paper, when he was wounded on his first tour of duty. Valeria sent Mom a newspaper clipping with his picture, telling about him.”

Meghan grabbed her laptop, and tried to get a connection, but we were too far out in the country now, for her wireless card to work.

She took the cell phone, and dialed the operator. After pushing buttons forever, she had a live operator, and started asking for information on the names Gabby had given her.

It took her a good five minutes, but she had the right one, with the address on the street Gabby had said her sister lived on.

Meghan dialed the number herself, and listened for a long time.

“Here, we got her voice mail; tell her you will be there tonight.”

“Val, this is Gabby, I am on my way to see you, I will be there late today, I love you. I am riding with the best people in the world; see you soon.” Gabby was crying now. I mean, she was sobbing as her whole body shook with her sobs, and she was heaving, until I thought she was going to either vomit, or hyperventilate.