Part Two: Road Trip

Note #10

When we get back to Louise’s she is sitting at the table in her ridiculously small kitchen. She’s got a bunch of pills laid out, lined up in front of her.

“Hey boys...,” she greets us. “Time for me to take my medication. I got all kinds uh stuff here. This one,” she points to a yellow tablet, “is for my blood pressure... And this is a blood thinner. This one is for my irregular heartbeat... This one is for the swelling in my feet.” She now picks up a bottle from the table and starts shaking it. “These help me sleep at night... Boy, do I have some crazy dreams when I take that stuff! And this orange pill here is supposed’ta keep me from thinkin’ too much about when yer Grandma Sturm died. And this big white one, it’s called Remerant. If I don’t take it along with this one here,” she points to a tiny pinkish colored pill, “my doctor says they might have to put me in a special home... He prescribed those after I told him that sometimes when I’m drivin’ out Acorn Parkway towards Apple Avenue, that there’s this big oak tree next to the road. And sometimes I just feel like revvin’ that Chevy of mine up and runnin’ straight inta that tree.”

“We...ahh..., wouldn’t want ya ta do that,” I respond awkwardly.

“Well..., sometimes a person just wants ta know what it’d be like ta smash into a tree and then go flyin’ through the windshield.”

“Shi-it,” Jenkins almost whispers heading into the living room that is directly next to the kitchen.

I join Jenkins, sit down and turn the T.V. on. I hear Louise going on about something in the kitchen. It’s not too clear, but I can make out that she is grumbling what sounds like, “...bastard Ohio State Buckeyes... Big Ten Conference big-wigs, damned cheats... Wolverines won that game.”


Photo by CirrosisAguda