Andrea Millhouse Pt. 04

_________ 6 __________

I was vaguely aware of distant engine noise and Andrea's presence as she began moving around in the darkness, shaking the mattress as she did so. Suddenly, high pitched air horns ripped through the stillness of the night as several massive diesels thundered closely by, shaking Long Grey Cloud and rocking the mattress which Andrea and I had been asleep on. We were both jarred out of sound sleep with the loud, unexpected noise and suddenly disorientated by the unfamiliar interior of Long Grey Cloud's sleeper.

Andrea was now pressed tightly against me in panic as she sat bolt upright with her hand braced against the rear padded wall of the sleeper, as we both tried to remember exactly where we were. Finally she ran a hand through her hair as recollection of last night's journey and the unfamiliar remembrance of Long Grey Cloud's, sleeper interior, dawned on us both.

Andrea then lay back beside me with her hand and head on my chest while we listened to the clickity-clack of steel train wheels and the now distant air horns as they continued to shriek periodically into the black of night. Rain was now pelting the roof of the sleeper and the faint smells of creosote and diesel fumes could now be detected through the open air vents which were located within the sleeper doors of Long Grey Cloud.

I gently rubbed Andrea's bottom with a reassuring hand, the sudden awakening had startled her and she was trembling.

"Just a train, honey, it's alright." I said reassuringly as we listened to the steel wheels rolling past. Andrea silently nodded an affirmation, with her head on my chest.

As my own heart rate began to slow down from the train's abrupt awakening, I rubbed my forehead and remembered Brenda's text message from last night. "The party has been postponed for one day. Love you. See you soon!" the message had read, I recalled. When Andrea and I had stopped for the night, early this morning, I had checked my phone and noticed the text message just before going to sleep.

I suddenly began thinking critically now.

Andrea and I were pretty well self-contained within the sleeper. We had food and water aboard Long Grey Cloud and I had a five gallon bucket with kitty-liners set up for when we needed to go potty. We also had a snug-fitting plastic cover for the bucket to prevent any foul odors or spills upon the bucket being tipped over. We had Handi-Towels for sponge bathing and there was also a large dumpster located in the rest area that we were currently parked in.

We could dump all of our trash when we started out again ...but it wouldn't be today, I suddenly decided adamantly. Andrea and I were going to sleep throughout the entire day. Today was going to be OUR day and no one else was going to own any part of it, not the mortgage company for the condo, not Hans, Coy Hearth, nor anyone else...

Pusher diesels suddenly roared past Long Grey Cloud, these were engines located mid-way within the train. The mattress continued shaking.

...I had just completed another long construction season in Alaska, my thirty sixth. Everything had been about production, deadlines, time and money. When I hadn't been working, this summer, I'd been vigorously bicycling and I had logged almost two thousand miles on the recumbent with this summer and fall combined. I had pushed myself hard, in every area of my life, work and play.

I'd also met Andrea's family recently and although I had enjoyed the visit, it had been somewhat stressful for all of us to actually meet, for the first time. I'd also dealt with more of the emotional significance of the photo shop in Vegas, with regard to Mom's photos.

I'd spent a lot of time at airports and inside jet-liners for the last few weeks too. I'd been going someplace all the time; it seemed like, and always at full-tilt speed. I'd also had the procedure done to my lower eyelids and been to the dentist's office.

I was now completely drained and exhausted from everything, I'd given my all. I suddenly didn't give a flying fuck about anything except cuddling with Andrea and listening to the rain and wind outside the sleeper of Long Grey Cloud.

We weren't going ANYPLACE today. Far-off thunder now rumbled, seemingly in agreement to my decision as I pulled Andrea closer to me. I felt the refreshing wind with its scent of rain coming through the air vents of the sleeper and Andrea's warm silky smoothness next to me.

"What time are we going to start, this morning?" Andrea now asked.

I closed my eyes again now and continued rubbing Andrea's curvy bottom.

Outside, a railcar suddenly rolled past us with the familiar click, click, click of a steel wheel with a flat spot. There were also heavy clunking sounds and occasional squeaks from the passing freight train as it rolled onward through the stormy night. The mattress continued to jiggle and I could smell axle grease from the train's hot-boxes now...

"Brenda's party has been postponed for one day. We're not moving an inch today. Today is OUR day, honey" I said with a sleepy finality.

"OK with me" she replied contentedly.

Andrea then kissed my cheek and began slowly caressing my chest; she was beginning to calm down from the train's abrupt awakening now.

I hadn't been aware of parking so close to railroad tracks last night but the tracks obviously ran parallel to the rest area that we were currently parked in, it suddenly occurred to me. The last of the railcars flew by and the shaking of Long Grey Cloud suddenly stopped.

The train had now passed.

The wind and patter of rain on the sleeper roof was a steady, tranquil sound, inviting sleep. Andrea and I could also hear the swishing sound of rubber tires on wet asphalt periodically as vehicles travelling upon the distant freeway drove past.

Holding Andrea close, I then drifted into a deep dreamless sleep. I was vaguely aware of more trains rolling past and a few semi trucks occasionally coming into the rest area with the sound of Jake-Brakes and then leaving again a few minutes later, with engine and gear shifting sounds from straight-open exhaust pipes. I heard the muffled periodic sounds of car doors slamming, small barking dogs and faint voices on occasion from people making brief stops into the rest area.

At one point I even subconsciously detected the scent of freshly brewed coffee; coming through the open air vents of the sleeper. The coffee scent probably coming from a closely-passing R.V. that was leaving the rest area and enroute back to the freeway.

During my sleep I sensed the passing of day into night again. I heard my phone quietly ping a few times, alerting me of text messages and I also sensed that Andrea had left and returned, twice, for a few hours each time.

She had probably taken in a few brief walks, wearing her light rain-gear and taking photos while talking with other people within the rest area. ...Where will destiny lead Andrea Millhouse and me? I suddenly wondered. Is she "the one" which I was meant for? Mom would have known the answer...

I thought of Andrea's gorgeous eyes, warm smile and the sound of her laughter, the innocent laughter of the little girl that lived inside Andrea.

In thinking of Andrea now, our own individual strengths and weaknesses became apparent. I thought of how we seemed to overlap each other and fill the other's voids.

...I then drifted off to far away sleep again as I felt her slide beside me once more in the darkened sleeper. Within the deep night, the sound of wind and rain against the sides of Long Grey Cloud could be heard. Gusts of wind would occasionally rock the truck gently as I held Andrea close to me. Deep in sleep, I suddenly wondered what had ever become of the large black and white Panda Teddy Bear that Mom had held in the photo? the photo of her and Rick Sheffield, at the carnival that day.

...Maybe one of the neighborhood kids in Stony Brook had received the Panda Teddy Bear as a gift. That would be, just like Mom, I suddenly thought. During her time as a school teacher, Mom had kept every single one of the hand drawn pictures and notes, given to her by admiring students throughout the years.

There were hundreds of handmade cards and letters from admiring school children given to Mom throughout the years. The girls had wanted to be just like Mom and there were also dozens of love letters from wide-eyed school boys with crushes on Mom. ...Mom had loved every single one of her adoring pupils. All of these cards and notes were contained within a large cardboard box, now at Ricky's trailer. Some of those cards and letters were close to seventy years old now.

Who was the little girl, surrounded by her friends and Mom in the birthday party photo?

I then thought of the house in Stony Brook and the opening of Mom's safe-deposit box and the reading of her last Will and testament when Ricky, Brenda and me had all been present at the attorney's office. The State of Washington had given Mom eighty five thousand dollars for the house and property in Stony Brook- slightly above fair market value.

The State had also granted her ten thousand dollars in moving expenses, comparable within the State of Washington. This had been done for all Stony Brook residents upon the reclamation act of the antiquated neighborhood. The moving expenses which Mom had received had never been used, so it had stayed within her bank account, untouched.

There had also been one hundred and twenty one thousand dollars in Mom's savings account upon her passing, this made for two hundred sixteen thousand dollars, total, for her net worth and assets.

Ricky and I had both received seventy two thousand dollars, exactly one third of Mom's net worth for each of us. According to her Last Will and testament, one third of Mom's net worth had gone to "Education." Mom had been a teacher so this made sense.

Neither Ricky nor I had really needed the money that Mom had left for us but we had been honored by her final gift to us, within this life. It had taken Mom an entire lifetime to acquire her savings and home equity through hard work and integrity. I suddenly wondered what part of "Education" Mom had donated to; the Will had been extremely vague in this regard.

Thunder struck afar and the strength of the storm outside the sleeper increased with a howling wind and steady drizzle of pelting rain on the sleeper roof. I thought again of the little green house in Stony Brook which Ricky and I had grown-up in, with Mom.

In my mind's eye I entered into the house with the scent of spring flowers immediately descending upon me. I slowly walked through each of the individual rooms of the house and up the stairs whereupon I found Mom at her antique vanity and arranging a bouquet of flowers...

I suddenly wished that I'd been more nostalgic in preserving some of the small and seemingly insignificant items which, I know, had been bulldozed-under by the demolition crew. How could someone demolish a place like Stony Brook?

I thought of Mom's jewelry box and her small antique vanity. Both of which were now in Andrea's own personal possession and within her Laughlin condo, this I was thankful for.

Deep sleep now again took me, as I held Andrea. With my current fatigue and the deep state of sleep which I was currently in, I somehow seemed able to view my life as if I were a second person - looking on, at myself. I began reviewing the milestones of my life, high and low with an unbiased objectivity now. I saw where I had been selfish within my marriage to Susan and where I had also shown brightly.

I reviewed certain mistakes of my life and the times in which I had been afraid. I saw the things which I had done right and the people and animals that I had helped; I saw my own deficits and my own strengths. The one constant throughout the entire experience, I suddenly realized, had been Mom.

...My God, it's been more than FIFTY years since the carnival photos of Mom and Rick Sheffield were taken - half a century, I suddenly thought. ...Where do all the "yesterdays" actually go to? , I now wondered... I'll bet Andrea knows, she's smart, I'll ask her. Maybe the two hippy chicks in Winter Hopewell know the answer; I'll ask them ...where have all the flowers gone? ...long time passing...

Are we really in the hands of the Good Carpenter, as Mom had always claimed? There must be a logical answer "...but life, love and human beings aren't logical, silly" Mom was saying to me now and smiling. ...Mom and Aunt Elsie are in the garden again and waving to me, I see...

Suddenly I was holding Mom again and looking down into her eyes. "Tomorrow your heart will lead you to Asia and it will be a happy day. Now it's time for Long Grey Cloud to rest, Cowboy." Mom said, caressing my face as she kissed me.

I slept.

___________ 7 ____________

I awoke to the sound of Andrea's laughter as she lay on top of me, she was using her headphones and on the phone. Sunlight was coming into the sleeper through the air vents now and the smell of freshly cut grass was present. My God, she's beautiful, I thought.

"...Any government agency in existence loses money, you know that. Hell, politicians could lose money running a whorehouse with a liquor license, for God's sake"

"...I 'm not surprised"

"that was a heavy movie, Hans"

"my sister Gail's house"

"...thank God for that"

"yeah and that's bullshit..."

"no, I don't think it'll be an issue, Hans, Lisa can help you and ..."

"...I'll get some coffee into him and we should be good to go..."

Andrea leaned down and kissed me.

"yeah, he slept, for thirty hours..."

"...you can get it at the health food place, there in Bullhead"

I wiggled out from under Andrea and stood as I began filling an empty orange juice container. After I had finished this, I screwed the plastic lid tightly back onto the jug and I sat down on the sleeper bunk.

Using a Handi-Towel now, I began scrubbing my face and neck as Andrea continued talking to Hans, obviously. Man, had I been out of it, I suddenly thought. Andrea had just mentioned to Hans, over the phone, that I had slept for thirty hours. Picking up my phone I saw the text messages Hans had left me. There was also one from Brenda, I noticed.

I set the phone down again as Andrea began scrubbing my back and shoulders with another Handi-Towel while she continued talking to Hans.

"Yes, we love bicycling that trail, its thirteen miles to the..."

"Oh, I didn't know that!"

"She's adorable, Hans. We always stop and yak with her, in fact we..."

"I didn't know that either"

I picked up my own phone again and began looking at my text messages. I had two from Hans which I didn't bother to read since Andrea was currently talking to him at the moment. There was a text from Emma Zimmerman that simply read "Have a GREAT time!! I'll watch things on this end for you XOXO!" I also noticed that I had finally received a text from Ollie Parker which read "Hi Tim, meant to text you back sooner but we've been busy and I knew you were working a lot. In Wyoming with Jack, at his brother's farm. Talk with you soon!" there was also a smiley face emoticon along with the text.

Ollie had shared a very close friendship with Mom, spanning over the course of several decades. They'd both been teachers and shared a lot in common with each other. I knew in my gut, that Ollie was avoiding me. She had probably gotten wind of the photographs, discovered at Mom's house last year, and didn't want to get involved because it might become somewhat emotional for her. I could understand this.

I also knew that Ollie was a very politically correct person that concerned herself about, what other people think, which was fine. Ollie was, literally, the type of person that would lose sleep over the neighbor's opinion of her lawn or choice of dog food.

I didn't judge Ollie or Jack, for that matter and I considered them as good friends, not close friends but good friends. We'd been next door neighbors with Jack and Ollie for over forty years, in Stony Brook, and I genuinely cared about them. They were good, decent people. Yet I don't think Ollie could handle talking about Mom's love affair and child birth with Rick Sheffield which, in my heart, I knew Mom had confided in her.

I ran a hand through my hair, I really hadn't expected to get anywhere with Ollie in regard to Mom and Rick Sheffield but it would have been nice if Ollie could have just sat down with me and been straight-up. I texted Ollie back and told her to have a great time on her trip.

Andrea suddenly gut-laughed as she lay on the mattress, holding her phone, the sound of her cynical chuckling was echoing within the walls of the sleeper now. She had the crook of her right elbow over her eyes and she was shaking with laughter.

Obviously Andrea and Hans were still talking politics and they weren't being very nice from the sound of it. Hans had a way with words that's for sure, I thought. I smiled and shook my head as I pulled on my tank-top and continued listening to Andrea's one sided conversation.

"...that is the DUMBEST sonofabitch that ever ran for office..."

"I couldn't tell you, Hans, I don't know the answer to that either"

"yes"

"don't ask me, how the hell would I know?..."

"...We'll probably spend a day or two in Seattle ...that's my understanding"

"his brother's place"

"He's up now so we should be good to go..."

"...I will...ok talk soon, Bye" Andrea clicked-off and removed her headphones.

"Hans says hello." Andrea said

"Has he left Arizona yet?" I asked

"Probably Monday, he thinks." Andrea replied, sitting up.

Andrea began putting on her bra and said "Emma Zimmerman is Heather's aunt, Hot-dog, Heather."

"Hans told you that? ...wow." I said.

"Yup, Heather's aunt" Andrea quipped.

"I slept for thirty hours?" I asked incredulously

"...We got here at three AM, Wednesday night -Thursday morning. Its nine o clock AM - Friday, now ...yes thirty hours. You were OUT, cowboy." Andrea said with finality, looking at her watch and recalculating the amount of time that I'd slept.

"I love sleeping in a truck when there's a storm outside." I replied nostalgically.

"So do I! It's sunny out there now though!" Andrea said, as she began reaching for her panties...

Andrea suddenly stopped what she was doing momentarily; she then quickly removed her bra again and began dragging me toward her as she started sliding off my shirt again, now.

"...Once in a lifetime experience, I'm not missing this for the world, c'mon -- HURRY!" Andrea suddenly said.

"What...what's the rush, all of a sudden?" I asked, confused.

"THE TRAIN, its coming, HURRY!" Andrea said as she looked up at me and spread her legs and beckoning me to hurry.

I suddenly heard it then, a faint shrieking horn, warning of a distant oncoming freight train.

"This is HARDLY the time; I've got a truck to drive now, Andrea..." I said mockingly as I leaning down to her and began kissing her.

"C'mon foxxxx, LET'S GO!" Andrea now said with urgency and arching her hips upward toward me.

"We've got enough time, love, calm down" I said soothingly as we began rubbing against each other and French kissing.

"Oh my God, C'MON Tim!!" Andrea suddenly hissed through clenched teeth and closed eyes as the horn sounded again, only closer now.

"Toot -- toot, goes the little train" I said as we both broke out into hurried laughter and began to get down to business now...

She began caressing me in ways which no other woman had ever seemingly been able do. With Andrea, it was almost as if I had an on-off switch that she could flip at will. Andrea was an extremely skilled lover, I had discovered and she liked to fuck at the proverbial drop of a hat. Then again, maybe it was the literal, drop of a hat... I hadn't quite decided yet, I realized, with her tongue in my mouth again now.