Leaving Cowtown

My mind was racing. How was I going to get out of this? I'm not the kind of guy that goes back on his word. I'm also not one who hurts people's feelings. I had to decide if I really did invite her and if I did, could I live with the consequences? First things first. I decided I was not buying a half-a-million-dollar RV.

Okay, I thought, I would meet her that night, get a feel for where we were then tell her it would take me a month or two to get my company good and stable, and take care of some important paper work. That would at least buy me time to figure a way out, or settle my mind into the predicament I was in. Then the thought crossed my mind... Think of that pussy. Okay, I enjoy sex as much as the next guy, maybe a little more, but it doesn't control my life. Then I thought of Dana.

"Honey, if you're watching, I'm sorry. I wish you could tell me how to get out of this". I knew she could figure an out in under a minute. Maybe David? No, I'd be too embarrassed

Brooke and I met at the sports bar. I saw her turn into the parking lot right ahead of me. As I got out of my truck she was right there and gave me a big bear hug. Damn it, she's pushing those incredible tits into my chest. It was going to be a real test of my constitution to see me through this.

"Oh Dan, wait till you see what I brought."

As we entered, I looked around and I happily saw the place was almost empty. Brooke and I went to a booth and slid in.

"What did you bring?" I asked her.

"You know the text I sent you about buying an SUV? Well I picked up a couple of brochures for you to look at. My boss just bought a new RV and I know he paid $400,000 for it. You could buy a luxury SUV, and pay for the rest of the trip for half that amount."

"I don't know Brooke, you know this trip has been in the plans for years now and I would hate to..."

Brooke interrupted. "I know Dan, and I know that you and Dana really had your hearts set on an RV, but I was just trying to save you some money".'

"Okay, let me think it over. Let's look at your brochures."

Brooke eagerly handed me the brochures and said, "Dan, I knew you would want luxury, so I got Mercedes, Porsche, Lexus, Infinity and Cadillac. I like Beamers, but they don't make one big enough. I kind of like the Benz, how about you?"

I said, "Just for size, I think I like the Infinity."

" Yeah, that one is nice, too"

"Tell you what, Dan, why don't you just pick one and surprise me. Now would you like to go back to my place for a beer and some hot tub?"

"Well Brooke, that's an offer that is hard to turn down, but I do have some business I need to take care of."

"This evening, then? If you knew how wet and steamy I got just thinking about us on this adventure. Us making love in the mountains, on the beach."

"I'm sorry Brooke, but I have to make sure we have plenty of money for our adventure."

Brooke smiled.. "Ooh, then by all means, go get us some money. And if you're not too late, come by for a midnight snack."

"Sounds so tempting, but don't wait up."

I had to make a hasty exit. I saw my opportunity and I planned to pounce. The dealerships were open for another two hours. Before I was out of the parking lot, I had David on the phone. I confessed my predicament and begged for advice.

The next day, Brooke called a couple of times, but I let it go to voicemail. She left a message for me to call. I told her I would see her in her office parking lot after work, and asked her to wait for me. I waited until fifteen or twenty minutes after work, so the parking lot would be less full. I pulled in beside Brooke's car. She got out and just stood there with her mouth open.

"What is that?"

"It's the chariot for our adventure." I smiled

"I thought we decided on an SUV." She scowled

"I thought you said to surprise you."

"Well, I certainly am surprised! What are we going to do with our clothes? A Corvette won't even hold my overnight bag!"

"Oh, you'll be surprised by the luggage space."

"Oh, bullshit Dan! Surely you're not going to make me ride around the whole country for a year in that?"

"Brooke, I'm not making you do anything."

"Listen Dan, when you invited on your trip, I..."

By that point I was getting pissed.. "That's right Brooke, my trip. A trip that I've been planning for years. A trip that you manipulated yourself into, and then tried to make it your trip."

Brooke turned her back on me and stared at her car. I got into the brand new shiny yellow Corvette and pulled away. I hadn't gone three blocks and my phone rang. It was David.

"Can you talk?"

"David, sweet bro-in-law of mine. It went flawlessly. How did you figure the scenario so perfectly?"

"It's in the genes my good man. Inherited the art of negotiation and manipulation from a master."

"So David, is everything in order? Did we take care of everything today?"

"Yep Dan, anything else we need to do we can do by phone and fax. You have fun, brother! Take care, be safe, and check in regularly." He paused, then added, "How is Brooke?"

"Oh, I'm sure her head is spinning. The fireworks will start when she realizes that I'm gone."

So far, it had been a grueling day. I had picked up the new Corvette that I bought the night before, and got my company management moved over to David and Jen. My guys were going to go close up my house. I set it up with my bank so that I could do any kind of money transfers I might need. I got a week's worth of clothes packed and I was looking at Ft. Worth through my rearview mirror. "Dana baby, I hope you enjoy our trip," I said.

About that time my phone rang; it was Brooke. I let it go to voicemail. I waited and then listened.

"Dan, I don't want it to be like this. Please call me."

About fifteen minutes later, my phone rang again. Voicemail. "Dan I want to talk. If you're at home I'm coming over."

Thirty minutes later, another voicemail . "What's going on? Your house is all closed up. Dan I remember now, when you were talking to Bob Boatright at the sports bar. He asked about the yellow Corvette that you and Dana, were going to buy. I'm so sorry Dan, I think I understand now, please call...we can work this out."

Thirty minutes later, another voicemail. "FUCK YOU DAN, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU! I hope you and your dead wife have a wonderful vacation! FUCK YOU!"

That was the last time I heard from Brooke. What a shame! Perfect tits and perfect pussy. I crossed the Red River into Oklahoma and headed up I-35. I figured I would spend the night in Oklahoma City, then the next day, I would jump on I-40 and head West. I know this seems like the long way to go West from Ft. Worth, but when you don't know your destination, the route is kind of moot. The first thing that crossed my mind was, I've only seen the Grand Canyon from the air. I'd like to see it up close. Wonder what kind of stuff there is to do between here and there?

It was near midnight when I got to OKC and my butt was dragging. I couldn't believe how my life had changed in forty-eight hours. Finally going to David and Jen and explaining my predicament had been easier than I thought. In fact, David got quite a laugh out of it. He said,

"I warned you about Brooke. I told you to be extra careful."

"Yeah, you told me to be careful, but you never told me about how great she was in bed."

"Damn Dan, she must have honed those skills in California, because when I dated her in high school, it was like fucking a professional wrestler." Jen didn't hear that part.

As usual, David had mulled over the problem for about thirty seconds then said, "OK, here's what you do". He spit the plan out and it worked exactly like he had predicted. Even down to the dialog between Brooke and me. I knew I would miss having his expert counsel close at hand.

It was a bright new morning in Oklahoma. I felt more alive that morning than I had in almost two years. The day I learned of Dana's illness a dark cloud had enveloped me. I'd had a pile of bricks on my chest for so long, and I finally felt like I could breathe again. Since Dana's passing, every time I saw her in my mind, I saw her as she was being ravaged by cancer. That morning, when I awoke, my mind saw her as the strong fun, sexy woman I had married. I was happy again. When I walked out and the valet brought up my car, it was like I saw it for the first time.

"Wow! A beautiful yellow Corvette. Good call sweetheart!"

I don't even think I had listened to the radio yet. With all of the pain, sorrow and Brooke of the recent past shoved into a back corner of my consciousness, I was ready for an adventure.

I headed out of OKC with the sun at my back, and who knew how many miles ahead of me. What to do today? I had friends in Albuquerque that I hadn't seen in ten or twelve years. I thought I'd look them up for a short visit. It's only a seven or eight hour drive to Albuquerque.

Sandy had been on the golf team with Dana and we ran around together for several years before she and her husband Dick moved back to New Mexico where they were from. Dick sometimes had a bit of a drinking problem and could be a real dick if he was in a bad mood. More than once it had taken some real some work to keep his mouth from getting his ass kicked.

I stopped for a pee break at a rest stop about a hundred miles down the road...too much coffee. I googled white pages and gave Sandy and Dick a call. Sandy answered and didn't recognize my voice. When she realized who it was she squealed so loudly she nearly broke my eardrum. She said she and Dick had talked about us just a few days before and they wondered how we were doing. It hit me that they didn't know about Dana. I told her as calmly as I could, and she began to sob.

"Oh, Dan, I'm so sorry! We haven't been in touch with any of the old crowd in years."

I said, "Well, you're in touch with one of them now. Let me take you guys out to dinner tonight. I'm on a bit of a road trip to nowhere in particular, and I'll be in Albuquerque late this afternoon."

Sandy said, "Okay, but call later to make sure. Dick worked late last night and is still asleep".

As I headed back out on the road, I remembered one time when the girls were out of town for a golf tournament, and Dick and I had had a boy's night out. Dick had the name of a new nudie bar he wanted to check out. Now I'd been to a few places like this before; I had even took Dana to one once. But this place was unlike any nudie bar I had ever seen. It was like a road house outside of town and out of the jurisdiction of the local police. It was the most over the top, garish place I had ever seen. Colors, decorations, and furnishings so wild that you felt like you were stoned when you walked in. Besides the decorations, the first thing I noticed was that it was crowded. The next thing was that all of the women were beautiful. Usually, in these places, there are a few attractive and more than a few unattractive women, but I didn't see a dog in the place. And there seemed to be more than a few female patrons. Some girls were with guys and some with girls. The girls without guys were a lot more attentive to the dancers.

There were three or four stages, each with a different theme. The first one was psychedelic. It had black lights and lots of florescent posters and painting. The dancers wore glow makeup and something that seemed transparent but glowed none the less. It was strange seeing these super hot dancers with glowing nipples, lips, and pussies. They had writing all over them that were usually invitations to "fuck me, "lick me", or "enter here".

We moved to the second room and it was more sedate. Instead of dancing to sixties music, this one was more geared towards ballads and love songs. It was quieter and I saw a table that was empty, so Dick and I sat down. A girl came over almost immediately and took our order. She asked if we wanted any company, or if we saw anyone that we would like to have join us. I said no, and Dick added "maybe later."

After a few songs, Dick wanted us to explore the rest of the place. I looked around and realized if we lost our table, we would probably be standing for the rest of the night. I told him to go ahead and I'd keep our spot. I sat back, got comfortable and enjoyed the show. It was almost as entertaining to watch the old bald headed row, the guys sitting at the edge of the stage. They were forking over dollar bills left and right. Keep in mind this was back when almost everyone in Ft. Worth had money.

After about fifteen minutes, two women came by and asked if they could sit down. They couldn't find a table anywhere. I said sure, and explained that my friend was out wandering around. Once they sat down they paid me little attention. They were more into each other and the show on the stage.

A little later, I saw Dick with a woman on his arm walking into an area at the back of the room. It wasn't really closed off, but it had a heavy curtain that obscured your view. I pretty much knew what went on behind the curtain. After a few minutes had passed, a three-hundred-pound gorilla of a man brought Dick back to our table. The gorilla said,

"This asshole is leaving. You can stay or you can leave with him."

I saw that Dick had a little mouse coming up under his eye, I said, "Thanks, but I'll leave too."

Dick didn't want to talk about what happened except when he mumbled something like "I shoulda just kicked that gorilla's ass."

I was excited about seeing Sandy and Dick again. I drove on through the Texas panhandle and into New Mexico. The scenery was pretty barren and I thought to myself, This is such barren country but it has such beauty. Dana and I had traveled some, but we never drove, we always flew. When I was younger, about the only place we ever went was the Gulf Coast. It was just a nice drive down to Galveston, or on down to Corpus Christi. After Dana and I got together, we worked and didn't take vacations at first. Then, when we were more affluent, we flew everywhere.

I was making incredible time. The Corvette cruised at eighty-five, like floating on a cloud. I was going to make Albuquerque way earlier than expected. Around three in the afternoon, I was about thirty miles from Albuquerque when I saw a car on the side of the road. A young girl was standing beside her car and waving a hanky or Kleenex.

Damn. Well, I've got time, I thought and pulled up behind her car and got out. I could tell she had been crying.

"Are you okay?"

She gave me a weak smile and said, "Yeah, I'm oaky, but this piece of crap car stopped and it won't start."

I could smell a burned engine. That scorched oil smell is hard to miss. I laid my hand on the hood and it was barely warm. "How long have you been here?" I asked her.

That's when the tears started. "I don't know, three or four hours."

I got down to look under the car and I saw that it had dumped an entire crankcase full of oil on the ground. "When it stopped, did it just stop?"

"Yeah, it made a loud bang, then stopped." Now she was lightly sobbing. "I waited in my car for a Highway Patrol to come by but none did. I didn't know who to call so I just waited. I guess I messed with my phone too long and I ran the battery down, and then it wouldn't charge and I was getting scared."

I said, "I'm going into Albuquerque, and I can give you a lift. Is that where you were headed?"

She said "No, I was going to LA."

"Well, I'm afraid you aren't going to LA in that car. I'm no mechanic, but I'm sure that engine is toast. Oh, I'm Dan by the way. And don't worry, I'll make sure you get to Albuquerque safely," I said.

"Thank you, Dan, Nice to meet you, I'm Bo. And fuck that car! That's a sweet one you're driving."

"Thanks. I need to look, but I may be due for a new one. This one should have almost a thousand miles on it by now."

Bo grinned. "Damn, do you think it's safe to drive?"

"We'll just have to take a chance," I quipped. "Hope you don't have too much stuff."

"No, just one little suitcase."

Bo frowned. "What about this piece of junk? Can we just leave it here?"

"Well, we can't drive it, but we'll figure it out."

We got Bo's suitcase and still had plenty of room. I was traveling pretty light myself. We had gonr just a couple of miles when Bo said,

"I guess I'd better call my Mom and let her know what's going on. She'll be worried. Crap! I left my charger in my car. Do you have one?"

"Yeah, for an iPhone. Is that what yours is?

"No, mine's a Samsung. Crap, crap, crap!"

"That's okay. Here use my phone."

She said, "I'm not sure I remember the number. I usually just hit 'Mom'."

I laughed. "Do your best."

Bo finally got through to her mother on about the 5th try.

"Mom? Mom? It's s Bo, Yeah it's someone else's phone. Listen, I just didn't want you to worry. The car broke down on the highway. Yeah, a guy picked me up. We're almost to Albuquerque. No, Nn, I don't think he's a rapist. He seems like a nice guy, at least he picked me up. No, it was Jerry's car. Yeah, well fuck Jerry! I know you told me mom. Let's talk about that later. I'll call after we get to Albuquerque. And Mom, I may need you to send me some money. I don't know how this will all pan out. Yes, Mom, here he is." She handed the phone to me. "My mom wants to talk to you."

I said, "Hello?"

I heard, "Yes, hello, this is Bonnie's mom." "First, thank you for helping her. And if you don't mind, just to ease my mind, what is your name?"

"Hi Bonnie's Mom." Bo made a gag face. "My name is Dan Wyatt, and I'm from Ft. Worth. I'm a retired Captain in The Ft. Worth Fire Department. I'll give Bo, er, Bonnie my driver's license so she can substantiate what I've said."

I got out my billfold and showed Bo my driver license.

"Yes, Mom. He also has a Fire Department ID. Okay, here he is again."

"Hi Bonnie's Mom, " I said again.

"Hi Mr. Wyatt. Again, thank you for helping. And if you should be out any expenses, I'll reimburse you. Oh, and my name is Autumn Summers. Tell Bonnie to call as soon as she can."

I hung up and had to laugh about the faces Bo made. "So, Bonnie, what do think you want to do?"

"Please Dan, it's Bo."

"Okay, seriously, Bo, what do you want to do?" When she hesitated, I said, "First, let me tell you what I've got going so you can decide. I'm on a vacation to nowhere. I'm just seeing the country. I have friends in Albuquerque that I am going to have dinner with this evening, then I'm heading out in the morning."

Bo got tears in her eyes again. "I'm sorry Dan, I've got myself into a little pickle. I'll tell you an abbreviated edition. I was going to school at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. I moved in with my boyfriend, Jerry. Everyone told me he was a worthless shit but I didn't listen. Anyway, he wrecked my car. All I had on it was liability so I was out a car. I had bought Jerry that clunker back there, so it was all we had to drive. I knew Jerry was screwing around on me like crazy. I got a call yesterday...no, the day before yesterday from an ex-friend of mine and she tells me that she has been fucking him for the last several months. They had a big fight and he took off from her place in her car. He knows she is going to call me so he disappeared. So, I packed up enough clothes to get me by for a while, I called my Mom and told her what happened,and I headed for LA. The first place I stopped for gas, I realized that the asshole had taken my credit card. I called the card company and he hadn't used it yet so I cancelled it. I had a hundred and thirty five dollars in cash, no credit card and no checks. I hoped that would get me home, although I didn't figure it would. And you know the rest."

I put my thinking cap on. What kind of plan would Dana or David come up with here?