I chewed on my gum so fast it kept the tears in my eyes from spilling over. We stood next to the bus in the Fort Worth terminal, and the noise from engines revving up and people yapping stopped up my ears like I was underwater. Dad handed me my ticket. "You're to stay with your Aunt Bertha in Colorado City for a while," he said. "Been told it's a dust bowl farm with no conveniences. I heard they don't have no indoor toilet, not even water except from a well. You'll learn to 'preciate Amy and me by the time you get back. Now you mind them and don't be running off and get me in more trouble with those meddlin' child welfare workers. You understand me, Priscilla?" "Yeah, I guess."
After Mom kept had to go to the hospital so much, the welfare people told my dad that a twelve-year-old girl needed more supervision than I was getting. I was doing all right and I always took care of Mom. But not knowing from one day to the next if she was going to OD or burn the house down was messing up my mind.
At first when Dad said he wanted me to come live with him and Amy, I was excited. I thought they wanted me around. I soon found out that wasn't the case. "If we're going to pay child support to her mother, then she can just live with us," I heard him say.
That popped my bubble.
I climbed on the bus and went to the back. I slung my tote down on the seat beside me. I had packed one change of underwear, a t-shirt, and enough chewing gum to last me the week that I planned to stay with some aunt I didn’t even know. I looked out the window just as Dad headed out of the station.
As we barreled down Highway 80 West, I bounced around the seat in the old Greyhound bus with each bump churning my stomach. The fumes choked me. I tried to sleep by plumping up Mom's tote bag, a leftover from her younger days. She had made it out of a pair of old blue jeans. Just like her faded denim skirt I was wearing. The legs of the jeans were cut off and a skirt made with what was left over. What with my red cowboy boots and all, I thought I looked real cool. But it was so hot I couldn't get comfortable. I had heard about buses that had air conditioning and even a toilet on board, but this old 1970's wreck wasn't one of them.
Everyone was fanning their faces with magazines and what not. Sweat rolled down the back of my knees. I jumped when a lady up front started yelling at the bus driver.
"Pull this mousetrap over," she said.
What’s going on I wondered.
All of a sudden the driver pulled to the side of the road. What now? All I could see was a boarded-up café and small shacks out to the side, and nothing but sand for miles and miles. A sign leaning against the cafe read "Rooms Nightly or Weekly."
The driver yelled out, "Emergency stop, folks. You can go behind these abandoned buildings. Let the scorpions and horned toads beware. Men, go to your left, and you ladies can go off to the right."
Another angry woman said, "Why couldn't you stop where they had restrooms? This is outrageous!" "Sorry, ma'am, but that lady couldn't wait."
I slunk down in the seat and looked out the window. I had a funny thought. What if the men who went to the left and the women who went to the right got the directions wrong and they ran into each other? That'd be worth getting out to see.
I got up to stretch and walked the aisle. Taking a wad of chewing gum out of my mouth, I pushed it into the back of the seat up near the driver. Then I ambled back to my seat and waited for the bus to load again. When the driver stood up to help the ladies back in the bus, he must have stuck his hand into the gum. I could hear him cussing a blue streak from the back. His face got red and I could feel him looking at me. Shoot, it could’ve been anyone besides me.
The lady who had the emergency climbed back on the bus. The other passengers followed her. One of them sighed, "Boy, that feels better." A man, hollered, "We're keeping Texas green."
Some people think they're so funny.
The bus rumbled on down the highway for another hour. A shimmering glare on the pavement looked like pools of water. My head bobbed and I just couldn’t hold my eyes open. Later I was jolted awake when the bus bumbled to a stop at a small café. The driver stared at me in the rearview mirror. "Colorado City." I stuck a piece of chewing gum in my mouth and grabbed my tote bag. As I made my way to the front of the bus, I kept bumping nodding heads and protruding elbows.
The driver stared at me right in the eye without smiling. "Got everything, young lady?"
"Yeah, I didn't have much."
"See anyone here to meet you?" he asked as he hopped to the ground and helped me down the high steps. I felt kinda bad I’d stuck my gum where he got into it. But he should have watched what he was putting his hand. I squinted my eyes in the bright sunlight and noticed faded one-story buildings and a drugstore. Seeing nobody, I said more sure than I felt, "They'll be here."
"If you think so, then good luck to you."
I stood there in a swirl of dust as the bus pulled away. I sure hoped someone would be there to pick me up.