Steplings: A Novel

Chapter 8

In Corsicana, at the interchange with 1-45, Jason insisted on buying ten dollars worth of gas, and while he was inside the Shell Mini Mart he perused a map and decided that they could go south with the Africans toward Houston on 1-45 to Buffalo , then hitch west to Round Rock. Coming out of the station , he spotted the golden arch hovering brightly over the interstate and talked Jacob into scooting on down the block to Mickey D's for coffee. They all went inside to wash up, then at the counter Jason noted they'd just slipped under the 10:30 breakfast wire. Not knowing from where or when their next meal might come (he was thinking like a disaster victim), he took an order from Emily for hotcakes, sausage, and orange juice and doubled it for himself. She sent him back for milk (not for herself, it turned out). When he asked Jacob and Emmanuel what they might like, they declined, patting their tummies as if the scrambled egg and roti they'd had three hours earlier had stuffed them to the gills. They weren't coffee or tea drinkers, either. They each spent quite a while in the restroom, as if they might be sponge-bathing. Aside from his and Emily's breakfast, Jason brought back to their table a to-go sack containing two egg McMuffins and two large orange juices, which he planned to leave in the van without mentioning when they dismounted down the road and said good-bye. On 1-45 they made good time heading south, as the vol135 ume and speed of traffic made dropping out of the flow and reentering it too harrowing for Jacob, and the road crews regularly picked up litter and mowed the expansive right-of-way. Jacob nudged the van along the slow lane at a staunch and steady fifty-five, windows down (the AC had long since quit working), and since on a Texas interstate, "slow lane" means anybody going seventy-five or under, the boxy heap was an obstacle for other drivers. They tailgated, honked, and blinked headlights as they zoomed by in a furious rush with their heads rolling sideways to flick glances of irritation at this pokey, coal-black driver or lifted chins in contempt as they sailed past. Being on the slow boat instead of the showboat was uncomfortable for Jason. It embarrassed him the way a child is embarrassed by his parent's fondness for an article of very unstylish clothing. He wanted to hide. Before long, though, Jason flip-flopped because he couldn't take standing in the corner with laggards and losers, slowpoke old farts, those like his dad who obeyed the rules or inched beyond the limit only when absolute safety allowed it. He traded his embarrassment for contempt of the speeders and mild indignation. He was proud to be out of step, like he imagined his hosts were. Let the bastards burn their gas like spoiled brats. T he dude in the black Navigator road-hog with the Ducks Unlimited sticker's gonna get to Houston five, ten, maybe fifteen minutes before this van does, and for what? \Vhat's he gonna do with those minutes gained at the expense of the planet? Sit in a bar yakking on a cell phone? Piddle it away watching the tail end of a football game he has no stake in and won't recall tomorrow? Jason and company, on the other hand, were traveling, drinking in, recording, noting, absorbing the passing scenery (flat bland countryside with occasional stands of pine, cows, and a pumping jack or two), making the journey more important than the destination. Bubba vs. Buddha, the smackdown! If Jacob and Emmanuel were aware that driving at this speed had any such moral component attached, they made no show of it. They seemed content, indifferent to the passing pa- ' 36 rade of newer, speedier vehicles and huge, gleaming trucks whose tires were thrashing the asphalt under them as they ground past enveloped in a whining aura of clatter and moans. They respectfully allowed Emily to interview them, and Jason took notes on their answers. Where are your families? Do you have sisters? How old were you when you had to run away from the Arabs who raided your village? How long was it between then and when you arrived in America? How...