He was young. She was young. The car was old.
On their way up to her family’s lake house in Wisconsin, he convinced her to stop in Milwaukee to spend some time with his brother who was attending the university there. He lived a ways off the campus in an old house with a couch on the porch. There were other signs of the times strewn about, like Hendrix posters, a couple guitars, drug paraphernalia, and apple crates of great albums.
They waited inside after being led in by a house mate. His oldest brother was a no show. They played albums to pass the time and create the moment. Eventually the phone rang and he pushed through the door beads to answer the call. His car broke down 50 miles South on the highway ramp. He agreed to drive back and pick him up. No problem. She was so agreeable when she was young.
As he steered his beat up old 1968 Triumph GT-6 (painted in classic British Racing Green by the way) behind the VW Van slumped along the edge of the ramp, he felt a snap and the front axle sunk to the concrete pavement. Two cars now out of the race.
“No problem,” his older brother stated convincingly, to him anyway, she was wishing she was further North by now. It was around 10 P.M. in the evening and the three of them started walking.
As after talking and laughing and generally getting caught up and into each other’s space, the conversation led to options for the evening. They had little option but to walk to a payphone and see if they could rustle up someone to re-rescue them. Down the dark road East they came upon a gated monastery. The entrance was open and they eased down the tree lined drive to the first stone building. The large ringed knocker on the wooden door soon brought a response.
After explaining their dilemma, they were escorted by a small man to a large library, with high ceilings and shelved walls stacked with books. He remembers his brother would just as well stay right there and spent the night looking at the collection. She was too anxious for that.
Suddenly the door swung open and a large robed man entered. He was interested in our story but in no rush to solve the problem for us. For one thing, they had no phones at the monastery.
He had many questions about our lives and our views of the future. He and his brother were engaged. She was wondering if we would sleep there or would they give us a ride back to the city. He conceded that both were options.
To be continued……
Please feel free to e-mail a comment to chasingthecenterline@gmail.com
