Ray Gorham - 77 Days in September

Kyle thanked her, then shut himself back in the bathroom and continued to wash.

He emerged from the bathroom thirty minutes later, bandaged and cleaned. Elijah sat at the kitchen table reading, and Stevie was in the living room drawing on a pad of paper, a magazine propped open to a picture of a helicopter in front of him. “You look a little different,” Elijah said, looking up from his Bible, his black reading glasses perched on the end of his nose.

“I feel different,” said Kyle. “I feel better now that I’m cleaned up, but you might want to burn those washcloths you gave me.”

Elijah chuckled and set his glasses down on the table beside him. “We might not use them right away, but I don’t think we’ll be burning anything for the time being. You never know what might come in handy.”

“Who’s your barber?” Stevie called from the other room. “I hope you didn’t leave him a tip.”

Kyle grinned. “Found some scissors in your first aid kit. Figured I’d be better off with a little less hair. I didn’t go for the bald look, like your dad. Us white guys don’t have such nicely-shaped heads.”

Elijah rolled his eyes. “If you lived here long enough, you’d learn to ignore my son. Sometimes his mouth engages before his brain fires up.”

“He’s fine,” said Kyle. “I’ve got a son about the same age, so I’m used to it. Helps keep a smile on your face.”

Kyle sat down at the table across from Elijah. “So I need to know, how could you leave a nasty-looking, homeless bum, who you don’t know, in the same bedroom with your daughter? Weren’t you worried?”

“Not really,” said Elijah. “I was in the next room, and Diana’s pretty tough. She wants to be a nurse, even works as a nurse’s assistant at the old folks home part time, and I thought taking care of a corpse would be a good experience for her. And to be honest, you were so messed up my grandmother could have taken you, and she’s closing in on one hundred.”

Kyle laughed. “I suppose. But I was pretty scary looking. I really want to thank you for not leaving me in the street.”

“Truth be told, I wasn’t planning on bringing you home, I just wanted to stop the beating. But you kept mumbling about your cart, and you didn’t strike me as a bum. I guess I had the impression you had someplace important to get to. Maybe the Holy Spirit whispered to me.”

“Whatever the reason, you were right,” said Kyle nodding. “That place is important, at least it is to me.”

“How soon till you think you can get back on the road?” Elijah asked. “Not trying to rush you, but I’m sure that you’re anxious to move on. Winter starts early up there, doesn’t it?”

“Depends on the year. Sometimes we get snow in September, sometimes not till January, but I’m sure the mountains will have some by the time I get north. I’d like to get going in the morning, if you don’t mind me staying another night.”

“Sure, that’s no problem. Are you sure you’re up to leaving that quickly? I wasn’t expecting you’d be ready to go that soon; you’re welcome to stay longer if you need to.”

“I think I’ll be alright. My legs are in pretty good shape, just a few bruises. I might have a couple of busted ribs, and maybe my cheek, but nothing to stop me from moving along. I’ll probably scare anyone I meet, but maybe that will keep trouble away, and I don’t want to waste the good weather.”

“Well then,” said Elijah, “lets go take a look at your cart and see what you’re missing.

Tuesday, September 13 th

Lubbock, TX

The ringing of an alarm clock in the next room woke Kyle up. He swung his feet out of bed and stiffly twisted his head from side to side. His neck was tighter than yesterday, but at least his legs still felt good. He could hear movement in the next room and then a light knock on his door.

“Kyle?” Elijah’s voice called through the door.

“I’m up,” Kyle replied. “Be out in a minute.”

He put on his clothes and joined Elijah in the kitchen for breakfast while Diana slept soundly on the living room couch.

“You sure you’re ready?’ Elijah asked, studying the bruises on Kyle’s face.

Kyle nodded, finishing his cereal. “I’ll be alright. I need to get moving.”

“Sorry we don’t have milk,” Elijah said as he gathered up their bowls. “Haven’t been to the store for a few days and haven’t found any good deals on dairy cows.”

“You’re forgiven,” said Kyle. “Water does the job.”

“Did you remember that notebook you asked me for?”

“I did. I packed it last night. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it. The kids started school a week before this all went down, so we had a few extras around. I don’t think school will be starting back up for awhile, do you?”

“No, I don’t. I think it’s going to be a long time, two or three years at least, before traditional schooling starts again.”

“You certainly are optimistic, aren’t you,” said Elijah, chuckling. “What d’you need the book for anyway? You going to be doing some sketching in your spare time?”

Kyle laughed, then got serious. “No. I want to keep a journal. After getting beat up Sunday, I realized there’s a good chance that I might not make it home. I figured I’d keep a record of my trip, then if I don’t make it, maybe someone will find my journal and forward it to my family. That way, Jennifer will find out I didn’t forget about her. Plus, it’ll help me keep track of time and know where I’m at in my schedule.”

Elijah nodded. “Hopefully you can deliver the notebook in person, but if I don’t hear from you when things come back together, I’ll send your wife a note too, assuming my kids don’t get hungry and eat me first.”

Kyle wiped the crumbs off the kitchen table and walked outside with Elijah. The eastern horizon was just starting to brighten and the day wasn’t hot yet. Elijah sniffed the air. “Smells like rain,” he said. “Still want to head off today?”

Kyle nodded. “Rain will keep the temperature down. Besides, the longer I wait, the harder it will be to get started.”

“Help me spread these out before we leave,” Elijah said, grabbing some buckets stacked beside the house. “If it does rain, I want to collect all the water I can.”

In no time, the buckets were spread out, and Kyle and Elijah, who had insisted on walking with Kyle to the outskirts of the city, headed out in the gradually brightening dawn.

After walking a few blocks, they turned onto a street Kyle recognized, and he felt himself tense up. “Are we going to be safe here?” he asked, scanning the street for danger.

Elijah nodded confidently. “It’s too early for trouble. The gang bangers you ran into the other day will be sleeping, and I don’t even think they’re from this part of town. They probably followed you for a while, waiting to jump you someplace with less people around. We’ll just make good time and get you out of the city, and there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“But how about you? Will you be okay getting back home? People will be up by the time you come back through.”

“I’m not worried. I know the areas to avoid better than you did. Besides, you looked out of place, so you were an easy target.”

“I suppose. I’ll really have to try and avoid the cities, won’t I?”

“Probably best. People are going to be more desperate where there’s no way to get food.”

“That’s one of the reasons I moved to Montana, the fact that there aren’t as many cities, and the hunting’s good too.”

“I enjoyed my visit there. If it wasn’t for my family all being in Texas, I could move there pretty easily I think.”