Monkey Diaries Archive

Circus The sand made Jessie uncomfortable. The dry raspy sound it made as it blew against the door reminded her of why she was here, and that made it at least bearable. Nonetheless, it grated on her almost as painfully as the sound of David’s voice. Luckily, David was outside relieving his bladder—his seventh such action since she started counting just outside of Austin. The trip, which started on a drink and a dare, was almost half over. The plan had been to drive to the sunny shores of San Diego, grab a handful of sand and bring it back just to prove they’d been in California. In Jessie’s mind, it was a little like eating dessert halfway through a main course. The only difference, the one that she had willingly failed to inform David about, was that she planned on continuing to eat from the cake long after David returned to the meat loaf. A gust of wind carried more sand into the car as David opened the door and climbed in. As she replayed the last 19 hours in her mind it seemed this trip was one big party in the world’s largest sand box. She left the sands of Texas, traveled through the sands of the Arizona and California deserts only to end up, hopefully very soon, in the sands of the California coastline. Exactly 19 hours before she had been sitting inside Rooster’s Pub and Grub, just outside Lubbock, Texas when David sat down next to her. When he started in on his usual banter about his impending departure to the golden hills of California, Jessie reached her breaking point. At once, tired of his incessant complaining, she had abruptly asked what was keeping him from going. Forever changing the feet that he found in his mouth, David decided that if only he could find a willing navigator, he’d leave this very second. Twenty minutes later, Jessie found herself barreling down the road at 70 miles an hour, her hair streaming behind her as David extolled the virtues of California like he had lived there his entire life. David adjusted the steering wheel and started the engine. “Only another 200 miles and we’ll be in San Diego County. From there it’s only another hour’s drive to the beach,” he said. Jessie only nodded in agreement. She had learned long ago that David had a tendency to run off at the mouth if you gave him any verbal indication that you were even slightly interested. The road began to slip past the windows as David reached his usual cruising speed of 70 mph. Cactus and chaparral drifting past the open window of the Cadillac. “They have water everywhere there. I mean everywhere!” he pounded the empty seat between them for emphasis. “We’re talking lakes, reservoirs, rivers, canals, and ocean as far as the eye can see!” David’s consistent and even tone began to lull Jessie into a stupor. Her mind began to wander as it often did on long car rides. She thought about her home back in Lubbock. She thought about her parents and their uneducated rhetoric about college and her future. She had begun to nod her head in agreement just to shut them up, knowing full well that her stay in that filthy town was better measured in months rather than years. She had grown up fairly happy. Well...as happy as a child can be growing up in cultural wasteland. She longed for the bustle of a large metropolis. The glamour of a large city... Hollywood, in fact. She envisioned her future, consisting mostly of daydreams with her playing the lead opposite Brad Pitt or some other male flavor of the month. She had made the mistake of offering up her fantasy to live in California only once before. She had been relaxing on her porch, frosty glass of iced tea in hand, soaking up the late afternoon breeze with her mother. When Jessie had finally spoken aloud her little California dream, her mother had just about spit out her iced tea. “Why would you want to waste your life away in that depraved place? You know what? Everyone in California is either a sadist, psycho or an prostitute!” she had said. It took little more than that queer quote to deter Jessie from ever speaking of her future in California with either of her parents. Her dreams, like most dreams of fresh faced 29-year-old aspiring starlets, hinged on a hope and a prayer. Her only real concern was David. She hadn’t really started to formulate her plan until after they had left Texas. Now, a few hours away from their destination, Jessie had no idea how to get rid of David, the Wonder Bladder, once he delivered her safely to the California coastline. Of course, she could just tell him now, run the risk that he’d stop the car, turn around and head back to Lubbock. Jessie didn’t really believe that David would do that, being so close to their destination. Why would he care if she didn’t want to make the round trip with him? It wasn’t as if she was romantically involved with David or that he had ever exhibited anything remotely resembling a sexual attraction to her. When they had first met Jessie had found him somewhat attractive but eventually he opened his mouth and any feelings she had toward him had drained away. She looked across the Cadillac’s bench seats and quietly studied his jaw line, one of her favorite features on a man. Although he had the finely chiseled face that she found attractive, he was definitely lacking in perspective as well as vision. Actually, these were two characteristics that she also found not only attractive, but also necessary in a man. No, she would need to find a way to gently inform him that she would not be joining him upon his return to Lubbock. Jessie gazed out the window and admired the vistas of the California desert. The shadows from the cactus fields stretching off into the horizon “like opportunities stretched across her future,” she thought happily. It wouldn’t be long before Jessie found what she was looking for.