LITMIR.BIZ

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it's settled. The next decent motel we see, we'll stop for the night."

      It wasn't too long before we found us a Discount Inn and decided to stop. Lewis kept his promise and ordered a room with two beds. I was glad to see he was a man of his word. My mama always said that a man of his word was the type of man that was hard to come by. Before I met Lewis, I would have had to agree.

      Lewis let me have the bed closest to the bathroom, which I thought was right gentlemanly of him. He took the bed nearest the window. He had a large black suitcase and when he opened it, I was surprised to see the suitcase was nearly full of his magician stuff.

      "You sure have yourself a suitcase full of unusual items," I said.

      "These are a few of my props. I'm bringing them for the audition. Just in case."

      I sat myself down on Lewis's bed while he unpacked some of his things. "Would you show me one of your magic tricks?" I asked.

      "Sure. This is a good one." He took the magician's hat and a colorful handkerchief from his suitcase. "Would you mind getting me a glass of water?"

      I went into the bathroom, filled a glass with water, and brought it out to Lewis. He took the water and poured every last drop of it in his hat. Then he covered his hat with the handkerchief, took a magician's wand from his suitcase, tapped the wand on the side of the hat, said "Out Damn Spot! Out I say!" took the handkerchief from the hat, flipped the hat over, and put it on his head. He didn't get the slightest bit wet.

      "Where did the water go?" I asked.

      "It's magic. It vanished."

      "Come on, Lewis. You can tell me. What happened to all that water?"

      "A magician never reveals his secrets. Besides, it's getting late. We should be getting to sleep."

      "One more trick?"

      "Maybe in the morning."

      "I'm holding you to that."

      "I said maybe. Now let's get some sleep. To sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream, for in that sleep of death what dream may come."

      "Goodnight, Lewis."

      "Goodnight."

      I found it kind of hard to sleep that night. I believe it was in part because I was nervous sleeping next to Lewis. He had put most of my fears to rest when he told me he was going to think of me as a sister. But then again, I didn't ever have a brother to know what that would feel like. Since my mama died, I noticed an empty place in my heart that never seemed to get full. I thought maybe when I had a man of my own, that empty place would feel smaller. Of course, the likes of Billy made the empty spots feel all the more empty. Having Lewis as an honorary brother was starting to make my heart fill up again.

      Chapter Three

      Lewis woke me up at the crack of dawn and told me to get ready as we had a long day of driving ahead of us. He wanted to drive at least ten hours to see where it would take us. He guessed we’d probably make it to somewhere in central Georgia. I was happy to hear that we were finally on our way out of the state.

      When we were about as far north as you can go and still be in Florida, the land didn't much look like anything I had seen before. It was hilly and there were lots of different kinds of trees. Not just the piney ones, there were plenty of leafy ones, too. That's when I noticed someone standing on the side of the road holding a sign. It said, "On the Road to Cali."

      I pointed to the sign. "Lewis, will you look at that."

      "Looks like someone else is going our way."

      Lewis pulled over and the person holding the sign came running over to our car. I couldn't much tell at first if it was a man or woman, until she spoke, and I figured out it was a she. "Where you headed?" she asked when I rolled down my window.

      "All the way to California," said Lewis.

      "Can I hitch a ride with you guys?"

      "Hop in," Lewis said.

      She grabbed the backpack she had beside her, threw her sign into the bushes, and jumped into the back seat of the car. "I was really beginning to wonder if I was going to have to walk all the way to California."

      I didn't surprise me when the young woman told us no one had offered her a ride. She was one of the strangest looking people I ever did lay eyes on. She was wearing black from head to toe and had what looked like a dog's collar around her neck. I also noticed a small metal hoop hanging from her nose.

      "How long have you been on the road?" Lewis asked.

      "Maybe a week. I've sorta lost track. Thanks for stopping. My feet are killing me."

      "My pleasure."

      "My name's Carol."

      "I'm Lewis. And this is Alice."

      "Most people call me Ally."

      "That which we call a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet," said Lewis.

      Carol said, "Quoting the Bard this early in the morning? What will he do for an encore?"

      Lewis said, "Oh, was ever a woman in this humor woo'd?"

      "If music be the food of love, play on."

      "The man that hath no music in himself—"

      "Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils."

      "Touché."

      I didn’t have a notion what the two of them were talking about and I have to admit I was a little embarrassed not knowing. It was like they were speaking their own language, or they were part of a secret club that I didn't belong to. At times like that, I still had some anger toward my mama for not providing me with a proper education. But with the two of us always taking to the road, it was hard for me to keep up with the other kids, the times I did manage to get back to school.

      "Where are you guys from?" Carol asked.

      Lewis said, "I'm from Miami."

      "I spent some time down there. What a blast. I heard some great music. The Crotch Rockets, Simon's Tattoo, Dick Hates Jane. Those bands were out of control. Ally, you're from Miami, too?"

      "Can't say I've ever been to Miami. I was living outside of Brooksville."

      "I guess I just assumed the two of you were together."

      "We just met yesterday," Lewis said. "I picked up Alice right outside of Floral City."

      "Damn. That was one scary little town. I didn't see a soul anywhere.”

      “Neither did we,” Lewis said.

      “Hey, this is a really nice ride," said Carol.

      "I got this to add a little flair to my magic business."

      "A magician, huh? Very unique. Bet you pick up lots of chicks."

      I could see Lewis was embarrassed. His face turned bright red. “No, not really.”

      Lewis told Carol all about his movie audition and why he was making his way to California. She asked me why I was on my way to California and I told her it wasn't so much where I was on my way to as where I was trying to get from. I think she understood. At least, she didn't ask me any more questions and I sure didn't bring it up again.

      Carol told us about her family and why she left home. She was going to California to find her mama. She was raised by her daddy and grew up with three brothers, all younger. Her mama left them when Carol

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