Dennis

Listening to Weird Al now on Grooveshark, adding in John Lennon, Harry Secombe, Blue Oyster Cult–you name it. I have very eclectic music tastes, can you tell? My daughter’s friend introduced me to Grooveshark and I love it. It’s da bomb. I’m also working on my first (and possibly only, at least tonight) glass of red wine from Muir Murray Winery. I have a bottle of their Black Walnut red wine, which they thought they had run out of and then found five cases of it hiding somewhere. It’s lovely.

We wandered into the winery on Sunday; A and #2 Daughter and I. We were on an outing, noplace in particular in mind, and ended up at the winery. They allow visitors five free tastes, so we had a field day sharing samples of wine and I brought home a bottle of this red and one of their Rieslings. We (#2 Daughter and I) had the white last night with supper and I’m enjoying a glass of the red tonight. Life is good.

A has gone to the city today to see his bosses, spend the night at a friend’s house and then tomorrow try to go see his youngest daughter and her new baby boy. She’s living with her mother, who is bitter and vicious and not a nice person from what I can gather from A and his other daughter. They agree that the worst place for the younger daughter and an innocent baby to be is with the grandmother, who used to give her daughters Benylin every night to make sure they slept. When she would drop them with A for his weekends, she would bring a bottle for him to dose them with. He would routinely pour it out and not give it to them. This is how she raised them. Anyway, he’s expecting a fight and nastiness. I hope it goes well. He is a good-hearted person and I do care about his happiness and well-being. I just don’t know where we’ll end up, but really, none of us knows where we’ll end up, do we?

I’ve had a couple of very busy days, which is delightful. I got an email from the manager of the clinic in the city, and sent him a reply, but haven’t heard back. I’m wondering if I got caught in his spam trap. I’ll call him on Monday and see where it all stands. If it’s not the right thing for me right now, that’s okay. I’m content if business picks up here and I stay in my little walk-up apartment. Whatever God wishes of me, I try to do. This has been my life since I was very young.

And now, on with a new character.

***

Dennis Sabine ran a weary hadn over his face and looked for the exit to the truck stop. He had been driving his rig almost non-stop for ten hours since he left New Orleans; he needed to pee and get a little sleep.

He wasn’t bringing much back, anyway. The trailer wasn’t even a quarter full. Before Katrina there would have been at least two of them with full trucks making the run there and back. But now, shit, it was hardly worth the cost of the diesel.

There it was. He turned the wheel and pressed his foot on the brake. The big truck slowed and moved onto the exit. He drove to the area reserved for big rigs, killed the engine and got out. Tucking the keys into the pocket of his jeans he made sure the cab doors were locked. Then, out of habit, he checked the rear doors on the trailer. They were securely fastened and locked. He strode across the dark parking lot to the rest stop.

After he had made use of the facilities, Dennis went back to his truck and climbed into the bunk behind the cab. Three hours’ sleep and it would be daylight and he’d be on his way again. He set the small travel alarm clock and fell asleep almost immediately, completely unaware of his sleeping passengers.

***

Just a little bit for today.