remember to keep her b-below fifty-four miles an hour.” Lester grimaced, screwing up his face like he was remembering all the times he
hadn’t
remembered. “Anything over that, and this old b-bus just quits. I remember one time when—”
“Just how long ’til we get to Salina?” Fish wanted to know, interrupting Lester’s ramble impatiently. “Our poppa’s in a bad way. We need to get down there soon.” My heart skipped and my stomach twisted as I remembered Momma’s words:
The doctors say we’ll have to wait and see.
Will and Bobbi shifted nervously, as they too recalled the reason we’d all climbed aboard that bus in the first place.
“Well,” said Lester, flustered by the bugaboo of having to change mental road maps mid-sentence. “Let me think. I have to get on up to Bee b-before five.” Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Lester pulled a watch with a broken strap from the pocket of his overalls.
“Doggone it!” he said, nearly driving off the road as he stared at the watch. “I’m late.” The bus heaved and rattled as Lester stepped harder on the gas. Remembering everything he’d just finished telling us about the big pink bus breaking down if it went too fast, Fish and I kept a close and nervous eye over Lester’s shoulder at the speedometer.
“So then,” Fish continued. “After Bee? Will you be going back to Salina when you get done there?”
“Hmm?” Lester looked back at Fish distractedly, as though he hadn’t been listening. “After Bee? Naw, I still have to go on over to Wymore, then I have to make a quick stop down in Manhattan to p-pay some money to a lady friend—it’s her cousin Larry who’s my b-boss and she gets real mad if I don’t bring the money by. After
that,
we’ll be headed back to Salina.”
By this time, Bobbi had slid to the edge of her seat; she was peering intently around the barrier between her and the back of Lester’s seat and scowling at the deliveryman. “Just how long is all that going to take? Exactly
when
are you planning on getting back?”
“Oh, no later than tomorrow afternoon, I s’pose,” said Lester absently as he took an exit off the interstate and headed still farther north, farther from Salina, onto a small rural highway.
“Tomorrow?” we all shouted.
“Tomorrow?”
“That’s too long!” I cried.
“Well, there’s nothing I can d-do about that,” said Lester, trying hard to end the conversation. “I can’t afford to lose my job. If I go b-back now, I’ll be fired for sure. Then it will be no Bibles, no b-bus, and no future for poor old Lester.”
I swallowed hard, caught between that rock and that hard place I’d heard mentioned so often, and understanding fully now what a bad spot that truly was. How could I ask a man I didn’t even know to risk his livelihood on my account? But, how could I possibly wait another day to get to Poppa?
“Tomorrow. That’s just great.” Bobbi turned and looked at me, her eyes bulging in disbelieving voodoo vibes. “
Tomorrow,
” she repeated once more, nodding her head and leaning back against her seat. “That’s
wonderful
.”
Fish and Will Junior were looking my way too. I cringed and sank down in my seat, feeling wretched and troubled over our new situation. To my surprise, Will winked my way with a crooked smile, making me feel a bit better. Out of everybody on that bus, Will was the only one who looked like he might be having fun.
The itty-bitty town of Bee, Nebraska, was just about the size of a yellow striped bumbler; it could buzz right by you if you blinked too slow. As though the situation wasn’t bad enough for us already, things went even more catawampus and cockeyed once we got to that teeny-tiny town.
There was only one church in Bee. It was built boxy and angled like an accordion, but the windows of the church were dark, and the doors were locked up tight.
Lester Swan looked from his watch toward the sun—now barely visible on the horizon—all the
hadn’t
remembered. “Anything over that, and this old b-bus just quits. I remember one time when—”
“Just how long ’til we get to Salina?” Fish wanted to know, interrupting Lester’s ramble impatiently. “Our poppa’s in a bad way. We need to get down there soon.” My heart skipped and my stomach twisted as I remembered Momma’s words:
The doctors say we’ll have to wait and see.
Will and Bobbi shifted nervously, as they too recalled the reason we’d all climbed aboard that bus in the first place.
“Well,” said Lester, flustered by the bugaboo of having to change mental road maps mid-sentence. “Let me think. I have to get on up to Bee b-before five.” Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Lester pulled a watch with a broken strap from the pocket of his overalls.
“Doggone it!” he said, nearly driving off the road as he stared at the watch. “I’m late.” The bus heaved and rattled as Lester stepped harder on the gas. Remembering everything he’d just finished telling us about the big pink bus breaking down if it went too fast, Fish and I kept a close and nervous eye over Lester’s shoulder at the speedometer.
“So then,” Fish continued. “After Bee? Will you be going back to Salina when you get done there?”
“Hmm?” Lester looked back at Fish distractedly, as though he hadn’t been listening. “After Bee? Naw, I still have to go on over to Wymore, then I have to make a quick stop down in Manhattan to p-pay some money to a lady friend—it’s her cousin Larry who’s my b-boss and she gets real mad if I don’t bring the money by. After
that,
we’ll be headed back to Salina.”
By this time, Bobbi had slid to the edge of her seat; she was peering intently around the barrier between her and the back of Lester’s seat and scowling at the deliveryman. “Just how long is all that going to take? Exactly
when
are you planning on getting back?”
“Oh, no later than tomorrow afternoon, I s’pose,” said Lester absently as he took an exit off the interstate and headed still farther north, farther from Salina, onto a small rural highway.
“Tomorrow?” we all shouted.
“Tomorrow?”
“That’s too long!” I cried.
“Well, there’s nothing I can d-do about that,” said Lester, trying hard to end the conversation. “I can’t afford to lose my job. If I go b-back now, I’ll be fired for sure. Then it will be no Bibles, no b-bus, and no future for poor old Lester.”
I swallowed hard, caught between that rock and that hard place I’d heard mentioned so often, and understanding fully now what a bad spot that truly was. How could I ask a man I didn’t even know to risk his livelihood on my account? But, how could I possibly wait another day to get to Poppa?
“Tomorrow. That’s just great.” Bobbi turned and looked at me, her eyes bulging in disbelieving voodoo vibes. “
Tomorrow,
” she repeated once more, nodding her head and leaning back against her seat. “That’s
wonderful
.”
Fish and Will Junior were looking my way too. I cringed and sank down in my seat, feeling wretched and troubled over our new situation. To my surprise, Will winked my way with a crooked smile, making me feel a bit better. Out of everybody on that bus, Will was the only one who looked like he might be having fun.
The itty-bitty town of Bee, Nebraska, was just about the size of a yellow striped bumbler; it could buzz right by you if you blinked too slow. As though the situation wasn’t bad enough for us already, things went even more catawampus and cockeyed once we got to that teeny-tiny town.
There was only one church in Bee. It was built boxy and angled like an accordion, but the windows of the church were dark, and the doors were locked up tight.
Lester Swan looked from his watch toward the sun—now barely visible on the horizon—all the
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