Page 62 of Fight
"Since we don't have anything to worry about, I'm not going to worry."I laid my head back, and looked up at the stars."How far do you figure it is back to the truck?"
"Mile.Mile and a half."
"We probably ought to head back.I've got to finish packing and we've got to leave early in the morning to make our flight."
Devon sighed."You're right."He stood and stepped out of the tub, then steadied me as I did the same.We shifted, and started back to the truck.
Chapter 18
The next morning, Devon and I got up early and after loading all our luggage into the back of my car, made the drive to the airport in Phoenix.We snaked our way through the line at security and waited patiently in the seating area to board our flight.
I'd never flown before and, though I wasn't exactly scared, I was a little nervous.It's not like there's any mystery to how it works, it's all over screen and film, but until you've flown yourself, you never know if you're going to get sick or have a panic attack or what have you.So my nervousness was understandable, at least in my mind.I turned and looked at Devon.He was sitting next to me, calmly waiting for our flight to board.
"You've flown before right?"
"Yeah."He responded without looking up from the game he was playing on his PCD."We flew a lot with the Army.You get used to it quick."
"I just hope I don't get sick on the plane."
"Do you get sick at the county fair?"The county fair is a big deal in Safford, everyone goes.
"Not since I was a kid, and learned not to gorge myself on sugar, and then get on the rides."
"Then you'll be fine, as long as you don't gorge yourself on sugar then get on the plane."He never looked up from the game.
"You're sure?"
"Positive."He looked at me."Look, take off is like the Gravitron, you get pushed back into your seat as we speed up and gain altitude.Landing's like the end of a good roller coaster, a little swift on the slowdown, but nothing to upset your stomach."
"What about turbulence?"I asked.
"You ever ride those spaceship rides they would sometimes bring to the fair?The ones where they load a bunch of people into a compartment and you watch a movie while it bounces around like a truck over a rough road?That's what turbulence is like."
"Why not just the truck.Why is it like the ride?"
"Because with a truck, you can see what's coming, whereas with the ride you're distracted.You're so busy watching the screen, you have no clue what's coming.It's more the surprise of the movement, than how much you're really moving, that gets you."
"I guess I can see that."I sat back in my seat and kept waiting, still a little nervous, but somehow comforted.I was surprised when Devon reached over and laid one hand over mine where it rested on my leg.
He leaned over and whispered in my ear."You'll be fine, I promise."
"I know."I replied."It’s just that I've never been on a plane when it left the ground before."
"But you've been on a plane?"
"Yeah.Years ago my folks took us all to Tucson to the Air and Space Museum we got to see a lot of planes.They even have an old Air Force One plane that you can climb up into and tour.We all loved it."
"My parents took us over there as kids too.To a little boy obsessed with flying, it was the neatest thing in the world."
"You were obsessed with flying as a kid?"I was intrigued.
"For a little while.It was in between my obsession with being superman and the month I was determined I was going to be an archaeologist.My parents were glad to see the archaeologist phase pass.They were tired of me digging holes all over the yard looking for fossils."He chuckled.
"How are things with your family now?"I was thankful for the distraction that talking about his family gave me.
"Good, I still don't talk to my brother or sister much, but at least I don't feel like the skeleton in the closet anymore."
"I still don’t think that wasn't them, it was how you were afraid they felt."
