Page 17 of Blakely and Liam

On the threshold

(Blakely)

Next thing I knew I was waiting beside his ridiculously old truck while he opened the door for me, not gallantly, but because the handle had to be shimmied, the door lifted and then tweaked over a bend in the metal. Then as I slid onto the cracked stiff vinyl seat, doing a number on the back of my legs, he had to close it behind me.

He started the truck with a key that was already in the ignition. And where there should have been a radio was a gaping hole and a dangling wire. To explain he said, “M’father’s truck. There was a cassette tape stuck, playing Kenny Rogers on repeat, so I got pissed drunk, ripped it out, and threw it in the river. Then I felt like a bawbag, fished it out, and recycled it like a proper numpty.”

I laughed. “Very proper numpty, that’s a good word.”

I was watching the trees roll by, so many trees compared to Los Angeles, long grass and wildflowers, a green so vivid it was like I had never seen green before.

Every house seemed to have a rusted something in the front yard: a car, a truck, a tractor, or just a pile of wheels, as if everyone had planned to go somewhere but instead forgot to go and left the vehicle in the front yard to eventually disappear into the dirt.

It was like something out of a horror movie, kind of.

I sighed. I was supposed to be in a rental house. Drinking champagne, getting ready for a four hundred mile walk with Darren.

We pulled up in front of the shop, Outdoor Surplus. It was shaped like a big old barn. I forgot and pulled the latch so the door went ka-clunk and fell down a bit. “Oh no! No — oh, that is not right.”

Liam said, “Hold on, I got it.” He jogged around the truck and struggled to get it realigned.

“I am so sorry, Liam, that was, I just wasn’t thinking.”

He teased, “Och, whatcha got on yer mind besides an old broken down truck door? Daena worry your head on it, ol’Rusty daena care, he’s just happy he can still ride.”

I climbed down and followed him into the store, but stopped still on the threshold.

What did I need to buy for a hike — everything?

---