ONE
It was dark out. That’s as close I could come to telling the
time when the bus arrived in Reno. It had been 5 days non-stop from New Jersey.
I washed my hands a face in depot bathrooms. I changed my shirt twice, but my
jeans, socks and underwear were all the same.
Considering the other passengers smelling bad was an advantage. A guy got in in Ames, Iowa with a swastika
tattooed on his neck. He sat down, introduced himself and since my name was
once confused for being Jewish I told him I was “Liam O’Brien”, excused myself
for the bathroom and sat in the last seat at the back. By Colorado no one would
come near me.
My legs had apparently atrophied after 5 days. I took a seat
in the station and stretched them out. A guy who looked like Biggie Smalls
tried to sell me a watch probably because I was the only white guy around. He
looked me up and down, caught a whiff and gave up the ghost before I could
respond.
I had a borrowed carry-on bag with a couple days of clothes
and toiletries on the plastic seat next to me. The rest of my clothes had been
in a 30 gallon Hefty bag. Outside of Toledo a driver thought it was garbage and
tossed it in a dumpster.
Nonetheless I’d beaten the doubters and made it
to Reno. How I was gonna make it in Reno
I had no friggin’ idea.
