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Led by the Ring in His Nose

By: Scorpio44a



The events of 2009 started before 2009. To start at the beginning, for me, I'd need to begin with a line like, "It was a dark and stormy night in the Rocky Mountains." But that's too far in the past to be where this story starts. Suffice it to say that for me the year 2009 started in 1979 when I was born. My Dad and Mom lived in Downers Grove, Illinois when I was born. Dad owned his own truck and drove long haul jobs. Mom and I stayed home and I was given the job of getting an education.

By the time I was in high school I had been on short trips with Dad and knew a lot about taking care of his semi truck. When I asked Dad why he wanted me to learn how to be a trucker he always said, "Everyone needs a fall back position. No matter what else you do America will always need truckers."

I aimed at a main career in advertising and went to Northwestern after high school. During breaks and summers I worked with my Dad and saw a lot of the U.S. and Canada. I met lots of his friends and felt like I was adopted into the family of truckers. After I graduated I got a job in advertising in Chicago and rented an apartment there.

I still talked with both Mom and Dad often, but I didn't see them as often. I was doing well and in the spring of 98' I bought a birthday present for my Dad I knew he'd love, a 1955 Corvette. I knew my Dad loved the early Corvette's and the 55' was the first year they put a V-8 in the Vette. I searched and searched for one and found the one I bought in a barn in Ohio. It had belonged to the farmer's son who had been killed in a robbery the year before I found it. I got a good deal because he "just wanted it gone."

I trailered it home and got it pretty well restored in time for Dad's fiftieth birthday. It had all the bodywork restored, new leather interior, and mechanically had it blueprinted. I had found one of the rarest of the 55's, one with the three-speed stick. The week before his birthday I had new brakes and new tires installed. 

I talked to Mom often about the gift for Dad and how we would give it to him. Dad's birthday was the first weekend of May. We decided I would drive Dad's Vette up to Downer's Grove and meet Mom and Dad for breakfast at their favorite Mexican restaurant, La Mex. Mom figured a way to get Dad seated where he wouldn't see me arrive in the bright red Corvette. I would join them for breakfast. We would talk and then when we left he would check out the beautiful car. That would be when I'd give him the keys and they would go for a drive. I would drive Mom's 95' Blazer back to their home.

Breakfast was to be Saturday morning, so Friday evening I drove from my apartment in Chicago to Downers Grove and stayed the night at the home of a friend from school. We parked the Vette in his garage for the night. At eight in the morning I spoke to Mom on the phone and we agreed they would get to La Mex by nine and I'd get there ten minutes or so later.

I parked on a side street and watched Mom's Blazer drive by on their way to La Mex. Waiting the ten minutes felt like half an hour. I started the 55' and drove the two blocks to La Mex. I parked the Vette on the opposite side of Mom's Blazer from the restaurant's doors. Coming out, Dad wouldn't even see the car until he was right next to it!

I joined them for breakfast and we talked, ate, laughed and I asked Mom what she gave him for his birthday. She said it was a surprise to be delivered later in the day. Dad fell right into our trap and said, "Delivered? If it's going to be delivered we ought to get home so we're there when it arrives.

I paid for breakfast and we walked out of La Mex together. We saw three guys standing on the other side of Mom's Blazer. Dad said, "I wonder what they're looking at?"

I called out, "Hey, What're you looking at?"

One of the three looked at me and said, "Come look! This is fine, eh!"

We walked over and Dad saw the Vette. He acted like a man in church. In the next ten minutes he took three complete laps around the car. He told us all about the 55'. He didn't touch it. He asked Mom if we could hang there until the owner finished breakfast. He wanted to meet the guy.

Mom said, "You can wait if you want to, but hanging out in a parking lot isn't how I want to spend your birthday."

I asked her, "What would you rather do?"

"I'd rather go for a drive, maybe over to the lake." Mom said.

Dad said, "God! Wouldn't it be great to take the Vette on that drive?" The three guys were still there and nodded in agreement.

I pulled the keys out of my pocket. His house keys and the keys to the Corvette on a Corvette fob. I handed them to him and said, "So why don't you go?"

He looked at the keys in his hand; back up at me, at Mom, back to the keys and then back at me. Finally Mom and I said, "Happy Birthday!"

"You're kidding! Really?" It took a couple minutes, but we did convince him. The three guys congratulated him and clapped as he and Mom got in and drove away. The guys talked with me for a few minutes and then I took Mom's Blazer back home.

It was getting dark when they got home. Dad parked the Vette in the garage and wiped it down before closing and locking the door. Mom came inside and said she couldn't remember Dad being so happy.

He went out to the garage twice that evening. Early the next morning Mom sent us out for a drive. Dad drove for an hour and we stopped at a park he knew of where other classic cars and their owners would often congregate. When we were ready to go back home he tossed the keys to me.

Two days later Dad drove me back to Chicago and my 77' Firebird "Bandit" special edition. He was thrilled with his present and so was Mom. They took lots of little trips in their 55' Vette, showing off and having fun. They were happy and I was happy, too.

2000 arrived and I upgraded my ride to a 1992 LT-1 Vette. My Vette had lots more horses under the hood and a six speed tranny so it wasn't just like Dad's, but lots of fun and, oh my, was it fast! It was the same color as Dad's 55' and as often as possible we would take trips together, my LT-1 leading his 55' part of the time and his 55' in front the rest of the time. I stopped for more gas than he did. Mom switched back and forth riding with Dad and riding with me. Once or twice I brought a date on our trips, but seldom more than twice did the same woman go with us. That changed in July of 2005. I met Nicole.

For the rest of 2005 and at least half of 2006 I wasn't sure which she loved more, the LT-1 or me. She liked Dad and Mom, too. The first half of 2006 she had me pretty well convinced she liked my stick better than the one in the Vette. The last half of 2006 I was becoming convinced she loved the LT-1 more than me.

When Spring arrived in 2007, we took our first road trip of the year, a three-day trip down to Atlanta. We had a great time, met some wonderful Vette lovers and ate great BBQ too. On the way back Nicole surprised me.

Mom had never driven either Vette. Until Nicole arrived Dad and I drove the Vettes. On our third or forth road trip with Nicole I let her drive for a while. Every trip after that she drove switching with me and once in a while with Dad.

On the Atlanta trip I had surrendered the wheel to her in Bowling Green and Mom had joined her in the LT-1. Dad and I took the 55' and headed north following my LT-1. We laughed and talked about how good life was for both of us. We followed the ladies to St. Louis, Illinois and stopped for gas. Dad and Mom headed for the pit stop and Nicole and I gassed up the cars.

Nicole said, "I want this car."

"You've got it." I said.

"No. You've got it. I get the pleasure of driving it sometimes, but it's your car. I want the title to have my name on it."

"Why? You go on every road trip. You drive her. I pay for the gas, the insurance, and the maintenance costs. It doesn't make sense to me."

"I'll be honest with you. The fun I have on these trips is mostly about the Vette. I like you. I like your Dad and I think your Mom is a great lady, but I love the car." She topped off the gas, closed the fill hole and hung up the hose. She looked me in the eye and asked, "So, how much?"

I was so shocked I didn't have an answer. I finally said, "I'll need to think about it. I'll let you know when we get home." Dad and Mom came back. Dad took the 55' with Mom and Nicole rode with me. Five mostly quiet hours later we were in Downers Grove and I helped Dad get his 55' in the garage and wiped down. Dad and I wiped down the LT-1 while Nicole went in the house and helped Mom make dinner. I told Dad about Nicole's conversation with me and her offer to buy the Vette.

"Son, I'm not giving advice. I've loved having her with us on these trips and I love your Vette almost as much as mine. I'm glad it isn't my decision."

He was done. Nothing more was said. We had a good dinner and we spent the night. I knew if I made a move on her Nicole would let me get lucky. I knew she didn't want me and she'd made it pretty evident that all the sex we'd shared was so she could get close to the Vette. I decided I didn't want that kind of action. 

When we were close to Nicole's apartment she asked, "Well? Got a price for me?"

"I do. Between St. Louis and Dad's house I thought about saying she wasn't for sale. I'll be straight with you, I was upset and my feelings were hurt. I'd been living in the fantasy that you were my girl-friend and that we were lovers. I'd even had some long-term thoughts about us getting married and all that implies. In the five hours we drove after you offered to buy the car I was mostly in my head about you and me, not about you and the car."

"I didn't mean to hurt you." She put her hand on my thigh.

"I understand that. In your mind, the offer wasn't about me. Last night, when we went to bed I guessed that if I made a move on you I'd be successful. I also knew it would be different, for me. Every time we've ever had sex I had it mean something about us. I knew last night I'd been wrong. You are more connected to this car than you are to me. So... look in Kelly's blue book for this car. Add five hundred to what it says and that's the price, to you or whoever has the cash."

"Deal! Thanks Ben! Maybe we can get together this week and do the transfer of title."

"Can you get the paperwork? I have the title so that's handled, but we need to meet at the bank to finalize it. I need the money in cash." She agreed to everything and didn't do a very good job of restraining her excitement. I dropped her at her apartment and for the first time since our first date she didn't invite me in or kiss me good-bye. We were over.

I didn't stop at the car wash on my way home. I got home and looked in Kelly's for my car. I called Nicole and made sure she agreed with the price. Then I made a sign and put it in the window of the Vette, "For Sale". I listed the price just as it was to Nicole and my phone number.

The next morning I drove the Vette to work and parked it in my regular spot. By nine in the morning I had three guys at my desk that wanted it. I told all three the same thing I told Nicole, "The first one standing in front of me with the cash gets the car." I had given Nicole a head start.

To be a good guy I called and told her about the three guys. Nicole said I promised her the car. I reminded her we didn't have a contract or an exclusive agreement. All we agreed on was a selling price and that I needed cash.

I went to lunch from twelve to one. At one o'clock I saw Nicole standing at my desk. I told my boss I needed a little time and he understood. Nicole and I walked across the street to the bank and did the transfer. I gave her the papers and the keys. She turned away from me and did everything but dance to the Vette. I didn't get a kiss Good-bye or a hand shake. I stood and watched her drive the LT-1 out of the parking lot. 

I surprised myself at how little it bothered me to watch the car leave. I bought a paper and figured I'd start looking for a new car. At three that afternoon one of the three men who wanted the car stopped at my desk and asked if it was gone. He told me about a classic pick-up his Dad had and that his Dad wanted to sell it. After work we drove to his Dad's house and I looked over the 1969 Chevy El Camino. It was mechanically in great condition but it needed paint and tires for sure. I called my mechanic and told him the LT-1 was gone and that I needed him to check out the El Camino. The owner of the El Camino took it to my mechanic and he checked it out. Meanwhile I rented a car for a few days.

At lunch the next day I owned the El Camino. Two weeks later I had it in my garage. It had been tweaked and pampered in between. New leather interior and an incredible Midnight Blue paint job, mag wheels and great tires. A custom exhaust system had it run very quietly even though it had a 396-inch engine under the hood. In the bed I had the rails chromed and the slats between the rails replaced with oak. I smiled when I thought about the over eight thousand dollars I had left of the money Nicole gave me for the Vette.

Dad, Mom and I took four trips that summer. We made it to Key West, to Boston and to Denver before we drove to Edmonton, Alberta to a car show and gathering. We trailered the 55' behind the El Camino and got lots of attention. More than once on that trip Dad or Mom mentioned how there wouldn't have been room for Nicole in the El Camino.

In 2008 I met Neela. She started working in the office of the shop that cared for the El Camino. Nicole had been a lithe, petite blond who might have been five-four in heels. I'd seldom seen her in heels. Neela was dark. Her family said they were dark desert people with black hair, dark skin and strange food. Neela said she was mysterious looking. I'm six-one and in heels, so is Neela. Picture seeing a woman in a sheath dress fifty or sixty yards away, with great legs, a wonderful body and not knowing how tall she is. Watch her walk and catch yourself thinking she must be a professional dancer or a gymnast because she moves so fluidly. Only when she gets closer do you realize she is tall and how sensually her energy flows. That describes Neela. She wore dresses at the auto repair shop, every day. The office used to look like a man cave. Dave hired Neela and within two weeks the place was organized and clean. The calendar on the wall used to have a picture of a bare breasted woman holding brake shoes. One week after Neela was in the office the calendar had a picture of a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air with chrome wheels and wide tires.

By mid-Summer Neela was invited on a road trip with us. She accepted. When I arrived at her family home to pick her up for the trip I met her family. I met all her family. Her Dad and Mom, three younger sisters and four brothers. I'd never seen her in pants before that day, but she came out in jeans and a t-shirt. By the time we were on the road I was noticing my jeans were too tight in the crotch.

As we drove away Neela said, "Thank you for the compliment."

"What compliment?" I asked.

She reached over and rested her hand on my erection. She smiled and said, "That's a nice size compliment." She left her hand on me and then she said, "Wait! Maybe that compliment is for my mother or one of my younger sisters?"

"No, it's for you. You are a very sexy woman."

"Did I dress inappropriately?"

"No. This is a road trip. Be comfortable. We take Dad's Vette and my car on these trips because they're fun and so we can show off the cars."

We talked about the Vette and my El Camino all the way to Dad and Mom's. I beeped the horn when we arrived and Mom came out the front door. She was dressed exactly like Neela. Well, the sizes were different. Mom never overstuffed a bra or t-shirt in her life. Neela was built to wear a t-shirt with the word "MOUNDS" on the front. They looked at each other and laughed. That summer we drove both cars. Neela never asked to drive. As the summer progressed Neela just got darker. At a car show on a fair grounds in Wisconsin she wore white shorts and a white halter-top. I worried we were going to be arrested. She got every bit as much attention as our vehicles.

She came to me when we were packing up to leave and asked, softly, "Are you ever going to use that thing on me?"

"My last attempt at having a sexual relationship didn't work very well for me. I've been cautious about starting something too soon."

Neela smiled and said, "While you were getting the El Camino ready this morning I shaved my cunny. I've had to use tissues all day to keep from soaking through these shorts."

Mom had moved herself and Dad to a room farther from our room in the hotel than the one we started with. Until that night our sexual play had been tentative on my part. My experience with Nicole had me more than a little gun shy. That night Neela threw me on the bed, held me down by pushing down on my shoulders while she captured my cock inside her pussy and hooked her feet over the top of my thighs.

She asked, "Do I have your attention?"

"Yes!"

She smiled and continued, "I talked with your Momma today. Now, you need to listen. Ok?"

"You have my full attention!"

"Good. I don't want the Vette. I don't want the El Camino. I don't want your Dad or your Momma. I'm here because I want you. You are a good man. A little slow, a little less assertive than I hoped for, but still the best man I've met in my life that I'm not related to."

"Thank you."

"Here's what I want! I want you to live as if there are three things in the world you can always count on: One, the sun will come up. Two, we will both get older and three, I will love you for the rest of my life."

I smiled. I knew what she was saying, I just didn't know if I believed the sun would come up.

Neela said, "These tits are for you to enjoy. Others may look, but touching is yours. This pussy is just for you, no one else, ever. Understand?"

I pushed up into her and asked, "This pussy?" She sat down hard burying me deep inside and said, "This pussy!"

"And which tits?" I asked. She leaned forward and smashed my face with first her right and then her left breast. "These tits!"

"And what is it you want me to do with all these things?" I asked.

"I want you to love me. I am Neela. I am your woman. No matter what. Sell the El Camino, I'll still be here."

I believed her. By the end of summer 2008 we had moved in together. Her SAAB 94x parked next to the El Camino in our garage. Dave gave me a discount on repairs and service on both cars. 

Very near the end of 2008 Neela and I looked at our lives together and I asked, "Would you like to have a vacation to the Caribbean for Christmas or an engagement ring?"

"Is that your way of asking me to marry you?"

"Hell no! Asking you that scares the crap out of me. What if you said No? No, asking if you want the ring is safer. If you accept the ring and you wear it, you'll get used to it and your family will get used to it and they will assume you said yes to marrying me. Then I can ask you to marry me and most of the pressure is off. If you say no then everyone will assume you got scared, not me. So, I'm asking if you want a Caribbean vacation or an engagement ring?"

"I want the ring and I want you to give it to me in front of my family!" So much for my hedging my bets and easing into a commitment.

On Christmas Eve we had dinner with her family. I cannot tell you what we ate. It was good. There was a ton of it, whatever it was. There was lots of music, lots of laughter and presents for everyone. Neela's oldest brother gave me a box about five inches square and one inch thick. His father laughed when he gave it to me and he said, "You cannot open the box now. Only when we tell you to open it." Neela blushed.

I put the box in my pocket. When most of the presents had been opened and many of the people were scattered around their house I figured the time had come. I sat next to Neela and pulled her present out of my pocket. One look would tell anyone it was a ring box. Her youngest sister saw the box and screamed something in a language I still don't understand.


Led by the Ring in His Nose



How thirty people can gather in one spot in less than three seconds and all be speaking is a mystery to me. Neela's father clapped his hands once. The room was silent.

He asked, "Ben, is that a ring?"

I nodded and said, "Yes, Sir."

"Is it a ring that has significance beyond being a gift?"

"Only if Neela accepts it. At the moment it represents an investment of money and the intention for Neela to accept and agree to a proposal."

At the word proposal twelve women gasped. Neela's father said, "Hush! I make business proposals six times a day!" He waved his hands in dismissal.

Neela held the box, but didn't open it. I wondered why. Finally her father said, "Neela! He gave you a box with a ring in it. Are you interested in seeing the ring sometime this year?"

She blushed, smiled and carefully removed the paper. She opened the clamshell box and the same twelve women gasped again. I knew it was twelve women because that's how many were in the house.

I reached into the box and removed the ring. I felt the family move closer. I said, "Neela, I offer this ring to you on Christmas, but not as a Christmas present." I showed her the ring and there was a three-inch long string hanging from the ring. "This ring comes with a string attached. You can only have the ring if you also accept the string. The string is that you accept me as your husband and that the wedding must happen before 2009 is over. If the wedding does not happen, the ring comes back to me."

Neela didn't move. She asked, "What do I get for Christmas if I don't accept the ring?"

"Memories of all the time we had together up until tonight." She might have asked the question thinking I would offer the Caribbean vacation again, but since she had made sure I was publically asking for an engagement I was making sure she knew I was serious.

She reached for the ring. I did not let it go. I asked, "Do you accept me as your husband and life partner?"

"Yes!" She reached again for the ring. I held her wrist and said, "In my tradition I put the ring on and you cannot remove it. Do you accept?"

"Yes!" She extended her fingers and I slipped the ring onto her finger. When it was on I leaned to her and kissed her on the mouth. When that kiss ended I kissed the ring on her finger. 

The room erupted in noise. The twelve women gathered and congratulated Neela. Her father hooked my arm and led me out of the family room into a quieter room. All the men followed. The last man closed the door, dampening the noise.

The father held out his hand and said, "Give back the box, please."

The unmarried brothers moaned. He shot them a look and the moans stopped. I gave him the box. He said, "When I proposed to my wife her father gave me this box. All the men of his family had received it. I laughed along with all the family who laughed thirty-seven years ago when he gave it to me. Everyone laughed when I opened the box. It was wrong then and wrong today. Today I took it back and wish the old man who gave it to me were still alive so I could kick his ass. He insulted me. We will not insult you."

"What's inside the box?" I asked.

He lifted the lid and I saw a bull's ring. Early in a bull's life a ring is inserted in his nose, making him easy to lead around. Giving a man a bull's ring is symbolic of telling him he is not fully a man, but is to be easily led around by the nose.

I looked at him and asked, "Neela knew what was in the box?" Her father nodded. 

"She knew you were going to be giving it to me tonight?" He nodded again.

"What did she say about it?" I asked.

"Nothing." Her oldest brother said. Her father nodded again.

I held out my hand toward the box and her father gave it to me. I put the lid back on it. I looked at all the men of the family and said, "The past is the past. I live in the here and now. If I do nothing about this then forever more every woman in the family knows that I have been given and accepted a ring for my nose."

I turned and went back into the room where all the women were celebrating. All the men followed me in silence. I went straight to Neela who was sitting on a couch with her mother and an Aunt. When I stood in front of her the room got quiet. 

I helped her stand and I said, "You knew about the box I was to be given." I held the box in my hand, inches from her and directly between us. "You knew what was in the box. I want you to tell me the symbolism of what is inside this box, please." I held the box out to her.

Tears fell from her eyes and she didn't speak and she didn't accept the box. Her mother spoke and said, "It's just a joke." I did not turn to face her mother. 

"Answer me, please." I surprised myself at how calm my voice sounded.

"It symbolizes that married men get led around by the nose." Neela whispered.

"I gave you a ring symbolizing my intent to have you as my partner in life, an equal partner. Less than an hour later I'm given a symbol of me being less than a partner. In fact, less than a man. There will not be a wedding. We will not be married. I misunderstood. I believed you wanted a partner. Please forgive me."

I dropped the bull ring box on the floor and headed for the door. Neela grabbed me and said, "It was not my idea! The ring has been given to men of the family for generations!"

I took another step. "You can continue to give the ring to men for twenty more generations, just not to me. I wanted a partner. I believed I was clear about what I proposed. I screwed up! My parents are partners and I made the assumption that was what all of you wanted in a marriage. I don't want to be the king or serve the queen. I misjudged how you all see marriage. My mistake." I shook my arm to get Neela to let go.

She said, "I don't want to be the queen. I want to be your partner! Maybe to my Mom it was a joke, but not to me. I made a mistake. I never want to lead you around by the nose or anything else."

I faced Neela and said, "Neela, I love you and want you to be my partner in life for the rest of my life. If equal partnership is your definition of marriage then I ask you again, will you marry me and be my life partner?"

"YES!" she screamed and we kissed. When the kiss ended I looked at everyone in the room and said, "Is anyone unclear about what we just promised?"

No one spoke. Neela got me to a couch and as soon as I sat she was in my lap. We talked quietly about marriage and many misconceptions got discussed. The noise level eventually returned to normal in the house. As soon as Neela and I sat her mother got up and walked out of the room.

When she didn't come back after twenty minutes I said, "Your Mom didn't come back. I think my beliefs about marriage have upset her. Her husband has held onto the ring for many years and I rejected it and what it stands for. I think maybe our partnership is going to get between your mother and you."

"She's upset right now, but she'll come around."

"Why would she? She's had her man by the ring in his nose for thirty plus years. Seeing you and me in a partnership has to give ideas to every man in the family. It has to piss off every woman in the family who likes the symbolism and the power of the ring."

"What can I do? She's upset. I am still going to marry you."

"How long have you ever been away from your Mom?"

"I had a summer job one summer and I was in Maine for eleven weeks."

"Did you talk with your mother on the phone during those eleven weeks?"

"Almost every day." She answered. I looked at her and thought about their relationship, their family culture and what a partnership with me might cost Neela.

I said, "This is a power struggle. To keep you I have to accept the ring. Then she gets to keep the status quo just as it has been for over thirty years. In fact just as it was in the family she grew up in. To get me to accept the ring she is willing to withdraw herself from your life."

"No, I don't think so. She just left the room for a little while." We sat quietly for a few moments.

I said, "I want to do an experiment. I want you to stay here with your family between now and New Years Eve. I will call you every day and we will talk. Do whatever wedding planning you want to do. And, the most important thing, listen to the family. They will tell you what they think of what I did. They will be excited about the wedding or they will be less than excited about the wedding. You listen and then you decide."

"Decide?"

"If you marry me it may cost you the relationships you have with every person in this house. Can you choose to marry me and lose all of them or would it be better for you to give me back the ring and stay inside this family?"

"You want me to choose between my family and being married to you?" I heard how painful such a decision would be.

"No. I'm making a judgment call here. From what has happened here tonight I believe your family will push for you to reject me. I love you and I want you as a partner for life. Watch the dynamic for a week. Will they ask you to make decisions as the queen or as my partner? If you say you want to discuss a decision with me, are they supportive or not? In one week you will have a clear picture of what the relationship with your family will be like if you marry me. Then, on New Years Eve I'll come back here to pick you up for our night of dancing and celebration at the hotel. Your family has rented rooms at the hotel and bought tickets for the dinner dance. I have rented a room on the same floor as all of you. When I arrive here to pick you up, you can hand me back the ring and I'll go away or you can go with me to the dinner dance and spend the night with me as my bride to be."

"You could be totally wrong, you know!"

"I hope and pray that I am. I need for us both to know for sure what we're up facing."

"I'll talk to them about their feelings. I think you're wrong."

"Please don't. Watch and listen. If you bring it up you'll hear what they think you want to hear. Tell them I had to go help my parents for a few days. You were going with me and hang with my Mom while Dad needs to overhaul the engine on his truck and I can help him. Instead, stay here and watch and listen. I'll pray every day and every night that I'm wrong about how this looks to me."

"Ok, but I don't think it will take a week for me to know I get to wear this ring for the rest of my life."

We kissed and while we were kissing my cell phone rang. It was my landlord. Someone had broken into our apartment and the police needed us to come home and meet with them immediately.

I told Neela what happened. She told her father we had to leave and in two minutes we were on the road. By three in the morning we had inventoried our apartment, filled out paperwork for the police and repaired the lock on the front door. Neela called her father and arranged to spend the week with them. No one asked for reasons. Hearing that our apartment had been broken into was justification enough for them.

I took Neela and her suitcase back to her parent's home and kissed her Good-Bye at nine o'clock in the morning. We had napped a little before I took her back to their home. Neela's sister, Sariah, came out to my car with a thermos of coffee and a bag lunch for me. She gave me two healthy sandwiches, a banana and a small bag of chips. Neela gave me a couple of fire starter kisses and then she went inside. I did not see her mother once in the fifteen minutes I was there.

Back at our apartment I got the front door replaced and added a dead bolt to the new door. Then I called Dad and told him I was on my way. As I drove I called him again on my cell and explained why Neela wasn't with me.

For most of the year the trip between my apartment and Mom and Dad's took forty minutes. On Christmas day it was snowing and it took me an hour and forty minutes. I ate the lunch Sariah had made for me. I called her at noon and thanked her for the lunch. I spoke to Neela too and she told me that she was learning a lot. I took that to mean she was watching and listening.

The rest of the week Dad and I worked on overhauling the engine of his truck. The engine had four million miles on it when we started the overhaul. Mom was great! She brought us snacks, coffee, made runs to the parts store and bandaged my knuckles when I abused them. We listened to music and sang along with the radio often. I started helping on the twenty-sixth, a Friday. On New Years Eve Day, at noon, we drove the truck to the Caterpillar dealer for a final inspection. I headed home to get ready for my date with destiny. Neela and I had spoken almost every day briefly but had avoided anything about what she was learning from and about her family.

I got home and acted like I was getting ready for a really important date. I packed extra clothes for January first, watching football and snacking all day at Neela's parent's home. I dressed in my tux and headed for their house. It had stopped snowing at about one in the afternoon. 

When I got to their house there were three cars parked in the driveway and the curbs were full in front of their house and the houses either side of their house. I double-parked at the end of their driveway, making room for it to be easy for Neela to get into my El Camino... if she was going with me.

The porch light was not on. The sidewalk from the driveway to the porch had four inches of snow on it. In my mind these were not good signs. I got out of the El Camino and used my big Maglite to light my way to the porch. I pressed the doorbell button and didn't hear anything. I knocked on the metal frame of the storm door. I waited a minute and knocked again. I looked at my watch and waited exactly another minute. I knocked again. 

The front door opened and Neela's father was standing there in his tux. He didn't move towards opening the storm door. He didn't say anything. I said, "I'd like to speak to Neela please."

"Tough." He said. He swung the door closed. I waited and then knocked. The door opened and Neela's oldest brother stood in the doorway. "Are you stupid? Neela is not going anywhere with you. If you don't leave we'll call the cops."

"I'm not stupid. I will leave." He swung the door closed and I walked back to the El Camino. I put it in gear and drove away. I wondered if Neela was being prevented from talking to me or if what I saw was her idea of how to say Good-Bye and keep the ring.

I drove around for a while, aimlessly. I drove past a bank that had the time and temperature displayed on the front of the building. It read, "34F 9:22pm." The dinner portion of the dinner-dance was over. I had an idea and went into action. My El Camino made a right turn and headed for the hotel. I used their valet parking and carried my bag to the registration desk. 

I gave the clerk my name and asked for my room key. He said that my reservation had been cancelled and he had no key for me. I asked who had rented the room after my reservation had been cancelled. He would not give me the name. Naturally, on New Years Eve there were no available rooms.

I spoke to the manager and showed him that I was the one who made the reservation and I didn't cancel the reservation. He apologized and said that since the new tenants had moved in he couldn't throw them out. He offered me a two-night stay for any night of 2009. I took it and put the paperwork in my bag and had him hold onto the bag for me. I told him I guessed I would be back for it around midnight.

I could hear the music playing in the grand ballroom. I showed my ticket at the door and walked in. The dance floor was packed. I searched the crowd for any of Neela's family. The band played three different tunes before I saw any of them. The one I saw was Sariah the younger sister who had made a lunch for me. She was headed towards the exit and I assumed to the restroom. I followed.

When she came out of the Ladies room she saw me and quickly looked around to see who else she saw. She motioned with her eyes to a hallway and then she went there. I waited a minute and followed.

When I got close she said, "You need to leave!"

"Why? I bought a ticket just like you did."

"Momma hates you! She stopped cooking for the men on Saturday and she told Father that his sex life was over forever if Neela went with you."

"You heard her say it?" I had trouble believing her.

"She was screaming when she said it! We all heard it. If Father sees you I don't know what he'll do, but he won't be alone. I have brothers, you know."

"Is Neela here?"

"Yes. She's sitting at table twenty-eight with a brother on either side of her."

"Is she wearing my ring?"

"No. Momma took it off of her and hit it with a hammer. In the process she broke Neela's finger. She made us watch."

"Go back inside and dance. I'll never tell anyone I spoke to you, but Thank you. You must love Neela a lot."

"I do." She went up on her toes and kissed my cheek then hurried away from me. She didn't look back once. I waited until the band played two more tunes then I headed back inside. The bandleader stepped to the microphone and announced, "The band will be taking a short break. We'll be back in fifteen minutes."

Recorded music came on and about half the couples went back to their tables to rest and get refreshments. I looked for table twenty-eight and when I found it I saw that Neela looked miserable. She had been crying. There were five people at the table. Neela with a brother on either side of her, her Father next to one brother and Momma next to the other brother. All five looked like they were equally miserable.

As the band resumed their seats on the bandstand, I walked to the center of the dance floor, facing table twenty-eight. I stood there with my feet shoulder width apart, arms at my sides, smiling. None of the people around me paid any attention to me.

After a minute the band began to play. I didn't move. Dancing couples moved around me like I was part of the furniture. When that tune ended the band switched to a romantic, slow tune and a female singer began to sing. Neela looked up and her eyes locked on mine for a second. She quickly looked at her brothers and parents to see if they had seen me. She slowly lifted her left hand and I saw the third finger was bandaged. Momma had damaged her to get the ring!

Suddenly I saw a man's face between Neela and me. He wasn't part of the family. He said, "I've been watching you. You don't dance or even sway to the music. Why are you standing here in the middle of the dance floor?"

"You work here at the hotel?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Here's the story. There's a woman here I've asked to marry me. She accepted on Christmas, but her mother has decided she cannot marry me. She is blackmailing all the men of the family to keep her away from me or me away from her. I bought tickets for tonight, rented a room here in the hotel as well. The room reservation got cancelled, but not by me. Her Momma can keep me from marrying her. Her Momma can keep me from sharing tonight with her. Momma can even get her husband and sons to come out here on the dance floor and beat the shit out of me, but Neela has seen me here. She knows what her family is doing and she knows I love her enough to let them come out here and beat me. Her Momma will ruin lives to keep her power position in the family."

He held his hand out to me and we shook hands. He said he would alert security so that if the family got physical I wouldn't get hurt badly. I thanked him. He walked away. I winked at Neela when I could see her again. She was crying. The band played two fast tunes and I saw Neela's brother get up from beside her left side and head for the restroom. I saw the man from the bandstand stop him and talk to him. The brother was back in time for the beginning of the next slow tune. The brother to Neela's right looked right at me and I saw the color drain from his face. He looked at his mother and she was looking at her husband.




Led by the Ring in His Nose



The brother said something. With the distance and the music I didn't hear what he said, but I knew. Momma spun in her chair and looked. Since everyone but me was moving I was easy to spot. She looked at her husband and said something. He and the two brothers got up and headed in my direction.

I didn't move. When the three men entered the dance floor the music stopped. The tune wasn't over, it just stopped.

I heard the voice of the man I'd spoken to, "Do you believe in Love?" He asked over the microphone.

"Yes!" Said four hundred voices. Neela's Father and brothers kept coming, but slower.

The man's voice said, "There's a man here tonight who asked a woman to marry him a week ago and she said Yes!" Cheers sounded across the room.

"No!" He said. "Her Mother doesn't like him. Her mother took the ring off her hand, breaking her finger in the process. Her mother convinced all the men of the family that their lives would be ruined unless they stopped her from marrying him. That man and that family are here tonight." He paused. Neela's father and brothers were not moving.

The man said, "That man is standing in the middle of the dance floor. If you've been dancing you've danced around him. It's as close as he's been able to get to the woman he loves. If you look you can see her father and two brothers between him and the woman he loves sitting with her mother at table twenty-eight."

He paused while boos were heard. Then he said, "He's prepared to stand there for the rest of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 to show that he loves her. If you love the woman you're with, take her in your arms and dance with her. End this year and begin 2009 showing each other your love."

The band began to play. I recognized the song as one I'd heard hundreds of times sung by Alison Krauss. They played it a little differently and hundreds of people began to dance. The bandleader had picked a two-step and the couples moved in a circle around the floor. I didn't move. The song was, "When You Say Nothing at All."

The singer sang and when she sang the line, "The truth in your eyes says you'll never leave me..." Neela stood up. She turned away from her mother and walked around the table and out onto the dance floor. She walked right past her father and brothers and into my arms. We danced. I looked at Neela's father and saw him take a step in our direction. Four couples danced in front of him, blocking his way.

Neela put her head on my shoulder and held tightly to my hand. I said, "I love you and I'm sorry I was right."

"Take me home, husband." I stopped dancing and then started again. As we got close to the bandstand I stopped us again and the man jumped down beside us. I said, "I already owe you more than I can ever pay you, but maybe you can do me one more little favor?"

He smiled and said, "Let me guess. You'd like me to find someone to marry the two of you right here, right now!"

I nodded and he motioned to a couple standing nearby. They were introduced and agreed to do the ceremony. The band guy got back up on the bandstand and when the tune ended he spoke again. 

"Folks, we need your permission. Seems there's a couple here who don't want to wait until 2009 to get married." He paused to let the applause peak and then he said, "Can we take a couple minutes break from the music and get these two married?" He had to pause again. "Will you all be witnesses for their wedding?" When the applause died down a little he said, "We'll give them a couple minutes to talk with the Reverend then we'll have a wedding!"

The Reverend asked some questions and we answered. His wife made a suggestion and we agreed. Neela and I walked to the back edge of the dance floor and the Reverend and his wife stood in front of the bandstand with a microphone.

The band started the wedding march and Neela hooked my arm. We walked in time to the music, together, to stand in front of everyone. The Reverend did us proud. He said, "We are gathered here in celebration of a uniting love. In the sight of God and these witnesses these two individuals become a life long partnership. Neither being the power partner, both being equal partners striving to make life joyful for each other. Do you each promise to love, honor, cherish and nurture each other for all your lives?" We answered, "We do!" in unison. "Then, by the power vested in me by the church and by the state of Illinois I pronounce you husband and wife." He held the microphone in front of his wife and she said, "You may kiss your partner, your spouse, your lover!"

We did. Flash bulbs popped. Music started again and we talked to quite a few people as the dinner-dance-wedding became our reception. At midnight balloons were released and the band played the traditional song that no one understands. I saw Neela's Father headed in our direction. I said, "Neela, your Father is headed for us."

She stiffened and held tighter to my arm. He stepped close and said, "Hold out your hand please."

"That didn't work out very well last time." I said.

"Give me another chance, Ok?"

I held my hand out. He dropped a room key card in my hand. He said, "There was only one room key for that room. My wife checked us in and only got one key. Since we aren't staying it would be a shame to let the room sit idle."

Neela asked, "You aren't staying?"

"Right after you were married she gave me the room key and she had Amir take her home. She said I could stay here if I wanted, but whenever I came home I would be sleeping in the basement."

"Oh Father, I'm so sorry." Neela said. I said, "I'm very sorry, too."

He said, "This should have happened in 1971 when her Father gave me the ring. I don't think she's willing to change now."

"In any case, I'm sorry for the pain and the missing." I said.

"Are you going home?" Neela asked. He nodded. She leaned to him and kissed his cheek. He turned and slowly walked away. As I watched him go I was reminded of the phrase, "Dead man walking." He was resigned to his fate.

We took the elevator to the eighth floor. When we stepped into the hallway Neela's sisters were all there. They didn't come to us. They stayed together in front of room 808. Our key was for 810. Neela said, "Momma took the boys and went home right after the wedding. She told Father he could stay here if he wanted and when he came home he'd sleep in the basement. He gave us his room key and he went home."

"She didn't take us home. She didn't even tell us she was going..." Sariah was ready to cry.

"Do you have room keys?" I asked. Sariah nodded. 

"We have two rooms," Asmah said.

"Then you're fine. Spend the night. In the morning we'll have breakfast together and I'll make sure you get home."

Sariah opened room 808 and they went inside. I opened 810 and we went inside. Neela said, "I thought I would feel different on my wedding night."

"Me too. The Reverend missed some things in the ceremony."

Like?"

"Like you obeying me." I attempted to embrace her as I said it and she jumped away from me.

"A partnership doesn't include obedience!" She said.

"And don't forget it!" I laughed and danced out of reach.

"He missed the part about "in sickness and in health, in the good times and the bad..." I said.

She shook her head, "No, he said it. He said, "Do you each promise to love, honor, cherish and nurture each other for all your lives?" That includes all the good times, the bad times, the hard times, the sickness, the health. It's all in there."

"Good. Would you mind if I helped you get undressed? I think it might be tough for you with just one hand."

"Momma broke my finger when she took off my ring." 

"I know. I heard about it. Not to worry, we'll get another ring for you and one for me." I helped her get undressed. We showered and crawled into the big King-sized bed. We were both exhausted but made the effort and consummated our vows before we fell asleep.

As we drifted towards sleep I wondered how 2009 would turn out.

2009 Begins... It was still mostly dark when my cell phone rang. It rang again and I was trying to wake up far enough to find it. By the third ring Neela had it in her hand and said, "Hello."

She said, "Mom! We'll be there as quickly as we can. Here's Ben." She handed me the phone and began dressing.

I said, "Mom?"

Her voice said, "Come home Son. Your Dad is gone." Her voice was flat and the emotion was gone. Mom's partner was gone! 

"We're on our way!" I hung up and joined Neela in getting dressed. We were almost ready to go when I remembered telling the sisters I'd take them home. I went next door and banged on the door. I heard Asmah's voice ask, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Ben. Please open up."

She said, "Just a minute" and in a minute the door opened. She and Sariah stood there in robes, barefoot and with messy hair looking cute and sexy. I said, "My Dad died. Neela and I are going there. Have breakfast here in the hotel and take a cab home or to our apartment. We have your cell number. We'll call you later, OK?"

"We'll be Ok. Go, take care of your Momma." 

I gave them about two hundred dollars in twenties, a key to our apartment and Neela and I left. We got the El Camino out of valet parking and in just under an hour we were holding Mom in her living room.

After a few hours of getting things handled with the coroner's office, the mortuary and making twenty phone calls to friends and family we sat down and Neela somehow produced a meal for us. We ate it and Mom said, "That's the first meal anyone has ever made for me in that kitchen."

"I hope I didn't offend you by doing it." Neela said.

"Not at all. You just remind me that we need to talk. The three of us. All the paperwork is done except for a few signatures. Your Dad wanted everything set for when he died. The mortuary is paid. His plot and mine are paid for, too. The house is already yours and so are the truck and the Corvette. When the two of you get married we can amend the titles to include Neela."

I said, "Mom, we have a story to tell you but the bottom line is that we got married last night."

"It was YOU?" She screamed and jumped to her feet! "We saw you getting married on the news just after midnight! They didn't announce your names and the camera wasn't close enough to see your faces, but we thought it was you!"

"Dad saw us get married." I said. I was shocked. I didn't know we'd been on the news.

The three of us hugged and a few more tears fell. Dad saw us get married! Somehow that felt incredibly good to me. Mom asked, "Neela, weren't you a business major?"

"Yes. I have an MBA from Northwestern."

Mom stood up and dragged us to the dining room table. She got papers from the drawers of the china cabinet and said, "Our lives were built around Roger's business, trucking. When we knew he was sick we did everything to transfer the business to you. Evans Trucking is yours and you need to be on the road day after tomorrow!"

"What?" I asked.

"You've got eighty-thousand pounds of machine parts to pick up from Pittsburgh on the third. They need to be in San Diego on the eleventh. You can make it but the weather may make it close."

"Wait!" I said. "I have a job. They expect me at work on the third."

Mom looked at both of us and said, "As the owners of Evans Trucking you have a contract to fulfill. A contract with the U.S. Navy. Your Dad has had contracts with them since 1972 and has never defaulted or been late."

I sat with my feelings for almost a minute before Neela said, "If we need to be on the road day after tomorrow I need to learn as much about the trucking business as I can before we leave!"

The Ben and Neela partnership was working. Mom said, "Ben, get started preparing the truck for the run. You'll need food and more blankets. Neela and I will get her supplies together and the food for you."

I wandered out behind the house to Dad's truck. When my hand reached for the handle on the driver's door it hit me. The truck wasn't Dad's any more. It was mine and it had always been mine in his mind. When we were overhauling the engine he knew he wasn't going to put many miles on it. It was preparing it for me to put four million more miles on it.

Inside the cab I noticed that he'd had the driver's seat reupholstered. In the sleeper I saw tags hanging from a new mattress. Out loud I said, "Thanks Dad." I sat on the bed for a while thinking about my Dad's love and how he showed it.

An in-depth examination showed me Dad had the truck ready for the run to Pittsburgh. Turn the key, put her in gear and go. Then I realized that the real preparation was in Chicago! We had an apartment to deal with! We needed clothes and things for a trip to Pittsburgh and then California! I climbed out of the truck and went back into the house.

Mom and Neela were still at the table. Papers were spread on the table and both women held pencils. Neela looked up first and smiled. I asked, "Can I interrupt for a couple minutes?"

Both pencils went down on the table. I said, "I need to go back to the apartment. We both need clothes and things for a two-week trip across country. The truck just needs food and extra blankets... and a couple new pillows."

Neela said, "I need to go with you. The thought of you packing for me for two weeks scares me. I'll end up with five sexy teddies and no warm clothes at all!"

"You both go. I'll go get food and blankets for you. I've been stocking that truck for years. I know what to get." Mom said. Ten minutes later Neela and I were in the El Camino headed home.

Twenty minutes down the road my cell rang. I handed it to Neela. She flipped it open and said, "Evans Trucking." A few seconds later I figured it was Mom and they were talking about food. When the call ended Neela said, "I hope I wanted an adventure, because I have one!"

"Maybe we should call your sisters. If they're at our apartment they should have some warning that we're coming home."

She dialed Sariah's cell and when she answered Neela asked, "Where are you?" They were in our living room watching the Rose Parade. Neela told them where we were and that we were on our way there. When she asked Sariah about her Mother Neela was quiet a long time. When she spoke it was to tell Sariah that she needed to talk to me and that we'd call her back in a little while.

"Ben, My mother is on a rampage! She has thrown my Father out of the house and threatened to burn the house down! Sariah and Asmah are in our apartment because they are afraid to go home."

"I think they should stay. I think they should also invite their Father to move in until your Mom comes to her senses. The rent is paid, there is heat and both girls can cook and take care of him."

"That's what I thought too. Do we tell them what we're doing? Where we're going?"

"Let's think about this. If we both quit our jobs and cannot be found can we be threatened, coerced, convinced or change our minds about the partnership?"

"We could change our minds, but not because Momma leaned on us." She paused and added, "We should call home once in a while and leave messages on the machine, but not say where we are or what we're up to."

"Agreed." I said. She called back and they talked some more. They hung up and she told me that Sariah was calling her Father, inviting him to come stay, rent free, for at least two weeks.

When we were pulling into our parking spot I saw Neela's SAAB. I thought out loud, "Maybe Asmah needs wheels." We went inside and were met with hugs and tears. We set about the task of packing. Both girls wanted answers to where we were going and what we would be doing and why. They got no satisfaction. Neela said, "If you don't know any answers you can't slip and tell. You don't know. No amount of torture or money can get you to tell Mother where we went. You don't even know when we'll be back."

I said, "I can tell you that we don't either. One of us will call here every few days and let you know we're Ok. When we're within a few days of being back here we'll let you know what we'd like for supper."

They watched us pack and made guesses about where we were going based on what we packed. When Neela packed a bikini they guessed Hawaii. When I packed four sweaters they were confused. 

Neela's Father arrived while we were finishing up our preparations to leave. He came to me and asked, "Why are you leaving?"

"We won't explain it to you. If we did someone could convince you to tell. You cannot tell what you don't know. I can tell you this; we would be going no matter how your wife felt about us. We need to go."

"Then, can you tell me why you are letting Sariah, Asmah and I stay here?"

"The other choice is to read about three people who froze to death in their cars in Chicago." I said.

"I'll be first!" Asmah said, "I don't have a car."

Neela gave her keys to the apartment and her SAAB to Asmah. She said, "Don't sleep in it. Sleep here."

I gave keys to Neela's Father. He accepted them, looked at me and said, "I was going to tell you to take good care of my daughter... but I already believe you'll do better than I did, Son." We hugged and Neela and I left.

As I got on the highway Neela said, "My Father called you Son."

"I heard it."

"He would never have done that before today. I've heard him say a thousand times that no man was going to be good enough for his daughters. He just said you are."

"I plan to work hard to keep that opinion in your mind and his." We drove in silence most of the way to Mom's.

"You know I've never ridden in a semi." Neela offered.

"How are you at being a navigator?"

"I think I know how to read a map, but I've never taken a long trip before except the roadies with you and your Mom and Dad."

"Those were for fun. This is business." I said. She leaned to me and put her hand on my thigh.

"Can't we enjoy it, a little?"

"Oh my! Yes, I think this may be the best trucking I've ever done!"

When we got back to Mom's house she had stocked the truck and had made dinner for us. Over dinner she filled us in.

"Because it's winter, we can easily delay the funeral until you get back, so I did. You have food for five days in the truck. I put an envelope with all your permits, credit cards and other necessary papers in the pouch on the back of the drivers seat. I know you left family in your apartment in Chicago. As soon as practical you should either transfer it to them or close it. This house is yours. Dad and I moved into the bedroom that was yours over a year ago. There's a new bed, new curtains and empty closets in the master bedroom. We have room for and legal permission to park the truck here."

Neela said, "I thought we were sleeping in the truck tonight."

Mom said, "Can if you want to, but I think you'll like your own bedroom."

After dinner I did what I'd seen Dad do a thousand times. I went to the family room and turned on the weather channel. Mom and Neela went back to all the papers on the table and the lessons for Neela continued.

The weather for our first leg would be cold, but clear. By using the computer I found the leg to be 496 miles, well under the maximum of eleven driving hours allowable. When it was getting close to ten Mom said, "You two ought to get to bed. To miss the morning rush you should be gone by five. I'll make a good breakfast for you before you go."

I knew she knew what she was talking about. Dad made this run hundreds of times. She'd made breakfast at four in the morning often. Neela and I went into our new bedroom and I discovered they had changed it so much there was no energy in the room that made me feel like it was my parent's bedroom.

We showered and played as we got clean and ready for bed. As we got into bed I said, "I'm sorry. I had thought that when we got married we'd go on a Honeymoon."

"We leave right after breakfast! We're going on a Honeymoon where we make money!"




Led by the Ring in His Nose



"I love you!"

"Prove it! Fill me up!"

We tried to be quiet. We tried not to break the bed. We were half successful. The bed is fine.

The alarm sounded at four. Neela shut it off and threw off our covers. No point in staying in a bed no longer warm. We got up, dressed warmly and headed for the kitchen.

Mom had coffee made, pancakes on the griddle, eggs in a flying pan and strips of bacon cooking beside the pancakes on the griddle. She had a grocery bag with sandwiches, fruit and a half-gallon of fresh coffee for the road. We ate and ate well. 

At four-thirty the timer on the stove sounded and Mom rushed us out the door and onto our adventure. When I kissed her Good-Bye she had tears in her eyes. When Neela kissed her Good-Bye Mom said, "I'm trusting his life into your hands."

While we ate Mom had gone out and started the truck. In over thirty years as a trucker's wife she'd never driven one foot, but she had started and warmed the truck many times. She did it for Dad and now she did it for us.

The thermometer on the outside mirror read thirty degrees. I put the truck in gear and we were off. The clock on the dash read 4:41am. Neela stayed quiet until we were on the Interstate.

I said, "This is a GPS." I turned the screen to face Neela. I taught her how to use it. I had already programmed it for the company address in Pittsburgh. The female voice came on and told me to prepare to turn east from I-294 onto I-80. Neela smiled and said, "I think I can learn to navigate."

I agreed. We watched the sun come up right in front of us. She mentioned how different the view was from up high in the cab of our truck. I noticed how good it felt that she said, "Our truck." At almost eight in the morning I got off the interstate and found a truck stop. Actually, I didn't find it. I knew it was there. I needed a bathroom and knew that for what I wanted to do we hadn't been married long enough to do it in the sleeper's tiny bathroom.

I was inside the truck stop for less than ten minutes. When I came back Neela had figured out why I went. I blushed. She thanked me for being so considerate.

Half way to Pittsburgh is Toledo. We pulled over and ate the lunch Mom had packed. She made my favorite sandwiches, meatloaf for me and tuna salad for Neela. I explained that since we were a team there would be times when the most efficient way to have lunch would be to have her feed me while I kept us moving to our destination.

Neela cleaned up our lunch while I got us back on the highway. Then she spent time turning her seat area into her office. She started a notebook of things she wanted to remember for future reference. She found the radio station in Toledo that broadcast road and weather information for truckers every fifteen minutes. She kept notes on where the various truck stops were along the road we were on. And, we talked.

Mostly we talked about our business. We hadn't talked about being truckers before Dad died. I had believed it would be years in the future before Dad died and that when he died I'd be so well established in the advertising world that trucking wouldn't even be an option. But... the way the economy was going I could see that a good reliable way of making a living was probably a better idea than the world of advertising.

Neela looked and saw that trucking wasn't what she had planned to be doing. She had planned on an office in a glass building, wearing nice suits and heels, and living in a cozy apartment in the city. Suddenly she was sitting ten feet off the ground going sixty miles an hour in a truck. 

I offered, "Let's look at this trip as a test. We'll pick up the load in Pittsburgh and take it to San Diego. If we have a load in California back to near home we'll decide then if we stay trucking. If this isn't for us, we sell the truck and get to whatever we do next."

Neela agreed that seeing this trip as a test was a great idea. We talked and talked some more as we moved towards Pittsburgh. As we got closer the traffic got more intense and Neela got quieter. I asked, "You Ok?"

"Yes. I'm quiet so you can focus on driving." She said. About two miles later the GPS voice told me to turn off the highway onto city streets. 

I said, "I can't go wrong. I have two ladies helping me!" That relaxed her a little and we made it to the loading dock in Pittsburgh at ten minutes after one in the afternoon, Chicago time. Backing between two other rigs was a skill my Dad made me practice a hundred times in various weather conditions and as I did it I think Neela closed her eyes. It was her first time. I had almost two feet on each side so I was comfortable, but she was worried.

While the dock crew loaded us Neela and I went to the office and did paperwork. Momma had been on the phone with the office folk many times over the years and the paperwork was easy for us. Neela spoke to Momma on the phone and when she was ready she found me watching the crew locking up the load.

"The Boss says we should head west until our time is up. Weather." Neela said.

One of the dock crew, a man about six-six and well over three hundred pounds looked at Neela and asked, "You the second driver?"

She smiled at him and said, "We're partners. No one is second."

He said, "The regular guy from Evan's trucking always came in alone. What happened?"

I was about to answer when Neela said, "It's a family business. Daddy doesn't drive any more. I'll let him know you said Hello."

"Yeah! Do that. I like him." He turned and went back to work.

We got in the truck and headed west. The GPS put us on I-44 west. I said, "You handled that perfectly. You called Dad Daddy."

"Explaining all the details would have taken time and he really doesn't need the details. Was I really Ok?"

"Yup. He knows Evans Trucking is a family business. He's also thinking about you and me as more than truckers."

"He has a dirty mind!" She said with a smile. I looked over at her and thought, 'He had every good reason to think what he thought.'

I timed out near Columbus. I pulled into the Pilot Travel center at exit 94. I topped off our fuel. Neela did the math and we were getting almost exactly six miles per gallon. Topping off cost us four hundred seventy dollars. I'd been with Dad when fuel had been lots cheaper per gallon and still cost us six hundred for a load. Neela was used to driving her Saab and filling up a twenty-one gallon tank. Her Saab also got twenty miles a gallon. The most she'd ever spent for a fill up had been near eighty dollars. When we parked for a sleep break she asked, "How many gallons can we carry?"

"We have two fuel tanks that hold a hundred and twenty gallons each."

Her mind calculated and she said, "A full load would be two hundred forty gallons and at four dollars per that would cost over nine hundred dollars!"

"And, take us fourteen hundred miles." I said.

Our conversation was about the costs of being in business. We talked while we cooked and got ready for a night's sleep. Neela thought it strange that we were getting ready for a night's sleep when it wasn't even dark yet. Momma had packed our food and meals were labeled by when she wanted us to eat them. The foil wrapped package for 3 Jan included meat loaf, two baked potatoes, Hunan green beans and homemade biscuits. We warmed it up and had a good dinner.

The first three days on the road Dad had been eating Mom's food. Now we were. She cooked up a storm at home and packed meals easy to warm and eat. I knew Dad prized the way Mom took care of him. I called Mom and we talked to her as we finished dinner. 

She asked good questions beginning with asking where we were. When she asked I knew she was in the office at the map mounted on the wall. She would put a marker on the map showing where we were each time we called. The marker would mark how many miles we'd traveled, how much fuel we bought and how much it cost. She talked with Neela about the food and if we had enough of everything. Neela asked where some things were stored and Mom helped Neela find them.

Near the end of the call Momma asked if we had spoken to Neela's family. Neela said, "No." 

Momma said, "When a family is being torn apart by emotions it would be good for someone to stay level-headed. I think maybe the level heads are in a truck in Ohio."

She told us she loved us and sent us to bed. As soon as she hung up Neela said, "I need to call our apartment." I hugged her and said, "You can do that if that's what you want, but I'm thinking we should do it together. We need to face whatever needs facing together." I got a kiss and a promise for what we would share after the call. She called our apartment and after hearing the message she said, "It's us. Pick up, please."

Her Dad picked up. "Neela? Where are you?"

"Daddy, when we call, don't ask where we are. Please. We choose not to be findable for a while. I will say that it's cold and has been snowing here. We're both healthy and doing fine. How are things with all of you?"

"I think we may be getting a divorce. Your Momma has thrown everyone out of her house! She has threatened all of us with violence. I went over yesterday to get some of my things, clothes mostly and she had thrown all my clothes out in the back yard in the snow! Amir got lots of his sister's clothes out of the house before Momma locked him out, too."

I asked, "Do you need anything we can provide?"

"No." He said, "For now we have a nice apartment, heat and the girls take good care of me. The boys drop by and we feed them, but they sleep over at Uncle Hassan's."

"There is no need for you to look for another apartment." Neela said. "We're not coming back to live in that apartment. You can start making the rent on the tenth of February and stay there, if Momma doesn't come to her senses."

"I cannot afford to pay the mortgage on the house and rent here. If she doesn't calm down I'll have to sell the house."

I said, "I don't want this to sound like I'm telling you what to do, because I'm not. This is just a suggestion. If your wife knows she can't keep the house unless you're in it, she might decide to open the doors."

"And how do I tell her? She won't talk to me!"

Neela said, "Get a For Sale sign planted in the front yard. Tell my brothers and sisters not to call her. She'll call you at work. When she sees how serious the situation is she'll have to bend."

"I've been a good husband for all these years, haven't I?"

"Yes Daddy! You've been the husband she wanted. Her family trained her to be who she is and we went along because we didn't know any better. Remember when grandpa used to tell stories about how hard it was to change when they came to America? Now I know that Momma is facing changes like those. She can't keep living the old way any more. If she won't change easily, she'll still need to change. Before 2009 is over she'll be a divorced woman, living alone in an apartment or living with you in a new way."

"She doesn't want change! She wants you back home, unmarried and being a good daughter. She wants me back, with a ring in my nose!"

"A thousand times I've heard her tell all of us that we don't always get what we want. I'm not coming back home to live, not getting a divorce, not being Momma's follower. I love her and we all need to grow and change to live in 2009."

I loved listening to Neela speak to her Dad. She was showing me her thinking, her commitment to our partnership. 

She looked at the clock on the dash and realized we needed to sleep. She said, "Daddy, I need to get off the phone. Ben and I have an appointment in the early morning and we need sleep. I'll call again tomorrow at about this time and we can talk then, Ok?"

""Ok. This is not where I thought my life would be in 2009."

"Surprise! I didn't think I'd be married already or be a partner in a business, but I am. We just need to do our best and keep loving each other."

"Good Night, Neela and Good Night Ben."

We said, "Good Night Dad." And the call was over. Neela crawled into bed with me and said, "You were right. Momma saw what you did to her family and went into action to get her power back."

"I think your finger will heal faster than she will. She has been invested in the power structure with her at the top for thirty years."

She snuggled against me and her hand began convincing me that having sex would be a good idea. We kissed and for the next period of time we connected in our business office for the first time. We mated with me above her, her above me, side by side and like two big dogs. Then we imitated two snakes and wrapped around each other and slithered into sleep.

While Neela was on the phone with her Dad I had set the clock to get us up in time to be on the road just before dawn. We planned to go to Springfield MO on the third. A little over six hundred miles. 

Our days became something of a routine. We drove west as near to my time limits as possible, ate, slept, got out and walked some each day and called home every other day. Neela discovered sights she'd never seen before, like driving across the rivers, seeing the desert and watching snow blowing across the highways for two days in a row.

Nothing at our house changed during the five days we drove between Pittsburgh and San Diego. Mom kept doing her things and keeping track of us. She made suggestions about after our delivery, but didn't push.

Our calls to what had been our apartment were calls into an emotional storm. When we called on the third the story was that Momma had tossed everyone out of her home, had threatened to burn the place down and had destroyed everything in the house that belonged to Neela. On the fifth when we called Sariah answered and it was obvious she had been crying. As soon as she heard my voice she burst into sobs again.

I said, "Sariah, you must get control. We cannot help or even understand what is happening if you can't tell us." It took her a minute, but she did calm down enough to talk.

"My brothers went to Daddy's business and demanded that he give in to Momma. They demanded that he get you back in the house and that he do something to get things back the way they were. When Daddy told them he didn't even know where you were they didn't believe him! Amir became so angry that he hit Daddy and broke his nose!"

"When did this happen?" Neela asked.

"Yesterday. Daddy had to go to the emergency room. He took today off and closed his business for the day. Amir went to the house and took down the For Sale sign today. He has called twice."

Neela said, "I need Uncle Hassan's phone number. The boys sleep at his home, don't they?"

"Yes." She gave us the number and I wrote it down. Neela talked to her for a while and calmed her down, giving her instructions for caring for their Daddy. After she hung up we sat together and held each other for quite a few minutes. Finally Neela picked up the phone again and called her Uncle Hassan. They spoke for almost half an hour. I didn't understand any of what was said. I did understand the tears and the tone of voice changes. When she hung up the phone she came into my arms and cried for a while before telling me what she learned.

"The whole community has taken sides. Those who lived in our old country and those who were born just after the families came to America are on Momma's side. Many of the younger, second generation family are on Daddy's side. Actually, not on Daddy's side. On our side. They believe we live in a new country and there are new ways. If a vote was taken today, our side is out numbered. No one seems to understand why the bull's ring is an insult. Uncle Hassan wants me to come home, go to Momma and apologize."

"Is that what you want to do?" I asked. I held my voice as neutral as I could.

"No! If I did that I would be condemning my sisters and my brothers to life in the old way! If they could only open their eyes and see how much better life could be as a partnership!" Her arms tightened around me and I held on. I thought about how I had been raised inside a partnership and took it for granted. My parents had taught me an entirely different way to think and act than Neela's family taught their children to think and act.

"Ben, I need your help." She didn't let go, but lifted her face to look into mine. 

"Whatever you need." I said.

"The phone calls were expensive. I don't know enough about our partnership to know if we can afford what I've already done, much less more. On the emotional side, I'm a wreck. I want to crawl under the covers with you and cry for a couple of days."

"Whatever you need. Our load isn't due in San Diego until the eleventh. If you need two days under the covers, we can do it. You need three hours more on the phone, do it. I'm here for you."

"We can do this, can't we?"

"Which this do you mean?"

"We can live our lives as partners? I don't want my mother to win this power struggle. Sariah and Asmir need freedom, too!"

"I cannot guarantee that they will have it, without a fight. We can live our lives inside this partnership and have great lives. We have two great things going for us, we love each other and we're both smart."

"Three great things. We have the example set by your parents. We already know a partnership like ours can work, they did it. I'm so glad I got to meet them both and learn from them."

For the rest of that day and night I did whatever I could do to comfort Neela. I made chicken soup and fed it to her. I held her. I helped her cry when she cried and mostly I was quiet. The morning of the seventh I started the truck and drove from Flagstaff to Phoenix. I had a good friend from college who lived in Phoenix. As I drove I asked Neela to call him and put the call on speaker.

He answered and I asked, "In about three hours I'm going to be in Phoenix Arizona. Got any idea where a boy from Chicago can find good brots in Arizona?"

"Ben, is that really you?" He asked.

"Yup! Honestly I know better than to hope there are good brots in Arizona, but we will be hungry when we get there. Any chance you could take a little time off?"

"I know the boss pretty well. I can close the shop down for two days!" He paused, "Wait! You said we. We, as in, I'm not alone."

"Are you sitting down? I'm married and my wife and I have a business together."

"Do I know her?"

"No. I met her after Nicole and I broke up. You were already out west."

"I didn't know you and Nicole broke up. Let me guess, it had something to do with your Vette?"

"I sold her the car and she drove off, never to be seen again."

"Damn, Buddy that's sad."

"No. One door closes so a better one can open. Give us your address and Neela will plug you into our GPS. Is there a lot of room to park close to you?"

"Wal-Mart is a block away."

"I'll call you when we're there. Ok?"

"No. I have a three-bedroom house, know where every restaurant worth eating at can be found and I've missed you! How long can you stay?"

"Randy, what we need most is a place where Neela can crash for a day or two. Her family is in turmoil and she just needs a place to drop into the fetal position and sleep or cry for a while."

"Call me when you're at Wal-Mart. I'll meet you there. What are you driving?"

"A semi. Remember my Dad's truck? It's ours now."

"Wow! Ok. See you in a couple hours."

Neela hung up just a second after Randy did. She said, "You found me a place to cry and heal. You love me."

"More than anything else in the Universe." The rest of the way to the Wal-Mart parking lot the only one who spoke was the woman inside the GPS. Neela and I stayed quiet.

Randy arrived driving a four-door Silverado Pick-up. I packed enough clothes for two days for Neela and off we went to his home. I planned to come back to the truck and move it, often and be back on the road to San Diego on the tenth. Seven hours driving on the tenth and we'd deliver a full day early.




Led by the Ring in His Nose



Randy's house was beautiful. On two acres, surrounded by trees and a view of mountains in the distance, his home was just what Neela needed. We got Neela comfortable and warm and she asked that we bring her something to eat when we came back.

Instead Randy ordered food delivered and when it arrived the three of us ate in his dining room. As we ate it began to lightly snow. The view of snow falling in the trees was incredible. Neela sobbed and the whole saga poured out of her. Randy listened and I saw his eyes fill as the story touched him.

When Neela ran down, had said everything she needed to let out, she went back to the guest room and went to bed. Randy and I sat up until two in the morning. We had been brothers born to different parents when we were in college. At about two in the morning he said, "She's wonderful. She's strong, beautiful and it's obvious she loves you. Congratulations. I'm jealous."

We hugged manly hugs and I joined Neela in bed.

Hunger and a need to pee woke me the next morning. When I got up Neela woke and asked if I could go pee for her. I answered that I had the wrong plumbing to be able to do that, so she got up and preceded me into the bathroom. Randy was in the kitchen with a pot of hot, strong coffee, a fire going in the fireplace and music playing softly from the stereo.

"I make great coffee, but I don't cook well. Scrambled eggs and toast is about the upper limit of my kitchen skills."

Neela went to the refrigerator got out eggs, cheese, bell peppers, onions and a few other things. As she began work on breakfast she asked, "If you don't cook why all these ingredients?" 

"Three friends came over two nights ago and they cooked, leaving whatever was left."

Neela made a sort of omelet thing that looked strange and tasted like heaven. Randy wolfed it down and asked, "Do you have a sister?"

Neela looked at him and said, "Three of them. All younger than me and single. You looking for a wife, Randy?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. I'm feeling like my life isn't full. I used to love living here. I loved waking up and wandering around this house, playing music any time I wanted, doing dishes once a week, laundry when I ran out of socks." He spread his arms. "Look at my house. Clean and organized. I've grown up, some. I could immediately invite any woman into my house. When I got out of bed this morning I straightened the bed! I don't want to live my life alone." He was quiet for almost a minute and said, "I want a life partner. I want her so badly it hurts."

I heard the gears turning in Neela's head. She asked, "Tell me about her. Who does she need to be?"

The thought in my head was, 'Randy, don't screw up buddy.'

"She must be someone going somewhere with her life. Smart, educated and working at creating a balanced life."

"What does that mean, "A balanced life"?" Neela asked.

"She welcomes challenges in her life. She is physically active, skis, rides a bike, hikes, swims... something. She reads and not any one thing but reads about lots of things and wants to talk about a hundred subjects. She can and likes to cook. She's as comfortable in worn jeans as in an evening gown. She's been skinny-dipping and enjoyed it. She has trouble being labeled."

"I know her." Neela said. "In June she'll graduate with a masters in business. She hikes and runs regularly. Studied pre-med for two years before she changed to business."

"Why did she drop pre-med?" Randy asked.

"The way they teach medicine is like a business. She wanted to be a healer. She has friends who are her friends because they are deep into subjects she wants to learn. She invites them for dinner and picks their brains."

"She lives in Chicago and doesn't ever want to leave?" Randy asked.

"She lives in Chicago and is looking hard at the possibility of leaving."

"How can I meet her?" He asked.

"Give me a phone please." Neela said. Randy found a cordless and handed it to Neela. She held onto it and asked, "This can work one of two ways. You can fly to Chicago and spend a few days there meeting her and some of her family. Or, she can fly here and meet you here. If you choose the second option I request she flies out here next week and we stop on our way back to Chicago."

"If you invite her here, will she come?"

"I'm not sure. She's my sister and until the mess in the family looks like it will be solved, I can't guess what she will do with the invitation."

"Call her. Invite her here. You and Ben will be back next week."

Neela started punching buttons on his phone. He asked me, "Does she look like Neela?"

"Not as tall, but every inch a woman people notice, in a good, sexy way."

Neela spoke into the phone, "Sariah, I'm putting you on speaker. I want Ben to hear you. Please describe the man you want to meet and marry."

"Short version or long?"

"Start short." Neela smiled as she said it.

"He must be able to be Ben's best friend and share his values. He can't be the kind of sports nut who knows the batting average of a hundred players and has never been to batting cages. He reads and not just Playboy. He might even have a subscription to Scientific American or the Smithsonian. He dresses like he's comfortable being authentically him, jeans, shorts or tux. He laughs and sings for the joy of both. He might not attend church but he is spiritual and may meditate in a variety of ways. He's taller than me and he's not fat. The first thing I said is the short version. Why did you ask? Did you find him?"

"He and Ben met in college and are best friends. He's right here and I can see a copy of Scientific American on his coffee table. He wants to meet you. He said and I quote, "I want a life partner. I want her so badly it hurts."

"Can I borrow your car and some gas money?" Sariah asked.

"No." I said. Call O'Hare and get a flight to Phoenix. Monday or Tuesday will be fine. However, don't call until you consider the impact of losing another daughter will have on your family and on you. Could you move to Phoenix and be eighteen hundred miles from your Dad, brothers and sisters? You won't lose us, Neela and I are family to you forever and wherever you are."

Sariah asked, "Can I call you later tonight?"

"Yes." I said. I gave her our cell number. She said, "Really, he fits?"

Randy and I looked at Neela and she said, "Near as I can tell they are brothers."

Sariah said, "Ben, I love you and thanks." She ended the call. Neela hit the button on the phone she was holding and said, "That's what I needed. A little good news, a little possibility."

We loaded into Randy's truck and he drove us around Phoenix. He pointed out places he liked and places where he'd share with Sariah. He asked lots of questions about Sariah, the family and about how their lives might mesh. I watched and listened to Neela.

She was happy again, looking forward and full engaged. We stopped by Wal-Mart and moved the truck then went back to Randy's home. As we pulled into the driveway Neela pointed to the garage and said, "Do you ever put the truck inside?"

Randy smiled and said, "The garage is full. I'd love to show you." He parked the truck and as we got out he hit the opener and the garage door opened. Sitting in the center of a remarkably clean and organized garage sat a 1934 Ford Victoria sedan. Four panels of lights came on as the door rolled up. The car was painted bright yellow and sported wide tires on the rear and mag rims all round. It was ready for the cover of Hot Rod magazine.

Neela asked, "All show and no go or is she fast?"

Randy puffed up a little and said, "When I bought her the engine was original and the block was cracked. Now there's a 425-inch Dodge Hemi under the hood that produces 425 horses. I mated the engine to a B&M stick hydro and a strong rear end."

We spent some time admiring the '34. We sat in it and randy fired up the monster engine. He told Neela he bought the car after I bought the '55 Vette for my Dad. Something magical about the classic cars, he said.

We were back inside the house when the phone rang. Randy answered and talked for quite a while before he walked the phone to Neela and said, "It's Sariah."

Neela took the phone and wandered into the living room, sat on the big leather couch in front of the fire randy built for her and they talked. Randy and I went back out to the garage. We talked about the sisters and the problem with their Momma.

We closed the garage and went back inside after quite a while. We added wood to the fire and sat on either side of Neela. I could see that tears had fallen. I got a kiss and she turned and gave Randy one as well. She gave him the kiss and said, "It's from Sariah. Her plane lands Tuesday at three in the afternoon."

Neela listened a few seconds and asked, "How will she recognize you?"

Randy said, "I'll be the one driving a bright yellow '34 Ford! I'll wear a bright yellow shirt and..."

Neela burst out laughing! "She's got the picture! You'll know her by the navy Pea-coat and matching slacks she'll be wearing and the fact that she'll be shaking in apprehension and anticipation."

The call ended and Neela shared with us. Sariah had discussed possibilities with her sisters and with Daddy. She had not talked to her brothers. The situation with Momma had not resolved, or even changed much. Daddy had sent Momma a registered letter letting her know that as of March first he was not making mortgage payments on the house, that he had accepted an offer to sell his business and he was stopping all the family credit cards and her access to their saving accounts. The letter also informed her he was filing for divorce.

Momma had called Daddy at work and screamed at him that if he filed for divorce he would be wasting his money because she would kill herself before she would be humiliated by being divorced. Daddy hung up on her.

Sariah had bought her ticket for Phoenix and was excited to meet Randy. Neela was excited for her sister. She said to Randy and me, "She sees the possibilities in partnership that don't exist in the old ways."

Randy said, "But, no pressure, right?"

I said, "You want pressure? Her brothers don't even know you exist, but they hate you. They were willing to kick the crap out of me on New Years Eve for rejecting a ring in my nose! They want to be led around by the nose!"

"I'm eighteen hundred miles from Chicago. Damn! I hope she's worth the risk."

"Neela is. Sariah is, too." I said.

We retired for the night and at dawn Randy dropped us at the truck. At three that afternoon I backed the truck down the incline to the loading dock and a crew of dock apes unloaded us. By four the truck was empty, the paperwork done and the U.S. Navy was happy. We left the truck parked at the dock and picked up a rental car for a day. Neela had never seen the Pacific Ocean before so we drove to Point Loma and watched the busy port of San Diego and the miles and miles of ocean. We ate in Old town San Diego and loved the great Mexican food we tasted. That evening Neela talked for an hour with Sariah. I listened.

The short version was that Sariah called her mother and told her she was going away for a few days to meet a man. A man she intended to marry. No, he wasn't from the old country. Sariah told her mother that she was about to lose the things she had always said were the most important things in her life. Her home would be sold, her marriage would end, and her children would scatter and live lives without her constant attention. She had told her mother that Neela wasn't to blame. The twenty-first century was to blame. Her Momma began to scream at her and about Neela and Sariah just hung up the phone.

We were in San Diego on Monday evening. The truck would be loaded and ready for us to leave NLT 0600 on Tuesday. I learned that NLT means No Later Than and 0600 means six o'clock in the morning. We would be parked at Wal-Mart in Phoenix by three in the afternoon. NLT 1500. The same time that Randy would pick up Sariah at the airport.

That was the plan. Plans don't always work. Somewhere around midnight Monday evening the load destined for the Reserve Training Center in Chicago was being loaded and the forklift operator got distracted, running both forks through the side of our trailer. The load was unloaded and the trailer would be repaired in less than a day. We could leave San Diego NLT 1800 hours, six o'clock Tuesday evening! 

That would get us into Phoenix at two in the morning. Neela wasn't panicked. She called Randy and told him what happened and that we'd park at Wal-Mart and sleep in the truck until he and Sariah came to pick us up. We spent about half the day in San Diego shopping and being tourists. Then we went to the truck and I slept until we were loaded, locked up, fueled up and ready to go. I pulled away from the dock at 1745 hours. Fifteen minutes early.

While I slept Neela got food for our dinner and snacks loaded in the truck. While we drove to Phoenix we didn't stop for food or beverages. We did stop once at a rest stop to take care of biological necessities without smelling up the inside of the truck. Neela had learned a lot about what snacks and foods I liked.

At 0300 on Wednesday morning Neela and I undressed and went to bed, parked in Wal-Mart's lot. I was affectionate with Neela and she gave as good as she got. After her first orgasm we joined and kissed. I pulled my face back just enough that our lips weren't touching any more and I asked, "Think Sariah is in bed with Randy right now?"

"No! She's going to take this slowly. Sariah isn't impulsive like that. We didn't just jump into bed either, if you remember."

"As I remember it you tackled me, threw me to the floor and made me surrender. Randy may not stand a chance. She'll love it here. Lots of sand, desert and heat!"

"You think she can like it here?"

"You seem to like living in a truck. I think I could live anywhere you were. Maybe that's how Sariah will be. Maybe they will click, too."

"That thing you have sticking in me? Could you move it around some? I'd like it if you'd fill me up."

After, we cleaned up, opened the doors long enough to get the smells of sex out of the truck and Neela dressed in a t-shirt of mine and a pair of panties. I covered us and we slept. Wal-Mart was open and there were quite a few cars in the lot when someone banged on the side of the sleeper.

Randy's voice called out, "Big brother, wake up! Time for brunch!" We both laughed and got up. We dressed quickly and exited the sleeper. Randy stood by our truck with Sariah hanging on his arm. One look and I knew she was gone on him. One look at randy and he was oh, so proud.

Neela took one look and said, "Oh my God! Sariah, you went to bed with him!"

Sariah blushed and said, "The second time!" The four of us laughed. We got into Randy's truck and headed for his home. The day was spent building the beginnings of their relationship, solidifying our brotherhood and laughing. The sisters borrowed the truck and went to a nearby market, came back and started cooking. Randy all but dragged me to the garage.

"She's the one!" He said. "I'm going to marry her. She's going to live here, in this house, with me!"

They found us polishing the outside of the '34 Ford. Sariah hooked Randy's arm and asked, "If I get some wonderful lotion, think you might spread it on me?"

"Don't get a little jar!" He said. Neela grabbed my arm and they led is willingly back into the house and dinner. Randy asked, "When do you need to leave?"

"It's Wednesday evening. We can stay all day tomorrow and tomorrow night, then we need to go. So, early Friday morning we need to be on the road."

My cell phone rang. I looked and it was my home number. I answered, "Ben."

It was Neela's daddy. He said, "Whatever Sariah said did the trick! The girls and I are invited home. We're moving back in the morning, unless it snows. The boys are upset but they will move back day after tomorrow. Can I speak to Neela or Sariah please?"

I put the call on speaker and said, "They're right here and you're on speaker."

Randy and I stayed quiet and listened. When the family news from Chicago was finished Sariah asked if he wanted the news from Arizona. Of course he said yes.

"Neela and I are going to plan a wedding! This morning Randy asked me to marry him and I said yes!"

The call lost all semblance of sanity at that point. The other sisters jabbered in a strange language that Neela and Sariah responded to with equal jabbering and eventually the call ended.

I picked up the warm cell phone and called the airline Sariah had flown to Phoenix on. I found out I could sell back the return trip part of her ticket. I hung up.

I found the sisters in the kitchen and said, "I think Sariah should ride with us back to Chicago. You can do lots of planning as we drive and she'll see how we live."

They squealed like seventh grade girls at their first concert and Randy interrupted by grabbing Sariah's hand and heading out of the kitchen. Sariah asked, "Where are we going?"

"To the bedroom! Time's a wastin!" They didn't stop. I heard the door to Randy's bedroom close and I heard Sariah laughing. I looked at Neela and she was smiling. Her eyes were full of tears and I couldn't resist kissing her.

"You started all this!" She said between kisses. 

Epilogue... Sariah's wedding happened and Momma sat in the front row. Her Daddy sold the business and they bought a motor home to travel around visiting family. My Mom made an announcement a year and a month after Dad died. She was getting married to a man she met one morning at La Mex her favorite Mexican restaurant. He drove in and parked next to her in a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air two-door sport sedan. He invited her to go for a ride. Sariah's sisters visited Phoenix and both met good men. They got jobs and moved to Arizona. The four boys are still pissed at their parents and they hate Randy and me. Not one of them came to Sariah's wedding. Well, that's not true. They came, but stayed out in the parking lot and egged about twenty-four cars. Neela and I have been offered a nice sized price for the property in Downer's Grove. When Mom get's married, we'll sell and maybe buy a place in or near Phoenix. I think I'd like Flagstaff better. You never know. Things change.

Momma did.

[As always your comments are welcomed unless you want to attack me personally. I have ex-wives and other relatives to tell me what a perverse, ignorant asshole I am. Please don't waste time repeating their beliefs. If you comments will possibly assist in me becoming a better writer, please, leave a comment.]