Life Aid Pt 2

So, it had been decided. Paul and Suzie were going to Live Aid in Philadelphia, no matter what. They just needed to find a way to get there and also figure out what lie they were going to tell their parents to cover their three day absence. They would have to get creative.

Suzie had a friend in Tennessee that she could use her as cover. She’d tell her mom she was going to take a bus to go and visit Mary-Ann for the weekend because she hadn’t seen her in a few years. Paul thought that if he told his parents he was going camping with some guys from school it would be a good enough cover story. If they asked who he was camping with he would make up a name of a kid they didn’t know so that they couldn’t call him up to confirm that this was all legit. Suzie thought the camping story was excellent because then he could take a tent and camping gear if they actually did need to sleep in a tent somewhere. She decided to change her story to also going camping with somebody she still needed to invent as cover. It couldn’t be Paul though, that wouldn’t fly with her parents.

The main problem to solve was just how they were actually going to get there and back. Neither of them had their own car and while they had driver’s licenses borrowing a car wasn’t really an option. Who was going to loan their car to a couple of wet behind the ears seventeen year old kids who wanted to drive 500 miles across the country to attend a rock concert? Suzie suggested hitch-hiking but Paul nearly had a conniption, asking her if she had ever heard the term “serial killer” before. She punched him on the shoulder and told him not to be such a wuss.

What if they asked around to see if any other locals were going up to Philly for the show? Maybe they could chip in for fuel? Catch a ride that way? It sounded plausible to Paul. He’d ask Aldo if they could put up a notice in the entrance window of the diner asking if anybody was going and was offering a ride.

They were sitting on another bench in the park where they had gotten rained on during their first date. Suzie was stretched out on her back, her head in Paul’s lap.

“How will they contact us?” asked Suzie. “I’m not giving out my home number for some dipstick to get chatting with my parents about offering a ride to Live Aid in Philadelphia. Too many questions will be asked!”

“We could ask them to leave their details with Aldo and then we could contact them, not the other way around.”

She sat up promptly.

“You’re a genius! No wonder y’all get to go to college.” she said. “How much money do you have?”

“‘About a hundred and fifty or so.” he said. “I could sell some records, but I won’t get much for them. And you?”

Suzie sighed.

“I got maybe forty bucks in a piggy bank I have had since tenth grade. It’s all in quarters and dimes. My allowance don’t go very far.”

“So between us we have a hundred and ninety bucks. Maybe. I think we could get there and back on that if we can find a lift.”

“How much are the tickets to the concert?”

Paul scratched his head with an expression like he was just about to drop a bombshell.

“Erhm… thirty five bucks.”

Suzie raised her eyebrows.

“That’s quite a bit, but it will leave us with what… a hundred and fifty five?”

“It’s thirty five dollars each.” he said, slowly.

“What? That’s outrageous! Thirty five dollars each? Who’s gonna pay so much for a concert?”

“Well, it’s not your average concert, there are loads of world class acts performing, both in Philly and London. It starts at 9am and goes through to like midnight. It’s gonna be live broadcast all over the world.”

Suzie sat flabbergasted with her mouth open.

“Why aren’t we just watching it on TV then?” she asked.

“It was your idea to go. Besides, it’s Live Aid, a really good cause. Have you ever been to a live music concert before?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“Whether y’all gonna laugh at me for saying it or not.”

Paul smiled and put his arm around her.

“Did you go see The Village People or something equally horrific?” he teased.

“My parents took me. I had no say.” She feigned a sad face.

“Oh my god. I’ve been kissing a person who saw the Village People live. I’m gonna get cooties!”

She shrugged off his arm and pouted playfully. Paul laughed and laughed until she whacked him on the arm again. He was going to end up with serious bruises if he kept up the ribbing. She packed quite a punch.

“So why don’t we get part time jobs for a couple of weeks?” he suggested.

“Where? Doing what?”

“I dunno, maybe Aldo can offer us something? You ever wait tables before?”

“No, but how hard can it be?” She bit her lip and looked up at the sky for a moment. “Let’s go talk with the old guy and see if he can employ us. We are going to go to Live Aid, Boyfriend. It has been decided.”

They walked over to Jovino’s to find it packed as usual. Aldo was behind the counter barking orders to the short order cooks as the popular music continued to blast out to hungry teenagers who filled the booths and bar seats. The music was so loud that being inside was like being in a night club during the day. Aldo had quite the youth vibe going. They took up a space at the end of the bar and waited for him to come over to them. Suzie was going to be doing the taking. Paul stood behind her, one hand on her hip the other in his pocket. He’d never been brave enough to ask somebody for a job before.

Aldo eventually noticed them and came over.

“What’re you kids having today?” he asked.

“We’re looking for part time jobs. Are you hiring right now?” Suzie said. Aldo pursed his lips and flipped the dish towel he had been holding over his shoulder.

“We could probably use some help. What kind of work you looking to do?”

“Waiting tables?” suggested Suzie.

“You’re not going to get much in the way of tips from these kids, you know. But I do have a slot open and if you’re happy to work for a basic $3 an hour whatever tips you make are yours to keep.”

Suzie smiled.

“And my boyfriend Paul here, have you got anything for him to do?”

“Can you flip a burger, son?”

Paul blinked rapidly. This interview was going so fast he hadn’t even had time to process the logistics yet. He nodded.

“Alright, you start tomorrow. Be here at 8am so I can get you familiar with how things work. And don’t be late or you’re fired before you begin.”

—-

Suzie tied the little black waitress apron with the Jovino’s logo embroidered on it around her waist while Paul put on a much bigger apron that covered his entire front. He also had on a hairnet. Suzie giggled as he tucked his hair under it.

“Y’all look like a really badly prepared surgeon. All that’s missing is a face mask and rubber gloves.”

“At least I’m getting $3.65 an hour. They can make me dress in a clown suit for all I care.” he shot back. The banter between the two of them was relentless.

On his first break Paul asked Aldo about putting up a sign in the window to see if anybody was going to Live Aid and was willing to offer them a lift. Aldo said that was not a problem, so Paul got a piece of yellow paper off a legal pad to make a sign. He drew an outline of the African continent with a thick marker pen. At the top of the page he titled it LIVE AID – LIFT WANTED and at the bottom asked interested parties to leave their details with the cashier.

At the end of their first shift they were both dead on their feet. Paul went back to Suzie’s apartment with her and met her parents for the first time. They seemed very nice. In her bedroom Suzie collapsed onto her bed face first and lay that way for a few seconds. Paul sat down in a white wicker arm chair that was in the corner of the room.

“Oh my God. That was murder. My feet feel like lead weights. This concert better be worth it, Boyfriend.” said Suzie as she rolled over onto her back with her arms stretched out above her head, her shirt pulling up to show the pale skin of her belly.

“Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Simple Minds, Tears For Fears, Thompson Twins, Duran Duran. Need I go on?” Paul said.

“Ok, ok, ok. Great line up. I’m gonna need new shoes before we go there, because these ones are gonna be totally worn out before the end of the month. Is that in the budget?”

“What did you make in tips?” Paul asked.

Suzie put her hand into her jeans pocket and brought out a handful of change and a couple of notes. She put it on the bed beside her. Paul’s eyes lit up.

“Wowza, the kids must like you. Or did you threaten to beat them up if they didn’t tip?”

“Bit of both. Let’s see what we got here…” She sat up and began counting her tips. It took her a couple of goes to get to a total. “Fifteen Dollars and forty-five cents. Plus nine hours wages at $3 a pop, what’s that come to, College Boy?”

“Damn, I got demoted from Boyfriend to College Boy.” He pretended to be hurt which earned him a smile and a kiss blown across the room. “Twenty seven dollars and fifteen Dollars makes forty two Dollars, plus your forty five cents. That’s pretty good! Better than my thirty two Dollars and eighty five cents flipping burgers in the heat all day.”

Suzie lay back down on the bed again, a satisfied smile on her face.

“So at this rate what will we have by the time we go to Philly?” she asked.

“Depends on how many shifts we pull, but right now we’re close to $300 in our kitty if we use our savings, and if we get the same money out of say ten shifts we’d have over a grand. That would make for a pretty epic trip to Live Aid. And… you’d be able to get more than one new pair of sneakers. We’re gonna be pretty well oiled. There are still like four weeks before the show. We could prolly stay in a motel if we wanted to.”

Suzie cocked an eyebrow at him.

“What you gonna do with me in a motel, Boyfriend?” she beckoned him over to the bed with an index finger. Paul got out out of the chair and lay down next to Suzie on her bed, one hand resting on her hip, the other propping up his head. They kissed.

“I’m gonna take care of your needs.” he said, looking into her eyes. She smiled and touched his face with a tender hand.

“You don’t even know what my needs are.” she said, smiling back at him.

“I have a feeling you will give me a list before we check in.”

—-

“There’s a message for you on the bulletin board, Paul.” said Maria, Aldo’s wife.

Paul walked through to the employee’s locker room with Suzie in tow. There on the board was a small piece of paper with his name on it and written underneath were the contact details of somebody who was going to Live Aid in Philly who could give them a lift. The note said his name was Stephen and there was a number.

“Oh, wow. That was quick.” said Suzie. “Are you gonna call or do you want me to?”

“We can call together. Maybe after shift?”

Suzie gave him a thumbs up.

There was another problem Paul had run into that he wasn’t telling her about.

All the tickets for Live Aid had been sold out in May. It was now the middle of June and the chances of finding a couple of spare tickets were dwindling as the show date got closer. Paul was keeping tabs on the classifieds in the local paper and had even thought of placing a wanted ad to see if he could find some. He was prepared to pay up to $50 per ticket.

He was going to keep this a secret until they had done at least a week’s shift work at Jovino’s. If he couldn’t get the tickets by then he would come clean and just hope that she wasn’t going to whack him on the head. His sore shoulder was learning fast that it wasn’t a good idea to get on her bad side.

Suzie’s second shift yielded over $20 in tips and she was starting to think that there might be a future in waiting tables for a living instead of going to work at her Dad’s employer when the summer break came to an end. Paul put the second shift tip windfall down to the fact that she wore a short denim mini skirt. She really had a great pair of legs and he’d seen Aldo checking her out more than once as she walked to and from the order counter. Dirty old man, he thought. He  also wondered if he would have gotten a job at all if Suzie hadn’t been the one to ask. He was learning so much about life from her and his confidence was at an all time high, even though it had only been a couple of weeks since they met. Every day he got out of bed with a spring in his step and found himself whistling at the breakfast table. His Dad even asked him if he had found true love one morning. He just smiled and ate his cereal.

After the shift was over the couple made their way over to Suzie’s apartment and called the number on the note. It rang a few times before somebody picked it up.

“Hello?” came a raspy voice.

“Hi, is this Stephen?” asked Paul.

“Yeah? Who’s this?”

“Oh, cool. My name is Paul, I got a message to call you about a possible lift to Live Aid next month. I put up a sign at Jovino’s.”

Stephen coughed, then cleared his throat.

“That’s right. Me and my girl are going up in our van, so if y’all don’t mind riding up the whole way in the back of the van and you don’t puke, we can take you with.”

“That’s awesome. No problem with me getting car sick. Suzie?” he took his head away from the receiver and looked at her. She shook her head and gave a thumbs up. “What will you charge us for fuel?” asked Paul. There was a bit of a pause.

“Just the two of you?”

“Yeah, me and my girlfriend, Suzie.”

“Thirty bucks. You cool with that?”

“$30 all in? There and back?”

“Yeah.”

They arranged to meet at Jovino’s the next day.

—-

It was raining when Paul saw a bright green Ford Transit van pull into a street parking bay right outside the diner. The guy who got out looked like he was in his thirties, thickset with long dark hair in a pony tail pushed through the adjustment band of a trucker’s cap. He had a wispy beard that wasn’t quite full, but also somewhat unkempt. He looked like a hillbilly.

Paul thought it had to be Stephen, the dude who was going to give them a ride to Live Aid. Based on appearances he wouldn’t have set foot in any vehicle with this guy, but since meeting Suzie he found himself lightening up, just a little. He’d at least go out and meet the guy who had now taken up a spot at the first booth.

He walked slowly towards him, stopping to brief Suzie who was just coming back from taking an order at the second booth.

“I think that’s our guy.” he said, pointing. Suzie turned around and gave him the once over.

“You sure? He looks like he might be a serial killer. Woooowoo!” She made a mock stabbing motion in the air. “I gotta ton of orders to call, you go check him out and holler if you need any help with anything.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and disappeared to the kitchen.

Paul went to the first booth.

“Are you Stephen?” he asked.

“Yeah, you must be Paul?” came the reply. He sounded even raspier in person than he did over the phone. He had a very heavy Southern accent. “Take a seat, man. Let’s talk binness.”

Paul sat across from him. The guy looked very intimidating. Not really the kind of person he’d want to be taking a cross country road trip with.

“Have you got tickets for the show?” Stephen rasped.

“Not yet, but I’m working on it.”

“Well, today’s your lucky day, buddy. I got a coupla spares going. You wanna do a combo deal, tickets and a ride?”

He reached into his jacket and produced an envelope, laying it down on the table. He opened it up and pulled out four red tickets. They were long, mostly red, the top part detachable.

Paul leaned forward. Stephen had his full attention.

“How much?” he asked.

Stephen leaned back in the booth, a creepy smile forming on his lips. He was missing both eye teeth.

“Was that your gal Suzie back there? She sure is purdy. You’re a lucky fella, get a girl like that.” Paul said nothing. Stephen reached back into his pocket and brought out a soft pack of Lucky Strikes, the plain variety. “You smoke?”

Paul shook his head. The anticipation of a price for two of those tickets was beginning to make him want to go pee. He didn’t even notice that his left leg was bouncing up and down faster than a jackhammer under the table.

“Tell you what, Paul. You seem like a nice guy. How about $200 all in for the two tickets and the ride?”

Paul had to do some mental arithmetic to figure out what he was going to be paying for the tickets if Stephen had previously asked for $30 just for the ride. It worked out to more than double the face value of each ticket.

“That’s quite steep.” he said. “More than double what they cost.”

“I know that. I can prolly get over $150 each on the day at the stadium. It’s still a good deal for y’all seein’ as it includes the return ride.”

Paul thought about it while Stephen lit up his cigarette.

“Okay, deal.” he eventually said, sticking out his hand over the table. “$200 even, for the ride and the two tickets.”

“Alriiiighhht!” Stephen rasped out, shaking his hand. “We gonna have us a blast up there in Philadephia. You got the cash on you now?”

“No, but I will bring you $150 tomorrow and then I can pay you the rest on the day we go, if that’s okay?”

“Sure, no problem, kiddo. Same time tomorrow?”

“Yessir.” Paul said enthusiastically.

“Wanna come check out the ride?” Stephen asked.

“Yeah, that’ll be sweet.”

The two of them went out in the rain. Stephen opened the sliding door to reveal what could only be called a relic of the 1970’s hippie scene. The van interior had a deep red shaggy carpet covering every main surface. There was a raised bed at the back and a make shift seating area of orange and green bean bags on either side of a small wooden table right in the middle of the floor. The back windows had been painted over so if the side door was closed the only light coming in would be from the cab, and that wasn’t saying much.

“Welcome inside ole Bessie!” Stephen said enthusiastically. “She ain’t much but she’s my baby.”

Paul climbed inside and found himself smiling. This was going to be such a cool experience for them both, taking a road trip to the biggest concert since Woodstock with complete strangers in a time capsule from the 70’s.

“Are you planning on sleeping inside the van at the stadium?” he asked.

“Uh-huh. Me and my girl Carmen go to most of the big shows on the road and camp out in here when we do. We save a fortune on hotels and shit. Where are y’all planning on staying overnight?”

“Not decided yet, but we’ll probably camp someplace close.”

“Yeah, makes sense. We gonna camp down by the river.” said Stephen.

They said goodbye. Hillbilly or not, Stephen had stoked Paul’s excitement.

—-

“So how much have you made this week, Suze?” asked Paul as he took up his familiar position on her white wicker bedroom chair. It was the second Friday that they had been working at Jovino’s. Aldo paid his staff using little white wage packets, each with their name and the earnings calculations printed on the sides. Suzie had tossed hers on the bed.

“I have to count it all.”

She moved over to her bureau and opened the drawer, pulling out a small wad of rolled up notes and a bag of coins.

“Lessee what we got here.” she said, emptying out the coins on the quilt and removing the rubber band from her bank notes. Paul watched on, fascinated. It was incredible to him just how much a waitress could earn by writing down orders, carrying them to the tables and then processing customer’s bills.

Suzie counted the notes first, a smile growing on her face as she added the ones that were in her pay packet. She stopped at the end and shook her head.

“No, that can’t be right?” she said, beginning her count again, slowly this time and stacking all the bills into their denominations. “There’s over $400 here.”

“You’re kidding?” said Paul, getting off the chair to come and have a closer look.

“No, check it out. I have over $400. Holy cow. That’s more money than I have ever seen in person before! And that’s just from a week and a half. Aldo gave me double time for the night shifts on Friday and Saturday, plus I got great tips on those nights too.”

“What are you serving them kids?” he asked.

Paul had declined the night shifts because he couldn’t ask his parents to fetch him after midnight. His pay packet for the nine day shifts he had worked came in at just under $300. He was definitely not going to consider flipping burgers as a career option.

“So, we should have more than enough to get to Live Aid next month, right?” asked Suzie.

Paul nodded. He didn’t want to tell her that he had already paid Stephen $150 for the tickets and transport out of the money he already had. Stephen had said that he would hold onto the tickets until he got the $50 balance from Paul on the day of the trip. He was going to pick them up on the Friday outside Jovino’s at opening time and then they would all drive through to Philly, hopefully arriving there before nightfall. He had a great spot picked out for them to all camp a few miles from JFK Stadium on the Delaware river.

“Yeah, we are pretty well covered in that regard.” Paul said, his eyes avoiding contact with Suzie’s.

“Well, at least we have tomorrow off. You wanna take me to the movies, Boyfriend?” asked Suzie.

“Sure, that sounds swell. But since you’re the rich one why aren’t you taking me out to the movies?” said Paul.

“Sure, I’ll take y’all to the pictures, Boyfriend. Matinee?”

“Yeah, it’s a date. I’ll come over after lunch.” said Paul. “Say, what are your plans for the 4th?”

“Nothing that I know of. My folks are not doing anything ‘cept maybe going downtown to watch the fireworks. Yours?”

“We’ll be having our usual family cookout. I’d love it if you came. As my date. Will ya?”

“Course I will, Boyfriend.” She smiled and reached over to give him a kiss. “It’s yet another date. Wow, we may as well be going steady with all these dates.”

“Between all the shifts we haven’t really had any time to enjoy ourselves, so let’s make the most of it.” Paul said.

Suzie nodded and then squinted her eyes at him.

“Now what kind of girl should I be for your parents? Shy, coquettish or outright white trash slut from Texas?”

Paul sucked in air and raised his eyebrows.

“I’d personally love to meet them all, but let’s start with the first one for now since it’s my parents. The slutty one can come out when we’re in Philly.”

Suzie laughed.

—-

By the time the twelfth of July rolled around Paul and Suzie had doubled their Live Aid fund and between them they had over $1000 to spend on the weekend adventure. Paul thought they were crazy to spend so much money on one single thing, but Suzie kept assuring him that this was something they would be able to tell their grandkids about one day. She was beyond excited. On the Friday morning she met Paul outside Jovino’s. She had on a well worn pair of denim dungarees with a yellow smiley face patch sewn onto the bib and a white tank top on underneath. The legs of the dungarees were rolled up to just above a brand new pair of black and white Converse high tops. She had also packed a rucksack with her extra clothes and a sleeping bag.

“Whoa, check you out, Miss Dexy’s.” said Paul, offloading his much bigger backpack and putting it down next to hers on the curb.

“Huh?” said Suzie. “Who’s Dexy’s?”

Paul looked at her and cocked his head a little to one side, a quizzical expression on his face.

“Dexy’s. You know, Dexy’s Midnight Runners? The song… ‘Come On Eileen’? Don’t tell me you’ve never heard it before?”

“Course I’ve heard it, but why are you calling me Dexy’s?”

“Didn’t you see the music video? They’re all wearing denim dungarees.”

“No… I don’t think I saw that, Boyfriend.”

“Never mind, it’s pretty cool. What you’re wearing, that is.” Paul was dressed in his usual style, jeans, band T-shirt and today a red flannel shirt tied around his waist.

“Why thank you, Boyfriend. You look pretty rad yourself.” She smiled at him. “So what time is our lift coming?”

“He said he’ll be here by 9am, so it should be soon.”

They went inside Jovino’s and sat at the first booth, looking out at the street. Aldo waved at them from behind the counter and shouted;

“You kids eaten? Long trip up to Philly.”

“Hey Aldo, I’m good thanks.” said Paul. “You want anything Suze?”

“Nah, I’m not hungry. Just wanna get on the road.”

Paul shook his head and Aldo gave him a thumbs up from behind the counter.

The two of them walked back outside at five to nine and stood on the sidewalk, waiting for their lift to arrive. It didn’t.

Nine fifteen came and went. So did nine thirty. There was no sign of Stephen or his green Transit van even by nine forty five. Their spirits began to sink. Paul went back into the diner and tried to call Stephen’s number from the payphone. It just rang endlessly.

“Well this is not a great start, is it?” said Suzie.

“Nope.” Paul was trying hard not to show his anger because he knew that he had been played and had lost $150 to this Stephen con man. He was unsure whether he should tell Suzie that Stephen still had the two tickets that he had paid him for. She had such a despondent look on her face that he felt absolutely awful about the situation.

“I don’t think he’s coming.” he said reluctantly as ten thirty passed.

“Certainly seems that way, Boyfriend.”

Suzie’s lips were pressed tightly together. She stood up from her position on the sidewalk and put her backpack on her back. She was clearly annoyed.

“Come on. Let’s go.” she said, jerking her head slightly towards the road.

“Where are we going?” Paul asked as Suzie began walking away. He picked up his pack and followed her down the road.

“We’re going to Live Aid. That’s what’s in the diary, so that’s where we’re going.” she said, almost singing it.

“How?” he asked.

“The highway is a mile away.”

“We’re gonna walk to Philadelphia?”

“No silly, we’re gonna get a ride by sticking out our thumbs. Somebody is gonna stop for us.”

“Are you crazy? We can’t hitch-hike our way to Philadelphia!” Suzie looked over in his direction, a slight smirk forming on her face.

“Boyfriend, we have worked our asses off for this adventure, so come hell or high water, we are getting those asses to Live Aid. You need to have a little faith that this is going to happen. It’s your dream, remember?”

Paul felt panic rising in his throat.

“But Suzie, it’s over 500 miles away! It’ll take us more than a day to get there and we’ve lost half the day already. What if nobody stops?”

“Then we camp on the side of the road. You brought a tent, right? Stop fretting, somebody will stop. We’re gonna get there.”

She was adamant. Paul decided to fess up that Stephen had their tickets. She glanced at him and shrugged.

“Don’t matter. We’ll find somebody selling tickets outside. We got money.”

There was no stopping her. Paul had no option but to follow her down to the highway, his role switching from boyfriend to protector. This crazy chick from Texas might get them killed, but he wasn’t going to let her go hitchhiking on her own.

They stood slightly in the road, just under a bridge that served as an off ramp. Cars and trucks rushed by, using all three lanes of the highway. When big semis whistled by they created a suction that made Paul feel like they were going to be pulled right onto the Interstate and killed by the passing cars. The fear make his arms and feet tingle. This hitchhiking thing was definitely not his bag. Not by a long shot. But over the few weeks that he’d gotten to know Suzie there was something else building inside him, coming to the brim. He couldn’t name it yet, but it felt like… certainty? At least a certainty in that if he stuck to her side she would change him in ways that he couldn’t describe. She exuded confidence, the kind of confidence that countered the fear he was feeling, even though he could barely swallow as he dealt with their current situation.

Suzie stood with one foot on either side of the barrier line, her thumb raised to the traffic. Paul sat on the guardrail, watching this marvellous girl who had barged her way into his life. He wished he had packed his camera because this scene would make a photo that he would carry with him to his grave one day. He’d never seen anything as electrifying as this determined girl, dressed in dungarees, the wind in her hair and her thumb stuck out, waiting for the world to serve her up an opportunity. He was awestruck by her spunk.

They’d been hitch-hiking for no more than five minutes when an approaching red Chevy pickup slowed down and drew level with where they were. Paul stood up and moved behind Suzie. A blonde woman who looked to be in her late 20’s opened the passenger window, smiling broadly down at them.

“Hey!” she said. “Where ya’ll headed?”

“We’re on the way to Philly to go see the Live Aid show.” said Suzie. “We’re happy to chip in for gas if you can take us some of the way there.”

“Well, it’s your lucky day, sweetheart. That’s exactly where we’re goin’. No need for gas money, we got ya.”

“No ways, really?” said Paul, still hovering behind Suzie.

“Yeah buddy.” said the male driver. “We come on up from Charleston. Been waiting for this show since they announced it. Hop aboard, we’ll get you there.”

Suzie and Paul smiled and tossed their packs in the open back of the pickup. They got into the rear cab seats, Suzie entering first.

“I’m Suzie, this is my boyfriend Paul. Say hello, Paul.” she said, ruffling his hair. “He didn’t think anybody would stop for us. What’d I tell you, Boyfriend? Have a little faith and the world will give you what you want.”

Paul grinned and said hello.

“I’m Hank and this is my wife, Tippie.” said the driver. They all shook hands.

Hank was a long distance trucker and Tippie was a hairdresser. They’d been married for five years already. Hank was 28 and Tippie was a couple of years behind him at 26. They didn’t have any kids, but Hank said that it didn’t bother him because having rug rats probably wouldn’t fit in well with their lifestyle and his occupation anyway. He’d be on the road for more than half of any given month, driving big rigs up and down the East coast. The money was good, so when and if God decided to bless them with some kids Tippie would be able to be a stay-at-home Mom, which in Hank’s estimation was the only kind of Mom there should be.

“So which act are you most excited to see?” Hank asked.

“Oh man, so many of them.” Paul said. He had relaxed completely since getting into the truck. “But we got ripped off by the guy who was supposed to be giving us a lift, so I’m going to have to find a scalper to buy tickets from, otherwise we ain’t gonna be seeing anybody.

“Really? He took your money for tickets and never gave them to you?” asked Tippie.

“Yup. Not my finest bit of deal making.” Paul looked over at Suzie who was looking quite relaxed in the back. She smiled at him.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll find tickets.” she said. “And if I ever see that sonofabitch hillbilly who stole your money he’s gonna get both my size fives up his ass, that’s for sure.”

“Well, he’s bound to be at the show.” said Paul. “He had four tickets on him. They looked totally legit.”

“Sweetheart, it would be my pleasure to assist y’all in rousting his ass.” chimed in Tippie. “Some people. Honestly. Where do they come from?”

“I think the best part of him slid down his mama’s ass when she gave birth in the outhouse.” said Hank.

“Don’t be so crude, Hank!” Tippie slapped him on the arm as she reprimanded him. Hank feigned injury and then laughed as he rubbed his arm. Paul looked at Suzie who’s light smile had broadened. It seemed like she and Tippie had a lot in common. Man beaters, both of them.

As the road hours unrolled they got to know one another through rambling conversations. Paul spoke about his love for music, which Hank shared. Their tastes were quite different though. Hank was into 70’s rock and didn’t have much time for the New Wave stuff that Paul was into. Suzie spoke animatedly about the differences in lifestyles between Texas and North Carolina, especially where it came to barbecue. She couldn’t get used to the way they did it in her new state. Tippie agreed that even between the Carolina’s it was a contentious thing. The northern state were BBQ snobs in her estimation. Paul laughed and protested but found himself outnumbered.

“So where are you kids staying in Philly?” Tippie asked.

The question hadn’t come up until now and neither Paul nor Suzie had actually thought about it since they had stepped onto the highway. They had planned on joining the dubious Stephen at his campsite on the river but obviously now they didn’t know where that was.

“Well, we were supposed to be camping with the rip off artist, but now we’re not so sure where we can set up camp. Maybe a motel nearby?” Suzie said.

“Chances of finding anything that hasn’t been booked already are very slim.” said Hank. “Y’all are welcome to pitch a tent in my aunty Helen’s back yard. She won’t mind at all and she’s only a couple miles from the stadium so we could all just walk there tomorrow. I don’t think finding parking at the stadium is going to work out too well, so that’s our plan anyways.”

“Really? Oh wow, that would be awesome.” said Suzie, leaning forward into the gap between the front seats.

“Yeah, no problem at all. Aunty H is a peach.” said Tippie. “You’ll love her too, Suzie. She’s the best.”

“You did pack your tent, right, Boyfriend?”

“You saw that thing strapped to the side of my pack? That’s the tent. Weighs a lot.”

“Alright, that’s settled then. Back yard camping for you lovebirds. Hope you like dogs. Aunty Helen’s got about six of ‘em.” said Hank.

“Damn. Six dawgs. Are they big?” asked Suzie.

“It’s a whole circus full, Sweetheart.” chimed in Tippie. “Big, small, medium.”

“They follow her ‘round like herpes at a college campus.” said Hank.

“Hank!” He got another slap on the arm, harder this time.

—-

By the time they rolled into Aunty Helen’s driveway it was coming up on 9pm. Hank had made the journey by following the less congested routes which saved them some time. He’d been driving for over 12 hours straight since leaving Charleston. They did stop for a quick burger about an hour outside of Philadelphia so they weren’t hungry for supper when they arrived at Aunty Helen’s house.

She and her dogs welcomed them amidst a cacophony of barking and sniffing. Paul found himself fending off three of the smaller dogs as they jumped up onto him. The largest of them looked like a retriever mixed with something else. It took a shine to Suzie as the others bandied about, unsure of which new guest they should jump on next.

Once they got inside the house the dogs lost interest in the visitors and the big one lay itself down on the back porch while the smaller ones continued to follow Aunty Helen around her house. She showed Paul and Suzie the backyard where they would be able to pitch their tent, cautioning them to watch where they set themselves up because of dog poop. She hadn’t picked it all up today. She also said she would leave the back door unlocked so that if they needed to use the bathroom in the night they could just come on in.

It was a decent sized yard, not too big but not cramped either. There was a six foot high wooden fence around the perimeter to stop the dogs from getting out. Paul set his backpack down at the far end of the yard up against the fence and untethered his tent from it. It was one of the fancy new fangled jobs that had bendy poles that needed to be threaded through sleeves in the nylon material it was made of. He instructed Suzie to unfurl the tent while he set about connecting the various poles.

“Well, Boyfriend. Here we are. Alone at last. Are you sure you know how to put this thing together?”

“Uh, I have done it before. It’s tricky, but I can do it.”

“Even here in the dark?”

Paul looked at her as she unrolled the tent and lay it flat on the ground. She was gorgeous in the dim light, barefoot now that the long road trip had come to an end. Her hair was gathered into a pony tail and it made her look even sweeter to him. He could scarcely believe that tonight he would lie next to her and hold her close to him all night. They had agreed before they set off on their adventure that having sex wasn’t going to be their priority. If it happened it happened. If it didn’t… well that was not a big deal. They both wanted to take it slow and get to really know each other before they moved onto any other levels of intimacy. Paul got the feeling that maybe she wasn’t as experienced with boys as the impression she gave off. Maybe she was still a virgin, just like him?

Paul had also brought along an inflatable mattress and a small foot pump. He got to work pumping it up as Suzie lay on the grass outside the tent, looking up into the warm summer night sky. The stars weren’t as prominent in the city as they were in the country, where she was from. She let out a little sigh and then propped herself up on one arm, watching Paul as he furiously worked the foot pump. It made a loud hissing sound with every foot stomp and sounded almost musical at the rate he was going.

“You hear that?” he asked.

“The sound y’all are makin’ or that other sound from over yonder?”

“The other one. That’s the engineers doing the sound check at the stadium. We must be pretty close. It’s loud enough.”

He stopped the foot pumping and listened more intently, trying to pick out if he recognised anything playing. It was an intermittent “one-two, one-two” followed by the occasional drum beat and a guitar.

“Oh man, I can’t wait until tomorrow, Suze. It’s going to be the most epic concert ever. Thank you for getting us here.” She smiled back at him.

He continued pumping up the mattress and when it was done they both lifted it into the tent. It fit perfectly inside. They unzipped one of their sleeping bags, spread it open wide and used it as the bottom cover for the mattress, then did the same with the other one as a top cover.

Suzie went back inside the house with her pack to use the bathroom. Some time later she emerged, freshly showered and wearing a set of summer pyjamas. They looked new. Paul went and got himself cleaned up. He hadn’t thought to bring pyjamas so he wore one of his band T-shirts and a pair of boxer shorts.

Inside the tent it was dark. He had not brought a camping lantern with him to save on weight and now he regretted it. In the dim light he could make out Suzie’s shape as a silhouette against the lights of Aunty Helen’s back porch. She was lying on her back, her legs drawn up and her arms stretched above her head.

“I’m proud of you, Boyfriend.” she said. “You’ve made some big strides today, I know how difficult the hitchhiking thing must have been for you… but here we are, safe and sound, in Philadelphia. Sometimes you just gotta spin the big wheel of fate and see where it lands.”

“I think we bet and won on that wheel, thanks to you.” he said, reaching out to rest a hand on her belly. She turned towards him, bringing their bodies together. They kissed softly in the darkness until fatigue from the rigours of their day fed them into a deep sleep.

TO BE CONCLUDED