Episode 129: The Night City Chronicles Begins...

Location: Night City, New Jersey

A new life has begun. There's a fresh start for me now.

I guess it all started back just before I left. St. Patrick's Day was a real clusterfuck at work. I ended up not only hyperextending everydamnthing in my hand but I also wrecked my middle finger breaking up a fight.

The finger was bruised to shit and the joint at the digital tip hurt like hell. Now, it's getting much better. Still, that's not why I write. I started packing the second week I was off. The first was all planning. What I would take with me, what I wouldn't...it was all planned but it seemed like the more packing I did, the more throwing shit out that I did, the more boxes it required. In the end, I had to leave some stuff with a friend of mine. The weight would just be too much for me to pack. Not to mention, half the shit I'd ended up pawning off onto other friends and the occasional passerby who stopped to root through the massive amounts of crap I'd thrown out because I either couldn't take it with me or didn't want or need it.

Why did that have to happen? Well the roomies who were supposed to take over the place didn't. Now, my old residence has nothing but the ghosts that haunt it. The ghosts of past times, old memories, and a lot of pain involved. I'll spare you that story but know that, when I found out, it meant more work for me to have to do. Needless to say, I was irritated slightly.

I was supposed to leave on Monday, April 6. I ended up leaving on April 7th. I was a day behind and hurting like hell, physically. Since all of the utilities had been shut down on the 6th, I ended up having to stay one more night in that toilet of a town but I did it in relative comfort. I stayed in my old bedroom at my parents' place. It was a fitting way to end my time there. No more nights in a drafty house that was falling apart. Though I called that place home for ten years, I had mixed emotions about leaving. Part of me screamed that I didn't want to go but the other part of me screamed even louder to pull up anchor and run like hell.

I'd loaded the truck and saw that driving with that load would be tricky as hell. I couldn't get anything properly tarped and getting things firmly strapped down was going to be a feat. As much finagling as had been done, I still ended up losing a small garbage bag load of laundry that had been in the back of the truck. On three separate occasions, I stopped to reconfigure and resecure the load. By the third stop, I decided it was time to lighten the load. I ditched some stuff and that was probably one of the most painful things I'd ever done. I didn't want to leave some of it but I didn't have a choice. The truck was too loaded down for me to continue on as I had done.

Finally, I picked up and hauled off again. I drove and drove and drove. My start was already late but now, it would be even more late. I knew that, at some point, I'd have to find lodging for the night but now wasn't the time to think about it. I had to put as much distance between myself and Louisiana as possible and so I kept driving. I knew that, most likely, I'd be stopping in Alabama but I'd just hoped, as exhausted as I'd make myself working the past few days, that I'd make it as far through Alabama and through the first leg of my drive as possible.

As night fell, I'd keep driving. I was loathe to stop. I wanted to lay the hammer down on this trip.

I'd done this one time before. Back then, I had a girl who decided to stop as the truck in which we were travelling only dropped to three quarters of a tank. It was a constant irritation I didn't want to deal with. This trip, I let it drop to almost a quarter tank before I'd pull over. I barely ate or drank anything and with each destination reached, I'd survey my constitution and tell myself the old chorus of that Falco song I love so much, "Push, Push, Push a little further."

Push I did...until my goddamned iPhone ran outta battery. It was then that I decided to find a motel. I didn't want to at first. My mom's paranoia about my stuff getting jacked was starting to play hell on me. Now, it was a necessity. I'd get a shower, charge the phone, use the bathroom and check out once the phone was charged.

No dice, though...place was closed. I hit the road again and found a rest stop a mere mile away and pulled in...right there at the end of Tennessee. I opened and fired up the laptop and plugged the phone into that. The laptop would charge the phone for me as long as the battery would hold out. I could also use the bathroom and get a little something to eat and drink from the vending machines...unless the Pepsis I bought about half a state back were still cool.

I snacked on a small package of donuts and chased them with the last of my Pepsis. I was using them to wake up. Not that I needed to. I just didn't want to sleep. I'd come this far, why not push, push, push a little bit more?

I stood there, chatting with the attendant that early in the morning. When he told me how far I was from my destination, I was elated. He quoted me a mere seven hours. The entire trip was 22 hours long. My heart danced with joy. I'd packed up my entire world into the back of my truck and sped off back in Louisiana. I heard my brain singing to me.

Eastbound and down
Packed on up and truckin'
I'm gonna do what they say
can't be done

I've got a long way to go
and a short, short time to get there
and I hear those voices singin'
"Run on, Damien, Run!"

Ever the wordsmith, my brain can be at times. I decided to retire to the truck and have a look at the progress. Nearly half full. I still had a little way to go with the charging. I decided to sit back and close my eyes. I went out like a light. I slept for about 30 minutes before waking up, finding the laptop battery dead, the phone charged up about four fifths of it's capacity. I plotted the rest of my course...9 hours. At the rate of travel I was looking, I'd be in Night City, New Jersey by Mid-to-late afternoon. I'd be home to my baby. I would never have to worry about people getting bent out of shape at me over something on my t-shirt or whatever other excuse that some drunk, backwater type would suddenly become a soldier for Christ.

I plowed on through the day and at about four thirty in the afternoon, I was home.

The battery on the phone died as I reached my new home and once we got things set up, I know now that there's no other place on earth I'd rather be.

I've been up and down this state and, after getting lost several times, I know that I'll eventually figure this place out.

I will say one thing...some of the drivers here are nuts but there were nuttier drivers in Virginia than there are here. Washington D.C.'s roads suuuuuuuuuuuck ass. I know that from accidentally ending up on them but, look, if you decide you're coming up for a visit, let me know and take a plane.