3. Minnie

CHAPTER 3

Minnie

I may not have wanted to make too many stops in Nebraska, but I sure can appreciate its beauty. The farmland, the sky, and the snow-covered areas. My experience wasn’t bad, not at all, but it did make me realize that December may be entirely too brutal for van life. I have a feeling January will be even worse, which means visiting anything in this state will have to happen another time. There’s no way I’d want to view everything from the inside of a car or hotel, and I just bet come summer or fall, it’ll be a totally different story. The ground will be lush and green, or the trees will be a nice burnt orange and red, leaves falling slowly. Yeah, another time when I’m able to go on another road trip. Too bad that’ll probably be no sooner than in ten years.

Hopefully, today is better than yesterday. I didn’t expect my dash to light up like a Christmas tree with a low tire pressure and a check engine light. Double homicide for sure when it comes to taking a long-distance road trip. It was probably a good thing they came on, though, because it made me pull over during the heaviest of snowfalls, and while Nebraska is known for this type of weather and the streets are kept fairly clean, at the end of the day, I’m still a novice behind the wheel when it comes to the white powdery stuff. I pulled off the highway and found the first available gas station with an awning to shield me from the wind as well as the cold stuff dropping from the sky rapidly.

Lennon saved my ass again. God, how I love my big sister. The basket of goodies she sent with me had a rechargeable air compressor that also works as a jumper cable of sorts. That meant while I aired up two of my tires, I was able to stay out of the weather. Well, somewhat. I’d like to say the low-pressure light on my dash was abnormal, but truth be told, even in Florida when there’s a drastic change in temperature, my car would do the same. After airing them up, I checked to make sure the light was off but also at the right number. Then, because I’m a glutton for punishment, I looked up what could make the check engine light come on when the van is practically brand new. Talk about a domino effect. It could literally have been anything. I checked under the hood; not like I knew what I was looking for, but it was worth a shot. All the hoses looked good, so walking around the van seemed to be the next viable option. And since I found nothing out of the ordinary, I was at a complete and total loss. Luckily, I happened to be at a gas station, so I went ahead and filled my tank up, and what a freaking surprise… when I opened the fuel tank thing, I saw the lid hanging on the plastic contraption to keep it from dropping on the ground.

All I could do was laugh at myself. How ridiculous, not thinking or being too wrapped inside my own head to screw the freaking cap on. I made sure after re-fueling that the cap was secured and then got back on the road. If I thought Missouri was cold, Nebraska said, ‘Hold my beer, let me show you the real deal.’

The wind kept whipping my van around, and the snow never let up, so I white-knuckled the steering wheel until I finally made it to the border of Nebraska and Colorado. Which was a good thing because after hightailing it the whole day, trying to beat the intensity of the snow and sleet, this girl was tired. I put the name of my gym into the GPS, which meant I got to enjoy all the creature comforts. A hot shower was exactly what the doctor ordered. I scrubbed, shaved, buffed, then shampooed and conditioned my hair. The end result had me feeling like a brand-new woman. I slept like a baby even with the howling wind hitting my van all night.

“Hello, sister dear,” I answer my vibrating phone that’s lying next to my pillow. Lennon would yell at me until she was as red as a tomato. She’d tell me there’s a chance of getting the “c” word and to be more careful. Except that’s exactly what I was doing in case I needed to call for a rescue or to move in the heat of the moment.

“Hi, there, and aren’t you chipper this morning,” Lennie replies. She’s right. A solid night of sleep really helped relax me. My shoulders are no longer to my ears, and my muscles aren’t in a tight clench at the moment.

“I am, though yesterday was rough, rougher than I care to admit, but this way, I can head to Colorado, spend a few days before I continue to Wyoming.” I hit the speakerphone button, needing to stretch, which is already hard in the small area where my bed is located. I hop down and land on my feet, then go through a few of my daily routine stretches.

“That’s why I didn’t call or text very much. I saw where you were and checked the weather. Thank God you’re okay.” Lennon is in a constant state of worry when it comes to me. There’s a good reason for that. We’re the last family we have. She’s been through it all, so much, and even when I text her when I’m on the road and when I’m tucked in for the night, Lennie still hasn’t cut the proverbial apron strings; you’ll never see me calling her out on it, though.

“Well, that wasn’t even the worst of it. I forgot to screw the fuel cap back on, so the van threw a code.” She lets out a hearty laugh. I join her. There’s no way not to after the fact. “How many times have you reminded me what will happen? I even did this to your car not long ago.” We can laugh now, but when I came home in a tizzy after borrowing her car, neither of us so much as smiled. Lennon, the independent penny pincher, took matters into her own hands. She fine-tooth combed the car until she had an ah-ha moment.

“Some things will never change. Gosh, I love you, Minnie. Never change.” I snort. There’s no way I’ll be able to. What you see is what you get—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Though, the only time I feel ugly on the outside is when I’m bawling over those commercials that show animals in need of help. Yep, those get me down to my gut and have me leaking tears, chest heaving, ready to give them my whole paycheck. Lennon witnessed it start to happen one day and immediately turned the television off, told me there was no way I’d be donating my bank account, and encouraged me to volunteer instead. Which is what I do on my days off now: walking the dogs, petting the cats, and cleaning up whatever I can to help. It’s the perfect solution since my then rental house wouldn’t let me adopt a pet. My next place is definitely going to have a different policy.

“You either, yeah,” I state more than ask. “Speaking of, are you doing okay?” We’ve yet to have an in-depth conversation since I’ve been on the road, and with her going through all kinds of rollercoasters of emotions, she has to be spinning.

“I’m not changing, obviously.” I can imagine Lennie rolling her eyes and blowing her bangs out of her face.

“You can’t make people be decent human beings.” She gets really quiet on the other end of the line. I can read the room very well. When she’s like this, there’s no getting anything out of her.

“Yeah,” she agrees. “Alright, I’m sure you have miles to travel, and I’ve got a job to get to. Please send me all the mountain and snow pictures. Oh, pictures of yourself, too. Those would be great, please and thank you.”

“I’ll try, but don’t hold your breath.” I grab my small toiletry bag that holds my toothbrush, toothpaste, and skin routine. Mainly facewash, moisturizer, and sunscreen.

“Try harder.” Lennie’s mom voice comes out.

“Taking selfies is weird when you’re in a tourist type place and you’re by yourself. The last thing I want to do is ask some stranger to take a picture of me.” I mean, when I’m alone, no problem, but I’m not the type to take a hundred pictures of myself or video while I’m talking into the phone.

“Alright, alright. I get it. I love you.”

“I love you. I’ll call tonight. We’ll FaceTime, so you can see everything,” I offer, knowing she’d have done anything to fly out for at least a couple of days with me. Her stupid boss. I swear one day, she’ll up and leave, but until then, this is the hand she’s dealt.

“I’d love that.” We finish saying our goodbyes, and then I’m heading out the door, back to the gym to do my not-so rigmarole morning deal. Today is going to be a great day, I can already tell. Plus, I checked the weather for where I’m heading. Nothing but blue skies are in the forecast.