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***as the new semester begins down here, the car saga has come to completion …***

hooch and todd and i arrived in makanda at hooch’s compound at around 4:30 am. todd drank a six pack in a folding chair as he watched me try to set up my tent. i say my tent, but it was my neighbors tent which i had borrowed, and i had never set it up before. in fact, the tent had never been opened. needless to say, todd got some of his fourteen hours of travel time back as he laughed hysterically at me trying in vain to set up the tent, all the while with a pile of busch light cans growing beside him.

once the tent was up, i knew i had to call the service station in memphis at 7 am to get the ball rolling on my car. i was exhausted, and it was nearly 6 am. needless to say, little sleep occurred before my cell phone alarm went off. i called the station and got a machine. i left a message and tried to go back to sleep, but i knew i needed to get the car thing settled as it was friday and this would be my last chance to get the car fixed before monday. so i restlessly laid there until 8 and called again. here is the scene:

i am laying in a one man camping tent. it was high end. $250.00. very small. in the tent with me was lefty. i am flat on my back, having effectively had no sleep. i dial the number …

“poplar shell.”

“uh … hey … uh … hello? … oh … hey … yeah … hi … uh … my car … i … i … the white escort … my name is kevin casper … i had my car towed there yesterday …”

“you cooked it.”

“what … is … does …?”

“it’s dead, buddy.”

“so … is … are you … sure?”

“buddy, i know it!”

“ok … ok … ok … ok … thank you … thank you very much … i … i … is it … uh … i won’t be back … can i leave it there until monday?”

“that will be fine, buddy.”

ok. well. car’s dead. now i can sleep!

about fifteen minutes later, children and dogs surround the tent. there is screaming. happiness. joy. lefty starts barking. i want to die briefly, but then i remember we’re going on a party barge at 9 am. party barge. nothing stops a party barge. party barge!

i get up. ignore the children and the dogs. find the gals in the kitchen. get coffee. go outside. find todd. todd always soothes me when i’m in trouble. i stand by todd. try to get a read on what the hell we are doing now. i stand there for awhile before i realize todd is drinking busch light again. “dude, you’re drinking already?” “aw shit yes, man. it’s the only way i’m going to get through all this.”

i think i had a bagel. mary ann henry asked me in passing if she could make me a sandwich for later. see what i mean? i’m under constant care …

we hit the lake. seven adults. three happily married couples and me. six children. seven if you count me. we find out that we can’t take beer on the boat. something about federal parks. state parks. government. something. hooch flipped out. we decide to go anyway. the kids would have revolted if we tried to get them back into the cars.

the boat was amazing. we jumped off of rocks in pirate’s cove, with todd henry stealing the show with his fearless technique and undeniable diving grace. it was a lovely day. lakes can fix any problem. i was just another kid, queuing up with the rest of the kids in the diving line. it is not hard for me to become eight again. just ask me to, and i’ll do it. happily.

that night we made pizza. drank beer. hooch made a bonfire. a big bonfire. we played a little guitar. i shot hoops with josh henry for awhile. we slept like babies.

saturday came, and so did the shrimp boil. we managed to pull it off. a bunch of fine people showed up, and todd fired up the margarita maker, and we listened to music and threw around the baseball, and played music, and fired up the bonfire again, and stayed up late, and swam naked in the pool, and felt good good good.

the next morning … it’s early. i hear a voice. “kevin?” i was still half asleep … “yeah?” “kevin, i was wondering if you’d like to take a trip to louisiana today?”

“who is this?”

tim lyons. the great tim lyons. i get up. hooch’s dog wrigley is barking barking barking at me. i am hung over. i still haven’t processed exactly what is going on. has tim offered to drive me back to louisiana? it took me awhile to understand why he would do this. “you know it’s like nine hours? you’re going to have to drive back you know? when do you have to work? you know it’s like nine hours, right?”

evidently, he clearly understood what was going on and wanted to go anyway. what a fucking guy. what a fucking god damn guy. so we ate a quick breakfast and pulled out. i was pretty sad in a way. even though i was effectively stuck in illinois, i hated to have to leave so suddenly. but shit. i had a ride home! and i needed to get home. and tim was offering.

i drove tim’s car the whole way. he tried to sleep a little. we talked about music and love and work and friends and other stuff. we stopped in memphis and i cleaned out the car. said my goodbyes. funny how sad it is to say goodbye to a car … that last look is always so sad.

we finally made it home. nine hours down. some food. some sleep. some food. then tim turned around and headed nine hours back. what a fucking guy. i know i’ll be getting the call for the kidney some day, and i will be glad to answer it.

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