Picking the most comfortable looking chair, she sat down without being invited.
She resumed her conversation by announcing, “You are going to give me a ride to Palm Springs.”
Chad said, “You obviously have us confused with somebody else. Palm Springs is more than three hundred miles away and we don’t have a car.”
“Look, let’s get one thing straight. I have you guys by the balls. I am not asking for your opinions. I am telling you what you are going to do.” Lois said.
Chad looked over at Mardi and saw she was about to lose it. This woman obviously had a flair for getting underneath people’s skin.
“Honey. It’s okay. I will make it happen.” Chad said to Mardi. “I need to go over and get Fast Eddie’s motorcycle.” He looked over at Lois and said, “I know that they send Cali workers into the field with chits for one hundred gallons of gasoline. I need all one hundred of them because the motorcycle does not burn air.”
Lois said, “I am not giving you any gasoline rations.”
Chad said, “Then how do you expect to get where we are going?”
Lois said, “I will pay as we go.”
Chad said, “Well, Ma’am, that might seem like a good idea here in this room, but things are falling apart out there. What do you think all them country boys at the gas station are going to think when they see you reaching into that fanny pack for gas chits? Do you think they are going to say, “I love Cali and let’s give this dear lady a discount.” or do you think they are going to say, “Good God! I bet she has a thousand chits in that purse. I am going to charge five chits to the gallon.”?”
“Besides, I have to give Fast Eddie something for the use of his motorcycle. It is the only game in town and he does not have to loan it to me.” Chad said.
Lois looked into her fanny pack and said, “I only have seventy left. I have been driving that car for a month.”
Chad said, “It will have to do.” Took the chits and left the house by the back door.
Chad was thinking that he had seen people like Lois before. The technique of getting people off balance and to keep pushing them so they could not regain their balance is a very old technique. In fact, compared to his gold standard for that behavior, she was the rankest of amateurs. There was not a single Drill Instructor at Parris Island who could not have torn Lois to shreds. The techniques he had perfected in the military to manage overbearing NCOs would be more than adequate for handling Lois.
Chapter Eight
“I am not going to ride that thing!” were the first words out of Lois’s mouth when she saw the old Suzuki dirt bike.
Chad grinned. “The way I see it, you have two choices. Ride or walk.” He was starting to enjoy this. Lois was now the one who was off balance.
“Where is my helmet?” Lois demanded.
“You don’t get one. There is only one helmet and I get it because I am driving.” Chad said.
“I get a helmet because I am paying.” Lois retorted.
“You don’t get it, do you? What happens if the driver catches a bumblebee when going fifty miles an hour? Instant road pizza is what happens. To both of us.” Chad said. “I get the helmet.”
“If it gets too windy, just press your face against my back. I promise I won’t think you are flirty.” Chad said.
Mardi laughed. She LOVED seeing Lois uncomfortable. Lois might think she was in charge but she was clearly out of her element.
Chad said, “We gotta get rolling. It is going to get dark soon.”
He revved up the bike and slllooowwwly feathered out the clutch to get the temperamental bike rolling.
At Lois’s insistence, they kept off the freeway and traveled along backroads. Lois also had them ride around the larger towns. This is something that Chad loved to do but rarely had a chance. He was stunned to see dozens of people aimlessly walking along the roads.
He stopped at a convenience store and confirmed that he was seeing the Walkers that Ken had been telling him about. They were shambling along looking for anything that was edible, even almost edible, to stuff into their stomachs.
Chad shook his head. He devoutly believed that the Cali’s Central Valley was the most fertile land on earth if given a little bit of water and TLC. And here were people starving to death right in the middle of it.
Chad coasted the bike to a stop between Richgrove and Quality. “This is where we part ways. You have to get off.”
Lois said, “What the hell are you talking about. I directed you to take me to Palm Springs!”
“Well, Ma’am, I was served notice that I cannot leave Tulare County unless I give The Cali Department of Education two weeks advanced notice of my intention.” Chad said.
“That does not apply any more. Now take me to Palm Springs.” Lois insisted.
“Does that mean you are not voluntarily getting off this bike?” Chad asked.
“Damned straight, that is exactly what it means.” Lois responded hotly. She hated it when ‘little people’ thought they could play games.
“I want to be really sure. Is that your final answer?” Chad queried.
“It is.” Lois replied. “Now step on it!”
Mentally, Chad thought, I kind of thought she would say something like that.
He straightened his arms and locked his elbows. He straightened his back and sat tall in the seat. He nailed the gas and dumped the clutch when the tachometer needle blew by 8500 RPM.
The first time a bike comes over on top of you, your stomach sinks while your testicles rise. If you have not been coached, and many who have, you gasp in surprise. Hitting the ground with your back while inhaling is guaranteed to paralyze your diaphragm and make breathing impossible for three or four minutes.
Chad was exhaling as he kicked the bike away from him. The bike was light and Lois, Chad and the bike were no longer in contact with the ground.
Chad landed on his back. Well, actually, he landed on Lois who was an honest 230 pounds of polyester and body fat.
Lois landed on her back. She whacked the back of her head and simultaneously lost one of her contacts.
Chad rolled off Lois who was completely incapacitated.
“According to the regulations in The Department of Cali Board of Education Handbook, I am duty bound to report mishaps to my local authorities. Since I am on probation, I have no discretion in this matter. You will have to excuse me while I go back to Orosi.” Chad said.
Chad righted his bike, started it, and cautiously motored through the Walkers back the way he had come.
The Walkers saw that the rider of the motorcycle had left luggage beside the road. It gets cold at night in the Central Valley due to the clear skies. It feels even colder when you have no calories to shiver away.
They started ambling toward the large bundle of clothing beside the road.
As they got closer, they saw it was a woman. Blood was spurting from her (impressively) broken nose.
In time, Lois noticed the ring of spectators watching her. “What is the matter with you fucktards? Don’t you see I need a doctor? Call me a cab. What is the matter with you morons, can’t you hear?” Lois was skating the thin ice at the edge of hysteria.
The spectators watched without commenting.
One of the people watching was a young Hispanic woman. Really, little more than a girl. Unfortunately, the girl reminded Lois of her second wife, Mz Diaz.
Given a target for her abuse, Lois doubled down.
“Hey, Consuela, you fucking cunt. Why aren’t you helping me out… after all I have done for you.”
Still no response from the spectators. Starving people don’t process information quickly. They stood there. Silent. Motionless. Standing like sentinels in the lengthening shadows and rising mist of the late evening.