And the Van Goes Whooooshhhh

We leave Savannah for Macon around 2. For some reason gas doesn’t seem any less expensive than in New York or DC. I wonder if there’s been an international oil crisis in the week since I’ve been out of the loop. I stare out the window and am glad there’s only an hour left on this leg of the trip. Whooooshh. I hear the noise from outside my window. My companion and I look at each other, then the road. Flat tire, we think. We pull over on the side of Interstate 16 and sure enough flatter than a pancake is the right passenger side tire. The van is too big for the lift we have so I dial AAA. I have no idea where we are besides somewhere on 16. Thank God for Esther- who will be Ella today because she has been wonderful. I was able to give the operator our precise latitude and longitude. I’m not sure if that helped the tow guy. He arrives 30 minutes later. He’s standing by the damaged van speaking to my companion while he caresses the tire, deep in thought. He brought his son with him, a round boy of about 8 who wanders into the treeline looking for treasures. I am sitting on the grass. I flick an ant off my arm. It’s been more than a decade since I was in Georgia last. I remember something and make a mad dash for the safety of the van. I’m allergic to the ants here.

The man and his round boy drive away into the sunset as we limp towards a local mechanic. The spare tire has a case of dry rot and will not last long. Luckily the AAA man had pointed us to a mechanic’s shop less than a mile away. Unfortunately the shop closed at 5. Reluctantly we alter our course to a Walmart Esther say’s is 14 miles away, in a town just outside of Macon called Warner-Robbins. It takes an hour to drive those fourteen miles. I hold my breath every time we cross a railroad track or hit a dip in the road. The van stoically arrives in the superstore parking lot. I feel such indescribable joy at the prospect another night spent under the bright lights of a 24-hour Walmart. Twenty-four hours of bargain prices, backfiring cars, and domestic disputes. Just before midnight a man fires up a leaf blower to clear the parking lot of debris.