How To Write A Novel While Driving On The Sam Houston Tollway

My first car was a utilized convertible, its ten-year-old soft apical already pulling distant from nan frame, already not a bully thought for rain. Where we lived, location was a driving curfew, nan clip of nighttime matching nan years of age, conscionable different measurement to show a kid they’re still a kid.

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I wanted: a group of keys I could clasp successful my manus (not nan codification to nan car shed door) and a compartment phone. I wanted to spell arsenic acold arsenic I could. I wanted to spell anywhere. I had seen nan commercials. The group successful cars went wherever they wanted. I besides wanted a occupation and a in installments card. I wanted a assemblage scholarship, location retired of state. I wanted what I had heard called a “full ride.”

I’ve ever wanted to time off home. I ne'er erstwhile thought of staying. I wanted to beryllium a writer, too, but listened erstwhile my dada from nan beforehand spot said I should do thing that made money. I did request money, it’s true, if I was ever readying connected getting nan fuck out. Looking back, I had been pointing my car successful different directions towards and distant from things pinch nan mobility successful me, ever there: How do I get retired of this?

I drove erstwhile to a hotel. The vacancy ray glowing, nan gravel lit red. We asked to cheque in, but they said we had to beryllium twenty-five. We weren’t. In nan car, we tried to make a caller plan. The rainfall connected nan tile made a large phwap, nan rainfall connected nan driver’s spot soaked into my jeans. And then: nan pounding pat of fingers connected my window, nan motel proprietor wholly backlit yelling astatine us, muffled done nan rain, “You can’t enactment here. You request to leave.” We had been wanting to leave, we wished he knew. We didn’t want to enactment location either. We hadn’t turned twenty-five yet.

Broken up, I drove arsenic acold arsenic I could west. I had a large acold portion successful nan cup holder and I felt for illustration I was moving aft nan sun, hoping to springiness myself a small longer successful nan light, nan car a clip capsule I could wrap myself in, prime myself up later, sift done nan old, outdated things pinch wonderment and not pinch specified sadness.

I drove to get a job, a occupation arsenic a waitress, applying astatine each 1 on nan portion promenade by I-35, adjacent nan bully Walmart. At nan 2nd restaurant, my car wouldn’t start, truthful I went backmost successful and asked for a solid of water. And truthful it was that I worked for years astatine nan first restaurant, an IHOP successful beforehand of a Home Depot, nan only spot my car had taken me.

I drove aft curfew and done a reddish ray and naive arsenic I was backmost then, erstwhile nan constabulary car did its ray show down me, I stuck my caput retired nan model and asked for directions. He fto maine go, nary warnings, pointing nan measurement to nan on-ramp.

When I discontinue waitressing, I did it by ducking beneath nan walk truthful nan head couldn’t spot maine connected nan camera feed. He hadn’t put maine connected nan schedule, truthful I wanted to leave. He said if I didn’t want to beryllium location I could time off and ne'er travel back. Had he thought I’d ever wanted to beryllium there? Maybe he didn’t mean it, but if personification wants maine gone, I want maine gone too. I drove crossed nan parking batch to nan bookstore and walked astir for illustration I was successful an alternate universe. Wasn’t I trapped successful that blue-striped apron? Wasn’t I still wearing non-skid achromatic shoes? I bought a book pinch nan syrup sticky rate from my apron pocket.

Once, I drove 3 hours to Texas conscionable because a friend hadn’t been yet. We drove down and backmost earlier my Spanish people astatine 12:30. Where did we go, but to different place, each connected our own, nan state station, snacks galore.

And astatine night, wondering if we were ever going to make it successful nan world, I drove pinch my friends to drive-thrus, america ordering for each different aliases leaning complete and ordering for ourselves, passing nutrient retired arsenic it came from nan model to nan window, ever a determination of wherever to thrust to eat. A elevation is simply a bully spot.

But once, I had to thrust to nan Venezuelan consulate successful Houston pinch my fellow to do immoderate paperwork. We drove each time because could we spend a hotel? No, we could not spend a hotel. So we drove and nan full clip I wondered why location were not much Venezuelan consulates successful nan United States, but I wondered it not successful nan measurement I mightiness wonderment now. I wondered it much like, why did they put it truthful acold distant from me?

We sewage there, our handwritten directions our only guide—our spiral bound representation only outlining nan roads successful nan authorities we lived in—and nan consulate was connected luncheon break. They would beryllium for different hr and a half, a personification down solid told us. The motion said thing else, and I pointed astatine nan motion and publication it and started to opportunity really it didn’t make sense, and besides nan personification we were talking to wasn’t connected luncheon was she? And my fellow told maine to judge it, motion aliases nary sign, that nan motion meant nothing, and they must each beryllium connected lunch.

So we went connected lunch, too, but wherever we really went was onto nan Sam Houston Tollway, wherever you don’t conscionable salary to get connected aliases off, but you pay, arsenic they say, as you go. That is, you salary and you salary and you ne'er extremity paying, nan toll booths popping up for illustration nightmares. I thought I’d suffer my full life’s luck (not much, but each I had) tossing coins into nan baskets connected that tollway.

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When we sewage disconnected nan tollway, nan aboveground streets offered maine a repeating bid of portion malls. I do not mean this to deride Houston, but to deride nan full strategy we’re live wrong of. We were mislaid because nan world did not look new, 1 thoroughfare to nan next, did not look to connection thing we had not seen before.

It is simply a story that nan measurement we tin get retired is by car, a story successful nan measurement astir myths myth, successful that it is besides true. We tin get retired by car.

Back astatine nan consulate, we had to get nan unaffordable edifice room and travel again nan adjacent time to do nan aforesaid point but pinch fortitude and not despair. We slept and tried again, and we sewage nan paperwork sorted, which it turned out, was not basal unless you were talking astir nan measurement my boyfriend’s begetter thought it was basal to move money utilizing my boyfriend’s personality from US dollars to Venezuelan bolívars connected nan not-black market, isolated from aren’t they all?

Next to nan Sam Houston Tollway is different quality invention, thing uncommon: a continuous, toll-free frontage roadworthy for its afloat length. On that consulate visit, I didn’t cognize it was location truthful I didn’t cognize really to get connected it, only knew really to clasp connected and dream I could get retired 1 day, could get to a spot wherever I could declare nan promises.

I learned it later, that we beryllium wrong an imagination. Every quality creation, everything that we’ve made, could beryllium re-made differently. You could build a location for yourself and beryllium safe. The roads retired location could beryllium free. We tin person immoderate bully portion of life we want.

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Plum by Andy Anderegg is disposable via Hub City Press.