My name is Solomon Trend. I am a claims adjuster for Universal Beneficial Amalgamated Insurance. I am sure that you have never heard of us. We are a clearing house for hundreds of very small independent insurance companies. I have worked for the same company for 22 years and have never considered changing jobs. The job is boring and is a perfect fit for my personality.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not unhappy or despondent. I am just not very motivated.
My personal life is much like my career. I have been married for twenty-three years and have twin daughters, Rose and Iris, who are seniors at Albright College. I also have a four-bedroom home with a humongous mortgage that paid for that college. My wife, Marcie, has never worked or had a desire to. Our income has been adequate, but that is about it. Even though, I have been able to save about forty thousand dollars over the years.
My marriage is and always has been lukewarm. I was expecting and hoping for more. I tried all the usual tricks to liven things up, but nothing seemed to work. Today, I found out why.
It was a normal day at UBAI, boring as hell. It was just after lunch when I got the call. It was my wife’s phone. She very seldom calls me at work, so I was interested.
“Hello!”
“Solomon, old buddy! How are you? I haven’t heard from you in years.”
“Yeah! Who is this and why are you using my wife’s phone?”
“It’s Brad, Solomon. Brad Mercer. You remember me, don’t you? I am the guy that you stole Marcie from. What was it, about twenty-five years ago?”
Sure I remembered. I didn’t steal her. He left town and I picked her up after he was gone. I would never steal another guy’s girl. As far as I was concerned she was fair game.
“Yeah! I remember. I would still like to know what you are doing with her phone?”
“Well Solomon, it is like this. I was in town on business and gave her a call. We got together for lunch and one thing lead to another and we ended up in my hotel room. Right now she is taking a shower so I decided to chat you up.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“She said that she wanted to clean up before heading home so that you wouldn’t be upset. You want to hear something funny, Solomon. Listen to this.”
There was a slight pause and then I could hear the sound of a motor of some type running. I couldn’t make out what it was.
“Did you hear that, Solomon? That was a hair dryer. Would you believe that? I asked her to meet me for lunch and she brings a mini hair drier along with her. What does that tell you, Solomon?”
“What do you want, Brad? Why the call?”
“I just want to thank you for stealing my girl. How does it feel to know that I am still the better man? You may be married to her, but her heart is still mine. Why else would she be here?”
I disconnected the call and blocked the number. I didn’t need to know anymore. That call answered a lot of questions that I had over the last couple of years.
It took less than an hour to terminate my employment and have my salary and vacation pay forwarded to my brother in Huntsville. I stopped by the bank and cleaned out all the accounts. I didn’t pay off the credit cards or the mortgage. I had the first class mail forwarded to my brother also. I had just finished loading all of my stuff in the car when Marcie arrived.
“Solomon, what is going on? Why is your car filled up with stuff?”
I was sitting at the kitchen table finishing a cup of coffee, as she set a few grocery bags on the counter. “Oh, you noticed.”
There was a moment of silence as she started to empty the bags. She stopped halfway and turned. “Are you going to tell me what is going on?” She waited, arms akimbo.
I placed my cup on the table and walked to the counter. Reaching into her purse, I pulled out a bright red metallic mini hair dryer. I simply held it up and waited for a reaction or an explanation. She stood frozen for a moment, and then deeply sighed and quietly left the room. Five minutes later, I was on the road heading for Huntsville.
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My brother Bob and his wife, Barbara were happy to see me. It had been several years since we had gotten together. Bob and I chatted for a bit, while Barbara put supper together. I was able to explain the whole situation without having any great emotional lapses. He seemed impressed that I was taking it so calmly. I was pretty beat after the long drive, so I turned in right after supper.
Bob was up and gone when I got out of bed. He worked at the Toyota plant just North of Huntsville. Barbara volunteered to chauffeur me around and help me get settled in. It didn’t involve much. I got a new driver’s license and made arrangements to have mail delivery at Bob’s house. Barbara followed me over to Carmax, and twenty minutes later I had a check for the Honda CRV. As soon as Bob got off work we were headed for the Rocket City RV center. Barbara and I had lunch at Olive Garden.
I wasn’t too fussy, and after several hours, I finally settled on a small Rialta. They had it ready for me the next day. The sales rep spent a few hours going over everything that I needed to know about the operation and maintenance of my new home. I took it as is, except I had four new tires installed. Barbara was all excited about helping me set up all of my housekeeping necessities, and Bob had put together a small tool kit, gleaned from his overflowing garage.
The next morning I was gone. There was no plan. There was no destination. Whatever happened; happened. Where ever I ended up was the place that I was destined to be. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t prepare for eventualities. I was easygoing, but I was not careless or stupid. I avoided congestion. I avoided large cities during rush hours. I avoid bad weather. I didn’t look for trouble, and I did try and stay away from it.
The first two weeks I spent just driving. I was an avid follower of the “fifteen free parking locations for nomads”, and figured that by the end of the year, I would have tried all of them. The problem was that at the rate I was going I would soon use up most of my readies on gas. Although I wasn’t planning on anything, I decided to look for some type of opportunity.
It was the middle of July and I was in South Dakota. I didn’t plan it, it just happened. I have always heard about Sturgis, but since I had no interest whatsoever in motorcycles, I never thought about going there. The third place that I stopped at offered me free parking, free meals, and some under-the-table cash if I stayed the full month. I had no bartending experience, so I spent the next five weeks working in the kitchen. Running the clipper was no problem, and I even got a chance to do a little kitchen work. It was a bit hectic but exhilarating. I paid attention and learned something in that short time. The rally only lasted for ten days, however, things were active before it started and after it was over. I was busy every day, all day. It was exhilarating, to say the least. By the end of the month, I felt qualified to do most of the fast-food cooking, but I was not a chef.