Desert Passage (8 page)

“Someone's coming, get behind the screen!” motioned Ramón.

Miguel moved clumsily around the bed and snuck behind a large canvas screen opposite the doorway of the room. From behind the screen, the footsteps were heard entering the room, then two voices began to speak. Ramón held his finger over his closed mouth directing his cousin to stay quiet.

“She came in yesterday and the doctor is watching her for any other reactions to the medications,” the voice said matter-of-factly.

“Is she in stable condition?”

“Oh, yes, she wouldn't be on this floor if she was in any real trouble,” the nurse advised. “But we need to keep her on our rotation every night for the next two weeks, the doctor was very clear.”

“Has her family been contacted?”

“We've tried to call the contact person on her charts but we don't get an answer. It seems that her son is on vacation, but we'll wait for a call back.”

After the room had been cleared, Ramón whispered to his cousin, “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah, she's going to be okay.”

“Yeah, but not for two more weeks.”

“I heard that too. Maybe she'll come home sooner,” Miguel said hopefully. “Maybe we could ask the doctor.”

“Are you crazy? That first lady was going to kick us out downstairs. No doctor will talk to us. We're just kids.”

“You're right, we're just kids,” Miguel repeated.

Ramón looked around the screen for any other unexpected visitors. Seeing none, he took his place by his grandmother's bedside and began to tell her about their plans.

“Abuelita, Miguel and I are going to be gone for a few days. We have to go find Tío Rodrigo.” Ramón placed her
hand into his and continued. “The doctor says you're going to be okay, you just have to rest for a while.”

The boys looked at their grandmother lovingly.

“Abuelita,” Miguel said, taking the other small hand into his large grip, “don't worry about us, we can take care of ourselves, you just rest for now.”

Abuelita Rosa let out a soft breath and pressed her small hands into theirs.

 
Chapter 15
 

I
t was difficult for the boys to sleep that night. Miguel kept going over the items packed in their backpacks, wondering if they had forgotten anything important. Ramón was wide awake, thinking of the long open road ahead of them and the thrill of being independent. The night passed slowly.

“Hey, maybe we should get up?” Miguel's sleepy voice asked his cousin. The morning sun had just begun to shine through the bedroom window.

Ramón had drifted to sleep just a few hours before daylight and he responded in a drowsy voice, “I'm tired, just a few more minutes.”

Miguel got out of his bed and decided to get dressed. He was going to pack another pair of jeans and two T-shirts, maybe his jacket. He laced up his shoes and walked out to the kitchen. He was always hungry and the thought of doing without large quantities of food for the next several days haunted him. He took out the
chorizo
, eggs, and salsa from the refrigerator and began to make breakfast.

Ramón could smell the
chorizo
warming up in the microwave and he decided he could get up and eat. He wandered into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.

“I like my eggs well done,” he ordered, watching Miguel cooking at the stove.

“I wish we had more room to take more food,” said Miguel, piling eggs and
chorizo
on a large plate.

The two boys sat at the table and ate their breakfast without much conversation. They were still tired from not sleeping well the night before and their thoughts were on the trip and on their grandmother.

“Dad never called,” reflected Miguel, looking down at the empty plates.

Ramón heard the disappointment in his cousin's voice and tried to console him.

“He probably got our message and is going to call the hospital first. Remember he said he didn't want to talk to us? So when he finds out that grandma's okay, he'll think he doesn't have to call us.”

Miguel hung his head further. He wondered why his father wouldn't want to talk with him.

After a long silence, Ramón said thoughtfully, “This trip is going to be huge, you know? I mean, it's going to be something.”

“Yeah, I know,” Miguel replied, looking out of the kitchen window toward the road, “we have to believe that we can do it.”

“We can't stay here; it's time for us to go,” Ramón said. “I know we can make it to Santa Fe.”

The backpacks were checked and rechecked for all the necessary inventory items. Miguel took the perishable food from the refrigerator and packed it last.

Ramón rummaged through the kitchen cabinets looking for spare change or any helpful gadgets. He pulled out the last drawer nearest to the stove and found something miraculous.

“Hey, look at this!” he shouted.

Miguel came rushing into the kitchen eager to see what his cousin had found.

“It's cash!” Ramón exclaimed.

“How much?”

Ramón unfolded the crumbling yellow envelope and took the bills out. He counted ten twenty-dollar bills, and five tens. “Looks like $250! We've got it made.”

Miguel jumped around his cousin to get a better look. “Really? Let me see.”

“Here, put this with the rest of the money. Looks like at least our gas is paid for,” Ramón said, handing the money to Miguel.

He took the small fortune and stashed it in his jeans' front pocket.

Miguel and Ramón were ready to leave. The boys picked up the solitary sleeping bag and the two backpacks and opened the door. They took one last look behind them and closed the door.

 
Chapter 16
 

“I
'll tie my backpack to the front of the scooter and you'll have to wear yours on your back, the sleeping bag can go behind you,” Ramón coolly ordered, pacing around the scooter parked on the driveway.

Miguel took a piece of rope and tied down the sleeping bag to the small rear luggage rack and swung the backpack over his shoulders, “Should we get gas first? Don't forget we need a map.”

“Yeah, we'll go to the gas station down the road.” Ramón tied his backpack to the front of the scooter, attaching it below the headlight in front of the handles.

It was still early morning when the boys drove into the dusty gas station. The attendant was unlocking the door to the convenience store and turned when he heard the hum of the scooter's engine.

The boys parked the scooter near a gas pump and Ramón was first to speak to the attendant. “Hey, do you have road maps to New Mexico?”

The attendant remembered the boys from the day before. The last time he had seen Ramón, he had been pushing the lifeless scooter down the road. He looked at it with curiosity. “Are you two driving that thing through two states?”

Ramón took offense to the attendant's condescending tone. “Yeah, she runs pretty good. We need gas, though.”

The attendant raised his eyebrows at the younger boy's reply. He swung the heavy door open and walked behind the counter. Reaching behind a canister of beef jerky, he took out a folded road map. “Here you go. How much gas you need?”

“Just a few gallons for now,” Ramón said, acting confident. He paid the attendant with a crisp new twenty dollar bill and picked up the road map from the counter.

The attendant put the money in the cash register and sat down on his stool in preparation for a long, inactive day. He picked up a magazine and looked from the side of the open glossy cover as the boys were walking out.

“Hey, be careful out there,” he cautioned mildly.

Ramón turned to look back and nodded his head, “We'll be all right.”

Miguel and Ramón acted like they knew exactly what they were doing. They filled the tank and boarded Natalie.

 
Chapter 17
 

R
amón soon found out that Natalie was quick on the road despite her age. He navigated onto the highway and with a slight turn of his wrist on the hand clutch they were traveling at a good pace. He estimated the motor scooter's speed to be at least forty miles per hour. Most of the cars on the road were careful not to pass the Vespa too close. The drivers would veer to the left and a few would cross over to the other lane completely. So far, Miguel and Ramón didn't feel afraid of sharing the road with the larger vehicles.