I had been traveling and had stopped at a motel. I didn't plan to stay in the motel, but walked into the motel's restaurant where I wanted to eat. However someone showed me to one of the rooms of the motel which was occupied by a fellow who looked a little like me. A bicycle which he had carried into the room was lying beside the bed.
I didn't really have much to say to him; nevertheless he obviously wanted to talk and he engaged me in conversation. Once he began talking, he seemed like an interesting person. The conversation had a religious bent to it; he also spoke of people who used drugs.
Since I was traveling, I began to think it might be possible for me to spend the night in this room. I didn't want to sleep in the same bed with the fellow. My sleeping bag was outside; I could bring it in and spread it out on the floor. I recalled having allowed people to spend nights in motel rooms I had had before.
The room was quite nice and appeared rather expensive. I had the feeling the fellow didn't have much money but was splurging tonight.
He told me he was from Ottawa, Canada; I asked him if it was pretty there. He said it was beautiful. He said there were volcanoes there higher than the hill outside our window.
I turned around and looked out the window behind me where I saw a large hill partially covered by clouds. Closer to us, in front of the large hill, were three smaller, pretty hills. They were sharply inclined and appeared to be almost vertical. Nevertheless, houses sat on the small hills all the way to their tops.
Another person walked into the room and joined in our conversation. The new person mentioned my uncle Liston Jr.; I said, "He's my uncle."
It seemed strange to me that someone else here actually knew my uncle.
We all stood, walked outside and walked around together. I saw someone near us who seemed like someone I knew. Walking closer, I realized the person was professor Dohoney. She immediately recognized me. I threw my arms around her, hugged her and told her how good it was to see her. We talked for a while as the other people who had been with me walked on. She asked me what I was doing now; I told her I was living in Dallas and had been there for a year practicing law. Before that I had practiced law for a year in Waco.
She knew I had previously been interested in international law. I told her I was just getting ready to go to Germany and that I was going to be a professor there. She asked me where. I couldn't remember the name of the city in Germany where I was going to live, but finally I said, "Essen."
I knew Essen wasn't really the city where I was going, but I thought it was as good as any other city to tell her. I wondered if she knew I wasn't telling the complete truth when I said Essen.
I said, "You know who helped me get the job?"
"Who," she asked.
"Lawson and Newton," I said, referring to two of my law school professors. But the truth was that although Lawson and Newton had helped me in the past, they hadn't actually assisted me in obtaining the teaching position in Germany. I wondered if Dohoney knew I once again hadn't told her the complete truth.
I told Dohoney I owed her a great deal. If it hadn't been for her help I probably wouldn't be where I was. I said, "My life is really in good order."
I wanted her to feel proud of me. I knew she had helped me one time when I had needed help in law school. I wanted her to know my life had changed from its former debauchery to its present upright state. I asked her if she would like for me to write her from Germany; she said she would. I thought of asking her for her address but then thought I would just get it later.
We hugged each other again for a long time, almost a minute. It was so good holding her I almost felt a sexual attraction toward her. I wondered if my companions who had walked on might be looking back and wondering why I was standing here hugging this strange woman.
Copyright 2008 by luciddreamer2k@gmail.com
