Page 18 of Goodbye Paradise
“Lucky,” Caleb said.
Washington shrugged. “You’re young. Maybe a year from now, or two, you’ll go to college.”
“You never know,” Caleb said, in a voice which did not sound all that optimistic.
“You finish high school?” Washington asked.
Caleb and I laughed at the same time.
“I guess that’s a no.”
“Weren’t allowed to go to school with all the sinners,” Caleb said. “God forbid we learn something that makes us less obedient.”
“That’s just sad, boy,” Washington said. “You’re better off away from that kind of place.”
“Iknowthat,” Caleb said, with a glance at me. “But the dismount is pretty painful. Now, Josh. Try this.” He pushed one of the glasses to me.
There was a brown liquid inside, and I could see bubbles clinging to the side of the glass. “Coffee?”
“Better,” Caleb insisted. “It’s Coke.”
I took a sip, but ended up coughing because the bubbles tickled my nose.
Watching me, Caleb burst out laughing. “Man, we are going to have to work our way up to beer, I think.” This set Washington off, too, so now they were both having a chuckle at my expense.
I didn’t mind, though. Because the dark liquid was both tangy and sweet. I loved it. And since I was starving, the sugar felt like nectar going down.
“Wow,” Washington said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry to laugh, but how have you never had a Coke?”
“Think of him as a prisoner released from jail, and you won’t be far off.”
“But you’re not?” Washington asked.
I was wondering the same thing.
Caleb shook his head. “My grandpa was somebody important in the hierarchy. So they gave me a lot of the good jobs. I got to drive their trucks around, picking up things they needed. Did some errands. I got good at pinching a little of the change for a drink, or a candy bar. The best part was just being out in the world. I went to the public library in Casper sometimes to read the newspaper. I listened to the news on the radio, which is forbidden. I got just enough to know what I was missing.”
Now I was just staring at him, my mouth hanging open. “You never told me most of that.”
He looked sheepish. “It would have been mean, right? I did all this fun stuff today, I tried Coke. I ate a Twix bar and a taco.” He shook his head. “I never brought anything back. I never even got into the truck with so much as a napkin or a wrapper. Too dangerous.”
I didn’t know how I felt about that. There was a time not too long ago when he and I told each othereverything. And I was sad to hear all these things I hadn’t known.
Yet I’d been hiding something huge and awful from Caleb for years, hadn’t I? He’d have to eat a whole lot of sweets to make up for all my sins of omission.
The waitress reappeared with three plates on her two arms. And the next ten minutes were lost to me as I worshiped at the altar of my first truck stop burger with all the fixings, with giant slabs of fried potato.
Wow.
With a full belly, I found it possible to believe that everything just might be okay. Maybe.
Five
AFTER DINNER, WE CLIMBED into Washington’sgianttruck. I had wondered how Caleb and I were going to fit onto one passenger seat. I was picturing the overturned milk crate that we used on the compound between the seats of our flatbed truck cab.
But Washington’s truck was roomy and gleaming. And there was even a bunk in the back.
“Somebody sits on the sleeper,” the man said, waving a hand at the bed. “And somebody sits here and talks to me.”
