"Tristan?"
"Hi, Lexi. I'm surprised you still recognized me all these years..." Tristan says, on the verge of tears.
"Who wouldn't forget that sexy, hot face of yours. Look at you. You've become a man now." Lexi puts her arms over Tristan's firm shoulders, then pulled him into a tight hug. She looks almost a lot like Sequoia, even thought Lexi's in a black t shirt like the one above. "You're still so skinny. You haven't changed a bit. Well, at least you got muscles finally."
"Yeah." Tristan rubbed his neck nervously.
"I remember when you were so skinny and small back then, you wore these big shirts that always fell off your shoulders. I still remember that one day, watching your Star Wars Chewbacca shirt slip down your right shoulder, then left, until it slowly disappeared behind your desk. And you were showing off your chest too, and the teacher had to pull it back up for you."
"Yeah, that shirt's neck was big, it was stretched. And it went down to my elbows. Only once, did I took it off, just one arm, to write. And that teacher chewed me out. After, an hour had passed with me looking like that."
"The boys picked on you and called you a "girl" and a "sissy"."
"They still do to this day."
"I loved the way you looked back then. You were so feminine-looking with that long hair, feminine face. I was so jealous of you then. I always thought you were a girl. And you'll always be a girl in my eyes. At least you pulled it off far better, for a boy." Tristan rubbed his neck again, and looked at me.
"How's the tiny place up there?" Lexi points to the craggy mountains in front of her house. Those mountains reminds me of a scene from Star Trek Beyond, and as I looked around we were surrounded all by these sharp rocks in the distance. "I heard the high school's packed."
Tristan looked at the mountains. "It is packed. We mostly have kids from the other side of that mountain. Otherwise, it's still the same since you left."
"You mean that Exxon's still there?"
"Its a Shell now. With Krispy Krunchy."
"Chester's Chicken inside the market?"
"Dillon's now."
"Pine's Market?"
"Pine's still there. With a Krispy Kreme donut inside as well."
"I think those places really caters to the high school now." Rae, Dylan, Ash and this Japanese kid named Ryo came to mind when she said that. They liked to eat inside Pine's Deli for their school lunch, just to get away from the school drama, and sometimes bringing in Dillon's Fried Chicken from Pine's so they can snack out in their classes. Lexi finally notices me, as I was getting cooked from standing in the sun.
"Who is this handsome devil here?" Lexi wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "He yours?"
"Yeah, he is," Tristan blushed, which I could've easily mistaken for sunburn.
"Though I haven't seen him at our school before. Did he transfer when I left?"
"I noticed him even when you were there; we had the same kindergarten and 1st grade class together."
"I see. How come I didn't recognize him? He looks like a playboy to me."
"Hey, you take that back." Tristan sounded hurt.
"I was just kidding. But still, how come I didn't see you there? Anyway, that your car there?" Lexi points to Tristan's mom's Accord.
"That's my mom's."
"Looks like the one my dad bought back in 2009. Is it a 2008?"
"2007. She bought it used-used last year. Got it as a hail special that came from Kansas."
"I see." she repeated. "It doesn't look too bad. At least from where I'm standing. Well, come on inside. You'll cook like eggs in a fryer out here." She wasn't kidding. "Kansas City, here I come. I'm going to Kansas City. Kansas City, here I come." Lexi sang.
"Sorry. We came unnoticed." Tristan says, closing the door behind me as I walked in. The blast of cold air hit my sweating, hot face as I entered the large house.
"No worries. Please, make yourselves at home. I'll make us some refreshments." Tristan looked at me, but I quickly sat down on a sofa. There was a big TV hung on the wall, but it was off, and I was in no obligation to turn it on, until...
"There's a TV. You're more than welcomed to turn it on if you want." Tristan quickly jumped for the remote, but I still sat in the spot, and he turned it on. An oldies program came on, but Tristan leaned on his thigh as he began to channel surf, until he realized, they were watching antenna.
"Looking for the cable? Go to channel 2, and turn on the box." Lexi called from the kitchen.
Tristan finally managed to get the cable box working, we landed on the news channel. He quickly changed the channel, and returned to channel surfing once more. He stopped on the FXX channel, just as a scene of Homer of The Simpsons was falling down this cliff, and Bart's skateboard clocks him on the head at the end. Tristan chuckled a bit, as Homer is now being airlifted from the cliff, his bandaged head banging against the cliff face, and into the ambulance he goes. Unfortunately, the ambulance hits a tree, and Homer rolls out, falling off the same cliff. Tristan laughed so hard as Homer falls out of the gurney, and bouncing his way back down the cliff.
I had never seen this version of the show before, just the part where Homer falls out of the ambulance and into the cliff again, and the scene goes directly to the hospital, where both Homer and the daredevil end up together.
"If you think you got guts, try raising my kids." I still remember that scene perfectly.
So, why can't I remember my math homework?
Tristan laughed even harder as the gurney also clocks poorly battered Homer on the head again, and soon cuts to another hospital scene, this time with Marge talking to the vet doctor.
"Here you go guys," Lexi puts the refreshments on the table, then looks at the TV. Tristan laughed so hard at the doctor who was trying to revive the hamster with the defibrillator, to no luck.
"Doctor, he's gone." The female nurse points to the defibrillator monitor.
"This is the part of the job I hate." The doctor says, leaning over the dead hamster.
"What the heck are you guys watching?" Lexi asked, just in time to see the vet doctor throw the hamster in the trash can, and that left Tristan in a fit of laughter even more.
"You're a veterinarian?" Dr. Hibbert gasped.
"That's right. For an extra $20 I'll give Homer a tick bath and then spay him." The vet doctor says.
"Its The Simpsons!" Tristan gestured to the TV with both hands. "The Simpsons!" He then broke out into another fit of laughter.
"I'm more into South Park, Death Note, The Boondocks and Family Guy."
"Really?! I love Death Note! That kid looks so hot! So smart, too. I'm in love with that hairstyle he has. I want to grow mines like that again." Clearly, he was also talking about Dylan, who has the same hairstyle as Light from Death Note, but his was shorter in the back, unlike Dylan's frizzy medium-length hair. Tristan turned back to the TV, and made this raspberry sound as he laughed so hard when he saw the trap Homer had made hucked the rabbit into a considerable distance from them, followed by a loud thud. Neither Lexi or I had ever heard Tristan laugh that hard before, as we both locked eyes.
And he laughed even more as the wildlife began attacking Homer, who's now rolling on the ground to try to get the animals off of him.
I think I even cracked a smile, just at the way those animals made their noises as they attacked Homer. All the while Bart's just standing there and watching.
"Have both of you ever got a chance to look at the old farm? It's the only one that's in the middle of that mountain." Both Tristan and I looked at each other.
"That was my grandfather's plot of land. We left soon after he passed on. I heard someone else now lives there." I had heard Sequoia and her older brother moved in not too long ago, so that must be the place they are now living in. Also, her older brother, Daniel did mention his grandfather lived on the farm. So sometime after Lexi's grandfather passed, Daniel's grandfather must have bought that land soon after, after they were exchanging between Rae and Daniel back at that Shell station. I swallowed, but braced myself, for an outcome I was hoped to be prepared...
"Yeah, someone lives there. She's my classmate. And her older brother. They moved in not too long ago." I say.
"Really? I hope they take great care of the place, especially the house. My grandpa built everything there, the two-story house, the barn, the land..." Tears began welling from Lexi's eyes, and her voice cracked a little. "I wanted to see it again. It's been so long. That freeway didn't exist; it was a two lane highway at first, and before it got to the farm, it was a single dirt track that ended there. Nothing existed past our old house. Just thick forests. And rocks. That's why I asked if everything was still there from our childhood. I really wanted to go back..." Tristan and I looked at each other, and soon, Lexi went over to me, and cried as she laid her head on my stomach.
I remembered seeing my mom's old picture when she first moved with my dad in the mountains...
She took that pic way back sometime in 1997 or 1998, long before the freeway as I've seen it existed. And almost 20 years later, she took this one, almost at the exact spot where the old, dangerous and very scary, two-lane was.
******************************
The sun was already close to the craggy mountains as we exited Lexi's house, and at this rate, we'll be home before midnight. I was a considerable distance to drive out here, especially on a whim.
"We'll, come over and visit again. It was nice seeing you both. Especially you." Lexi says, first hugging Tristan as hard as she can, then to me, as she offered a hand. I took, but she pulled me in as she gave me the biggest squeeze she could give me.
"Thank you for taking great care of Tristan for me. I was soo worried." Lexi says, her head on my chest. We were like this for some time until it was time to go. We waved, while Lexi stood on her porch, watching us as we got ready to leave for home.
"You drive. Those hills scare me." Tristan pulled me away from the passenger door.
"Me?" I looked back at that menacing looking mountain, and of the buildings next to those rocky mountains. I took a deep breath, and got around to the driver's side. I turned the ignition, barely realizing I hadn't had any learning with city driving. Soon, I put the car in 'D', and we left the suburbs of this alien Vegas-like city. Tristan waved to Lexi, and we made our way to the main streets.
Piece of cake, right?
There was a LOT of traffic coming from the downtown, and some more were piling behind us, as we slowly inched our way to the freeway. A previous model Ford Fusion sped by, only to slam on the brakes at the very last second, while this big, newer Dodge Ram had to slam on theirs at the very last second as well. I gripped the steering wheel very tightly, my knuckles were white, and my palms were sweaty. A Subaru whizzed by, only to be followed by a horrible crunch! My heart was racing, and my hands were super sweaty, while Tristan looked completely unfazed by what's going on around us. We passed the Subaru; it had rear-ended this old Chevy truck, and both drivers were arguing, and on the verge of fighting right then and there.
We finally made it to the freeway, inching our way in on the onramp, heading eastward, as we passed an older Dodge Dakota truck that had overheated on the side of the road, its hood open, and white smoke poured out. We soon passed quite a bit of cars on the side of the road with the same thing, and it seems not even the newer models are immune to the overheat problem, as we slowly passed this redesigned front-end Chevy Silverado with its hood open, and also white smoke poured out, but not only that, its fluid poured from under, which was also steaming. The truck's new design came out in 2014, but was just redesigned again last year, only with the funky headlights for the Chevy trucks, that this one has.
After I saw that, my eyes darted to the gauge; luckily it stayed right at the middle. Despite the heat, and not moving much.
Finally, the traffic was lighter, but still heavy as they went through those rocky mountains, so we could get off and get some gas. At the Chevron Tristan stretched, as I put the gas in the car.
"It's going to be a long, tough drive for those that pass this place." Tristan says, looking at the travelers that were passing the last final stop. Next one is nearly two and a half hours away, or around 156 miles.
That would be our small village, and the Shell. There are a few settlements in those dry mountains, but none have gas stations, and in some places, we could still see parts of the original two-lane road, as if they didn't bother to completely redo the entire road...
"Yes, it's going to be." I say.
"I'll get us something to munch on." Tristan says, and leaves me filling his car.
With it filling, I looked back, and because we were slightly higher, there were cars as far as the eye can see, stretching from the rest of the futuristic downtown, and going into those rocky mountains, that were still off in the distance.
Somehow, I survived my first urban driving, and not a single dent or scratch was found on the car.
I turned my attention to a semi from New Mexico leaving the truck stop across, making its way to the freeway, as the driver shifted its gears. Another soon followed, this one simply says "NAVAJO" on the trailer and truck, following the New Mexico one, and also making its way to the freeway. I think for some time Tristan had been watching me, looking at the busy truck stop across. I flinched when I saw him next to me, holding his bag of purchases from the Chevron. We continually watched as both trucks turned for the mountains; the direction we were also heading.
"Do you think we'll see them again?"
"Of course. It's 13 miles of 9% grade, with sharp turns." I said, and out of nowhere, I imagined the Enterprise crash-landing at the spot we were standing in, as I seen it at the theatre, which is my first time being in there. I shook my head, only seeing trees since this is the last exit before those mountains, and all those line of cars entering and leaving that mountain.
Those two trucks were now on the freeway, and soon, we'll be passing both of them somewhere in those rocks.