Four: Trailer For Sale or Rent; Rooms to Let, Fifty Cents

After determining they might be gone up to three days, Tott threw a few necessities into a ratty old gym bag and joined Nichelle on the front porch.

"Are you going to keep this trailer, Tottchell? Personally, I think it should be condemned."

"Probably," he agreed, "I might sell it and move into an apartment."

As they climbed into the enormous car, which belonged to Tott's ailing father, Nichelle spotted Elmer and Jim huddled in the back, crouching on the floor behind the front seats.

"What are you two doing?" she demanded.

"Damn," said Elmer, "we wanted to surprise you once you got on the road."

"Not a very good hiding place."

"Haven't you ever read 'The Reivers'?" Jim asked.

"Not in a while," she said, tartly, "So you've had a change of heart, I see."

"As long as you and Tott don't mind," said Elmer, "After all, I promised myself I'd help you if you needed it."

"I don't care," Tott said, "We've got room for about ten in this thing."

"Want me to drive, Tott?" Nichelle offered, "I can drive. I don't mind driving."

"Nah, I can do it."

Nichelle instructed Tott to take I-74 west to Illinois, but he mistakenly got on 74 east and headed toward Cincinnati before it dawned on Jim and Nichelle that they were going the wrong direction. They induced Tott to exit at London Road and Nichelle further advised him to go back around the city loop in order to pick up westbound 74, something she thought a lifelong Indianapolis resident ought to know anyway. All he while, Elmer dozed; this happened a lot when he rode in the back seat of an automobile.

There were occasional instances in which entire buildings suddenly transformed into a substance quite similar to the tangible hubris, though there were significant chemical differences. This phenomenon was not well understood. Structures could not really possess the kind of conceit theorized to cause tangible hubris in humans; some speculated gaudy or overstated buildings--ones in which the architect displayed hubris--were most likely to experience SIRP* while others believed the transformation was based more on the attitudes of the occupants.

Just such an instance had occurred on the way around the city loop. Out near the old airport, an unused office building had turned into a rubbery boulder and rolled onto the roadway, backing up traffic. Because the material was fairly light, it didn't take road crews long to remove the former buildings. Nichelle and Tott handled the delay with equanimity while Jim Misanthrope sat in the back and cringed; he had the patience of a starving dog watching a manual can opener rotate around the lid.

Tott yawned. Nichelle again expressed her willingness--desire, really--to drive and Tott acquiesced. In fact, he motioned for Jim to come up front while he slumped in the back with Elmer. Outside of Brownsburg, Nichelle peeked in rearview to make sure Tott and Elmer were asleep. It was getting dark and the sunset splashed tangerine smears across the western half of the sky. Traffic was light and Nichelle stuck her foot in the tank and pushed the old deuce and a quarter up to eighty-five miles an hour. She flipped on the radio just in time to hear Roger Miller declare himself "a man of means by no means."

"Punch it, Nichelle," beamed Jim, "That's us, kings of the road."

And Queen, she thought, but why quibble?



*Spontaneous Inorganic Rubberization Process