Dykes on Disc-Series 1
Ella and Pat's Place are figments of my imagination. I hope you will enjoy them. Any similarity to people you may know is a figment of your imagination.
Many thanks to the friends and family who encouraged me.
Ten percent of ebook proceeds go to www.pufmm.org the people united for medical marijuana.
Dykes on Disc Copyright 2011 by jacque gabrielle
ISBN – 978-1-4657-0759-8
A Cast of Characters Continues
Ella
Chapter 1
In the early stages of life we have easy lessons. We have only to learn how to talk, how to walk and how to control our bodily functions. Easy right? Then as life goes on the lessons get a little more complex, subtle, teaching us what we need to know right when we need it. Sometimes before we need it. The difficult thing is to accept it and continue to go with flow of life’s intricacies. To embrace it as a good thing even though we can’t see the good part yet. To learn the life’s lesson.
My friend Ella was about to have just such a life lesson, although she didn’t know it. Her best friend, Sue, may have known, but the four-legged companion wasn’t talking. Sue was a white, wiry ball of muscle and she loved her mistress with all her Westie heart. Ella, on the other hand, was a tall, tanned drink of water. Easy on the eyes I think people would say. As she flew toward the Florida Turnpike to begin her new life in the Everglades her lesson was beginning to unfold.
The trip itself was uneventful. Except for the buzzards. If only she had seen the signs. Buzzards right? They were in the middle of the street when Ella had stopped to take a closer a plant she had seen on the side of the road. The birds looked like a black pool of water in the street. Only as she got closer did she realize what they were. Otherwise it was an eventful trip.
When Ella arrived at the compound where she and Sue were going to live, she was met by a woman with long, dark flowing hair and low slung button fly jeans. This was Ella’s girl. They were starting life anew. Ella had left her job in the city and packed away her belongings, she was all in.
The next day in the bleary eyes of love, Ella thought sure the letter she found on the bedside table was trick. She read the letter over and over again. It read, “God has told me that I need to get sober and I can’t do that if I stay here with you”. Really God? ! What is this? Why is this?
Why would a loving God take my girl from me? Strip me naked in a strange land and leave me alone?
Ella was devastated for a long time. Six years. Then the Universe made Ella an offer. Come to California with this new woman. Come on the voyage of a lifetime. Step out on faith; the belief in things not seen. Believe that I still love you and want the best for you. Ella went.
Chapter 2
Ella left her dog at home. The adventure that she was going on required her full attention. He would be happy staying with her mother. Linda, Ella’s mom, thought of the dog as her grandson anyway. The Westie enjoyed the daily walks and all the treats that she showered him with. Yes, leaving him home was best.
The new woman in Ella’s life brought her home with her, a 1978 Scamp. The little 13-foot travel trailer would be their home for a while. Ella and Gabby would be living in this home on wheels while they traveled to California. Gabby had never been past the Mississippi river and wanted to go out west to get a recommendation to use medical marijuana. She was looking forward to getting to know Ella better too.
Friends and family had helped the couple prepare the trailer for travel. It took two months of work. The group did things like; fix lights, wiring, the toilet, air conditioner and welded hitch components, to name just a few of their tasks. Gabby had given or thrown most of her belongings away. Ella too, had boxes of things from times past that she had to find other homes for. Still, the Scamp was crammed full.
All Ella could think of was Tybee Island. Neither of them had any idea where it was, but that’s where they were headed. According to the triple A directions, it was somewhere near Savannah, in Georgia. It was a tenuous start. The trailer door kept coming open! The little convoy couldn’t travel 100 yards without the door flopping open! They tried a bungee cord and that only kept the door from flying all the way open. Then, at 9:08 am, success! By lifting slightly on the door as they closed it, the latch was positioned to catch perfectly. At last!
As they pulled out from the gas station and onto north-bound highway 17-92, Ella asked Gabby to look back every now and then to check if the door was still shut. “Okay honey.” Was her reply. All the while though, she was thinking...”Really? I’m going to enjoy this trip. No worries mon, California here I come.”
As fate would have it, she didn’t have time to forget to check the door, because no sooner than Gabby started to relax… Ella asked, “is the door still closed?” As a matter of fact, every two miles she heard, “ is the door still closed?” Until, Gabby couldn’t take it any longer. “Yes dear, the door is closed. It is still closed. It has been closed for the last ten miles.” Silence…. Ella looked at her, hoping to explain the importance of the job she had asked Gabby to do. Before she could say anything, Gabby continued.
“Honey,” she started, “I promise you, the door is closed and it will stay closed. I take total responsibility for the door being closed. You just relax and drive until it’s my turn and then you can watch the door. Okay? Please?” There was a pause…. “Alright,” Ella relented, she knew she was just nervous. It took a lot of effort for her to remember to relax. Her hands and her knuckles showed it. They were almost totally white. She rested her palms on the steering wheel and stretched out her slender delicate fingers. Wiggling them she thought, “Ahhh, better”. Taking a deep breath in and out she began to relax. Soon she was daydreaming as they buzzed along the hi-way.
She thought to herself, “I have nothing to worry about. I’m just traveling across the country with a woman I have just met. I must be losing my mind. Worst of all, she imagined, I know she has that medication of hers packed in the trailer somewhere.”
“Hey,” came a voice, which shook her from her daydreaming. “The door.” “What” asked Ella?
“The door’s closed” Gabby smiled at her. She leaned over and gave Ella a kiss on the cheek and massaged her leg. “I love you,” she added. Ella smiled back at her. Maybe, she hoped, everything is going to be all right.
The couple sped along the hi-way. That’s if you can call 45 miles and hour speeding. Towing the little travel trailer with a proper truck would have been easy. These two knuckle-heads, I mean adventurers, were using an S.U.V. though, a Rav-4. Laughable right? A one thousand 200-pound trailer being pulled by a puny two thousand pound car. This is not, the weight ratio most people would use. These two had high hopes though. Or maybe they were just high. Either way, they were doing it.
Happily they drove. Past towns, which were little more than strip malls along side the road. Places with names like: Benson Junction, Yulee, Fancy Bluff and Silk Hope. Turn your head from left to right and you had seen the whole town. They drove through nature of every
description; vines, cattails, citrus trees, palm trees and oak hammocks. Taking in the scenery as they traveled over every kind of body of water; ponds, lakes, creeks, swamps, marshes and rivers. Miles and miles and miles.
Then, at 3:30 Gabby spied a sign that read – Savannah – 20. She piped up, “Look, Look! We’re almost there. Twenty miles.” “Okay”, replied Ella. “Start checking out that TripTik and tell me what I need to do.” “Wellll,” started Gabby, “it looks like you continue along the costal highway, that’s North 17.” She looked up, scanning the horizon for road signs. “Yes, stay on this road until we get to US 80 and then we’re there.”
They made it to Tybee Island and only got partially lost one time, pretty good navigating for beginners. The River’s End Campground seemed small and peaceful. Nestled between trees and the ocean. There were campers of all sizes. Class A-diesels, Fifth wheels, Pop-Ups and tents. The girls felt they were going to enjoy the camping life.
Gabby’s first order of business was to set up the trailer and go inside for her medication. She had looked up the possible consequences for getting caught with pot in Georgia. A misdemeanor and probation for less than an ounce…she’d chance it. She was a woman on a mission! “Uhmmm,” she mused, “ I wonder if my get out of jail card from triple A would be of any help. I’ll have to look at that…later”.
As she opened the trailer door to step out, there was Ella. Setting up their chairs and putting ice in the cooler atop a twelve pack. All was right with the world. “Hey cutie, ” she called, “Come in here for a second.”
Ella walked over to the trailer and stepped up into the camper. She moved into the small cabin, pulling the door shut behind her. She found herself pressing against Gabby; who moved backward into the opposing wall. “You’re squishing me”, she whined. Ella smiled and said, “you like it”. “Yes, yes I do”, whispered Gabby. She pushed back against Ella.
“Give me a hug,” she asked. “What do you mean?”
‘A hug”, Gabby explained, “ Like this”. She took Ella’s hand and cupped it over the soft, warm mound where her legs met. “Now, squeeze”, she urged. Ella curved her hand to fit Gabby’s form and hugged. “MMMM,” responded Gabby, “ yes, a hug”.
Chapter 3
Ella and Gabby pulled out of Tybee Island Georgia at nine a.m. Saturday morning. The day was full of promise. After Gabby had her morning meds and coffee she was good to go. With Ella at the wheel they winded their way west following U.S. 80. Gabby had tried to medicate while Ella drove. Ella had cut that shit short though. She had asked Gabby not smoke while she was driving. It seemed like a reasonable request. After all, Ella had agreed to travel with her to California. I mean really, how do you repay someone for that? So, “yes dear” was the reply to Ella’s request.
Gabby settled back in the passenger seat and took in the sights. Georgia, she noticed, is a lot like Florida except with red clay for dirt and fewer palm trees. All the other trees look alike when you’re speeding by at 45 miles an hour. Sure they would slow down to 35 miles an hour for the smaller towns then one could actually read the signs on buildings. For instance, she saw: Claxton Bakery, the ones who make that yummy fruit cake. Vidalia, Georgia, the onions place.
That’s it. There isn’t a lot to see. They weren’t taking this trip see things they were going somewhere. So, the two traveled along peacefully making progress towards California.
Gabby had it all worked out. She had figured the rate, time and distances and came up with approximately 350 miles a day. If they both drove three hours a day they could make that easily.
Gas was figured and where all the state park campsites were along their route. The AAA TripTiks were printed out and they were good to go. …Riiiight.
Ella was focused on driving again today. She didn’t care much for Gabby’s beloved TripTiks. Reading those maps just confused her. They were going to get lost. She just knew it. “How much farther” she asked Gabby. “Well,” she started, “looks like 137 miles to go.” “I guess since we’re not going 50 miles an hour, we’re not going to get as far as I thought,” said Gabby. She added hesitantly, “I’ll start looking for some place to stop.”
Sure enough, they found Lake Pines RV Park. It was friendly and peaceful. They made camp; Ella put ice on top of the twelve-pack in the cooler and Gabby administered her medication inside. Tomorrow they would start out early and probably be just about where we needed to be reflected Gabby.
Besides, they didn’t truly have a timetable. They had nowhere to be and all day to get there. It was a good feeling. Free, for a while.
The scenery as they drove the next day, was very similar to that on the day before, only now there were more trees and hills. We are definitely out of Florida now thought Ella. I sure hope the transmission in this thing holds. She was very often thinking of the possibility of disaster, but less, for some reason, now that she met Gabby. Still, she hoped, for safe travels. Ella was at the helm again and Gabby was navigating.
There wasn’t a lot to see. They passed through Selma Alabama and Gabby thought is was sad to see such a famous town look so depressed. It must have been something else back in the day. Not anymore though. On they went, following US 80 west.
“Hon,” Gabby started, “the skies are looking dark. I think we better find someplace to stop. What do you think?”
“Yeah, see what you can find”
“Well, it seems there is a state park near Morton and we should be there in a few miles…let’s see…okay, take highway 13 south and there will be signs.”
“Okay baby”, said Ella, “what kind of signs?”
“I don’t know. This is my first time being here. So I don’t know what kind of signs.”
“Alright, alright. You sound hungry to me, I can tell.” Gabby took a breath.
“You’re right. I need to eat these Fritos. Thank you. These are my favorite kind.” Gabby dug her hand into the bag pulling out a fist full of the sweet honey mustard corn chips.
The landscape was all trees now. Tall pine trees to the right and left of the highway, for as far as you could see. Green lush forest and rolling hills.
Then off to the right was a huge sign, which read: Roosevelt State Park. “There’s a sign!” yelled Gabby. Sure enough, there it was, Roosevelt State Park, Mississippi-Entrance. They drove for what seemed like five miles into the forest. Finally they came to a guardhouse. Ella ran out to it. When she got back to the truck she explained, “the computers are down, we can go down, pick a site and I’ll walk back up and see if the computers are working by then.” “Alright,” agreed Gabby, “let’s go.”
A light rain was beginning to fall as they drove down the steep, 45 degree hill to find a leveled off drive. It wound around an oval park with campers in the middle and around the edges. They drove out of the oval onto another driveway few feet up. They found a spot that was bordered on the left and rear by a ten-foot hill and a vacant lot on the right. In front of them was the driveway and trees beyond that. It was ideal.