Leanna brought the squashed paper bag with her into the idling Datsun 280Z parked just past the interstate overpass, and sat in the driver’s seat. She opened the bag and pulled out some flattened sandwiches wrapped in wax paper, and handed one to her friend, sitting in the passenger’s seat.

“Looks like we’re dining on pressed ham and cheese sandwiches, Rosa.”

“I don’t mind. I’m starving! Hey, Theo, honey! Let’s have something to eat!” Rosa reached around to the back seat and gently shook the sleeping boy. Arfie was wide awake by now and sitting up, eager to share in the meal, watching the sandwich in Rosa’s hand intently. He licked Theodore’s hand and put his paw on the boy’s knee, who was now stirring and blinking his eyes open.

“Where are we?” he asked, trying to focus on the passing highway traffic below them. Arfie leaned forward as Rosa handed the sleepy boy a wrapped sandwich.

“We’re outside the city now, going to where? Joshua Tree?” Rosa asked Leanna. “What’s out there?”

“I’ll tell you once we get there, honest. Right now, lets have a quick bite. We’ve got several more hours of driving ahead of us,” Leanna answered. She turned down the radio, which was now playing, “Hotel California”:

“Up ahead in the distance I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night”

“That’s a bizarre song. Have you listened to the words? I don’t know about this new music. We live in kind of crazy times right now, so maybe it’s fitting,” Rosa said, munching on her sandwich. She looked back at her son, “Eating and talking again, I see. Don’t give Arfie too much, OK? The last thing we need is a sick dog in the car.”

“Cheese. Fromage. Queso. Kase. Jubban. Cheezu. Qisi,” Theo recited between bites of his sandwich, giving bits of the cheese to the patient husky.

“Yeah, 1977 is turning out to be a totally messed up year. the President and his surveillance programs are out of hand. It wasn’t enough that he appointed an unelected Vice President, now he’s making moves to change the constitution and give himself a third term. That man is just plain evil! This country was built on freedom of expression, and he’s clamping down on everything, from radio to television to the newspapers-,” Leanna started to almost shout, but stopped when she saw Rosa’s blank expression, “but, yeah, I’ve been down that road before. You know where I stand.”

“I dunno. Politics is so boring for me. Besides, you should be careful what you say, you never know who might be watching or listening,” Rosa said, finishing up her sandwich. “Did you pack anything to drink?”

“Uh-huh. There should be a thermos of iced tea under your seat,” Leanna said as she put down the sandwich she had only taken one bite from. “But that’s exactly my point, we shouldn’t be afraid to say things openly. That bastard is taking that away from us and-,” Leanna stopped, her voice getting loud again.

“Lee, does this secret trip of yours have anything to do with your views on things? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that,” Rosa looked at Leanna, with a look of trepidation on her face, glancing back at Theo. “Look at us, you and I, we’re wearing the same clothes, and all.” The two young women were both wearing white t-shirts with red piping on the sleeves and collar, tucked into blue and white Adidas shorts. They both had white running shoes and knee high stockings, and in the cool desert air, had both put on a yellow hoodie.

“Naw, don’t worry about it. We wear the same outfits all the time, ya know? This time’s no different, trust me,” Leanna reassured her friend. “C’mon, have some iced tea.”

“Ham. Jambon. Jamon. Schinken. Hamu. Huoti,” Theo continued reciting, giving his dog bits of ham from his sandwich now. “Mom, can I have some iced tea, too? I’m thirsty.”

Rosa pulled the red plastic thermos from under her seat, unscrewed the white cup on top of it and poured some tea into the cup. She offered it first to Leanna, who shook her head saying, “We gotta get going.” Rosa took a few sips herself and then handed the cup back to Theo.

Leanna put the car into gear, and did a U-turn to get back onto the highway. “I had to find the passage back to the place I was before,” Leanna mumbled along with the song on the radio. She then whispered to her Datsun, “Let’s go, Princess!”

*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***