Australian with a Car Key

[Ben]

James, Curtis, Lee... uh... Tristar, and me. It was a fun group, and time passed quickly. I picked up on peoples habits and attitudes quickly. James seemed to be the same as what I expected; or in other words, just like Skype. Curtis was a funny dude, his humour often left hanging or coming across a little awkwardly only made it all the funnier. I cracked off the mark with my usual quick wit, picking out turn-offs and junctions for James absently as we came to them; it was a good map. Lee was a cool dude. His humour was nice and dry, how I liked it, and he was his own guy, something I always a appreciated. I quickly settled into singing -- something I only did if I was comfortable around someone, which was a good sign -- or, not so much singing as belting out random notes. I had a pretty good voice, and I settled for weaving in wordless harmonies that added a bit of a prettier edge to the rocking Finnish vocals.

"Ey, Cali!"

I pointed at a classic Mustang as it rocketed past, all throaty, coughing engines and guttural roaring exhausts. The game passed the time quickly, and we all took turns chatting individually with one another and with the group as a whole. Careful not to wake Tri up, we all kept the laughs hushed though. It was't long before we were reaching our exit for Wilmington. The four hours had flown, and all my concerns were put to rest regarding these 'stragners;

"Yoo, James. Uh, three exits down, 'bout two miles, that's our exit. Pull us off there and it's only a couple of minutes off the interstate to where we're staying."

James began to pull us into the right lanes as our exit came up, he had vere to the left again as no less than four ambulances rocketed up the inside lane, slamming the breaks out to throw themselves down the exit we were about to take. Oh, poo.

"What the hell was that about?"

I craned my neck to get a better look, trying to discern why the ambulances where in such a rush. Another two ambulances roared past us, sirens blaring, and another three shortly after that. My stomach began to tighten and I felt a little sick as I always did when I got nervous. Something about the absence of panic or traffic management or smoke around us made the situation at little... ominous? I dunno, I was a habitual over-analyser, so I tried to hide the little shakes or the cold sweat plaguing me.

 

[Cassanova]

Comfortable that the ambulances had all moved on, and I wasn't about to suffer a stream of fire engines and cops too, I pumped the gas, pulling out in front of a crabby old Winnebago. "Delaware."

Wilmington was a decent sized town. Big enough to have its own little 'center of the city' mall, but because we were a bunch of tightass nerds, most of us whom had outlaid a huge amount of cash just to get here, we weren't gracing ourselves with the likes of some of the bigger, more well known hotels in the CBD area. No, we were bound for the a-typical American motel experience, probably best portrayed in the TV show Supernatural.

Fundy Line Motel. I suddenly regretted booking it based on the comparably affordable price in relation to its horrid, horrid name. Lacking the collective funds to splurge on king size beds, eight hundred channels of cable TV, a spa bath and a complimentary mini bar, however. We had to settle for something that looked like it was built in the mid-seventies, and never used since. The Escape mounted the curb with ease, most likely bumping Tristar awake. I grimaced momentarily, feeling a pang of guilt for waking the guy up. Being from the same timezone as him, I knew the pain of the jet lag getting here, except I had gotten over mine a few days earlier.

The sun began to settle over the western side of the freeway, blaring in through my side and rear view mirror. I had a quick look around the car, turning the music down and nodded to the fellas. "I'll just duck in and get the keys. If anyone needs to hang a leak, you can risk the public loos at Denny's next door, or wait five minutes." With a brave and overcompensating gesture I took a breath and opened the car door, the brisk air slamming me in the face, nearly making me want to just keep driving through the night. Knowing how stupid that would be, I continued out and headed into the reception area.

"G'day! Just here to check in. Should be two double rooms, one with a pull out," I slid my Passport and credit card across the counter - again, I've done this rodeo before.
"The five of you, correct?"
Yep. Just overnight," I nodded to the Denny's next door. "Is that the only food place around here? Maybe theres a pizza delivery place?"
The lady at the counter smiled and nodded as she returned my things, "There's a KFC down the road, but I can give you the menu for our in-house wood fire pizza options."

Oh god, Pizza, I thought. With a glint in my eye, I winked at the lady, collecting the menu and heading out to the car, room keys in hand. "The pizza menu would be perfect."

I took great pleasure in the car's warmth, and drove around to our rooms. I was quite pleased that we were the two rooms at the end of the row, furthest back from the highway. With the car in place I tossed one of the keys into the back seat, the one I was told had the sofa in it. "There ya go guys. They're adjoining so we can open the door between them." I reached over and mock-affectionately ran my fingers through Ben's hair. "But if the bed's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'." I chuckled and climbed out of the car, collecting the GPS, phone chargers and other things that i had pulled out to be more comfortable for the car ride. I grabbed my backpack from the trunk and moved towards the room that matched my key and inserted it into the lock, opening the room.

With a shrug, I accepted the hideous decor and horrible beds as penance for paying as little as we did. I did little more than unlock our adjoining door, dump my bag on one of the two double beds, and made a bee-line straight for the bathroom.

Nature's call, after all…

 

[Tristar]

I woke up with a bump, nearly smashing my head in the roof of the car. Grumbling, I peered out of the car window, my eyes literal squints as I tried to make out the time; so far, it seemed like it was evening. Good. That meant rest and relaxation, but at the same time hell. I wasn't up for a whole night of staying up and flipping through the channels. Looking around the car, the rest of the guys seem haggard looking as well. Guess I'm not the only one.

Cassa seems to have left the ca-oh no, wait, here he comes. With keys to our rooms, might I add. Goodie. I was kinda expecting some sort of mocking PDA with him and the rest of the guys, and lo behold, it seems like he and dear Ben have a good old homo bromo kinda deal together; wonder what James's wife thinks about it. Probably not much. After he drove us to our rooms, I opened the door and stepped out, my face meeting the cold harsh air full blast. That helped with the sleepiness as I performed my waking up ritual. First came the neck roll, shoulder roll, hip twist and stretches, and a few jumping jacks.

Now I was awake.

Turning back on the lads, I grabbed my bag out of the car (my only one, to be precise) and beckoned the rest of the group along.

"Come on..might as well get inside right?"

It was all I could think of saying for the day; Awake or no I was still fatigued. The porch was wooden, the door looked as though it could use a good shine or two; I merely leaned against the wall and cusp my hands before breathing into them, noting that literally mist issued from my nostrils. Bugger it all, it's too cold for habitation. Whoever I was sharing a room with better not be a snorer, or we're gon' have some problems. But I've been known for my problem solving skills; in this instance the only solution would be a pillow.

Applied directly to the face. Continuously.

"Anyone of you snore?"

 

[Pureblood-Sin]

The presence of the Ambulance had aroused a paranoid fear in me; I don't what it is...perhaps the Divine was placing a warning within my pounding heart. Or perhaps it is simply the hyper-imaginative wanderings of a mind far from neurotypical. I could sense it in my companions...except for Tristar; I could sense that he was snoozing. Hopefully that will change...then I pray they don't lynch me for my awful jokes and puns. Soon enough, we were at the place indicated on the map, the big bump further conveyed this. The Fundy Line Motel, this provided me with further humorous material.

"Fundy Line Motel eh...looks like the kind of place Norman Bates would hang out. Lets hope that they don't have any overzealous Christian clients; I won't have any problems with them...but they'll have three with me. I'm a Metalhead, a Pagan and shall we say that I'm the type of guy who prefers sausages over pies; when it comes to people that is."

After, unsubtly, alluding to my romantic preferences, we finally parked; James went to collect the keys. I sure didn't require the loo for the time being; of course that has a peculiar tendency to change at the most awkward time...and a disgusting time it would be. As we waited for him to come back, I reached into my jacket pocket and proceeded to pull out a deck of cards; but these weren't just any cards, but Tarot cards.

"Anyone up for a reading after we settle in for the night?"

After that, I put the deck back in my pocket; when James finally returned with the keys to our room, I knew it wouldn't be too long. Minutes later, we were there..and Tristar was fully awake by this time. When we went in, I found the place to not be the best...but still better than a Pontins chalet and given my working class background, my standards were already low to begin with. Our glorious leader then spoke again.

"There ya go guys. They're adjoining so we can open the door between them." He then proceeded to ruffle Ben's hair, to which I chuckled. "But if the bed's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'."

I then put on a faux-pout, crossing my arms and tapping my foot.

"Dude you're married...could you at least save some for me?" I said with a mostly genuine wink.

 

[Flamjetxx]

The time seemed to fly by like crazy. And I, of 'course was losing the game due to picking out every local vehicle. No doubt, it didn't help that I claimed that every tenth car was from Hawaii. By the time the first set of ambulances passed, I had been kind of restless, and no game could solve that. Though, through self control, I sat through the recreation of Australian heat, and patiently awaited our exit. I wouldn't have even notice the ambulances speeding past if it weren't for James applying a liberal use of the brakes to notify everyone not paying attention to the new change in scenery. In all honesty, the traffic of aid was nothing new to me. Living in Milwaukee gave me my fair share of sirens. I would often be watching a movie in my living room to think that a siren is supposed to be ambiance in the back of the movie.... Aways shocked to find out otherwise. Heck, with the windows open, sirens would keep me up all night if I didn't learn to tune them out.

It was only after the second pass that I actually began to wonder. A pair of raised eyebrows and a slowly shaking head indicated my shock at the stupidity of someone. What had they done... Started a fire? My thoughts always shifted the blame of some catastrophe to some individual. It could never be natural until I've seen it with my own eyes. Kind of pessimistic, but almost always accurate. It was only when the third pass came that my eyebrows fell into an almost confused look. What could be so important? It wasn't every day that so many sirens could be heard. I could have given a d*mn, and let my heart sink, but chances are that it would never effect me, and some of the sadistic thoughts that crawl through my mind require me to not think about it.

At least, we are finally at the half way point, where I can actually stretch my legs a bit. A little bit before I get packed into a motel room like a sexy sardine. The motel was actually expected. I my velcro wallet would certainly be hurting with anything more extravagant. I would be certain that my money sees the front desk of the motel, or James' hand before I went to check out the actual room.

After hearing a groeingly expected comment from Lee, I immediately knew what he meant by sausage over pies, and yet I say it anyway, "Yeah. I don't really care much for pies either. unless they're pumpkin pies. I think it's the crust. I don't like crusty pies. Sausages not eh other hand. Well... i'm from Milwaukee, so better believe that sausages are definitely our favorite. Especially with beer. Beer brats. Hmmm."

I couldn't say that I could care for the honeymoon sweet. Whenever I'd go trail riding with my parents, we'd be sleeping in the back of the trailer with nothing but a blow up mattress and a sleeping bag. So all in all, this might as well have been the best room I've stayed in on a trip since. I went down to Georgia for the first time. The fact of the matter about Georgia is that I hate it, and I could feel the pain of having to drive through it. The first time, I came through, thousands of dollars worth of motorcycles were stolen; Then the second time, my brother broke his arm, and we ended up staying in a hospital the whole trip. I mean, that's really some bad luck. At least they'd only be passing through Georgia, instead of it actually being the destination. And thank the Force, that's not where they were staying, or I'd have some serious complaints.

In response to James' rocking' and knocking joke, I couldn't help but to react in the best way I knew how, "So you want me to just come in instead of knocking? Well, okay... I guess."

Either way, the trip had been uneventful, in a good way, and hasn't left anyone, as far as I know, unhappy; Except for maybe Tristar who was only now awake. He'd certainly have some fun with jet lag. The moment they'd arrived, the toilet was commandeered by James, who made certain that he had claimed mount poo for himself. Thankfully I, for some reason, have an enormous bladder, and the bathroom has never been an issue for me. As we settled in, mostly by a throw of a bag where we claimed our beds. I sat myself down on the couch with my bag at my side, and a menu in my hands, "I'll take the couch this time. In the mean time, what kind of toppings do you guys like?"

Tristar, having missed the mention of pizza at the sign in desk was likely at a loss, but what else has toppings? It wouldn't take him very long to catch up, especially now that he's the one of us most awake. Though, I'd like to think that I could give him a run for his money, since Wisconsin is an hour behind the east coast, and in all honesty, I happen to be on all night replying to posts on SWRP anyway.

"It looks like they have a little bit of every topping. Pepperoni, sausage, black olives, green olives. I don't really recommend the last one. I've had pizza with green olives on it, and it's better without," In reality, I could east just about anything. I've never been picky with my foods. The only thing I refuse to eat, or even smell is sauerkraut. Which is ironic, seeing that my ancestry points of German. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Yup, that pretty much spells it out: German.

"What someone orders on their pizza can say a lot about a man. If they want vegemite on their pizza, there's a 50% chance they're form Australia. If they want Asian Zing flavoring on their pizza, there's a 110% chance they're from Asia. If they order Fish and chips on their pizza, there's a 5% chance they're from the UK. If you order another pizza on your pizza, chances are that they're from the us. These are facts people," I explain, trying to sound as factual as possible. As far as the sirens go, they could still be heard in more numbers and more variety int eh short drive down the road from the freeway exit. To me, they were only barely audible, being merely background noise.

 

[Ben]

I managed to shake off my anxiety quickly enough, in large thanks to James' homoerotic jesting. I ducked out playfully from his hand and mock-grimaced.

"Why's it always the little ones?"

We got settled into the rooms quickly enough, I slung my bags onto the bed nearest the loo, with my bladder, I'd need it. I sauntered off to the unoccupied toilet for a quick piss while the rest of the gang poured over the menu's. I called over my shoulder whilst unzipping my jeans:

"I will take one thing and one thing only: pepperoni."

The relief was as instant as it was divine, if only I could wee faster; I was impatient when I really needed to go, which was often. Soon enough though, I was washing my hands and heading back into the main room to join the others. I leapt up onto the bed and sat on folded legs, peeking over the larger mens shoulders as they debated the pro's and con's of various toppings. Before I could interject though, I heard more sirens in the distance, a lot of them if the sounds were telling, and my stomach twisted. Not from hunger, unfortunately.

"What do you guys think that is?"

I hopped off the bed and walked to the window, moving the curtains aside and peering out into the darkening night; luckily I didn't have to cup my hands to the glass to see. There was nothing telling there, a few other cars in the main lot, and a woman wandering around aimlessly near the main office.

"OK, well, she's a little creepy. James!" I shouted to the bathroom "you better not have booked us in at a motel in tweeker-central. Come look at this woman, somethings weird about her."

I was always easily alerted and spooked, and this was no difference. Creepy-drug-addict looking woman, sirens all over town, and...

"Hey, did anyone actually see any people on the way into town?"

My mind was really starting to run away with itself now, I felt the cold-sweat coming on and the little twists and turns of my stomach. Hopefully my frickin' hands wouldn't start shaking aga- too late. Damn anxiety.