![]() ![]() I can’t remember, and I’m not sure they could, either. The people in back were from Woonsocket or Pawtucket. The driver was apparently in no better shape than the passengers, because the van crawled along the interstate at a frighteningly slow speed. She left me at her exit ramp, and an Econoline van stopped, and the back door opened, and I climbed into a dark space where four very stoned people and a stoned-looking dog were sprawled on a couple of futons. We listened to Mozart, and when we crossed the state line she said, “Welcome to Rogue’s Island,” and giggled. “Armpit of New England.” He flexed his arm in the shape of Cape Cod to illustrate the point, then rammed his screwdriver back into the dashboard and announced, “Motherfucker’s busted, I’m dropping you off.” My next ride was a Pontiac with a fading “Ford for President” bumper sticker and a lady driver, a schoolteacher from Newport in pearls and a Fair Isle sweater, who said she never stopped for hitchers but she’d had a notion: If you were my kid, I’d want someone just like me to pick you up. ![]() “What for? You from there?” No, I said, just visiting. He kept stabbing a large screwdriver into it. ![]() He drove fast and ignored me, cursing at his eight-track tape deck, which was on the fritz. The first was an aging purple Cadillac, piloted by what looked like a pirate: long stringy red hair tied in a bandanna, long stringy red beard, mirror shades, black leather vest (no shirt, just more red hair), and leather pants. In the fall of 1978, I stood on the shoulder of I-95 North in southern Connecticut, facing the traffic and holding out a sheet of cardboard on which I’d written the word “Providence.” The sign worked it took me three rides to get there-all of them cars with Rhode Island plates. “There’s no celebrities around here, so Buddy’s it,” one Providence citizen explained. Mayor Cianci has been elected repeatedly. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |