Friday Night! Everything’s all right! We’re packed. Kids dropped off. We’re heading out of town! Going on a weekend long date with Prince Sunshine.
I married the ultra Romeo, I must admit. He signed us up for a Marriage Enrichment Conference in Boston. And two very reliable friends generously agreed to watch the girls. Thanks Netflix and NickJr. Just kiddin’ Mom. Real people are taking care of our kids at this moment. You can put the cuffs away, Officer.
About Romeo. He married me, knowing I was a little off. Little did he realize that all those loopy actions while we were dating were not solely due to his distracting good looks. I had a problem long before he came along.
I don’t know what happened. Everything was going so well. We left for Boston timely, got over the Whitestone Bridge relatively quickly. Even stopped for dinner at the newest Shake Shack in Westport, CT. Sorry Sensei! Promise to squat out my Shack burger Monday morning.
We’re driving along, popping cheese fries, sipping root beer and bopping to the rocky tunes of Family Force Five. Catching up about this and that. Nothing but ha ha and he he in this bouncing road cruising RV of love.
Until…we stopped for gas. My cell phone rang just as we pulled into the gas station. If we were looking for directions at that very moment, like a critical left turn approached seconds down the road, to answer the call would be synonymous with a death sentence. I’ve thrown the roses out with the chocolate plenty of times with that foolish press of the “talk” button. The gas station lay only fifty feet to our left so I figured we were in the safety zone. Hubby could pump gas while I caught up with a friend. Except…
And this was where my mind turned to jello. I can honestly say that I cannot recall exactly how I got from point A to point B. All I knew was that I was gabbing away, having a heart to heart with a good friend when nature came a’callin. Knowing my efficiency-driven husband would want me to hurry, I thought I better run to the potty inside while he’s still filling the tank. I kept talking and made my way into the relatively clean gas station restroom and returned to find hubby no longer holding the pump. It was dark. I assumed he was sitting in the driver’s seat. He surprised me by walking toward me from around the side of the RV.
“Two things,” he said. Uh-oh. I’m in trouble was all I could think.
“One.” He spoke calmly, so I guessed whatever I did wrong could not be that bad.
“If you know you have to go to the bathroom, you shouldn’t wait until I’m only two minutes from done pumping gas. And you can go inside the RV. We do have a bathroom in there.”
Okay, I saw that coming. I had no idea what else I did wrong. But he was smiling. So number two had to be something insignificant. Maybe I forgot to pack something?
“Two…”
“Yes.” I could handle this. Smile. Apologize. We’ll move on. Back to our romance-filled RV of adventure.
“Two. The next time you leave the RV, don’t lock the door without making sure I have the keys in my hand.”
“What?” I moved to the door and pull the handle. Locked.
“How? [Now on my side of the RV…same thing. Locked.] Why? I don’t get it. Why would I lock the door? You’re standing right here. You must have locked the doors. But, the door couldn’t have stayed locked if I came out of it? Right? [Malfunction, perhaps.] This is insane. I mean…Why would I do that?”
Hubby shook his head. “With you…what do I always say? With Rajdeep, anything is possible.”
I’m just glad he was laughing. Well, not exactly laughing. But he wasn’t screaming. I would have been.
“Hmmm. So we’re locked out?”
“Yes. [Hubby walked back to check the RV windows.] That would be what happens when doors get locked with keys on the wrong side.”
“That’s crazy. How? What? I just don’t know why I would have locked the door?”
Understanding the inner workings of my neurons and synapses were just not high priority at this moment. Hubby looked at me without responding.
Bingo! The kitchen window was unlocked! Except that it was so tiny, only our four year old would be able to squeeze through. Darn it. We didn’t have our kids with us. Hmmmm? My mind began churning.
“Do you think it would be wrong to… Excuse me, Ma’am…”
I walked toward a car that just pulled up. I saw the woman opening the rear door. She must have a… “Ma’am. I know this is going to sound crazy, but we just locked our keys in our RV, but we found a small window, and, all that to say, do you think your son would want to crawl in…I know this sounds totally crazy…”
“Joey, do you want to help these people? Crawl through the window? I think you would fit…” Meanwhile, Joey clung to Mom’s neck like I was Swiper or something.
I put on my best Dora smile and tried to bribe him. “I’ll buy you the biggest candy bar in the store. I’ll buy you two. Three! Or a jumbo Slurpee. Whatever you want. IF you’ll just squeeze in so I can get my purse, we can go in the gas station and I’ll buy you whatever you want!”
Head shaking no. Tighter clinging arms. A no-go.
Meanwhile, Santhosh stood on top of a garbage can leaned up against the RV with a broom from the Subway owner, attempting to unlatch the window while sticking his head through the window. His head fit. But the angle was awkward, and after some time, only one of the two emergency window handles unlatched.
A local guy, we’ll call him Red Sox T-shirt Dude, joined us for moral support. “I like to work with cars. [Note, this was an RV.] Is there any way to get in through the roof? [Sure, if we cut a hole…Was he thinking that story from the Bible?] You could always call the cops. [Great! Then they’d know we left our kids with…Almost gotcha that time.]”
I thought out loud. I do everything loudly. But external processing is my gift. Few appreciate it, but every once in awhile… ”If only we had a hanger to extend the broom and add a hook to it so we could…hey, did we check all the windows? Like the one back by the bed? HEY! HEY! IT’S UNLOCKED! We found a way in! This one is definitely large enough for you to get in! Yippy Kay Yay!!”
Hubby jumped down and ran around, attempting to climb in after propping himself off the rear bumper, but the reach was a little far for a Spiderman finish. I pulled the now dented garbage can over to him and he was in and unlocking in no time. When he opened my door [Romeo all day long] from the inside, I said, “Sorry for mak–” Hubby’s lips collided with mine for a brief but grace-filled smooch.
Smiling again, we said our goodbyes to Redsox T-shirt Dude and Generous-Kid-Volunteering Mom and fastened our seat belts.
Smiling again, we said our goodbyes to Redsox T-shirt Dude and Generous-Kid-Volunteering Mom and fastened our seat belts.
We were on the road again, so thankful to God for a second chance. To drive toward an enriched marriage.
GPS tells us…we’re heading in the right direction.
**Ever get yourself in a crazy bind by locking yourself out of your car or your house? Ever been on a date and had the unexpected happen?
Thanks “pcreel3”!! For your enthusiasm for my writing!! I might have left out a few minor details…like the “look of extreme frustration” when he wasn’t able to unlatch the window or the “you’ve got to be kiddin me” head shake whenever I offered suggestions to help … other than that, calm and collected the whole time!! 😉
Oh…btw, Santhosh is a Romeo through and through…but his secret is safe with me…and my readers ;)!!
Loved the fact that you and Doc, stayed so cool, calm and at ease. Must say I do like your style of writing and the gifted way of allowing me “the reader” to actually imagine myself right there along for the ride.
By the way, I had no idea that Santosh, was really the world renown Romeo. Ha-ha, just joking.
Raj Thank you very much
Loved the fact that you and Doc, stayed so cool, calm and at ease. Must say I do like your style of writing and the gifted way of allowing me “the reader” to actually imagine myself right there along for the ride.
By the way, I had no idea that Santosh, was really the world renown Romeo. Ha-ha, just joking.
Raj Thank you very much
Great story! Glad it all worked out. Go Red Sox T-Shirt guy!!
Hope you’re doing well.
Love ya
Kristen
Red sox t-shirt guy like lol I hope you guys had a fun and safe trip god bless 🙂
Ha ha, loved that the easy “kid can crawl in” fix was stymied by him being clingy like you were going to take off with him. Have fun!