TWO

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER PROVISIONING IN ST. LOUIS, the man traveled overnight by bus to Rapid City, South Dakota, via Omaha and Sioux Falls, arriving after dark next day. On Main Street, six blocks from the Jefferson Bus Depot, he stayed at a budget family motel. In Rapid City—known as Gateway to Mount Rushmore and with attractions such as Bear Country USA, Black Hills Maze, and Reptile Gardens—budget motels are aplenty.

Over continental breakfast the following morning the man bonded with a twelve-year-old Yankees fan from Queens on a four-week road-trip west with his family. No surprise; the man wore a Yankees ball cap and a Yankees tee, himself. The boy was knowledgeable about the Yankees and baseball in general. The man said so.

After ten minutes talking non-stop, the boy’s mother intervened. She smiled and said to the man, “Sorry. Once he starts…” She shrugged her shoulders in a What can you do? gesture.

Sipping the last of his coffee from a Styrofoam cup, the man said, “All-righty, then. I should go fetch the Missus. Mount Rushmore awaits.”

“Fog is heavy on the mountain,” the boy said, referring to the early-morning mist typical to the mountaintop in May.

“S’pose I should say Mrs. Johannsen awaits,” the man said.

With a lopsided grin at the boy, the man exited the breakfast room.