I Lost Myself in Mexico - Day 02

Whether because of the alcohol or marijuana or both, I don't think I dreamt on that first night in Mexico. Rather, I found myself in that stage of sleep where you can't be sure whether you're awake or dreaming.

There was the hum of an engine lulling me back to sleep with the help of gentle bumps in the road anytime my eyes had the nerve to open; there was light, but that further urged my eyelids to shut again.

Was it a road trip with Sarah? I remember when we drove to Yellowstone, the way her mouth fell open, drool hanging from her bottom lip as she slept in the passenger seat. We would take pictures of each other with an old polaroid camera whenever one of us dozed off on the long, sleepy roads, fighting playfully over the photographs until we had to stop the car to make love in the backseat.

Her amber hair waved in the wind. The sun glanced off of her golden skin. She put her feet on the dash, toes wiggling, my eyes drawn to her long legs that ended in a pair of denim shorts.

She was so free.

She--

My body lifted into the air, crashing back down in a heap of blankets over a massive bean bag chair. Hurling off the blanket that was covering my face, I let the morning--or was it afternoon?--sun say hello to my hangover. My eyes protested, sending an urgent message to my head that read,

Pound on his fucking temples!

The rays of light poured in through the thin curtains drawn over the windows in the rear of the bus's interior.

The bus. I was still on the bus, and it was moving.

Valeria was nowhere to be found as I scanned the snoozing bodies scattered around the various couches and mattresses. A few of the snorers were completely enveloped in blankets, making them look more like corpses at first glance, and I didn't dare move the covers to identify the bodies.

Where was she? Where the hell was I?

Smoke drifted lazily through the cabin from the front, and my nose immediately identified it as Alejandro's weed. I stood, ready to get some answers, and immediately regretted it. My stomach swirled and screamed at me to sit back down and shut up before it evacuated whatever greasy food was inside of me.

Hell, how much had I drunk the night before?

I pushed through the nausea, stumbling down the aisle until I plopped into the seat just behind Alejandro. He seemed to be perpetually driving this bus with a roach in his mouth. For some reason, I had an insane desire to smoke his joint. That and chug all the water available to me.

"Alejandro," I muttered, my voice hoarse. "

Water.

Do you have water?"

"Ayy, Ricardo," Alejandro greeted me sleepily, making my stomach lurch as he took his eyes off the road to glance back at me. "Here you go, bro."

He tossed back a half-empty bottle; I emptied its contents down my throat.

"I finished it," I croaked, burping loudly. "I'm sorry."

"No problem, there's more in the back where you were sleeping."

Ah, of course.

I rested my head against the window, shutting my eyes and taking deep breaths, desperate to not have to ask him to pull the bus over so I could vomit.

The young man must have been watching me in the wide mirror above him, because suddenly the joint was in front of my face, a thin trail of smoke climbing until it disappeared, his scrawny arm stretched back behind his seat.

"Smoke it, amigo," he said. "Just a little hit. It will help."

Doctor's orders, I guess.

I carefully pinched the joint from his fingers, taking a little puff and holding the smoke in my lungs. If I coughed, I was sure I would puke. But the smoke came out smooth in a deep exhale, and slowly my stomach began to settle and the pounding in my skull became a gentle tapping.

"Gracias," I said, passing it back to him, stunned by how much better I was already feeling. "Where is she?"

"Who?"

"The girl."

He raised an eyebrow at me in the mirror.

"The girl! Valeria... Val!"

"Just wanted to see if you remembered her name. She's up top," he said with a smile. "She gets up early."

"What time is it?"

Alejandro leaned forward, looking up at the sky as the bus drifted in the road slightly. "Almost ten, I think. We're nearly to Puerto Penasco."

The sea was visible out of the windshield to our right.

"Right. OK." I tried to stay calm. "Is this like a day trip? How far are we from Ensenada?"

"Ensenada?" Alejandro laughed. "We're not even Baja anymore, bro. We're in Sonora, not the peninsula. I've been driving since before the sunrise."

Suddenly, I didn't feel so good again.

"Alejandro," I said, my lower lip quivering. "What the fuck!?"

"Rich!" Junior's voice made me yelp and jump out of my seat, eliciting laughs from some of the bodies that were now semi-awake. "How'd you sleep, bud?"

Junior was laying on the couch to my right, a thick blanket was thrown over his body. He gently slipped out from under the covers and got up for a stretch, perfectly fine with or completely unaware of the fact that we had driven into mainland Mexico while we slept.

"How did I sleep?" I scoffed, throwing my hands up. "Why the hell are we still on the bus? What happened?! I had a reservation to tour a winery today!"

"You want wine?" Alejandro chimed in. "I think there's some in the back."

Goddammit, Alejandro. Did you always have to be so cool?

"Oh, Rich," Junior said, laughing as he slid into the seat and cramped me against the window. "You didn't seem to care too much about your itinerary last night. Joining these fine folks on this bus was your idea. Ooh, Alejandro. Can I get a rip off that?"

"This is all wrong." I was in a panic now, frantically rubbing the wedding band on my finger. "I slept with her, Junior..."

"Oh, I know," he said nonchalantly as he blew out some smoke. "Good for you, man. Valeria's incredible."

"No! I mean... Yes, she's incredible." The words were spewing out of me. "But Sarah... I cheated. What am I going to do? What am I--"

The blanket Junior had been using stirred, and a pair of delicate feet poked out of the end. A girl's face appeared at that the top. "Buenos dias, Junior," she said, her accent thick and cozy.

Junior returned the salutation, handing the joint back to Alejandro and sliding under the covers with the young girl.

I sat upright in my seat, wide-eyed and my mouth agape.

My friend laughed, his hands mingling with her curves under the blanket. "Look, Rich. Vanessa and I are a bit more open with our sexuality than most couples. And Rosa here." He kissed the girl on the cheek. "She's happy to have some fun with me while I'm in her country and then send me on my way."

Rosa winked at me, and I tried to keep the blood in my head from rushing to my rod.

"Sarah and I don't have that type of agreement, Junior." I stood up to pace the bus, thinking better of it and taking my seat again when we hit a large bump. "We're not new-age hippy adventurers, dammit.

We're boring!

And now apparently I'm unfaithful!"

Junior smiled, and I think it had more to do with what Rosa's hands were doing under the covers. "How do you know she's not doing the same thing?"

"What?" I snapped, cocking my head at him and trying to ignore their toes curling together.

"Sarah told you to take off for two weeks," he said, shrugging his face at me. "How do you know she's not with some hot young guy right now?"

The thought made my heart run on overdrive; it flipped my stomach over and over until I had no choice but to grab Alejandro's joint and take another puff.

How could she?

She would never...

I'll fucking divorce her if she has!

"Would it really be so bad?" Junior's calm voice put my rage on ice for a moment. "You said you were unhappy, and I imagine she is too. Maybe this is what you both need, Rich. To see what else is out there. Right now, I know that Vanessa is back home having just as good a time as I am, and that makes me happy. And when I get home, I'll tell her all about beautiful Rosa, and she'll tell me about the man--or men--that she blessed with her wonderful body. And then we'll fuck each other's brains out."

Typical Junior. He just blew in the fucking wind his entire life and things always worked out for him. Hell, I'm sure he had no second thoughts about hopping on this bus with me going God knows where--it probably made his night. But maybe he had some idea of what he was talking about, and what right did I have to be furious at Sarah for hypothetically cheating after what I'd done?

"Heeey, Ricardo," Alejandro droned from the driver's seat. I'd forgotten that he was even there. "You think you could grab me another water from the back? You drank all mine, remember?"

I sighed, pulling myself out of the seat and steadying my legs in the aisle. "Don't you ever sleep, Alejandro?"

"Yup. It's almost my bedtime."

As I made my way to the rear of the bus, I took stock of the riders who were now mostly awake. Two of Junior's friends, Oliver and Dante, held out their fists as I passed--I pounded them awkwardly, one of them a bit too hard as the bus lurched and I jumped forward. I assumed we left the other four men in Ensenada.

There was a massive cooler built into the rear right-side of the bus, and I reached in for a bottle of water, taking a moment to rub an ice cube over my head. The marijuana was starting to make my stomach growl.

I grabbed two waters and tossed them down to Junior, nearly smacking Rosa in the head with one and apologizing profusely as I climbed the stairs of the bus.

There was no plan for when I found Valeria, I just knew that I needed to see her again. Images of her naked body were some of the only things I remembered from the night before, and they were really all I cared to recall.

She was sitting near the front at the top of the bus, her hair pulled back in a ponytail like a sail doused from the wind. Only two other people were up top, the gentlemen who shared so many beers with Junior and me on the ride to the beach. They were sat near the stairs, sipping beers like morning coffee.

I gave them a feeble nod as I stumbled towards the front, happy to find Valeria offering me her bright smile as I slid into the seat with her. She was wearing a pair of tight denim shorts, a white spaghetti strap top, and no shoes. Her foot brushed against my leg as she leaned her back against the railing, and I cringed at her touch.

"Valeria, I'm married," I blurted out, sighing deeply.

She was silent for a moment before bursting into playful laughter. "Obviously, Richard."

"What? I told you?" I had no recollection of being so honest with her.

"No," she said, grabbing my hand and holding it up to my face. "You're wearing a wedding ring."

"Ah," I said, feeling incredibly stupid, "that's very perceptive of you."

She let go of my hand and threw her arms over the railing. "Looks like that college degree is already starting to pay off."

She's old enough to have graduated college, thank hell.

"So, you're an American?" I asked cautiously, hoping she hadn't already answered that question during my drunken haze.

One of her hands floated through the air, diving and cutting as the lift of the wind elevated her palm. "I'm American. I'm Mexican. I've got one foot on either side of the border and no intent on pledging allegiance to either."

"Do you have family in Mexico?"

"What Mexican doesn't?" She said jokingly. "You didn't have so many questions last night."

"Ya, well, I was not myself," I said, staring at her chest as her shirt fluttered in the wind. "I don't usually drink. And I NEVER smoke."

Valeria smiled, setting her feet down in my lap. "You should more often, Richard."

Hell. Having her soles rub against my crotch was waking me up better than the weed, water, or any coffee I've ever had. I wanted to rub her perfect feet, but I resisted.

"So, what did you get your degree in?" I felt almost creepy, like an uncle talking to his newly grad niece while staring down her shirt.

"Physics." She said, nonchalantly.

"Truly?"

She nodded, watching my eyes dart to different points of exposed skin.

"And what do you do now?"

Valeria simply extended her arms out to the world around her as if to say,

I do whatever the fuck I want.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Doesn't everybody your age have student loans to pay off?"

"Not me," she said, her tone becoming more serious. "My schooling was paid for."

I raised an eyebrow at her, and she continued after much hesitation.

"My dad... He was a Marine." Her head dipped and for the first time since I met her, it looked like she was hiding something from the world. "He died in Afghanistan..."

"I'm sorry," I said, wondering if he had been much older than me when he passed.

"Not your fault... Anyways, they cut you a big check when your family gets killed in the service--as if that will make up for it--and a lot of it went to my college fund."

Maybe that's why she felt conflicted about pledging allegiance to any country.

Her lips moved like there was more she wanted to say, and I think she could tell that my eyes were searching her for the unspoken words.

"I'm not proud of those wars, but I'm proud of my dad, you know? He loved America, the opportunity it provided for his family, and he always did what he believed was the right thing to do. His friends who made it back, they always have great stories to tell about my dad--about the type of man he was."

Her voice quivered a bit on the final words, and I decided to get us off the tough subject. "You're a first-generation student, then?"

Valeria laughed, nodding at me. Her eyes glanced down to my twitchy hands. "You can touch me if you like, Richard."

My eyes went wide, and I felt the bulge in my pants push up on her heels. After a deep breath, I let my hands slide up and down her shins, lingering at her feet and rubbing them gently. Valeria sunk deeper into the seat, softly biting her lower lip as she watched my hands work.

"What do you see in me, Valeria? You're... You make me feel like a kid again experiencing everything for the first time." I'm sure I sounded cheesy, but the weed was making me feel poetic. "When I look at you, all I feel is joy. Why even give an old guy like me the time of day?"

My heart stopped as she pulled her legs down and slid in close. One of her hands fell onto my crotch, fingering my erection as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"Last night? I just saw a hot older guy that I wanted to fuck," she said bluntly, making my member surge with anticipation. "Today? I don't know. Most guys, especially married ones, would have taken what they got last night with no strings attached and been on their way. They wouldn't still be on this bus. They wouldn't be asking me about my life, and I definitely wouldn't be spilling my guts to them about my dad."

The zipper of my pants moaned as her fingers hoisted my member out, and soon my mast was bending in the breeze.

"You're peculiar, Richard. Why not see where this road leads us?"

"But..." I huffed as she ran her hand down my shaft. "I'm married, Valeria."

"Are you happy in your marriage?" She asked, sliding down in the seat until her head was in my lap. Her heavy breaths made my cock tingle and twitch as she teased me with her lips.

She'd been so honest with me about her father that I felt obliged to be the same. "No... I'm not happy."

Her tongue graced the very tip of my erection, swirling around and spreading the precum. "Then, for now, why not be happy with me?"

She dove onto me, making me throw my arm over the seat and clench the railing tightly.

"Oh, hell," I moaned, moving her ponytail out of her way with my other hand.

Her mouth came down in a slow, passionate rhythm, taking the bumps in the road to the back of her throat. My head rolled around, reeling in the beauty of her body and the coastline as my vixen coaxed the life out of me. That's when I noticed the two men at the rear, smiling at me and lifting their beer bottles in salute.

"Uhh..." I mumbled, suddenly feeling very strange but not wanting her to stop. "Valeria, they're watching us?"

She took her lips off my cock for a moment, leaning over the seat until her head was in the aisle.

"Oh, ya?" she said. "Let them watch."

Valeria hopped over me and got on her knees in the aisle, yanking her shirt over her head and pulling one of my legs out so she could put me back in her mouth. Having the two men watch her only seemed to fuel her fire, and she worked me over with her tongue until I was gasping for air.

I kept my eyes on her slender, glistening back, watching her ponytail bob as she sucked and jerked me into her mouth. When I came, she swallowed every drop, and our audience gave her a round of applause. She jumped into my lap, straddling me as she kissed me deeply. I could taste the salt of my cum on her lips, something I'd always avoided with Sarah but now fully accepted with this wild young woman.

"Are you happy?" she asked, sliding her shorts off.

"Yes," I said, in awe of her beauty and power. "You make me happy, Valeria."

She laid back in the seat, spreading her legs and presenting her blooming flower to me.

"Then make me happy, Richard."

I ate her for breakfast atop that bus with those men watching, and I don't think I've ever had a better meal in my life.