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John was REALLY down on his luck. First, he got laid off. Then his girlfriend left him and took off with the car. Finally, he couldn't even get his last pay check because the landlord put a lien on it for back rent. His vision of a new life in Detroit after his divorce was shattered all over the floor. Only thing left was to go home to Tucson, with his family, and try to regroup.
He had a couple of hundred bucks he had squirreled away, but didn't want to spend it all on a bus ticket, so he decided to hitch. That's why, now, 8 AM, he's on an I-75 entrance ramp with a loaded backpack and his thumb in the air. He's been there since 6.
A big SUV, an old Expedition, comes lumbering up the ramp, looking like its dragging its tail. He almost doesn't bother with the thumb, but, what the hell. To his amazement, it slows, and stops just beyond him. When he runs up and opens the door, a loud female voice says, "Where you goin' to, Pilgrim?"
"Tucson," he replies, "but any place in that direction is good enough for a start."
"Might be your lucky day," the smiling round face behind the voice says. "See if you can stow your pack back there, and jump in."
When he opens the back door, he almost gives up. All manor of stuff is piled behind the front seat, and in the rear compartment. Hardly and inch of space. But he's desperate, and gives a hard shove. Something moves, and the pack is barely through the door. He slams it quickly, and climbs in the front.
As the laboring SUV slowly takes off, he glances over to see who his benefactor is. Wow, not bad, really! A pleasant looking woman with a dark tan, an extra pound or two maybe, and a few years older than him. But really, not bad at all.
"HI!" he says with a grin, "I'm John."
"Just call me Peach," she says, "everyone else does. Time will tell how far we make it together, but I'm headed for Phoenix, so I might be able to get you pretty close!"
John figures, "This could be the answer to that prayer I said in the bar last night."
"That sounds great!" he replies. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help out."
"Just some conversation to keep me awake, and a few bucks for gas if you got it, don't worry about it if you don't."
"Where you from, and what are you heading to Phoenix for, Peach?"
"Right now, I'm from Detroit, originally from Georgia, place you never heard of. I just cut loose that lying bastard of a husband I had, and I'm heading for my sister's for a while. Never been to Phoenix, but if it's hot, like Georgia, I'm used to it."
"You might actually like it there, probably hotter than Georgia, but a lot drier."
"Doesn't matter," says Peach, "only option I got right now. So what's your story?"
"Kinda the same as yours, really. Had a really bad marriage when I lived in Tucson, so I finally ended that, and headed for Detroit to look for work. It was ok for a couple of years, but then the auto industry took a dive and I got laid off." He goes on to recount the rest of his various woes.
"Damn, honey," Peach says, "sounds like we'd make a good pair, the disastrous duo!" They both have a good laugh at that, and settle in for the long ride.
As the day goes on and the painful miles crawl by, they fill each other in on various pieces of their lives. Peach had a husband who went to the bar, then with a different woman every night. He told her about the job he never really had, while secretly withdrawing their savings - her money - and pretending he earned it.
John had a good marriage for a while, or so he thought. But his wife was always after more money. And finally, she figured out the easy way to get it was to do a little whoring, while he worked the second shift. That finally came out in bits and pieces. At least it made the divorce easy to get.
John and Peach really hit it off pretty well, similar problems, both with a sense of humor, a little on the corny side, and both anxious to make the trip go by as painlessly as possible. They listen to the radio and sing a few songs together, deciding not to try out for American Idol, and play some road games, looking for various state plates, etc.
But by around 8 PM entering Oklahoma, they have both hit the wall. John can't stay awake, and Peach can't either, without him.
"Tell you what honey," Peach finally says, "we got on pretty good today. If you want to, we can find a cheap motel with 2-bed rooms and split the cost, if you promise to be a good boy."
John is so groggy, that sounds great to him, and they quickly agree. They find a place for 30 dollars with two queen beds, and each puts up 15 dollars, cash. They select their beds, and decide to roll right into them, way too tired to do anything else.
Peach says, "I'm gonna turn off the lights and strip to my undies and crawl in bed, you do as you like. But If I so much as suspect you took a peek at this luscious body, I'll scratch your eyes out while you're asleep."
"No problem," John replies, and soon as the light is out, the room is filled with snores.
Around 2 AM, John wakes up for a bathroom break, and decides, while he's in there, maybe a shower is a good idea. But once he gets out he realizes, his clean underwear is locked in Peach's car. He decides to sleep naked, and get it in the morning, when he can run out with just his pants on. He goes back to the bed in a towel.
Of course, the shower and the toilet, etc., has wakened Peach. "What the hell you doin' honey, making all that racket?"
"Sorry, Peaches, I just needed to get up anyhow, so I took a shower.
"Hmmmmmmmm, well I gotta get up too. Peaches sounds nice, by the way. Maybe I'll do the same." And she does.
And then, she realizes, her stuff is in the car. It's going to take too much trouble to wrap two towels around herself, so she tiptoes back to bed, naked, and crawls in again.
The trouble is, now they are both wide awake.
"Honey, how the hell did you get your clean clothes?"
"I didn't. I used a towel; I'll get the stuff in the morning."
Peach giggles, "One towel wasn't big enough for me, I snuck back naked, right by you!"
"Damn, woman, what if you had got the wrong bed?" John teases her.
"Guess it wasn't your lucky day," Peach snorts back.
