The drive from Pittsburgh to home was one of the longest of my life. Normally, I would have enjoyed the scenery, and I had planned my route to go through some beautiful places. I took the Pennsylvania Turnpike east to Bedford, then followed US 220 south towards home. The scenery was spectacular, but my mind was still back in Pittsburgh with the incredible woman I'd just met.
Arriving home just before dark, I tried to get some sleep. The project I was working on was about an hour's drive away, and I had to be there by 7am. But I tossed and turned most of the night. I wound up getting only a couple hours of sleep.
I was employed at the time as a surveyor for the Commonwealth of Virginia, assigned to the highway department. It is good, steady work, unlike most construction related jobs. Any time there are changes to be made to the road system, even something as small as realigning an intersection, I am involved. The civil engineers draft the plans back in the office, and it is up to my crew to lay those plans out in the field. We take field measurements, and plot the exact locations of the changes to be made on site. Usually, we work a month or two ahead of the actual construction, marking the appropriate points with stakes, paint, and various other marking devices, so that when the materials arrive on site the construction crews will know where to start building.
There are a lot of projects to be laid out, enough that we can keep working even in the winter months. Deep snow is the only thing that stops us. Some of the biggest projects involve bridge replacements. First, we arrive on site and lay out the temporary roadway around the construction site. Then once the roadway is moved, and the old bridge is removed, we come back and plot out the locations of the bridge supports and the location of the permanent roadway. Then after the project is complete, we come back and measure everything again, for the permanent engineering drawings that will reside in the engineer's office.
As you may have guessed, each project requires us to measure the area at least twice, often more than that. We can only work during daylight hours, and usually are close enough to home to make the commute to the job site every day. Occasionally, though, a project is large enough or far enough away that they will put us up in a hotel for as long as it takes to do our work. Since my territory covers a large portion of southwestern Virginia, some of our projects can be 4 hours away.
The largest projects I've been involved with have been converting roads to four-lane. Here in Virginia, we do that on the cheap, by building a second two-lane road parallel to the existing road. The new road will be built to much higher standards than the existing road. It will be straighter, and the grades less steep. Upon completion of the project, the new road will be one way, and the old road will be one way the other direction. Later, if money is in the budget, we will come back and realign the original road to the same standards as the one we just built. In the meantime, the existing road will work just fine.
The nice thing about working on the main roads is that usually there are cell phone towers nearby. Phone service can be spotty in the mountains, but not for me. I also live in a small town right off the interstate, which also has good reception.
I spent the week in a daze. I couldn't get Edie out of my head. I didn't want to call her right away, not wanting to seem desperate. But I also knew I had to see her again. I missed her. I found myself watching every young black woman I came across, because they reminded me of her.
Evenings, I spent back in my apartment, playing the banjo or guitar. I had to keep my mind occupied. Besides, my older brother Calvin and I had a gig coming up that weekend. We performed a sort of folk-bluegrass music at local fairs and festivals, as The Carbaughs. Don't ask me how we came up with that name. I honestly don't know, other than I'd gone to college with a kid named Carbaugh. Calvin played guitar, and I switched between banjo and guitar.
The gigs brought in some extra spending money, they were fun, and they also got me laid. The ladies seemed to have a thing for musicians. Calvin was married with 2 children, so I cleaned up for the both of us. I had a couple of friends with benefits, but nobody I was really sweet on. Until now.
It was Thursday before I got up the courage to call her. Edie answered the phone on the third ring, saying, "I don't owe you nothing and I ain't paying you shit!" She honestly seemed surprised to hear from me. "Sorry," she said. "I keep getting harassed by bill collectors. The person who had my number before owes a lot of people money, and they keep calling me. I'm so sick of them! I saw the out of state number pop up and assumed you were another bill collector."
God it was good to hear her voice again. We chatted for a while, talking about nothing and everything. "I didn't think you'd call, being back in Virginia and all," Edie said. "Guys be like, I hit that, now I don't want to be bothered." I assured her that wasn't the case with me, and that next time I was up that way I'd give her a call.
"You don't have to come all the way up here," she replied. "I'd be willing to meet in the middle somewhere. Besides, I always wanted to go to the mountains. Just never had somebody to go with. Don't want to go wandering into a place I don't know by myself. Girl can't be too careful. But I'd love for you to show me around."
I hadn't thought of that. I was elated. Edie wanted to see me again. I kind of figured she would, given what little I knew about her and how she didn't fool around with just anybody. That night, I slept well, with dreams of being in her arms again.
That weekend the gig went well. We were playing locally, so I was able to knock back a few and not worry about driving home. Calvin dropped me off. When I got out of his truck with my guitar and banjo cases, a thin, pretty blonde woman was waiting for me.
"Hi, Donna Jo," I said. She said hi back, then gave me a tight hug. Donna Jo was the closest thing I had to a girlfriend. She was beautiful, anybody would tell you so. She was also looking for a good time, and not worried about commitment. Donna Jo called or came by when she was horny, sometimes spent the night but most often left after we had sex. Best of all, she didn't care what or who I did as long as I was there when she needed me. She was probably sleeping with other people as well. I don't know. I never asked. It just wasn't important to me. It wasn't like I was going to marry her.
"You were awesome at the fair," she gushed. "I saw you play. I always love watching you play. Aren't you going to invite me up?"
