When Harry Met Crazy
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All truckers, cooks, and crazy girlfriends 18+
Thanks to Juana Salsa for her nuanced edits and sage advice.
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Bob Seger had it right.
"On a long and lonesome highway east of Omaha
You can listen to the engine rolling out its one note song
You can think about the woman
Or the girl you knew the night before..."
That was me, as I drove my overloaded 18-wheeled rig down State Road 6 in an effort to avoid the scales on Interstate 80. Angela, the restaurant waitress that I'd fucked in the sleeper section of my rig on my last stop in Ely, Nevada 18 hours ago, was long gone. Only the scent of her cheap perfume remained, lingering in my cab. She'd been a friendly plump girl with a sweet face, and one of the best fucks I'd ever had; if I hadn't been so pressed for time, I might have stuck around a bit to get to know her better.
Still a bachelor at 27, I'd been driving rigs around for six years; it had been a profitable but lonely existence. Now it was time to start thinking about the future. Waking up next to someone like Angela every morning might not be such a bad thing.
Memories of parking lot fucking were not what was now foremost in my mind, however. I was bone-tired, and kept 'seeing the black dog' - the term drivers used to describe the phantom shapes that appeared to dart across the road in the beams of truck headlights. It was definitely time to pull over for a rest and a meal before I ended up with the shiny side down and the greasy side up.
A dimly-lit billboard advertised "Lewis, Iowa's own Big Bonanza Bar and Restaurant -- COLD BEER, GREAT FOOD!" three miles ahead, but it was the two words "Truckers WELCOME" that caught my eye. I knew the chances of the food being even halfway decent at some greasy spoon in the middle of nowhere were pretty damned low, but I'd pushed myself to the limit behind the wheel. I
had
to take a break.
I wasn't the only one who had this idea, as there were three other big rigs in the parking lot, along with two highway patrol cars and seven Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Let me tell you, if a place brings in truckers, cops, AND bikers, the food must be damned good! This looked promising.
I went in and found myself a stool at the counter. Without asking, the waitress -- her nametag read 'Jessie' - put a cup of coffee and a glass of water in front of me and drawled, "What'll ya have, honey?"
"You got pork chops?"
"Yup. Comes with green beans, applesauce, and taters. You want fries or mashed?"
"Mashed, please."
"Comin' up."
Twenty minutes later, I finished eating what had been the best pork chop meal I'd ever had. When the waitress came by with my ticket, I gave her the money and said, "I don't mind tellin' you, that was the best pork chop I ever ate! Give my compliments to the chef!"
She smiled, and told me "Yeah, we get that a lot. Harry's pretty damned good in the kitchen." Then she chuckled, "He's got five kids, so I'm guessing he's pretty good in the sack, too, although I wouldn't dare say anything to his wife, Melissa. She's so possessive it scares the living shit out of me! Tell you what, if you think the food was good, you compliment him yourself."
She turned her head and shouted at the pass-through, "Hey Harry, come on out! There's a customer what wants to talk to you!"
Before I could say anything, the door to the kitchen swung open and the cook came out, wearing a stained apron. On TV, diner cooks are usually big burly guys with sour dispositions, but not this guy. He was slim, about 5'6", with light red hair and a thin neatly trimmed growth of beard.
His voice was quiet and tenor-like. "Something I can help you with, bud? You not happy with the pork chop?"
"Oh, no, not at all," I assured him, "I was just telling Jessie here it was the best pork chop I'd ever had."
I guess he was waiting for a complaint. Harry stared at me for a moment, nonplussed, then asked, "You want another?"
"No, I'm plenty full, thanks." Then an idea hit me. "I'll tell you what though, let me buy you a beer before I go to my rig and turn in for the night."
He nodded, seeming to like that idea. Taking off his apron and putting it under the counter, he shouted through the pass-through window, "Hey, Raoul! You got the grill! I'll be in the bar."
A few minutes later we were seated at a table in the bar, Patsy Kline and Hank Williams songs playing on the jukebox in the background.
"So I gotta ask you, where'd you learn to cook?"
"I started out in the Navy as a cook on the USS Kearsarge, a Wasp-class aircraft carrier. When I got out, I came home to Lewis, not sure what I wanted to do. I ended up taking a job as a dishwasher here at the Big Bonanza, and eventually started helping out the cook as well."