Travis
As I walk through the gas station parking lot, there’s a gentleman eating some cheetos.
“Good morning…”
“Good morning brother… aye… can you.. can you spare a dollar?”
“Man I got no cash, but.. hmm. Do you want a coffee? I’ll get you a coffee.”
“Honestly man. I’m tryna eat. This woman… I mean she helped me, got me this bag of chips… but I need food.”
“Fair. Lemme see.. I’ll grab you like a sandwich or something. Let’s go in here.”
We walked into the gas station and as we passed the second aisle I realized there wasn’t anything I’d wanna eat in the gas station either…
“Man.. let’s go next door, see if they have any tacos left. Maybe at least a kolache. A taco cool?”
“Man two tacos would be like tight..”
“Aight let’s go.”
We walked over to Flat Track ..
“Aye… ya’ll got any tacos left?”
“Man we’re outta tacos.”
“Fuck.. what about a kolache?”
“Outta everything man. We’re down to pastries.”
“Damn.. Aye man.. What’s your name actually?”
“Travis.”
“Travis you want a croissant?”
“Yeah”
“Aight let me get a croissant.”
“Aye Vinny give him a bogo on those.”
“Ah bet.. thank ya'll”
“For here or to go?”
“Uh..”
I looked around…
“For here. I’d love to sit down and eat.” Travis chimed in.
“Yeah I guess for here.”
I paid and handed Travis the croissants.
“Ima sit outside.”
I walked out with Travis and he took a seat down at the benches in front of the shop.
“Hey Travis.. are you good or do you want some company?”
“Man if you’d sit with me I’d enjoy that.”
I took a seat across from Travis. He broke a piece of the croissant off into his hand, bowed his head and began to pray.
“Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for these blessings that you and… what’s your name?”
“Bakkar.”
Realizing he was praying I bowed my head as well while he finished his prayer.
“Amen.”
“Amen.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem really. Have you been out in this rain the whole time?”
“Yeah.. Homeless. But Ima be alright. I got an appointment in.. I got an appointment at 1:45 and I should be able to get right after that. Man you really don’t have any cash though?”
“No.. silly of me not to.. but..”
“Can you hit an ATM or something. I just need like $15 $20 so I can get some food man.”
“Man if it were a different time, I’d get you but.. I got kids to feed too man.”
“Ah oh nah that’s fine .. I understand. Feed those kids.”
“You from Austin?”
“Houston.”
“Cool. I’m going to Houston in a couple weeks to help some family out. Great city.”
“It really is… what time is it?”
“11:30”
“I got this appointment today.. Ima get back right after it.. I was .. I was a truck driver, got in a bad accident. That’s how I ended up homeless. But once I get this surgery.. get myself back good, I can start driving again.”
“Ah truck driver.. I’m tryna get my CDL. My grandad.. well my whole family really. Everyone drove trucks. Kinda seems like a rite of passage at this point.”
“Go’n do that. I was making ten grand a week. Ima get back to it.”
“Over the road?”
“Yeah… but you know.. with them kids. It gets hard being away from the family. The money nice but the family time is … unbeatable.”
“You got kids?”
“10.”
“Damn Travis, 10 kids??”
“Mhmm.. I’m 46. My oldest… 33. Six daughters. Four boys.”
“Wow. Six daughters.. That’s…”
“Mhmmm. You know the daughters are the hardest. Get to the point where you gotta watch them… gotta try to explain to them as a man, the ways of men, how men will just want to… conquer them.. not love them how they need to be loved. It’s hard to do.. and then to have to keep going through and going through it.. hard to deal with when you out on the road. Worrying about them.”
“Yeah.. I’m in no rush .. no rush for them to get there.”
“You got daughters?”
“Three daughters.”
“Any boys?”
“No.”
“Man. You at a good point, go’n get yourself snipped. Have her get her tubes tied something. I’d probably be aight with just boys but them girls… wear you down.”
We both laughed..
“Man.. as long as you show them they’re loved, and your lady knows she is loved. You’ll be aight. That’s hard to do on the road, but if that’s what you wanna do. That’s what you wanna do. You’ll start getting those turn arounds though… And see what the cost of it all is.”
“I’ve considered that. Sat with it a bit… If I can… I got some other opportunities I think, and if the money can come. I’ll at least have gone through the… you know like the rite of passage, run a local line or something. But if I gotta go on the road. I’ll make it work.”
“You gon want that experience though either way…”
“I know… What was your favorite route to run?”
“Man.. Going out to California… nothing came close. Looking forward to getting back that way. Seeing the geography change. The Country so beautiful.”
“I was just.. I just drove to Los Angeles from here.. Furthest west I’d ever driven and I was talking to someone about this the other day… They brought up how the sky is so big and how you always hear ‘yeah yeah, the sky is big’ but it’s not til you actually make it over there and see for yourself that the sky really is just so big in a way you can’t even comprehend or explain.”
“It’s beautiful isn’t it. The sky really is just that big. Like it can swallow everything within it.”
“Exactly! You feel so small but.. it’s comforting in a way. I’d never experienced such a thing. I grew up in New York.”
“Big apple?”
“Long Island.”
“Ah y’all got it all up there…”
“Eh. I like it better here. Think I enjoy the people more.”
“Yeah… lotta hustle and bustle up there. Rushing for the money.”
“Yeah. It gets old. Don’t get me wrong.. I want money. Need money just like the next person but… maybe there’s more to this.”
“I’ve seen it all too many times. Start getting that money and it’s the only thing people focus on… Forget about their family. Treating people differently... Start focusing on just money, money and things… things that don’t matter…”
“Yeah…”
“Watched my brother.. started getting money.. was like that wasn’t enough.. now … the crack he can’t … eh… “
“Hmm.”
“It’s best to be in service to people. Treat em right. Ain’t nothing more manly than that.”
“I think that’s what god asks of all of us… We’re all.. one in the same at the end of the day.”
“You got it. You ever get to travel?”
“Well yeah.. I lived in Japan for two years… Got to see a lot of southeast asia.”
“Ahhh man I couldn’t even imagine.. how was that?”
“Well you know.. I try to sum it up like this when people ask.. They definitely have better infrastructure… but humans… are humans everywhere you go.
Now.. they are a country that consists of a population that shares mostly the same background. They’re more cohesive.
The culture shock is really in coming back to America… but you realize… like America is just a bunch of different cultures tryna get on the same page.. Little more friction but still. Humans are humans. Culture changes but… there’s still… a single thing beneath it. You ever travel?”
“I never been outside the country but.. I wanna go to Africa. They’re always saying it’s like this… it’s like that… I just wanna see for myself.”
“Exactly.. until we go.. we’re just stuck with the perception that other people are providing for us… it’s unfair to everyone..”
“Stereotyping.. what time is it?”
“12:06..”
“Alright… 1:45 my appointment. I get to this… I get my surgery scheduled then I can get back in and outta the truck, get back in a home.. get myself back right.”
“Gotta carry out the plan.. feeling the same way in my life right now. Travis. I gotta get back. Thank you and I wish you the best.”
“God bless you. God bless your family. Love them. Keep em close.”
“Thank you Travis. God bless you too.”
Throughout this entire exchange.. Travis would pause and bless every single person that walked by to enter Flat Track.
Sincerely.