at the array of merchandise. there are some whole countries that dont have this many things for sale. the effect on the highway-hypnotized is that you start grabbing stuff off the shelvs at random. i got a vitamin water, a york peppermint patty [ fullsize ], some offbrand cheesypoofs, a bluetooth headset i thought might work with my phone, a mississipi paperweight that would make a funny souvenir for claire, and a 5-hour energy, maximum strength [ the black one. ]  a value was assigned to the items, i swiped my card, hit the green button, and was on my way.

walkd thru the automatic doors with my thankyou bag full of comodities  [ anthropologists look no further, its here in this bag ]  and when i saw my car, i was overcome.

the geo. had that thing since ninety-six. back when i was still
runnin wild in austin. so many things had changed since then. everything,
it seemd, except the car i drove.

the paintjob faded long ago from gold to desert sand. theres so many dents it looks soft, like hammerd metal. and the way it smells inside, like coffee and old leaves. you have to use your muscles to turn the steering wheel now, the power steering pumps broken.

I crackt open the 5-hourenergy, opend the cheesypoofs, and started driving.

found a resstop outside of Meridian, but by then the 5-hourenergy had taken hold and i was startin to grind my teeth. there was no hope of sleepin now, not in the car anyway, i’d need atleast two drinks but since i dont drink anymore, i’d need a knock on the head, a soft pillow, and some airconditioning.

crossd into alabama around three, just me and the truckers
now. stopt for another 5-hourenergy—might as well at this point—
and kept drivin. it was awsome, i never wanted to stop. who needs
dean moriarty when youve got 5-hourenergy and cheesypoofs?

made georgia by sunrise. then all of a sudden i was comin up on Atlanta [ what a quartermillion confederate soldiers died tryin to prevent, acordinto some dude i cant remember* ]       

the sun was in my eyes, i could barely read the
signs, i just let the city take me into its orbit, I-285, then sling me toward
athens on a highway calld 316 [ as in John, yes ] i didnt realize how
close i was until i saw a sign sayin  Athens  52 .  

holy shit i was gona make athens tonite!
or tomorow, tecnicly. since it already was.

but i needed gas. and there were no gastations.
there wasnt even an exit, just miles and miles of highway.

five miles. ten miles. nothing.

at mile twenty, the geo shuddered, i thought it was gona cutoff but i gave it some gas and it musta found some secret reserve or else it realy was runnin on fumes, cause it kept on goin til i finely saw an exit.

at the end of the exit ramp was a green sign with a red-and-blue zigzag and an arrow pointing left.

i went left.

didnt see a chevron. didnt see anything at all, cept a
buncha pinetrees and a beat-ass country road— cracks and potholes
galore, the shoulder was almost completely crumbled away, weeds
intruded, the forest prest in, it was like driving thru a living tunnel,
or down somethings throat.

dont get too excited, theres no stranded-on-
the-side-a-the-road, almost-kild-by-crazy-redneck stories. somebody
else has those stories i’m sure, but i dont have em. cause eventialy
i did see it, the chevron.

it was an oldschool service station, the kind with one set of pumps and a garage, except theyd converted the garage into a convenience store. the pumps lookd pretty old, i worried they might not work but they did, they even took creditcards.