Chapter 14
The sun was coming up over the prairie somewhere, wherever they were. Gennie had trouble sleeping and decided to watch the sun come up hoping that would help her rest. She silently slid back the curtain that was the door to her room and crept past the bunks of sleeping musicians. She pushed aside another curtain separating them from the main cabin and tiptoed through to say good morning to Bill, the driver.
“Hey, it’s early, you should still be asleep. You’ve got a big day ahead of you,” he said as he noticed her sneaking through.
She crouched down by his seat. “I can’t sleep. It’s cozy and all, but I just keep waking up.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“I hope so.” She yawned. “Where are we?”
“We’re outside Des Moines. We should be in Minneapolis by lunch.“
“I don’t know how you do this- driving all night.” She shook her head and yawned again. “I see there’s a coffee maker back here. Would you like me to make you some?”
“Nooo.” He shook his head and held up a Styrofoam coffee cup as if to toast her; it was still steaming. “Just stopped a little ways back. That’s probably when you woke up. Just go on back and sit down. Try counting the rows of corn….that’ll put you to sleep for sure.”
She patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks, Bill. I’ll hafta try that,” and turned to walk away.
She curled up on the couch with a big blanket someone had left out last night. The air-conditioned bus was a tad chilly this early in the morning. She stared out the window, but instead of being bored by the cornfields, she found them comforting. They reminded her of her childhood growing up in Illinois. The grain silos were like beacons, lighthouses on the prairie. A farm was where life went on with little regard to the people on this, or any tour bus. It made what everyone here did seem trivial. Rock stars aren’t real. Farmers, Families, the teachers and cultivators of our nation- these were the people that really mattered. That was real life, on the other side of the glass, not the crazy fantasy she was living at the moment.
She sat pondering this and admiring the colors of dawn- a fresh start to another breathtaking day. Somehow, waking at her regular time and hurrying off to work or even just being lazy at home, she never took the time to appreciate and truly take pleasure in the beauty of a sunrise. She was grateful that she was afforded this opportunity, not just to savor the dawn of a beautiful day, but the whole experience she was having. She felt it must have all happened for a reason, if only to make her aware of how lucky she was in so many ways. Her life was good, she needed to be reminded of that now and then, and she needed to think about what was really important. Thoughts ran to every facet of her being- friends, family, job. She was lost in a trance as the rows of corn and wheat flickered past. She wasn’t even aware of another presence on the couch until he spoke. She sprung suddenly from her daze.
“What are you doing up? You couldn’t sleep?” It was John. He had a gravelly morning voice and a bad case of bed head as he sat beside Gennie on the couch.
“I didn’t wake you did I? I really tried to be quiet.”
“No, you didn’t wake me; I’m a light sleeper. I woke up when we stopped back there and couldn’t fall back asleep. What are you doing sitting here?”
“Just watching the sun rise and thinking really deep thoughts about life.” She sighed with a smile. “This is a great place to sit and just watch life go by. I feel really insignificant and yet connected to everything all at the same time. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?”
John shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, it’s ironic. But it’s life, y’know.” He set his gaze on the endless miles of farmland outside the window. “It‘s sorta hypnotic. I can see why you’re transfixed.”
She nodded silently, her eyes not moving from the whir of vegetation before her eyes; it was as if the corn stalks were conspiring to hypnotize her. “You’re Catholic, right?”
“Yeah,” he replied, not knowing what it had to do with anything.
“Well, me too. Y’know, I always wondered how those old ladies could sit in church and pray the rosary all day. It’s because it’s hypnotic. It’s like this,” she said pressing her palm to the window. “They’d get all monotone and sort of go into a trance, just like I’m on the verge of right now…watching corn.” She realized the peculiarity of her statement. “It’s oddly soothing. Kind of spiritual in its own way. Do you ever feel that?” She felt especially contemplative as she turned her head to look into his eyes. In the mood she was in she thought maybe she could see through to his soul, but sadly, couldn’t.
His eyes met hers, “I’ve never thought of corn that way. But sure,” he shrugged, “it can be spiritual. Anything can. It’s all divine creation, right?”
“I believe it is.”
He looked around the space to alleviate some of the seriousness of their conversation. “What makes you so Zen today? It can’t really be all this corn,” he said with a slight chuckle.
She realized it had gotten a little transcendental. “I grew up in Illinois,” she said almost apologetically. “This feels like home to me. Just a little nostalgic, I guess.”
“You grew up on a farm?” He wasn’t sure if he should be shocked or relieved. He was leaning more towards shock.
“Oh, no. But I did live in a small town outside of St Louis. I saw a lot of this.” She waived her fingertips past the window.
“That’s cool. We have a day off in St Louis, you know. You gonna do anything special?” This was great. He was having an actual conversation with a person who was treating him like he was just anybody. There was none of the awkwardness they dealt with last night.
“That’s kinda up to you, isn’t it? This isn’t my bus. You aren’t following me.”
“No, but you can have some free time. Fuck what MTV says. You should see your family, or something. It’s gonna be a completely free day too. We were supposed to do a show at University of Missouri, but the schedule didn’t work, so we have a day with no plans. A whole day free. You should be able to do what you want.” He watched her as a shiver rolled down her spine. “You look cold. I’ll make you some hot chocolate. Ya want some?”
“Sure!” She was surprised how his whole demeanor had changed from last night. He was a really nice guy.
“It’s nothing special; just from a packet. But it’s good,” he said with a smile. He fixed two mugs of cocoa and handed one to her. He set his down and picked up the blanket that was covering her legs. She was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chin, but her bare shoulders were exposed. No wonder she was cold. He adjusted the blanket to cover her from the draft. Sitting back down with his cocoa they now faced each other. “Look, I’m really sorry about being such a jerk last night. After you went to bed, Robby told me about your conversation.”
“Hey, it’s no problem. You’re not a jerk,” she said as she took a drink. “I know what you were doing. You had a unique way of going about it, but it still made sense. It was kinda funny, actually.”
“Then we’re cool?” he asked. He let out a tremendous yawn. “I’m still pretty tired. I should try to get some more sleep. You probably should too. It’s gonna be a long day.”
“What’s our agenda?” She asked taking a huge gulp of her hot chocolate.
“I’m not sure, exactly. But I know we’re busy. We’ve got radio stuff to do, I know that. There’s some promo thing this afternoon. Lots of pictures and shit.” He ran his fingers over his tousled hair, not that it improved its appearance any. “We are planning to go out tonight though. We know a guy who has a club in uptown and he can keep it from gettin’ too crazy. Ya gotta have fun. And, you’ll get to sleep in a real bed tonight too, so that’s good.” He downed the last swallow from his mug and took Gennie’s now empty mug from her hands to put it in the sink. Gennie pulled the blanket closer to her, cocooning herself in its warmth. “Hey,” John called out as he walked past the table and picked up her camera; apparently, someone had been using it after she went to bed. “Aren’t you supposed to be using this thing?” He fiddled with it for a moment before he turned the lens on Gennie, still sitting snuggled on the couch.
“Oh shit, dude!” she exclaimed as she tried to hide herself from view. “What the hell are you doing? This ain’t about me!”
John decided to have some fun teasing her. He came in close for the tight shot. “We picked up this hitchhiker last night and she’s still here. The good part is so are we….hey, wait, where are Mike and Robby?” he said, concocting a horrifying narrative.
“Wiseass,” she sneered. Realizing that he would show her no mercy if she played hard to get, she threw off the blanket. “Ok, ya little shit,” she howled through her laughter, “Here’s my impression of Johnny Rzeznik.” She shot him a double fisted bird with her eyes half closed. “‘I am so damn hot the women are fuckin’ fallin’ all over me’” As he was laughing, she lunged toward him and tore the camera from his hand. The tables were turned. “Alright, baby, here’s what the boy really looks like in the morning. Ain’t so pretty now, is he?”
He was doubled up on the couch holding his stomach, laughing. “Fuck you,” he said laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face. “Alright, we’re even. Put it away. I’ve got an image to consider here. Once they see that the women’ll be gone,” he cried in mock despair. “Then I’ll have to take up heroin addiction as my self-indulgent hobby.”
Gennie laughed hysterically. She was having so much fun she hated the thought that this week could ever end. She turned off the camera down and sat at the table. Both trying to catch their breath from laughing so hard, they looked at each other sitting there for an intense moment. She found herself startled to be staring into the most vibrant pair of blue eyes she’d ever seen. My God, they were beautiful. She’d heard people talking about his eyes, how they were so gorgeous and…blue, but she hadn’t noticed it herself until now. Perhaps it was that he was still sleepy, could be the trace of laughter still in his eyes, maybe it was just that he wasn’t wearing his contacts, but whatever it was she found it far more captivating than the sunrise over the fields. As the light improved, she realized that she was looking at something almost godly; not him exactly, at least not what was on the surface, but what was inside him. Could it be that she was mistaken earlier? The phrase ‘the eyes are the windows to a person’s soul’ now seemed almost applicable.
The powerful moment was shattered by a shout. “Get a room!” A voice called out from the back of the bus. It was Mike and he had embarrassed the hell out of them. “Some of us are trying to sleep back here!” They exchanged awkward looks and started giggling. “Sorry,” John apologized. “He can’t help it, he’s an ass.”
Blushing, Gennie said, “I’m going back to bed. See ya later.“
“Yeah, later.” John waived her off. And she escaped to her room, pausing to reach behind Mike’s curtain to thunk him on the head.
He was going to have to think of a way to pay Mike back for this very uncomfortable moment. Pulling a cigarette from the pack on the table and lighting up, he took the seat Gennie had occupied only moments earlier when she’d been looking out the window. She had looked so peaceful and obviously been deep in thought when he’d interrupted her. He was happy that she didn’t think he was a jerk. He didn’t want to make the wrong impression. He wasn’t quite sure what he thought of her. She was far more interesting than he’d ever imagined she would or could be. She was funny, and laughed at his stupid jokes. His coarse language didn’t bother her; in fact she could match him head to head in a competition. She wasn’t shy and she just had an entire conversation with him about something other than himself. John looked forward to the rest of the week. It seems it wasn’t going to be as bad as he’d originally thought. He gave himself and Robby a mental pat on the back for making such a brilliant choice.