A Winning Drive
Short fiction
Rico’s life felt like a three-and-out every day. No, maybe a constant third and long, and no matter what he did, he couldn’t move the chains.
“I don’t know,” he said to his good friend Paul as the two sat at Mikey’s Pub during the Sunday night football game. “The redundancy of it all is driving me up the wall, man.” He finished off his third draft as the first half drew to a stultifying three nothing close.
“Clearly you need a change, right? You’ve been saying this stuff for a while now.” Paul pulled out his phone, sighed, and sent a message. “Listen. You’re my brother. But I’ve got a wife and kid at home. An angry wife, at the moment,” he said with a slight smile.
“I’m fine, man…seriously, I’m good. I don’t want Tracey getting upset.”
“Hold on,” Paul said. He finished his beer. “Let me ask you a question. And I want you to answer me truthfully. Okay?”
“Okay – let’s hear it,” Rico said.
“Tomorrow’s Monday. Just a normal, regular, run-of-the-mill Monday. No big deal. If you could make a change and start over, or do something different, or…oh, I don’t know. Anything. If you could take the first step toward your new life, what would you do?”
Rico sat back in his chair and rubbed his chin. He looked above the bar at the TV screen, but he wasn’t watching. “You know what I’ve always wanted to do? Buy an RV and just hit the road. Go where I want, stay there as long as I’d like until I get bored of it, then go somewhere new again.” He paused. “Does that sound stupid?”
“No, not at all. Who wouldn’t want to do that? Rico…this is absolutely crazy, but why don’t you go buy an RV tomorrow? Or go at look ‘em, at least, see what you might be able to afford.”
Rico redirected his gaze and looked at Paul. A smile surfaced. “That might be the best idea you’ve ever had.”
“Insurance will still get sold tomorrow, trust me. I’ll make sure of it. And not for nothing, but who gives a shit?”
“You’re telling me,” Rico said with a laugh. “Let’s get out of here.”
The two friends left a tip and headed outside.
In the morning, Rico called in sick. He pulled out his laptop, did some research, and within a couple of hours, he was heading north out of the city – heading upstate. The reds, yellows, and oranges of autumn became more vivid the further he went.
On his drive, he thought about not paying rent – cutting most bills from his life. Finding remote work, waking up and seeing the white-capped Rockies in the distance, or maybe waking up and breathing in the salty scent of the Pacific.
“Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin came on the radio. Rico didn’t hesitate. He blasted the volume, rolled the windows down, and belted it out. The chill of fall cut through him, but it energized his being – brought him back to life.
He had no idea what the hell he was doing, but he was going for it.
Rico screamed-sang on the northbound lanes – the open, empty road.
Thank you so much for reading “A Winning Drive” — I hope you enjoyed it.
Here’s a link to “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin to kick off your Monday. Here’s “Going to California”, too. (Sorry, I can’t just give you one Led Zeppelin song…it doesn’t feel right.)
Have a great week! Looking forward to sharing some fifties on Friday.
I’d like to shout out Bill Adler and give him a big thank you. Bill recommends Along the Hudson to his readers/new subscribers. If you are looking for excellent fiction in all varieties, look no further! Bill’s stories range from speculative to sci-fi and everything in between. Bill’s Substack is Fiction by Bill Adler and you can check it out here.
You know that is exactly what we’re doing?? Everything is in place as soon as Dave retires next month! First stop out of Texas will be Arizona, somewhere we’ve never been. ☺️
Great opener Justin