Off the Road - 16

a jazz novel on a typewriter

Three

1

One day you will drive up to the place and see two cars in the driveway, but not today.

One day you will see a nice white picket fence that has been neatly washed, but not today.

One day you will meet a girlfriend of Dean and she will just laugh and laugh and laugh, but not today.

One day you will find a meal on the table, but not today.

One day you will enter into a world with good conversation, but not today.

One day you will find a wall with pictures on it showing all the things you missed, but not today.

One day you will see a woman that you think Dean should marry, but not today.

One day you will find the back story that will interest you, but not today.

One day you will end the driving without having had at least two cans of really cheap beer, but not today.

One day you will not have a cigarette, but not today.

One day you will feel like we are just picking cotton, but not today.

One day this will all seem laughable, but not today.

One day will look at a picture and realize the girl is now a girlfriend, but not today.

One day you will see a college degree, but not today.

One day you will see a home that would look marvelous as a postcard, but not today.

One day you will see a skyline that is picture-perfect, but not today.

One day you will drive on a road that does not have potholes, but not today.

One day you will hear how the variation comes from the theme, but not today.

One day you will see a roof that does not have missing pieces, but not today.

One day you will see lipstick that looks good on almost anyone who wears it, but not today.

One day you will hear the cadence before it arrives, but not today.

One day you will know that the dice are fair, but not today.

One day a cat will come out with the occupant, but not today.

One day you will let Dean drive, but not today.

One day you will hear a compliment from the girl which really means something, but not today.

One day this will seem like a time gone by, but not today.

One day waking up won’t feel like reveille, but not today.

One day you will hear someone other than Dean make a cogent remark, but not today.

One day everything that happens won’t be in blues ABA form, but not today.

One day you won’t mind when the colored girls sing “Doo, do-doo, do-doo, do-do-doo.” but not today.

One day each day will not feel like a repeat of the last, but not today.

One day the wheel will not feel like hills and valleys, but not today.

One day will not feel just like the others, but not today.

One day it will not seem like there is a hole that you will sink into, but not today.

One day a woman in a dress will just be a woman in a dress, but not today.

One day you will realize what character you are playing, but not today.

One day you will find the trash is neatly wrapped on the side of the home, but not today.

One day your neck won’t creak from the driving you have done, but not today.

One day all of this will make sense with a beginning, middle, and end, but not today.

One day you won’t just feel that you tripped and just got up, but not today.

One day this will all make sense, but not today.

And when that day comes the year won’t cycle round in an endless procession of days of driving and nights that go on too long with days lengthened because of leap years.