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June 06, 2008
Katie & Armando, Part III
Don't forget to enter the sweepstakes to win a pile o' books. Winners will be announced on Monday!
Have a great weekend!!
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Before: Katie & Armando I | Katie & Armando II
They drove in silence toward the border separating Mexico from the Unites States, separating real life from vacation life. Separating her old self from her new self. The traffic had begun to slow some five miles back and now the cars inched slower and slower, until they were in view of the distant white border patrol booths. Traffic slowed to a crawl, stopped for minutes at a time. Armando looked over at her during one of these periodic stops, idling the car and said, “Let’s switch.”“Switch what?” Katie asked.
“You drive.” said Manny. He saw the question before she spoke, and answered. “It’s easier for a nice little white lady to take a drive across the border with a Mexican friend than the other way around.”
So she slid over him while the truck was in neutral, and in her mind the scene would have been sexier than it really was, but for some reason she wasn’t on edge with excitement and daring. She wondered where the exhilaration was, the goosebumps and insane happiness she had expected. She thought maybe it was because they were still in the car on this side of the invisible line separating her old life and her new one. And it wasn’t even one o’clock yet, not time yet to really be missing or to be missed. She could just be on a late summer drive. So she slid on top of Armando and he moved to the passenger’s seat. Automatically, she checked her lipstick in the rearview mirror, and adjusted the view to suit her.
She fastened her safety belt. The gap between their car and the one in front of them had widened, she eased into first gear and let out the clutch until they were again bumper to bumper with a Volvo family whose kids would turn around and wave every few minutes.
One of the things Manny had first noticed about her, in her own car, was that she drove a stick shift. He had looked at her then with a face of surprise and admiration.
“You drive manual?” he asked.
“I like to feel in control,” Katie had told him.
“I don't know many women who drive a stick,” he said. “Most women don’t even know how.”
She had smiled then. A little of the old show-off Katie had never died, the Katie who would turn on the radio and pile her high school friends into her secondhand Volkswagon and jackrabbit all the stoplights in their five-stoplight town.
And now it was late September, the hottest month in Southern California, three thousand miles from her Texas hometown. She propped her left arm on the door, out the window, and shifted into neutral. Idling.
Ernie was probably getting his lunch in his office, eating at his desk or maybe in the office lunchroom with a copy of the Times spread out in front of him. Maybe the secretary who thought Ernie's Senior VP title was sexy would join him with her Lean Cuisine in the breakroom and he would ask her about her kids.
Soon the grimy border checkpoints were so near she could see the uniformed men inside the little booths, just like on a toll road. Except some carried automatic rifles. Where she had expected butterflies and trembling hands there was only calm. What kind of woman was she? Who's calm at a time like this? She pulled the International level with the stall and smiled evenly at a man her same age, who asked her, “License, please.” And she reached over to her pocketbook, showed him her California driver’s license, and said, “Hot out today.”
“September, you know, think it would cool off by now,” said the man. He looked briefly at her passenger, but Armando was busy blowing his nose. The border guard handed Katie her license back. “Have fun.” He handed Katie her license and she smiled at him, and just like that she was across the border. The border from real life to this life.
She reached across to fiddle with the radio. Being in the driver’s seat did afford some rights, and one of those was picking the radio station.
The guv'ment totally ruined my Katie & Armando, it's not nearly so easy to cross the border anymore. Giant, gaping plot holes! But if they could get across the border without being in a database, wouldn't they have an interesting few weeks together? Until she figures out who he really is, anyway...
Posted by laurie at June 6, 2008 10:21 AM
Comments
Ah, reality insists on intruding in our fantasies, doesn't it?
Looking forward to K&A IV
Posted by: Red at June 6, 2008 10:36 AM
Ah, well that was fun reading!
Posted by: Dora at June 6, 2008 10:38 AM
I always get super excited for Katie and Armando. YAY!!
Posted by: Terri at June 6, 2008 10:40 AM
I hate when reality ruins fiction like that! Gah!
Why not set it in the 60's instead? That would make things easier on the border front (I think, right?), and Katie could yearn to wear go-go boots and mini skirts!
Back in reality though, I had to go through the visa process (UK to US) last year, and I can tell you that the couple of months of government enforced seperation makes the finally being together again that much better.
Posted by: Jen at June 6, 2008 10:54 AM
Go Katie and Armando!! It's SO romantic!
Isn't someone's birthday coming up?? Somebody we all know and love??
Have a wonderful weekend, sweetie. How's the garden going??
Posted by: Liz R at June 6, 2008 11:01 AM
We do pray that Katie and Armando's association doesn't deteriorate into a car scene like Ruthie and Bobo's http://jillieofthevalley.vox.com/library/post/vignette.html
They're divorced, you know...
Posted by: JillieoftheValley at June 6, 2008 11:08 AM
I love me some Katie and Armando. Thanks for the fix!
Posted by: AnonMum at June 6, 2008 11:18 AM
Wow, what a cliffhanger! Have an awesome weekend, hear?
Posted by: Amy in StL at June 6, 2008 11:24 AM
dum dum DUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
What will happen next? Will Katie find the restroom she so desperately needs to relieve herself after the 10 Diet Cokes she had? Will Armando be able to kick in his portion of the gas bill? Will they two ever make it to the happiest place on earth, that small tavern in Cabo?
Write on, Laurie. Write on!
Posted by: charlotte at June 6, 2008 11:30 AM
Ok, I know this has nothing to do with the post at hand, but since I have no idea how to post a new thread.. well.. I just thought it was a rather hilarious link, an ad on craigslist from someone who was having a rather bad day/week.. it reminded me of this site so I thought I would post.. enjoy..
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/27499971.html
Kellie Hart
Posted by: Kellie Hart at June 6, 2008 11:35 AM
I do love some good Katie and Armando on a Friday.
Posted by: Kelli at June 6, 2008 11:48 AM
I love these stories Laurie. Keep 'em coming!
Kellie Hart, that Craigslist link is hysterical!
Posted by: Bevvy at June 6, 2008 11:54 AM
More more more!
Posted by: Angie at June 6, 2008 11:55 AM
Who he really is?!?!?! Who is he??? I can't take the suspense!!
Posted by: Rete at June 6, 2008 11:58 AM
Ahhh!!!! I want to know what happens!!!
Posted by: Qutecowgirl at June 6, 2008 12:29 PM
I can't wait to hear who he really is. Oh to be carefree. If only running for the border would fix everything............
Posted by: DeAnna at June 6, 2008 12:53 PM
Laurie, I'm so glad you're sharing this with us. And I love the serial format.
Posted by: jodi at June 6, 2008 01:02 PM
The suspense is killing me!!
Posted by: Angela at June 6, 2008 01:03 PM
Ack! How am I supposed to be able to sleep now?!
.
Posted by: Brat at June 6, 2008 01:14 PM
MORE MORE MORE and QUICKLY. :)
Posted by: Rhonda at June 6, 2008 02:48 PM
Pshh, screw reality! That's my motto. I love Katie and Armando, yay! Now, I just have to wait for more... waiting, waiting... oh man, this is hard!
Posted by: Kate at June 6, 2008 03:26 PM
The plot is about to thicken! "who he really is", indeed!
Posted by: Sue F. at June 6, 2008 03:54 PM
Waiting for more.
Posted by: Eileen at June 6, 2008 04:26 PM
OMIGAWD! What's going to happen?!
Posted by: Sarah at June 6, 2008 04:45 PM
I love Katie and Armando, and it's especially better to read a novel with author commentary!
Kim
Posted by: Kim at June 6, 2008 04:47 PM
Hooray! I am really loving these installments of the K&A saga.
Posted by: Jasmine at June 6, 2008 04:55 PM
I love Katie and Armando!!
Posted by: Betsy at June 6, 2008 05:00 PM
ExcellentLAurie...Love it! have to admit that whe I first glanced at this (having not seen the other installiments) I though Armando I and Armando II? How does this girl Katie meet so many Armandos???
Posted by: Anonymous at June 6, 2008 05:03 PM
Naughty tease!
Posted by: lynne s of oz at June 6, 2008 05:18 PM
Guys like a girl who can drive a stick shift! I remember that from an old car commercial. And by the way, I never drive anything but a stick--if you drive an automatic you aren't really driving! Just my opinion. :) Love when you share the story of Katie & Armando.
Posted by: Lesli at June 6, 2008 06:10 PM
Thank you for confirming the "driver gets to pick the station" thing. I was in the car with my hubby recently (driving) and I put on U2, "Rattle and Hum." He reached over and reset the iPod to shuffle because "Rattle and Hum" was too loud and jarry and he didn't feel like loud and jarry. I almost ripped his arm off and threw it out the window. Later I wondered if I was being unreasonable. Clearly I was not!
Posted by: Dreamybee at June 6, 2008 09:18 PM
sorry I have entered the book contest more than once! I didn't read the rules...
Posted by: Cindy at June 7, 2008 07:59 AM
Love that Katie and Armando - don't care how cheesy they are. I'm sort of jealous they have such a romantic border to slip over. The only one near me is New Hampshire. Tax free New Hampshire? Doesn't exactly make the blood burn, does it. It sounds more like Jennifer and Skip: The Trip for the New Flat Screen.
Posted by: Maureen at June 7, 2008 08:39 AM
I'm completely in love with your blog, it's so funny :D
I'll return!! And... I drive manual! XDD
Kisses from Spain!
Posted by: Rosa_Rosa at June 7, 2008 09:09 AM
Who is he? Who is he really? Is this a literal or existential revelation? We await the next installment.
Posted by: trashalou at June 7, 2008 12:49 PM
completely unrelated but I heard June 14th is worldwide Knit in Public day and thought who better to organize a knitting hoopla than CAP :)
http://www.wwkipday.com/
Posted by: Therese at June 7, 2008 01:58 PM
Loves me a good cliffhanger - - can't wait to read more! :-)
Posted by: Liz J in Central Illinois at June 7, 2008 04:00 PM
They drove into a plot hole! Ha!
Posted by: Anonymous at June 8, 2008 02:31 PM
Love the Katie and Armando...
And BTW- The LA times did a little article today on a snapshot of life while stuck in LA Traffic.... yup. They must be reading your mind these days...
Here's the link
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/traffic/la-me-trafficdayone8-2008jun08,0,5983525.story?page=1
Posted by: Angel at June 8, 2008 04:14 PM
Oooooo - something sinister about Armando?
Dang - I KNEW he was too good to be true!!
Posted by: boomette at June 8, 2008 06:28 PM
Who he really is?! Come ON! Please don't let Armando be a terrorist or a Colombian drug lord ... just let him be filthy rich with a lovely hacienda on the beach ... ah, I can dream, can't I? (does he look like Javier Bardem? MMMMM!)
Posted by: Anne at June 9, 2008 06:57 AM
more dammit!
sorry, didn't mean to curse atcha...
Posted by: Beth at June 9, 2008 07:59 AM
The question is, when does she find out who SHE is? More specifically, when does she find out that no matter where you are, the view in the mirror will always be the same? So to speak.
I used to think about taking off. Especially would I think about it when getting on the Mass. Pike to go down a couple of exits, driving under the big **Mass Pike Points West** sign, and when you drive east on the Mass Pike you know you'll run out of road in at most a couple of hours, but when you drive west the road and the possibilities seem infinite, just for a second.
Of course the possibilities I had in mind did not include LA traffic.
Posted by: Lucia at June 9, 2008 08:10 AM
I was there...in the cab with them...in the heat...and the wondering. Looking forward to the next installment.
Posted by: cecelia at June 9, 2008 08:59 AM
Gimmie more K and A!
Posted by: Kaya at June 9, 2008 09:15 AM
