Transportation, poverty, and travel - fragments from one night

I was with my husband at the gas station. He goes inside to buy the gas. I have to get something (can't remember what), but I can't get it at the gas station. I get on a bus looking for the nearest place I can get what I need, thinking I'll be back quick. The bus goes some roundabout way, and ends up at a mall. I look at the bus map, and learn it is the end of the line. I wonder whether I should get on the bus the other direction and get back to my husband or whether I should call him to come get me.

I was with some girlfriends at some guys apartment. We decide he's a schmuck, and get out of there pronto. As we are running away, we go over some frozen pond area. I thought it looked really cool and thought to myself, "I guess Kansas is all right." It led to a restaurant. We wonder if we should steal the food, since we have no money. That guy comes there.


I am in LA at a bus station. I am wondering where I should go. I have my bike. I decide I should fly home. WaLah, there's the airport! Some girl tells me I should ask for Hannah when I check in. I walk across the airport looking for the right airline. Then realize it was NW which was the first one. When I get there, I realize I've left my bike on the other side. I am running, hoping it didn't get stolen. I am lucky today. I bring it over to NW. Hannah has some magical ability to fold up my bike and not ring it in as a bike- so I won't get charged extra.


I am at home. My mom comes in, and tells us we have 15 minutes to get to the airport. We are so poor she has decided we are going to move in with my aunt and uncle in Kansas. We are mad she didn't give us any warning. I am trying to stuff things into a bag- throwing in craft books, jewelry findings, anything that might be worth a little bit of money. We take off.


I am in the black hills, overhearing some people talking about how much they like club med- they are filming a commercial or something. I am hiking on the sidewalk when a little boy falls down the hill a little bit. I give him a hand and pull him up. I see a house a mile or two away giving out tons of smoke. Some guy hiking near me says its possible that it isn't on fire, because it's all coming out of the chimney. If they are burning some specific type of local wood it would give off tons of smoke, which then falls down in the valley and enriches the soil.
We go on, and a lady pops out of a door of a house right up against the path. The guy talks to her- it's my mom?! "Where are you staying," he asks her. She points to a cheap motel. He's like "Oh." I'm thinking maybe she was in the club med commercial and that's why she's here. It's embarrasing not to be staying where the rich people are. I go down some steps on the edge of the hill to the main motel entrance. The owner is an old lady who gives me some things to cover the planters in the entryway for the winter.
My family leaves the motel to go to some buffet restaurant. We are trying to figure out what we can afford. I have to pay for myself. I have 6 dollars. My uncle has 10. My dad has to feed him, my mom, and my sister. We can get ham, a dinner roll, and corn for $5 each. I want a rootbeer too, but it costs a dollar and I won't have money for tax. There is a small deli/grocery in front of the buffet line. My mom opens a package of swiss cheese to see if it smells good. She doesn't think it's good enough, and gives it to the cheese man and tells him he should sell it.