In Pursuit Of Happyness
It’s late afternoon by the time we leave the woman’s house in Katy. I tell her that I will think about the live-in nanny position and give her a call by the weekend. Ruby’s hungry…again, so we stop by a place called Taco Cabana to see if they are any good.
Ruby enjoys her meal immensely and even scores a nice big souvenir glass.
We want to go out again but the fact that we know no one in Houston is hindering our progress. I remember that one of my readers lives in Houston so I decide to look up her phone number in my email and give her a call. But we need internet access first.
We drive and drive until we reach downtown Houston. We are loving the vibes we get from driving down the street and by chance we glance to our left and see… THE BIGGEST BOOKSTORE IN THE WORLD.
It’s a movie theatre that has been converted into a book store! Ruby and I figure that we can find a wireless connection there and we head over, lap top in hand, to see what it’s all about.
Being voracious readers and lovers of the written word, Ruby and I lick our lips in sweet anticipation of what we might find in the building but we aren’t prepared for what we see.
We split up immediately as I search for the wireless connection while Ruby browses the titles in the lobby.
Off I go—Up the stairs, around the corner..la, la, la… Where’s the connection?
And then I see the most magnificent sight, rivaling the world’s most breathtaking sunsets.
As I stand fixated my eyes can’t believe what they are capturing. I’m in love….row upon row upon row of books illuminated the way they should be, in bright neon lights.
When Ruby finds me sitting in a chair in the cafe, she’s out of breathe. She pauses before saying, “Dawg, did you see that?”
No words necessary.
I feel her.
“Dawg. I was blowed too. I almost cried. All those books! Damn…”
The internet connection at the bookstore is not free so after Ruby orders a coffee from Starbucks we head out to find another spot to connect. Ruby’s Lonely Planets book says there is an internet cafe not too far from the HOSTEL.
We fumble around but we find Cafe Artiste. There isn’t a big crowd in the cafe turned internet lounge but all of the wall plugs are taken. A gentlemen occupying a booth offers us his extension cord and we gratefully accept his offer.
We sit down and I call the reader but she doesn’t pick up. I email her and still…no response. I leave a message and that’s that.
While Ruby checks her email I re-enter all of the contacts into my new cell phone, a sidekick, a gift from Ruby.
I love it!
We give up on going out but instead of being sad about it we look at each other with a grin, “To the HOSTEL!”
YAY!
I don’t know what it was about that place but it made us feel as though we were world travelers/adventurers/on a divine mission.
So we sit in my car and puff one before heading inside. We aren’t ready to go to bed yet so we hang out in the TV room and laugh until the house mother tells us that it’s time to go to bed.
We both get ready for bed and our roomies are still up so we sit on the bottom bunk and talk.
“Girl, this has been a crazy ass trip!” I remark. “That wasn’t very smart of us to go to that hotel with that man. At the time it seemed okay but when I heard you telling Donald about it, it sounded like a dumb thing to do.”
“Yeah…” Ruby agreed. “But if that was crazy then THIS is crazy,” She said referring to our stay in a hostel. “And if THIS is crazy then this whole trip is crazy. WHich it is but sometimes you have to do crazy things to move forward.”
“Yeah. I know.” I reply and sigh.
My life is a trip.
We both go to bed at this point and I’m up fresh and early and out the door to take a final walk through the neighborhood and talk to JB on the phone while he’s on his way to his new job as an editor of a magazine in Atlanta.
By the time I’m all done, Ruby is dressed and ready to go. We’re getting back on the road to Lousiana. Instead of having her fly out, I suggested that I drive her back since it only takes a tank of gas to drive the entire way from Houston to Hammond.
We stop by The Breakfast Klub on our way out. I’m mismatched and hungry. My tooth is hurting but we have to try this spot that came highly recommended.
When we find it, it’s a cute little restaurant owned by a Black man. We march in and order our meals before sitting down in the corner.
My food comes first. My staple breakfast: fish and grits. Ruby orders an omelet which is HUGE.
Ruby plows through her breakfast and I take small bites of my fried catfish which tastes like pork chops for some reason. I can’t even finish it because I don’t like it.
But when I go to the restroom to freshen up I see there are signatures on all of the walls. How cool! I reach into my purse and grab a pen. I find an empty spot and sign my name and a message.
I walk out and grab Ruby so that she can sign too and she writes a message about the Gators being National Champs or something. She’s crazy!
We walk out into the morning sunshine, laugh at the radio station DJ’s who are playing a recording of Donald Trump talking much smack about Rosie O’Donnell and we hit I10 East all the way back to Louisiana.
Nice to meet you Houston.
Is this where I’m supposed to be? Only time will tell.