The Buick: Section Six

That is how the second day proceeded

As the Buick crossed into Illinois,

Drove around Normal, Fred chuckling it was

"Anything but.

                      Right, Babette, my dear love?"

They finally arrived upon the wide

Mississippi as the sun headed down.

"Let's stop and look," Constance barked from the back.

"That's a splendid idea," whispered Fred,

"Be good to get the boy some fresh air too."

And as they stood on Davenport's outskirts,

Johnny knew this was a river once crossed

Almost certainly closed off everything 

He tied to Hyattsville and Washington

And Mister Jackson Franklin Wilkinson.

Later, just outside of Cedar Rapids,

Fred parked next to a modest motel

Making Babette squeal with surprising glee.

"I can't spend another night in a cabin,

Their ugly rooms are so much beneath me

This will be so much better, you will see."

The room was icy cold, frost on windows,

Fred asked the front desk for a space heater

Which sadly only made matters much worse,

As the lack of enough ventilation

Made Johnny's asthma begin to flare up,

And he spent the night tossing and turning,

Nauseous, running to the bathroom hourly,

Fred staying right by him, stroking his hair, 

Telling him everything would be alright

That they'd be far away in the morning.

The long, miserable night for Johnny,

Made him wonder if he'd rather be dead.

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