he listened to the radio while drivin’ ‘cross Texas…rock stations…country…news talk…kept flippin’ back and forth…heard everything from Free Bird to Stand By Your Man…listened to people callin’ in from all over America…askin’ questions and makin’ statements ’bout the end of times comin’ soon…speculations on Israel and America takin’ on the world…said they read it in the Bible…

and he’d turn on an oldies station…The Commodores playin’ a song from the past…She’s a brick…house…just lettin’ it all hang out…a smile came to his face…nodded his head to the beat…thought of all the girls from his past…women he’d met in truck stops…bars…midnight cafes…a hitchhiker he picked up outside of Tulsa…all long gone…long gone…

thoughts came to his mind…thinkin’ he was gettin’ old now…this could be his last hoorah…last time he drove ‘cross Texas…kids wantin’ him to get rid of the truck…tellin’ him he’s a danger out on the road…could kill somebody…could kill himself…he didn’t listen…was gonna be goddamned if they took the keys away from him…

this pickup was the last thing he had…made him feel free…more free than he ever did…

West Texas was comin’ to a close…New Mexico and red clay now faced him…did he dare…did he dare…just keep on drivin’…just keep on drivin’…