Looking out the window, he could see the snow melting on the Midwestern land. Just brown and white colors where come summertime there’ll be cornstalks growing in green. But, for now it was the last shades of winter; bare trees lined the highway. And the gray sky with hues of purple and orange swept into night.

Red tail lights are chased. Yellow beams stared down; he wished for sleep, but the Black girls in front would not stop talking; chattering, snapping their fingers; they were on their way to Chicago where baby’s daddy awaits. The baby girl screams in the dark, Hush up child, the mother said, Hush up.

The sky grew darker, soon it would be pitch black. He was on his way to Gary where steel mills cranked out the American dream; for some, for some. But, his dreams vanished long ago. Now he just traveled from one town to the next taking whatever jobs he could get. The old man had been a laborer, truck driver, dishwasher, and held countless other occupations throughout his life. He just never could make anything stick. One year he had eighteen w2 forms for taxes. Fired from eighteen jobs in one year; spent his returns on steak dinners and a rounds of drinks for the house; being broke just felt normal.

But now it was off to Northwest Indiana where he’d once again look for work. A whole life of looking for work and riding on Greyhounds. He figured he was lucky; had a pack of smokes and a copy of Moby Dick in his book bag. Maybe that’s what his whole life was. Just one big search for a giant whale. Maybe.