Have Yourself A Happy Little Birthday
It's been said that life is like a journey; each birthday a milestone marking the way. We begin that journey having no idea how long it will take or where it ultimately ends. But we celebrate each mile traveled looking forward to the next. Never really knowing if that will be the last. At time it seems to take forever and often we wish desperately that we could go back and repeat that last mile traveled. But steps once taken can never be completely erased. And neither the journey began again.
This had to be the worst birthday she had spent in a long Mary decided as she impatiently crawled along with the rest of the traffic. Her she was transporting a still traumatized and very car sick witness stuck in the middle of a traffic jam on the freeway. It was over a hundred and ten degrees but they had long since rolled down the windows in a vain attempt to air out the car. Now to make matters worse her partner was starting to look a little green around the gills and the last thing she needed to do was dealing with two sick people. "Damn it, Marshall!" she growled patience long gone. "If you end up puking in the car, I am gonna make you clean it up and then so help me I'll kill you!"
He sighed and sat up straighter in the seat knowing full well she was quite capable of carrying out the first part of the threat. "I'll do my best not to until we make our next stop," he replied.
Mary lowered her voice and said, "I told you that salad looked awfully strange. And what kind of place is The Flying Saucer Café anyway?"
Marshall shrugged and replied. "It is Roswell after all so what did you expect? Unofficially known as the UFO capital of the USA ever since 194-"
She quickly cut him off before he could expound on how the town came to get it designation "Next time I want to eat someplace where the menu doesn't sound like it belongs on the Starship Enterprise."
He chuckled slightly at her last comment and reached to turn on the radio hoping to find something to listen to in a vain attempt to take his mind off his misery. The station was playing Trip Around The World by Jimmy Buffet and Martina McBride so she switched it off quickly. From the backseat came more crying and gagging from their passenger and they both groaned, wishing for an end of what was quickly turning out to be the road trip from Hell.
Finally after what seemed like hours, the traffic sped up and thinned enough that Mary could take the next exit ramp and soon pulled into the a nearly deserted gas station/convenience store. Parking close to the outside restrooms for the convenience of both, she watched as he partner made a rather hasty exit from the car and headed for the men's room. Carefully escorting the younger woman into the adjoining restroom she went to get her a change of clothes. Pausing by the other restroom her annoyance was beginning to turn to something resembling concern as she heard the unmistakable sounds of Marshall getting sick. "Damn I hope its just lunch disagreeing him," she muttered and headed back to Tanya.
Having managing to just barely keep the contents of his stomach to stay where it belonged, Marshall rushed into the restroom and dropped to his knees in front of the toilet . It was at that precise moment the nausea gained the upper hand and he was miserably sick. When the heaving finally eased up, he pulled himself to his feet and went to try and rinse out his mouth.
"Tanya, can I come in? I have something clean for you to put on" Mary asked, knocking lightly on the restroom door .
She heard sniffles and a teary voice respond. "Okay."
The older woman pushed open thee door wide enough to slip in and found the witness standing in the middle of the room in her underwear. "I'll see if I can get a plastic bag for your clothes."
"Don't bother because I don't think I'm ever gonna want to wear these again," Tanya answered.
"Okay. Hey, do you want me to get me some water or anything? I'm gonna get some for my partner since he's sick too," Mary offered. "We all ate different things and so far I'm the only one not sick."
"I don't think it was lunch. It's just when I think about Jordan…"her voice trailed off and she dabbed at her eyes with a wad of toilet paper.
"This whole thing has gotta be overwhelming for anybody. When we get back to Albuquerque we'll start your process into witness protection and then we'll take you to the motel we arranged for the night. Meanwhile why don't you get dressed and meet us outside."
"I'm really sorry about the mess in the car," Tanya said.
Don't worry about it," Mary assured her and went to check on Marshall. Hearing water running she rapped on the door. "You okay in there?"
"Yeah.," he replied. "Be out in a minute."
"Take your time . I'm gonna go get some water and stuff in the store," Mary answered.
"What about the car?" Marshall asked.
"I'll take care of it," she replied heading for the door. Inside was a couple of video games and teen-aged boy with the look of one desperate to play but no more quarters. "Hey, kid, you wanna make a little money?"
"Doing what?" he asked, eyeing her badge and gun both in clear view.
"I had a passenger get a little car sick in the backseat. If you clean it up I have ten bucks for you. That should keep you in quarters for awhile," Mary answered..
"Okay. But you better pay up," the boy replied.
"Here's some money fro paper towels and I'll give you the rest when you're done," Mary said, reaching into her wallet and handing over a five.
Marshall finally emerged from the rest room to see the doors open on the SUV and the teenager rapidly going through the roll of paper towels. "I assume he has permission to be there?" the US Marshall asked turning to look at his partner.
"Yep. I bribed him to clean up the mess," she answered handing Marshall a bottle of water. "Feeling better ?"
"Yeah. But I don't think we're going to be stopping there again next time we're in Roswell.," he commented.
"Good choice," she replied clapping him on the shoulder. "I got you some gum since I don't wanna be riding all the way home having to smell your puke breath." Have you seen Tanya?"
"Nope," Marshall replied opening the bottle and taking a drink.
"She's probably still getting changed," Mary commented. "I'll go check on her."
The kid finally finished his task and walked over to Mary saying, "Okay I'm finished but cleaning that mess was worth a hell of a lot more than just 10.00"
"Okay. I'll give you twenty and write down on the expense report," she answered looking at Marshall.
That's better," the kid replied taking the offered bill and heading off to get his much desired quarters.
"Video game addict. They'd sell their own grandma for a fix,". Mary commented.
"I'm ready to go," Tanya said hesitantly.
"Okay. Look I got some plastic bags just in case you get sick again," Mary told her. "Once we hit the freeway we've only got an hour or so to Albuquerque. Think you can hold on that long?"
"I think so," the younger woman answered getting into the vehicle.
Mary shot a questioning glance at Marshall who was already in the passenger seat fastening his seatbelt and giving her an affirmative nod in return. Getting behind the wheel she started the engine.
The trip back to Albuquerque was fortunately made with no one getting sick. Pulling into the parking lot of the Witsec building, they headed up to the office. "Just make yourself comfortable and we'll be with you in few minutes," Mary said as she went to get some sodas from the vending machine; ginger ale for Tanya and Marshall and a diet Coke for herself.
Marshall w as already seated at the table with the rather thick book of regulations. Taking the can pushed in front of him he popped the top and said, "Thanks."
"You're welcome," she replied and turned to Tanya. "This sounds rather complicated in the beginning but it actually isn't. Now item number one."
After several hours of listening and asking questions Tanya finally asked, "Can we finish this up tomorrow please. I really just want to go lie down."
"Sure we can," Mary replied glancing at the clock. "I'll just drive you to the motel and we can all call it a night."
"Thank you," the younger woman said softly and got to her feet.
"I'll see about arranging you an off campus apartment so that you won't be moving in and out of dorms," Mary was saying as they headed for the door. She glanced over her shoulder at Marshall. "You gonna come along?"
"Nah, I think you can get her settled in all by yourself. I'll just stay here and tackle the paperwork.
"Suit yourself then," his partner replied. "I shouldn't be too long."