“You know what?” she said. “With this little truck and all that food, two people could go just about anywhere?

Twenty years earlier, the idea would have set me on fire. Now, it was all I could do to keep from yawning.

“Right, a whirlwind tour,” I said.

“Yeah! We could blow this pop stand…!”

I lit a cigarette and crossed my hands on the wheel.

“It’s funny,” I said. “But I don’t think the scenery around here is so ugly…”

She threw her head back, laughing.

“Shit, you call this scenery?”

You could hear the dust flying against the chassis, swirling wildly in the wind. Outside things were burning. I started laughing too.

That evening the wind died down all of a sudden and the air got very heavy. We took the bottle out on the porch and waited for the night to cool off a little, but nothing changed, not even after the stars came out-not one little breeze. Still, I have to say it was all just fine with me. My only real complaint had been the immobility, but I was getting used to it. The past five years had given me time to figure out ways of dealing with the heat. It was different now with a girl around-there were other things to do than lie still and wait for it to blow over.

After a few drinks we decided to stuff ourselves into the chaise longue. We were sweating heavy in the dark, but everything seemed perfect. It’s always like that in the beginning-you can handle anything. We stayed there for a long time without moving, trying to breathe on a thimbleful of air.

She started squirming. I gave her a drink to calm her down. She let out a sigh that could have blown down a tree.

“I wonder if I’ll ever be able to get up,” she said.

“Forget about it. Don’t be silly, nothing could be important enough-”

“I think I have to pee,” she said.

I slid my hand down into her panties and stroked her behind. It was a wonderful behind, a trickle of sweat running down from the small of her back, and skin soft as the Gerber baby’s. I didn’t want to think about anything. I pulled her to me.