She then went on to inform me that they are currently stuck in Brooklyn with keys locked in the car. I was asked if I would possibly be able to return to the city and deliver the spare set of keys. Now, rather than having the house to myself all night I was to go on a great adventure that would take most of the evening, as well as the continual guilt-tripping being laid upon me by my parents even after I said I was coming tenebrous for the umpteenth time. Suffice it to say I was not a very happy camper. As I walked home from the train, the world around me turning ever more with each step I took, I assessed my options. I could turn around and hop right back on the train, getting off at Jamaica, then taking another train to Brooklyn; or I could drive.
Keep in mind, my mother had met up with my dad before their evening began since she was running late, so her car was left in the parking lot of some grocery store en-route. So driving wasn't a simple matter of hopping in the car, it involved propositioning my Grandmother at 9:30 at night to let me use her car, after she drives to the house to drop it off of course. Initially I planned to take option "A" seeing as I hadn't driven for well over a month and didn't fell like doing anything outside of brooding, however as I would later realize, thanks to the suggestion of Mapquest and HopStop, that there was about a 100% time difference in taking the car over the network of trains. I then swallowed my pride and picked up the phone to do something I've always hated: asking to borrow something.
I cannot recall whether I actually woke her up with my call, however I'm sure she sounded sleepy when answering. I explained to her that my parents were in Brooklyn and that she held the keys to my getting there. Fortunately entrusting me with her car wasn't an issue, but of course she wanted to tag along. Now I must remind you I was not in the most affable mood, however the last thing i wanted was to be unpleasant around my grandmother. With a hesitant "why sure!" our evening was set, it was time for an adventure.
In the fifteen minutes it took for her to arrive I inhaled some dinner, printed round-trip directions and triple checked to make sure I had the car keys securely on my person. I wouldn't discover until long after returning home that a GPS had been laying on the dining room table. No, this evening I would be flying blind, or just a few years outdated I suppose. When my grandmother arrived I was not certain whether she had intended to drive herself, seeing that it was late and dark, but a Chinese fire-drill or two after my initial confusion corrected our seating arrangement.
Fortunately for everyone involved the moment I sat down in the car my previous temperament had completely extinguished. It were as though my grandmother was a microwave and I a dish of butter, for those of you needing reasons to be sleepless tonight.
Our travels got off to a good start, I explained in explicit details the nature of our journey. How my parents were seeing a contemporary dance troupe in Brooklyn, New York and my father locked his keys in the car. How I had been in the area of where we were heading once before yet driving there would be a completely different experience. Despite the hairiness getting to the point of traveling, all seemed to be smooth sailing, that is until we got to the first turn. Now, I try not to fashion myself a dim man but often times I have trouble remembering names, in this instance the names of highways. With the directions stating one thing and the street signs another I made the necessary turn though my uncertainty did not sit well with my grandmother. From the time we entered the express way to the moment our exit was advertised my grandmother was convinced that we were headed in the opposite direction. This was not from the knowledge of a better route but more in that I did not sell her on my decision. What's worse is when nature took it's course and revealed to us that we were in fact on the right road, my grandmother was profusely sorry as if she were ruining the trip.
After continual praise over the fact that she was very much necessary for my enjoyment of the trip we came upon our second hiccup; the expressway would be closing for about ten or so exits. With now defunct Mapquest directions in hand I followed the orange detour sign along with everyone else as four lanes of New York drivers exited all at once. Fortunately at the mouth of the exit there was another detour sign pointing us in the right direction, unfortunately that would be the last one we see for fifteen minutes. It was dark and we were in a part of the island I had never seen before, not that I could see much anyway. We had a few noteworthy companions, victimized by the expressway closing, but none of them seemed to have a better clue as to what was going on than we did. Still, we chose fork after fork together until it appeared the expressway could be entered again. Though our detour was still an exit shy of completion and we traversed the dark a little while longer. Thankfully with end in sight the signs became more prevalent. We returned to the highway from whence we came and were home free.
Soon, I would begin to recognize my surroundings and while still not 100% confident in my turning decisions (making one left turn too early in the final stretch) our goal was in sight. The wild journey unscathed didn't persuade my grandmother any in believing that I knew where I was going, as she was second-guessing our turns till the very end.
After the final turn we were stuck behind a dump truck on a narrow one way street which gave me the perfect opportunity to call my parents informing them of our impending arrival, and what would you know the show ended the moment the phone buzzed. While it may not have been the night of ice cream and Mystery Science Theater 3000 I had in store for myself. It was a great adventure with great company the likes of which I could never have planned for myself.
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