Continued from the story "Leaving", everything is non-fictional to the best of my memory. Next is my experience in Dover, even though I'll never be able to describe how I felt about this, I'm just going to narrate what actually happened. Keep in mind, I was 18 years old when this happened, and was not used to being on my own. I was very optimistic, and always felt like there was a net underneath me to catch me if I fell. I was a passive kid with good manners that had never really experienced the world outside my town.
I left late at night on Monday, August 6th, 2007. The first stop after leaving the station in Boston, was New York. I arrived in the New York bus station, which seemed like it was underground since there were no windows, but glass doors at each terminal that were located around the border of this square shaped basement. The entire place seemed like a public restroom, which said enough about the actual public restrooms they had there. There was a sitting lobby with many seats in the middle, but was completely occupied by people waiting for their bus. There was a small resteraunt, expensive vending machines, and an escalator leading upstairs that I didn't bother checking out as my line was at the north end of this place. I laid down leaning against a wall and sleeping with my head on my backpack, as I waited 6 hours for my bus to arrive, early in the morning of Tuesday, August 7th. I remember walking around long before that, checking out the place, dirty dark tile floors, too dark to see outside, and trying to write in my notebooks. About a half hour before the bus arrival, people started piling into the line. I had to go get my bags checked, but still was able to keep my place in line thanks to an employee organizing everything there. I ended up sitting next to a lady so that a young white foreign couple could cuddle next to each other.
The weather became much hotter as I got closer to Dover, making few stops on the way. Surprisingly, only a couple people got off at Dover, and like most people from the north, made no contact with anyone around me the entire trip. When I got there, the temperature was somewhat above 90 degrees, and it was around noon. I went inside the bus station, which was a small building with a couple rows of seats, a cheap soda machine that served cans instead of bottles, and a counter with glass separating it. I asked them for directions to the Red Roof Inn, and how to get to some of the streets I was looking for. They offered a cab, but I declined to save money. They were very worried about me, as I told them I was going to walk, even with all this luggage in the hot weather. When I got outside, some black guy offered to give me a ride across town, he had a Jamaican accent. I again, declined, I didn't want to take any chances, I didn't know the area and was okay with walking. Outside of the Bus Station, located at 716 South Governors Ave, I took a left down the street, carrying my rolling luggage on the bumpy sidewalks while carrying my other bag and orange backpack. About 5 minutes down the road and I was glad that I didn't get into the car with that guy, because that guy crashed his car at a small intersection with another car, and was arguing with a cop when I walked by. I thought nothing of it, and just kept walking in the hot weather.
At an intersection, I went right, onto West Division Street, which turned into my different streets quickly, such as East Division Street 2 intersections later. On this street, I decided to turn down a couple side streets at random, instinctively looking for shade. I had found myself near a school, and a rural neighborhood, and passed by a female postal worker delivering mail, and she guided me back to the correct street, which was that street with many names, State Road 8, Kings Highway NE, East Division Street, and when I finally got to the Highway, I noticed my luggage bag started to drag. The plastic wheels were not cooperating and I hadn't figured out why, I thought one of them came loose, but they had actually melted. It didn't help that I wasn't even halfway to the Red Roof Inn.
There was the highway, I could see hundreds of stores nearby, a Burger King and a KFC off to the right, which was South Dupont Highway, but I was supposed to head left, to North Dupont Highway. I had to cross the street so that I was on the right side of the road, the side with an actual sidewalk and more stores. It was a very long walk, and people driving by, and walking by looked at me strange, but impressed. I could tell that if they were a bit more social, they would offer me a ride, which was not a bad idea at the time as my destination wasn't too far away, but I stopped at an Ice cream place about 20 minutes into my walk. It was in the mid 90's, middle of the day, improvising on the melted luggage wheels. I got a soft vanilla cone, and it never felt so good. A couple other customers there agreed that I needed it, but 10 minutes into my walk, and I had forgotten all about it. On the way, I walked through the parking lot of a K-Mart, where an old black couple offered to assist me with the remaining ride. I could see the Inn in the distance, I offered them a couple dollars but they declined, I thanked them very much, and walked into the Red Roof Inn.
The hotel was nice and cool inside, the man at the counter was foreign, and we walked through the reservation that my dad had booked for me. I took the elevator to my room and showered immediately. I don't remember what time it was when I arrived, but I had contacted everyone to let them know what was going on and that I made it. Extremely exhausted, I just decided to sleep for the rest of the day. The next day, I left and walked around the busy section of Dover, exploring all of the stores, possibly looking for work, and checking out all the sites. This part of my experience in Delaware I don't remember too clearly, but I do remember going shopping, lightly of course, for food. I had heard about a Wal-Mart down the street a far ways, but I never bothered to continue down the highway that far. I went to McDonald's, and even passed by the Dover International Speedway. Usually after it got dark, I would just text or call, and watch TV, and on this particular day I had seat very badly and needed another shower. The next day, I decided to stay in. This day was Thursday, August 9th, and my dad had mailed me my sweatshirt and MP3 player, which I was very happy about. We also decided to stay another day, so I would leave the next day, Friday. At night, I tried to contact a few of my friends from online, but no such luck. I had frequently talked to Devin too, slowly realizing that there wasn't much she could help me with. That night, I walked to Subway, and got my favorite Chicken Bacon Ranch on Italian herb bread. The walk back was full of flying bugs and was very warm. I remember enjoying my soda and sub back at the hotel, while watching random shows and interviews.
Friday, August 10th, just a normal day. In the morning, we decided that I couldn't stay here anymore, and made plans to go stay with my grandparents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They were my dad's parents. The weather this day was normal, and the plan was to get to the bus station by Taxi at night. I told Devin about these plans, not knowing that this day would change my life forever.
I don't have the texts anymore, nor do I remember them, but I remember her telling me how badly she could use a hug right about now. She requested, and we agreed to meet each other real quick before I had to leave. I had many doubts, and was very nervous, but she told me to meet her at the grocery store near her house, called Super Fresh over on Greentree Drive. I didn't know where it was, so I called a cab to come pick me up. The driver was a black guy who preached to me about God, and he was a very nice man who I became friends with, and got his card. He worked for the bus company that I arrived from, small talk of course, typical taxi conversation. I unloaded my bags, and texted Devin that I was there, but I didn't need to, we noticed each other in the very distance but didn't realize it until about 5 minutes later. She came walking toward me with a friend. Devin was a beautiful girl with glasses and mid-length hair. I imagined her as a goth, as her online profile described a dark personality. We gave each other a hug, and she introduced me to a friend of hers. The grocery store that we were at was in a plaza, and she told me to follow her to her hangout spot at an Ice Cream place a few stores down. We talked for hours, getting to know each other a little more, even though there wasn't much to talk about as we had been friends online long before this day. We walked around the plaza and over to a restaurant on the other side of the parking lot, as Devin listened to my MP3 player and picked out all of the non-depressing songs and danced to them. While she was off in her own world, dancing away to "Dirty Little Secret" by All American Rejects, her friend told me that she liked me, and if Devin were to kiss me, if I would be okay with that, and kiss back.
We all walked back to the sitting area in front of the ice cream place, and one of the seats were missing. Devin's friend went in to go get some ice cream, and Devin decided to sit on my lap so that her friend could have the only other seat. It was quiet. She lightly said to me "I like this..." and smiled at me. I touched her chin and we kissed. She was excited, nervous, surprised, and happy. I know because, she told me. We kissed again, with her still sitting on my lap. From that point on, we decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend, and held hands for the rest of the day. Her friend was happy for us, and wasn't surprised at all. Devin and I were the same height, liked the same music, movies, had the same outlook on love, we didn't believe in it.
I was so proud of my new girlfriend Devin, and I had never been happier in my entire life to have such a great girl that fit me so well, but I had completely forgotten about my situation. We continued to kiss throughout the rest of the day, and it eventually got very... passionate, active, intense, and I didn't want to stop. The taxi cab to pick me up almost bailed on me because our goodbye was taking so long, filled with tears and promises. I remember crying in the backseat as I felt Devin fade into the distance, not knowing when I would ever see her again.
This is about the halfway point in my story, but not the halfway point in my journey. In fact, my journey hadn't yet begun. You read this within minutes, but I was here in Dover, Delaware from Tuesday afternoon, to Friday night, alone. I was hundreds of miles away from anyone that I knew, anyone that knew me, and I did not realize that, I believed there was a net underneath me that would always catch me if I fell, as if somebody would help me if I needed, I was still in the state of mind that somebody would take care of me, if I really needed it.
And when this day with Devin and I happened, I had lost all sense of reality. I was running a hundred miles an hour, in the wrong direction, and I didn't even know it, because I loved it.
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Buzz Killlington
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