Destination: Unknown

The woman at the ticket window contradicts everything I was told about the journey.

Different time, different route, different stopping points.

Nervous.

But what she says makes sense

I trust I'm understanding her

I trust that she's understood me.

I buy my ticket.

The driver knows my stop

I breathe easier

and sit in seat 34.

Seat 33 strikes up conversation

He overheard me speaking to the driver

my stop is about 30 minutes after his

Reassured, the nervousness fades.

Now the man who took our tickets at the bus door comes on board

He calls out seat numbers and tells them they must get off.

He calls my number

Recoge sus cosas y baje, mi amor.

I do what I'm told

not understanding

Nervous again.

33 joins me outside

we wait.

Clustered outside the departing bus

we're told that the rains have washed out part of the highway further south

we have to take a different bus that will take us the other way around

1 and 1/2 hour to wait.

I buy lunch

a young man sits across from me

devouring greasy, fried chicken with his fingers.

I eat my rice and beans with knife and fork.

His eyes are indifferent to his surroundings

he's seen it all

but when he talks to me

everything I say opens his eyes wider

as if all my responses are a surprise.

14.30

and I'm back on the bus

seat 18 now

Nervous again.

I see 33 board

he smiles and sits further back

Reassured again.

The other passengers are talking

there's been an accident in the mountains.

The engine starts and we pull out of the station

the girl next to me crosses herself

and falls asleep.