#32 Five Seats

Kentucky, an’ Tennessee on the way back…see a lot of the USA…trip ‘o a lifetime…’ They pulled apart, and finished their coffees at the same time, asked for more, and loaded them up with cream and sugar. They were close, China observed, they even looked like each other.

China let her brothers and sister-in-law decide where to go; where ever they decided would okay with her, after all, Al and Liz were paying. They chose to drive to Hollywood everyday, but the first day they would take a tour; that way they could decide which sights they had to do. They studied some pamphlets, made some phone calls, and Liz gave her credit card number. Five seats were reserved. For supper, they ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn, with gravy, cranberry sauce, and butter as condiments. As always, there was a tofu version of the meat. China was already tired of it, but showed only joy when she ate it. Afterall, Al and Liz went to a lot of trouble to please everyone.

The boys sat together on a bench seat, she sat with Liz, and Al had a seat to himself behind the boys, so he stretched his legs out. Everyone was chirpy. A person could sit where they wanted, but China could tell what group they belonged to by where they sat. Nobody talked to strangers, and there were no loners. There was a clear line of distinction between the groups. Some people would rather stand in the aisle, to belong, than sit in the empty seats, and China could tell who was the most important by which direction the heads faced; that person probably made all the decisions. Liz said they should come early so they could get the seats they wanted. They were first in line, but eventually, the disheveled and sleepy driver arrived to unlock the door. They all shuffled to the middle of the bus, stopped, looked at Liz, and she told them where to sit.

First, they went down streets where famous people lived. Huge homes, carved into mountains, they had blazing gardens. There was a lot of speculation as to who might also live there, even though the inhabitants were announced over a loud speaker. From there they went to Sunset Strip where there were many different clubs; it was famous for its night life, then they went to Santa Monica Pier, and got off for a bit. They were told on the loud speaker, but they knew because they could smell the sea air, and hear the water birds squawking, through the open-air roof, as they approached. They had just enough time to walk out on the pier. Not wanting to be stranded, and going by what Liz said, they were the first to get back on the bus, but still, they had to wait for one group. Finally, the group came rushing on, apologizing, and all speaking at once. Next, they went to The Original Farmer’s Market for lunch. Al and Liz bought them all a Bocchini Balls, Beets and Barley dish. It was a famous lunch that everybody was having.

After lunch, they went to another famous people’s neighborhood, Beverly Hills, and drove down a famous highway, Route 66. If they didn’t know why it was famous, they were told over the loud speaker. People were gasping now and then. They drove down a street that had stars with famous people’s names in them, a famous art gallery on one, and a couple streets with weird shops on them. They drove past the ‘famous’ Paramount water tower, ‘The Greek.’ and ‘The Dolby’ , but they got out at The Griffith Observatory. At Griffith Observatory, they took turns looking through a powerful telescope, and looked out of a round glass roof at the sky above. They saw stars for real; China wasn’t all that impressed. She was more impressed with the ‘HOLLYWOOD ‘ sign that was pointed out to them. It had huge letters that were fixed into the side of a mountain, as if it were the greatest thing of all. China didn’t care; she told Liz she was peckish. Liz told her to