The Songs of Leslie Orange

It was the biggest bus station in Texas. On the inside, it looked more like a train station, with electronic screens showing leaving and arriving times for different buses. It was pearly white on the inside, and everything was brand new.
“Daddy!” A little girl whined as she held his hand. He looked down at her.
“What’s wrong sweetie?” He said.
“Where are we going?” She asked. Her father sighed.
“To grandma and grandpa’s,” he said, putting a fake smile on his face, “just for a little while.” His daughter looked away.
“What about mommy?” She asked, “Isn’t she coming with us?” Her father searched for an answer.
“She’ll meet up with us later,” he lied. The couple behind them tried to keep their conversation private.
“This is crazy, Jess,” Daniel said. Jessica rolled her eyes.
“People do it all the time, Dee,” she said, “Plus, it’ll only be until we get the money, then we’ll pay everyone we owe off.” Daniel rubbed his eyes.
“I’m pretty sure this is illegal,” he said. Jessica said nothing. In the line next to them, a man held tightly to a ragged old doll in his hands. He held it close to him.
“I’ll be with you soon Catherine,” he whispered. He closed his eyes, and let the memories flood back. Ahead of him, a girl took money out of her grey and black backpack. Leslie Orange handed the crumpled dollar bills to the teller.
“I want a ticket,” she said. The teller looked from Leslie to the crumpled bills.
“Okay,” the teller said. Leslie smiled. She looked around. She had to shield her eyes from the bright reflections of the train station. A little girl in the next line saw Leslie and smiled a small smile. Leslie smiled back. The teller spoke.
“Hey,” he said. Leslie looked back and saw the ticket he was holding out for her.
“Thanks,” she said. She took her ticket and took a seat on a nearby wooden bench. A young man took a seat next to her.
“Hi,” he said as he sat. Leslie looked at him.
“Hello,” she said. He continued to look at her. He had a strange look in his eye.
“You come here often?” He asked. A hand came from nowhere and hit him in the head.
“Mother of pearl Paul!” A young woman next to Paul cried. She looked to be about the same age as Paul, who looked a bit older than Leslie. They both had black hair, but hers had streaks of purple and pink in it. She adjusted her black-rimmed glasses. “Do you have to hit on every girl you see!?” She asked. Paul rubbed his head.
“What? She looks like she travels a lot, I was just asking,” he said. Beth, Paul’s sister, shook her head.
“Mm,” Beth said with a tone of disbelief. Paul shook his head and looked back at Leslie.
“Sorry about that,” he said, “So…can I have your phone number?” Beth’s hand hit him again.
“God! I can’t take you anywhere!” She said. She grabbed his arm and yanked him away. Leslie giggled slightly and shook her head. A girl who looked slightly younger than Leslie took the seat where Paul once sat. Her shopping bags took Beth’s.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hi,” Leslie said to her. A little boy, about six, walked up to the girl. He just stared at her.
“Well hello,” the girl said with a smile.
“Are you rich?” The boy asked. The girl was caught off guard by the question. A woman next to Leslie spoke before the girl with the shopping bags could.
“Andrew, that’s rude,” she said. The six-year old, Andrew, scurried back to his mother and sat in her lap. She balanced her tea in one hand as he did so. Leslie took out her songbook and began to write. The bus wouldn’t arrive for another fifteen minutes. Behind her, Daniel and Jessica sat down.
“How much do we have left?” Jessica asked Daniel. Daniel took a quick glance into his backpack.
“A little over fifteen grand, I think,” he said. Jessica nodded.
“When we get there, we’ll live in a cheap motel for a while,” she said, “We’ll get jobs, and we’ll be fine.” Daniel nodded, though he didn’t really trust any of that would happen. That both sat in silence. Next to them, a man sat quietly, his daughter asleep in his lap. He stroked her hair gently. He hoped that they’d be gone before his wife discovered their daughter missing. On the other side of Jessica and Daniel, a man was going through something similar. He kept his ragdoll close to him, as if he was afraid someone might take it. He cleared his throat and tried to relax. Minutes passed by quickly as Leslie wrote, and before she knew it, fifteen minutes were gone, and the bus had arrived. She got up and walked to the doors leading towards the bus. Jessica and Daniel, trying to flee an unpaid debt got up too, as well as Andrew and his mother, who was still drinking her tea, the man and his daughter trying to run away from her mother, the man with the ragdoll he held tightly, the girl with the shopping bags from the local mall, a teenage boy who was out of breath and had just arrived, and Beth and Paul, who had missed their bus and had to take this one instead. They walked outside and boarded the bus behind Leslie. The man with the ragdoll sat next to the man and his daughter. Paul, despite all his attempts to sit next to Leslie, sat next to the girl with the shopping bags instead, but he was okay with that. Beth sat next to Jessica, who had decided not to sit next to Daniel to avoid an argument. Daniel sat next to the teenage boy, who was quite shaky. Andrew and his mother sat next to Leslie, who had taken a seat in the back. The driver walked on, a cup of coffee in his hand, and fell into his seat. He took a sip of the steaming stuff.
“Hello everybody,” he said. He took another sip. No one responded. “I said hello everybody,” he said louder. Everyone on the bus muttered in unison. The girl in her father’s lap didn’t stir. He started the bus. “Okay. I see y’all are that kind of group,” he said with a tone. The bus lunged forward, and they starting moving down the road in the thick night. Andrew stared at Leslie.
“You’re pretty,” he said. Leslie blushed. It was the first time she had ever blushed. She was usually careful to hide her feelings.
“Thank you,” she said. She returned to her writing. Jessica gazed out of the window.
“Hello,” Beth said. She offered her hand, and when Jessica saw it, she shook it.
“Hi, I’m Jessica,” Jessica said. Beth nodded.
“I’m Beth,” Beth said. Beth was a bit older than Jessica. Jessica was maybe two or three years older than Leslie. Beth glanced at Daniel. “Is that your boyfriend?” she asked. Jessica became suspicious, but eased when she saw a ring on Beth’s finger.
“He’s my fiancé,” she said, “Hopefully we can afford a wedding.” Beth nodded.
“My husband and I got married in Vegas,” Beth said. Jessica laughed softly. Beth smiled. “Seriously, we did. He knew that I didn’t care about all the fancy stuff. He said he just wanted me to know that, whether we were in a huge villa in Italy, An apartment in New York, or on the streets anywhere, he’d love me.” Jessica nodded slowly.
“Did you owe a large amount of money to anyone?” She asked. Beth shook her head.
“No, but as long as you and your loved one are together, you can make it through anything,” Beth said. Jessica looked out the window. She wondered if she and Daniel could do the same. Carl, the father, eyed the man with the ragdoll. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he finally inquired about it.
“What’s with the doll,” he asked. The man held it closer to him.
“It was my daughter’s,” he said, “She used to play with it all the time.” Carl nodded. He held out his hand.
“Name’s Carl,” Carl said. The man shook his hand without looking at him.
“My name is Zeke,” Zeke said. Carl nodded. A few seats back, Daniel switched his iPod on. The boy next to him watched the screen as he watched a podcast.
“What’s that?” The boy asked. Daniel looked at him.
“It’s a podcast,” Daniel said, “It’s NPR’s Live Concerts.” The boy stared at the screen.
“Who’s playing?” He asked.
“The Decemberists,” Daniel said, “At SXSW.” He and the boy watched the screen in silence. Paul turned to the girl with the shopping bags. He put on a smile.
“How are you doing?” He asked. The girl smiled.
“I’m fine. How are you?” She asked. Paul shrugged.
“Sitting next to the prettiest girl on this bus, I’m great,” he said. The girl blushed. Paul held out his hand. “I’m Paul,” he said. The girl took his hand and shook it.
“I’m Carmen,” she said. Paul nodded.
“The pretty girl has a pretty nam-,” Whack! Beth’s hand glided across his head.
“Oh. My. Gosh!” She said. Paul looked up at her.
“What!” He cried, rubbing his head. Beth shook her head.
“Don’t give me that! Do you have to hit on everything that breathes!?” She cried. Leslie laughed softly and shook her head at the scene Paul and Beth were making. Carl turned around and watched. He was worried the noise would awaken his daughter.
“No. Just everything that’s beautiful,” he said. Carmen blushed again. Beth rolled her eyes. “Can’t a guy enjoy a beautiful piece of art?” He asked, pretending to be hurt by Beth’s words. Beth scoffed.
“Puh-lease!” She said. She grabbed his arm and yanked him out if the seat. The driver saw them in the rear-view mirror.
“Hey, no standing on the bus!” He said. Beth shot him a look, looked back at Paul and Carmen one last time, and then sat back in her seat. The driver shook his head. “Don’t make me get out of this chair girl.” He said. Beth rolled her eyes. The mother shook her head and glanced at Leslie.
“What is a young woman like you doing traveling alone at night?” She asked. Leslie closed her notebook.
“I’m on my way to California,” she said. The woman nodded.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why?”
“I have a gig up there,” Leslie said. Andrea laughed.
“You have a pig?” He asked. Leslie smiled.
“No, a gig,” she said, “I’m going to play in a small concert.” The mother took another sip of her tea.
“Oh, wow,” she said, sounding hardly interested, “I bet your parents are proud of you.” Leslie gave a weak smile.
“Yeah,” she said.

Leslie tuned her guitar on stage at The Sapphire Tear, a restaurant in a northern California. Her bus had finally arrived about an hour ago, and she was already on stage for her gig. She cleared her throat.
“This song is called Greyhound, Greyhound,” she said. She started playing.

Greyhound, greyhound
Moves along without a sound
Its passengers hope not to be found
Tonight on the Greyhound

The driver drives without any sleep
The passengers sleep without a peep
On time, he must keep
Tonight on the Greyhound

At a steady pace, on down the road
A family travels, with a story untold
A couple runs from a debt they owed
Tonight on the Greyhound

There’s a man holding an old ragdoll,
There’s a woman and her brother Paul,
There’s a girl with bags from a local mall,
Tonight on the Greyhound

There’s a young mother drinking a bottle of tea,
And her boy’s eyes look around, trying to see what he can see
And, of course, there’s you and me,
Tonight on the Greyhound

We continue on, into the night
See the sunrise, we just might
Tomorrow we’ll fly that homemade kite
But not tonight…

Greyhound, Greyhound,
Moves a long without a sound
Its passengers hope to start anew
When we reach the next town