cleveland, huh? cleveland is a great town, but pittsburgh is better, if you ask me.
i have never been to pittsburgh, johnny said.
never been there? but you are going there?
yes, i am.
visiting, huh? you got relatives in cleveland?
my grandfather.
who is your grandfather?
daniel boone.
hey, he’s my grandfather too! the truck driver exclaimed.
that’s quite a coincidence.
not so much. everybody has a grandfather.
more than one, johnny added.
exactly, the driver agreed.
johnny closed his eyes and wished he was anywhere but riding down the highway with this fellow.
when he opened them, it was night.
the lights of a city shone up ahead. was it pittsburgh?
the truck passed a brightly lit rest stop, with a big burger king at its center.
the burger king had big windows and johnny could see the happy diners eating their burgers and fries and sipping their cokes and smoothies.
you fell asleep, the driver said with a friendly laugh.
johnny sat up. so, where are we? he asked.
we are coming into indianapolis.
indianapolis? wasn’t that further west than pittsburgh, where the driver said he was going? and further west than cleveland, where johnny had said he was going?
i thought you were going to pittsburgh, johnny said.
no, i just said i would leave leave you at pittsburgh, if you wanted to go to cleveland.
so, why didn’t you?
you just looked so peaceful, i figured you did not really want to go to cleveland.
but i really did want to go to cleveland, johnny protested weakly.
i don’t think so. i don’t think you want to go anywhere, or know where you are going. and i don’t daniel boone was your grandfather. daniel boone was my grandfather. and he settled this country, and made it great.
johnny did not know what to say to that.
they had passed the rest stop and the burger king, and the lights of indianapolis - or of the city the driver said was indianapolis - were receding behind them.
so where we are going? johnny asked.
you will find out, the driver said.
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