Half an Inch, page 5

Feeling rather morose because of the balloon escape, we left the city before the streets became choked with cars, aiming for Guaymas. We had forgotten that it was New Year's Eve, and the seaside town was booked by the time we arrived--except for a sleazy hotel on the waterfront with one room left. The old man at the desk handed Harry a key and waved a hand toward the stairs, saying the elevator was out of order. From the looks of the place, I surmised that it probably had been for the last decade. The stairs protested almost as much as we did as we trudged all the way up to the third floor. A single bulb burned in the hallway, not quite hiding the greasy walls and tattered carpet. The door to our room groaned open, releasing a puff of musty air. Two sunken beds, a battered table and one chair furnished the once grand room, its wallpaper now hanging in strips. The sound of running water in the bathroom revealed an overflowing toilet, curiously installed in the shower.
"I'm not staying here," I said.
"Wait a minute. I've been driving all day." Fatigue etched Harry's face.
"If the beds are clean, I guess we can manage somehow. Just don't touch anything." I flipped back a bedspread, disclosing a wrinkled pillowcase that had never met bleach--and a hair."
We looked at each other and, without a word, gathered up our suitcases and walked back down the stairs, Harry stopping to leave the key on the counter.
Farther down the street, lights and music from a restaurant beckoned. The proprietor, brimming with holiday good cheer, made room for us at a table already full of revelers who squeezed together and made us welcome. One of our happy table mates, on an assignment for National Geographic, looked dubious when he heard of our plan to drive on after dinner. He had heard of people driving at night in Mexico, he said, but it wasn't usually done. When the others overheard what we were saying, they all stopped talking for moment and stared at us. But renewed by food and spirits of both kinds and no place to sleep, we decided to take a chance. Time was running out.

The full moon coated the desert in silver, turning it into an imaginary world, but we could only spare a glance. We had to focus on the road.
"I'd rather do this than sleep in the car," I said.
"Sure, if we don't get killed. Didn't you hear that man? Nobody drives in Mexico at night."
"At lease we saw those white rocks in time. They show up better in the dark."
"What about sheep and burros? Have you seen a fence?"
"They're asleep." 
I thought about bandits and the lonely road ahead, hoping they had better things to do than venture into the desert on New Year's Eve.
Staying awake became the main goal. I found sweaters and rolled down the windows. We sang along with the radio and listened to New Years celebrations in New York, Chicago, Denver and Salt Lake City. No cars passed in either direction as the hours dragged on.
"I can't wait to taste a hamburger again." Cindy said, waking from her nap in the back seat.
"Or Mexican. They don't know what real Mexican food tastes like down here."
"There's a Dennys in Tucson." We sighed as one, picturing the gourmet meals served at that suddenly elevated restaurant. We had taken a faster road on the advice of the men at dinner and had hoped to go all the way to that city before stopping.
"We'll never make Tucson," Harry said. "I can't keep my eyes open."
"Let's try for Hermosillo and find a bed. You've been driving almost 24 hours--and you won't let me drive. Your boss won't care if you're a day late."
It was still New Year's Eve, but barely, when we reached Hermosillo. The third hotel we tried had one room left--with twin beds. Cindy and I clung to the edges of one and Harry fell into the other. 
Dawn pinked the sky but people still celebrated outside as well as in the hotel, running up and down the halls, pounding on doors, shouting and setting off firecrackers, and somewhere, canon fire--but nothing that would keep us awake.
As my eyes closed, I found myself smiling, for the celebration seemed a perfect ending to our holiday in Mexico. And in only a few more inches, we'd be home.