Apres Harrods...

After Harrods the Big Ten lounges in the back of the bus but somehow it is different. Exactly 2/3rds of our troop purchased some sort of long sleeve Etonain Polo shirt. I 'm glad I remembered that It was my mom’s birthday.I know have souvenirs for everyone in my family with the exception of my father.

Harrods is less than five minutes drive from the Gloucester. The afternoon spring light filtering through the side of the window in the color of a shiny British pound. For once one the trip the Big Ten is reticent. For once there are no shenanigans, no tomfooleries. No Daisy Train. No Open Jewels.  The welling ache that started last night. I can tell that more people are feeling it.

It happened sometime last night, after I told Nat Pflderer off for being a bumpkin racist in front of Harmony and co but before we waltzed on staged and performed a pathetic parody of our trip from the Perspective of the Big Ten. It happened in the ballroom, perhaps when Vivian was reciting her cool poem, there is a blankness in  the chest.  A sort of choking of nothingness that continues to choke ad infinitum. Here is a well of hurt. There I an ineffable emptiness, a staid stinging vacuity, a bruise of an organ that does not exist. There is a feeling that soon, all of this will dissipate. That everything I am surrounded by in a seas of blinks will vanquish into molecules and that I will be finding myself in my high school, away from all of this. That it will be like it somehow happened yet never happened. 

That it will be like a dream.

Behind me two girls on our bus are giggling with their hands cupped over their respective lips.

I am looking around the back of the Bus at the Big Ten.  There is Mike from Rhode Island whose brother is also on this sojourn and, through some sort of corporate nepotism went on the trip two years ago. There is Kenny from Connecticut who is incessantly sprouting the eternal verities of the Spin Doctors and whose persona and absent-vowels accent I have grown to admire.  Trevor is from Ohio and goes to school with Sir Charles at the University of Michigan. I am Illinois.  Justin and Chris from Nebraska always seem to sit next to each other even if their is a vacant chair. It is like they are opening the west making room for uncouth Baker  who hails from Colorado as does Eagle Scout Josh and Spencer from Utah. Banky (who reminiscent of Snake Eyes from GI JOE and who none of us know his real name) hails from Montana. Capping it off with Bryan sub-five-minute-mile-my-ass of Anchorage Alaska.

I want to yelp and tell Vivian to stop the bus. I want to tell everyone that this taut multicultural hodgepodge which we are a part of will never happen again no matter what college we attend. Even though we have our foibles and can't seem to walk  

Briefly I think about Mark and his mustard colored shorts  and kick-ass Doc Martens getting exiled from Harrods. I think of how sexy Harmony looks with her autumnal flavored hair pulled back and her glasses on.

I want to tell everyone that tomorrow at appx this time we will have traversed an ocean. I want to make a public service announcement that while this trip of a lifetime is transpiring, we are somehow losing all of this. That we are not only losing our experience of London, of England, of traversing to europe, but we are losing the experiment of newness that is our youth.

We are losing each other.

From behind me I can hear Jim Baker comment to look, Hair looks like he's having deep thoughts a la Greta. I stand up. There are giggles. We are three blocks from the hotel yet, as Vivian has already noted several times into her bus microphone  traffic is a bit on the heavy side, now isn't it? 

Behind me two girls are giggling. Behind me I can see Daisy who looks like she has been crying.

The Big Ten has purportedly still been playing some variation of the Daisy Train. I am ready to ejaculate. I am working my way frd to the mirohone. I have already  stood up. I am ready to swipe the microphone from Vivian. I am ready to make a public announcement on out bus telling everyone

I am looking around almost frantically for a Boots drugstore so that I can purchase the razors that Granpa Salm

There are two girls from Daisy group they are blushing in the back of the bus.

They come into chartered Big Ten territory. Hey are giggling. Both girls are in 8^th grade and are wearing make-up the way junior high girls wears make-up—‘=the way Josh’s girlfriend keeps on slathering copious amounts of blush. One of the girls is one of only five African American’s on this trip.

They are giggling. They are standing in the isle. Jim says for crissakes move, in case you haven’t noticed the Big Ten is having a rather contemplative  folgers coffee lie is short moment.

Both girls have their arms behind their back. They continue to giggle.

“Hi,” They say. I say hello. They giggle some more.

“We just wanted to ask you a question.”

I tell them sure. Baker shoots me a look like tell these girl to get out of here. He says that if any member of our trip was sure to buy tampons inside of Harrods it was more than likely be Harrod.

“The girls are young. They are adorable. I tell the girls pay no attention to Baker, he has a thumb up his ass. The girls giggle even more.”

We just wanted to ask you if you were on television.

I say what, I then say oh.

“Yeah, that’s me. Thanks for watching.” I tell them, playing along.

The girls giggle some more. I wonder if Harmony has enjoyed her intellectual discussion with the purported crème-de la crème of the group.

“Also, we were wondering if we could get our picture taken with you.”

I tell them that is fine. They continue to giggle.

“You were really funny on that skit last night. When you were talking about William Shakespeare You were really funny, I laughed so hard I almost peed.”

I ask the girl where they are from The White is is from Wichita and the black girl is from St. Louis.

“I’m from Peoria. In Central Illinois. It’s only about three hours from St. Louis.”

The girl from Wichita hands the camera to Kevin and asks if  he can take our picture.  We are smiling. The  moment the camera snaps from out of nowhere Baker just his red head into the picture.

“TITS!!!” He says aloud, form the front of the bus I see Frank McNulty turn around. His wife just seems to be fanning herself. Sir Charles admonishes Jim stating that was inappropriate. The Big Ten is laughing.Chris swivels the front of the bus into the Glocucster.

Tonight is our last night in England.

Vivian tells us that we only have a couple more hours to get ready for the farewell Mideval Banquet 
tonight.

As we are exiting the bus Vivian looks like she might She tells us that it is a good idea to start packing since our luggage is to be outside our doorway by the time we wake up in the morning.

The Junior high girls exit the bus first there is some sort of tiff between Spencer and Daisy. Daisy is not even looking in Spencer's direction.

Simone tells all her girls to huddle up outside the bus. She says that once they get to their bedrooms to start packing.

                               

They have a long night ahead of them