Becoming Odyssa - Jennifer Pharr Davis [95]
I decided to stand under the awning for another five minutes, then force myself to hike. But as I looked at my watch to mark the time, I noticed it was May twenty-fifth.
It was my birthday.
There was no way I was doing this on my birthday.
I went back to the front desk to reclaim my room key and returned to bed, where I slept for another two hours. And when I woke up, I called Magic Momma.
She was thrilled to hear that I wasn’t hiking in the nor’easter, and she offered to pick me up after she finished a half-day at work. I agreed, and I was excited to see her, but it still felt odd accepting help from someone I had only met once.
When Magic Momma arrived, she greeted me with a warm hug and reassuring words. I don’t know why I had hesitated to call her or accept her help, because after fifteen seconds in her presence I already felt much better.
I put my gear in her car, which didn’t smell quite so much of hikers as it had in the Shenandoahs, and together we drove over the Tappan Zee Bridge to her home in Stamford, Connecticut.
We talked and laughed the entire way. Magic Momma was the kindest, warmest woman I had ever met, and for the first time in a long time, I felt at ease. When we arrived at the house, Magic Momma positioned me on the couch in her living room with a selection of movies and snacks, and then stationed Tazzy, her affectionate black lab, on the floor beside me. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching romantic comedies and letting Tazzy lick my hand. There is no better medicine than the unconditional love of a black lab.
That night, when Magic Momma’s husband came home, the three of us went out to dinner, and they treated me to a meal at one of the best restaurants in Stamford. Together, we celebrated my birthday with a bowl of pasta, a bottle of red wine, and a chocolate lava cake. There were no tangible gifts to unwrap, but their unexpected kindness and overwhelming hospitality were the best birthday presents that I had ever received.
After dinner, I returned to a strange house in an unfamiliar part of the country with people I hardly knew, but I felt completely at home. My opinions of humanity had traveled on a roller coaster that week, but because of Magic Momma’s compassion, my faith in people had not only been restored, it had been improved.
The next morning, Magic Momma asked me if I wanted to go back to the trail, but she wasn’t talking about Bear Mountain state Park. She was talking about driving down to northern New Jersey to surprise Mooch and Nightwalker.
Magic Momma and the newly named Mr. Magic both decided to take a day off from work, pack up the car with food and drinks, and drive down to find the boys. Magic Momma knew the boys’ location because they planned to receive a mail drop that day. Mooch and Nightwalker didn’t have a clue we were coming, and they had no idea that Magic Momma had picked me up off the trail. So when we jumped out from behind the car to greet them, they were surprised to see us all, especially me.
They had heard about what happened at Sunrise Mountain, but they didn’t mention it. And they never asked why I was with the Magics; they both knew Magic Momma well enough to figure that out on their own. Instead, they each gave me a huge bear hug, and then we picked up right where we left off.
“Odyssa, I’ve been meaning to tell you this since we split up, but you stink!” Mooch said. “In fact, I think you smell worse than most of the guys out here. I mean, you smell okay now, but when I gave you a hug at the end of the Shenandoahs, it nearly knocked me out. And I’m glad you’re here, because I’ve been waiting four hundred miles to tell you that.”
“Thanks, Mooch,” I said. “I’ll try to work on that. How’s the butt rash?”
Everyone laughed. It was the first time I had felt lighthearted in days. Together at the roadside, we ate and recounted our stories from the mid-Atlantic. Then, when the boys were full,