5
Hell Pie
I arrived in Albuquerque predawn, so I killed a few hours snoozing on a bench in the Alvarado Transportation Center—just another passenger waiting for a connection.
Sometime around 10am, I caught a cab to a used car lot. Thirty minutes and fifteen hundred cash later, I drove off in an old Ford Bronco. It was a beater but ran well.
Ten minutes later I was standing in the UPS store.
The clerk handed back my ID. “Yeah, your shipment came in last night, Mr. Matney. I was here, the boxes are heavy. Really heavy. You’re welcome to use our dolly.” He eyed the sling over my shoulder. “You know what, it’s pretty slow right now. I can help if you want?”
“No, that’s alright. Thanks, though. But I will take you up on that dolly.”
I soon regretted this decision. There were ten boxes,
