Desert Slam by Steven Barwin

Author:Steven Barwin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459813748
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2016-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

With the roof down and the music up, we drove in Cristina’s silver VW Jetta.

From the backseat, Ruby shouted, “What’s Village Fest?”

“It’s a fantastic street fair where you can shop, eat and dance your heart out,” Cristina explained as we drove through the descending darkness. “You’ll soon see that Palm Springs is the real desert experience.”

“Because?” I asked.

“There are fewer snowbirds and retired people. It’s more hip.”

Ruby leaned forward. “Are we hipsters?”

Cristina took the Palm Springs exit. “We sure are!”

The moment we entered the city, the number of people and cars overwhelmed me. It took a few laps around the block to find a parking spot. Outside the car, Cristina grabbed our hands, and we stood in a tight circle on the sidewalk.

“Friends from NYC and Vancouver. We are gathered tonight for one thing, and one thing only. After all we’ve been through…after our newfound friendship…it’s time to celebrate. ¿Estás listo para divertirse.”

Ruby and I looked at her.

“Spanish for ‘Are you ready to have fun?’”

“How do I look?” asked Ruby.

“Perfect,” I said. “Yes, we are ready! Let’s go!”

We broke our circle and followed Cristina. We weaved past cars and people onto a very jammed Palm Canyon Drive. The palm-tree-lined road was bumper-to-bumper with people.

Our first stop was dinner. Cristina stopped at a food truck. “So this place is my favorite.”

Tropical Flame ’N’ Grill was scrawled on the side of the truck in bright blues, reds and yellows.

Ruby asked, “What do you get here?”

“Everything’s good. But I usually order the cha-cha chicken.”

Minutes later I was staring down at a bowl of chicken with black beans, brown rice and slaw. “This looks so good!”

“Tastes better! And wait till you see dessert,” Cristina said before taking a big bite.

I dug in. “Tastes incredible!”

“I’m sorry that your holidays were ruined by what happened.”

“It’s okay. I’ve been here lots. It was just bad luck. I still like it here.”

“Well, I brought you here to show you that there’s another side to the condos and golf courses.”

I took another big bite, despite being stuffed. Why? Why not!

“There’s crime everywhere,” Ruby said. “And I’ve seen a lot of it living in New York. And my guess is, there are even more of these crash-for-cash scams there. So please don’t think we don’t like it here.”

“All right. Ready to do some shopping?” Cristina asked.

We followed her along the busy road, weaving around the throngs of people fighting to get a look at the booths. Our first stop was the booth of a woman who made jewelry. The prices were good, so I had to pick a bracelet up for myself, my mom and my grandmother.

“Big spender!” Ruby joked.

“You gotta get gifts for home, right?”

“True.”

Cristina said, “Well, there’s tons more.”

We stopped at a booth full of well-priced silk scarves. A few steps away a magician was doing card tricks. Then there was a guy who made wood chimes. My dad loved those, so I picked one up for him. We were only half a block up the first section, and my feet were sore.

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