THE GRAND TOUR OF OKLAHOMA
Chapter Twenty The bus parked outside in the yard was a white school bus that was no longer in service. The Doctor, Rose and Jenny climbed up into it and chose seats near the back. Jenny and Rose sat together while the Doctor sat in front of them and turned so he could see and talk to them. One by one the others filed into the bus and Jenny looked at them. "Hmm," she said when everyone was finally inside. "What is it?" the Doctor said. "Except for us and Alice, the others are Indian. Not that that's a bad thing, just making an observation." "Well, this is an Indian church, yeah?" the Doctor said. "Yeah but a lot of the homeless who come here are black and Caucasian. They welcome everyone, not just Indians. Come to think of it, I think we're the only homeless people on this trip. They invited everyone last Thursday but I guess people don't feel like traveling to Ponca City. I've never been and I get tired of Oklahoma City. I've only been here and Edmond so far. Actually, they have a bus that goes from here to Edmond. It's free and it runs on the weekdays. It's a 30 minute ride and then the buses in Edmond are all free so I go to their Wal-Mart when I have food stamps and get something to eat there." "The buses are free there but not here?" the Doctor said. "Yeah, I think Edmond is mainly populated with rich people who can afford to keep their buses free. Anyway, if you need food, you can ride it and take their buses and come back, all for free." "Wow, we really will save money with all this advice," the Doctor said to Rose. "So, when do you go to Edmond?" "I can go Monday if you want to come with me," Jenny said, shrugging. "I got at 6:30 in the morning and it gets me back about 9:15 when the library opens." The bus started up and everyone gasped when the driver started to pull out and the inside began to rattle. Rose felt her teeth rattling while the bus pulled into an alley beside the church. "Could do with a better bus," Rose said as the bus kept on rattling while it sped up. "I hope it's not like this the entire trip," Jenny said. "This is annoying." The Doctor heard the other people making comments about the rattling and he knew it wasn't just them. But after awhile, they got used to it and didn't notice it anymore while they chatted. While they talked, they occasionally looked out the windows. Once they left the city, the scenery was rolling hills, red earth and occasionally grazing cattle. "Kinda boring," Jenny said while they looked out the window. "Yes, I've seen better scenery," the Doctor said. "It's not very remarkable." He looked over his shoulder when he felt the bus slow down and they watched while they pulled into a gas station with a convenience store. "We're gonna get gas and take a break," Alice said. "So if you want to use the restroom or get something to eat, you can." "Thank you, I have got to pee, this bus has shaken my bladder to bits," Jenny said, getting up. Rose and the Doctor laughed and got up with her. They got off the bus and headed into the store. When they were inside, Rose stopped the Doctor while Jenny went towards the restroom. The Doctor gave her a puzzled look while she guided him over to a couple of refrigerators. "I like her," Rose said to him. "So do I, she's a sweet girl," he said. "I think we should tell her the truth about who we are," Rose said. "I think she could handle it." The Doctor considered that. "Doctor, if we're gonna store her backpack with ours, we have to explain about the TARDIS," Rose said. "I doubt if she'll let us snatch her backpack and run away with it. I don't think she'll run and tell everyone who we are, she seems like a trustworthy person." "Yes, I agree, she's looking out for us so far and you're right, I did offer to store her backpack so I will have to tell her about us. We'll wait till she's alone with us though, I won't tell her on the bus with all those people sitting around us." Rose nodded and they reached into one of the refrigerators and got a couple of bottled Cokes while Jenny came back out of the restroom. The Doctor heard her ask the clerk if they took food stamps and when he told her they did, she walked back to the refrigerators. She smiled when she saw her friends. "I'm glad they stopped here, I was hankering for a Coke too," she said, reaching for one. "Jenny, let me pay for it, save your food stamps for another time," the Doctor said. "Um," Jenny said. "You don't have to." "I know. But I want to. Call it payment for your information and being nice to us." Jenny nodded and thanked him as she handed him the Coke. The Doctor took Rose's Coke as well and they walked up to the cashier together. They paid for it and walked back out to the bus. They made small talk and sipped their drinks while everyone else got back on and the driver started the bus up again. They listened to Jenny talk about living in New York and some of her adventures. She told them she was 23 and worked in a couple of warehouses until they laid her off and closed down the warehouse. She had been trying to find work but wasn't successful and eventually was evicted from her home. Her family and friends tried to help her but the help ran out and eventually she decided to just travel and see if she could find work in other states. But, she told them, people all over the US were fighting for jobs and more and more good paying jobs were becoming scarce so even if she had found one, she doubted it could have been a living wage. She was trying to trust in God and have faith that things would turn around but she told them it was hard sometimes since people in her situation faced a lot of negativity. "Not to mention there's a catch-22 to all this," she said to them. "You have to have a house to have a job but you need a job to have a house and the shelters are crappy and there are many people who run them who aren't interested in helping anyone. All they care about is the money the state gives them and skimming from the donations. Not everyone is like that but I've been in several shelters and most of them are soul killing places. I'd rather be on the street where I'm free to move around and people aren't trying to control my movements and treat me like crap or getting power trips because they're in charge of me and I have to do what they say or get thrown out on my ass. I don't need that aggravation. I'd rather take my chances on the street." The Doctor rubbed the arm that she had put on top of the seat in sympathy and Jenny smiled at that. They gasped when the bus hit a pothole and it jarred them. "Great, now the bus will fall apart on us," Rose said. Jenny sipped her Coke while she looked out at the scenery. "Do you know anything about history?" she suddenly asked the Doctor. She gave Rose an odd look when Rose let out an uncontrolled laugh at that. The Doctor chuckled and Jenny noticed a look that passed between them before the Doctor turned her attention to Jenny. "Sorry, yes, I know a lot about history, I'm a history buff, why?" "They dumped Indians here because the land was barren and not much could be done with it, is that right?" she said, gesturing out the window. "Yes, the red earth wasn't suitable for farming and not much grazing could do done so the army moved many tribes here figuring the white people would never want it." "I was just thinking about that because it seems like the scenery is really boring and bland," Jenny said. "There are a lot of Indians here with drinking problems and I think it got started because what else could you do here on these reservations but accept government handouts." "That and the idea was to destroy their way of life so they would rely on government handouts," the Doctor said. "Most of the Indians I know are either drunks or have had drinking problems," Jenny said. "Which is sad because I love learning about other cultures and I love Native American cultures and it's sad to see them reduced to spending their days drinking on street corners and in abandoned buildings because there's nothing else to do. And some of them place the blame on whites and that gives them an excuse for their drinking problem since the white man is supposedly to blame for them being drunks. Some black people do that too and blame whites for oppressing them when really they're the ones who are holding themselves back. I hate to say it but there are many hillbillies around here of all races who don't have much of an education and think you're weird if you have any intelligence. I've heard people criticize others before because they read books or they're smart. Not to mention trying to speak to some of the people who do have alcohol and drug problems and having them look at you like you're speaking a foreign language. Then you have to repeat yourself, even if it's something simple and sometimes they still look at you with a blank look. I'm glad I never did any of that shit because all that drug and drinking destroys your brain." "I agree. I've never done any of that either," the Doctor said. "I've drank on occasion but not to the point I'm lying around with a bottle in my mouth. And I admire people with intelligence. Rose can tell you that." "Yup," she said to Jenny. "He doesn't believe in solving problems with violence, only with your mind and your wits." "That's refreshing," Jenny said to the Doctor. "Glad someone thinks that way and just doesn't jump on someone at the first sign of an insult." "Nah, that's not my style," the Doctor said while Rose nodded in agreement. "And I drink and gotten drunk but not all the time," Rose said. "I've never done drugs and don't smoke. I agree with you about killing the brain cells, I hate trying to talk to people like the ones you described and getting the same blank look. It's sad because some of these people are our age and they're already half gone." "And I know that the reason some of them do it is because they have no hope," Jenny said. "And I sympathize with that but at the same time, I don't cloud my mind with all that and lie around and hope it'll all go away. I'd rather face my problems head on and deal with them so they will go away eventually." The Doctor listened, admiring her more and more. He began to wonder if perhaps she could be persuaded to come with them on the TARDIS. With each passing moment, she sounded more and more like companion material. He figured if they were going to come clean about who they were and she accepted that, he ought to try to convince her to come with them. She was everything he wanted in a companion anyway so it made perfect sense. "Here we are, the Ponca reservation," Alice called out. The Doctor, Rose and Jenny looked out the window. "See, the scenery's still kinda blah," Jenny said, gesturing out the window. "I know we've had a drought here but even so, I have a feeling it'd be blah if there was constant rain." The driver drove on for about twenty minutes before they finally pulled into a small church that was directly off the highway. Once he stopped, everyone got up and filed out of the bus.
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