A Crazy Covid Era Road Trip

There were rumors Uncle Hank had a secret life.

A few months into the pandemic, my barber Ramone called. His uncle died and he needed to drive to El Paso to organize the possessions. He asked if I’d be willing to accompany him. My wife gave me permission provided we wore masks. I wasn’t working due to Covid and this would give me a few days to escape the lockdown blues.

Ramone picked me up early on a Monday. It was a 12-hour drive from Los Angeles and he wanted to do it in one shot. He’d stopped at Whole Foods and filled a cooler with cold cuts, fruit and aloe vera drinks. Highway 10 was nearly empty and he set cruise control to 85 mph. He babbled as he drove, filling me in on his family history.

Ramone grew up with an abusive alcoholic father who disappeared for weeks at a time. During these absences, his father’s brother Henry took over paternal duties. He drove Ramone to school, took him to little league and made sure Ramone and his two sisters did their schoolwork.

Henry was an enigma. He lived alone in a trailer park, had no kids, no friends and no job to speak of. Yet somehow he always had money. When Ramone’s father lost his job, Henry covered the rent for several months. Family rumors abounded that Henry had a secret criminal life. He’d robbed liquor stores as a boy and stolen car stereos during high school. Ramone overheard his father tell his mother that Henry once robbed a bank…