The Road to Vonnie's Party

                Larry Couchmanos had just turned 16, which, in Ohio, meant he was of age to get his driver’s license.  Larry tried for it as soon as he could.  He, however, had not driven prior to receiving his temporary license, therefore was not the best driver.  While trying for his license, he asked his friend Drew, who had his license, to take him to New York.  Drew’s parents would not allow him since he had only had his license for less than a year.  Larry wanted his license so he could drive to the city he loved the most, New York.  He had memorized the way from the countless trips with his parents but now he wanted to do it on his own.  Larry wanted to go to New York to see his cousin Kera, whom he was very close with.  Even after receiving his license, Larry did not go because his parents wouldn’t let him either.  He still, however, kept as e-mail the directions to Kera’s house in Brooklyn. 

                Three years later, on May 18^th, Larry was leaving New York after completing his first year at New York University (NYU).  While at NYU, he had established a close circle of friends.  The members were Vonnie, Alyssa, Janilsa, Gia, Tatiana, Shruti, Larry and Boris.  Larry was closest with Vonnie.  About a week before Larry’s mom picked him up from NYU, he had planned to return to New York for Vonnie’s birthday on July 1st.  He, however, did not want to tell her because he wanted it to be a surprise.  July 1^st would be on a Tuesday that year and was also Larry’s parents’ anniversary. Larry’s mom, however, informed him that she was going to Europe for her 25^th Anniversary and wanted to take the kids.  Larry pleaded with her not to for reasons he thought obvious.  Within a day, his mom abandoned her plans of taking the kids.

                A week after Larry had left NYU, he found himself in Chicago.  It is here he received a phone call from Vonnie.  Vonnie said, “I need you to do me a favor”

Larry responded, “What’s that”

“Come to New York for my birthday, we’re having a party on the fifth”

“Vonnie, I have been planning that since the day I left, I’ll be there.”

                Vonnie was happy with this news but when the conversation ended, Larry was upset that he ruined the surprise.  He knew he had to fix it.  During the conversation, he mentioned his parents were going on their 25^th anniversary and had contemplated taking them.  He figured he would wait a little before telling Vonnie he couldn’t go.  A couple days later, Larry was talking to his friend Tatiana.  When Larry had left NYU, he had a small crush on Tatiana but it never materialized into anything.  Larry told Tatiana how he ruined the surprise with Vonnie.  Tatiana said, “You stupid, you can’t keep a secret, if that were me, I would have been able to do it.”

                Larry wasn’t really expecting that reaction but he was okay with it.  In the days following the conversation, Larry called Vonnie and told her he couldn’t come because his mom wanted to take the kids on their 25^th anniversary.  Vonnie was saddened but she understood.  Larry also told Tatiana he would not be able to make it, but inside he knew he was planning the biggest surprise of his life. 

                As the day got closer, Vonnie informed people about her party, including Larry.  Larry had used map quest to find out how to get to her apartment.  He even asked her if she lived by the I-80 (the highway Larry was familiar with to get to New York).  Vonnie said, “Yea”

Larry responded, “Is it on the street after the highway?”

“No you have to turn a couple times but I don’t want to get into it.”

“What exit is it?”

“Why”

“I take 80 to get to New York and I just want to have some idea how close it is”

“Exit 72”

Larry didn’t push because he didn’t want to make it too obvious.  The directions he had talked about an I-95, but he didn’t want to take that.  Turns out, unbeknownst to Larry, I-80 turns to I-95 as one approaches the George Washington Bridge.  He, however, learned this before his trip.

As the date got even closer, Vonnie sent an e-mail to everyone inviting them to the party and informing them it would be on the fourth rather than the fifth at around 7:00PM.  At the end she put “P.P.S. Larry and Shruti, if you’re planning on surprising me, it’s exit 72”

This scared Larry because he thought Vonnie figured out he was coming to surprise her.  He called her up and pretended to be angry for making him feel bad that he wasn’t coming.  Vonnie was annoyed because she meant it as a joke.  The purpose was to make he and Shruti (who lived in London) feel guilty and come but Larry was taking it too seriously.  Larry’s fake anger was still part of his plan to try to eliminate from Vonnie’s mind any hope that he was coming.

Throughout this time, Larry had mentioned to his friends in conversations that he didn’t like Cleveland and wanted to return to New York.  He thought that one of them would figure it out that he was coming, but that was just his pessimistic thinking.  He had missed Janilsa’s birthday on May 30, but did call her.  To make up for this, he was going to bring a present for her a well as Vonnie.  Two weeks before leaving, he told one of the managers of his work that he couldn’t work on July 4^th weekend (He had decided to just go for the weekend because being there during the week would conflict with his friends’ work schedule). 

A week before the party, Larry was talking to Tatiana while trying to find a club.  He got off the phone with her because he was kind of lost.  What Larry hadn’t realized was the next day he was supposed to leave for Hawaii with his parents (they had changed their plans from Europe to Hawaii where they honeymooned).  The next day, Larry saw Gia online.  While they were talking, Larry’s parents told him he had to take them to the airport so Larry sent Gia a message saying, “I gtg, I’m going to Hawaii, talk to you when I get back.”

Before Larry could sign off, Gia typed “What?” since she didn’t know he was going to Hawaii.  Larry then blocked everyone in the circle since it may look suspicious that he was online when he was supposed to be in Hawaii.  During this time, Larry’s friend from Pittsburgh called him and invited him and his friend RYAN (who was going out with the girl) to come to Pittsburgh.  Larry figured that he would be closer to New York, so he would take the trip on Thursday, the day before he had to be at Vonnie’s.

On the night of June 30, after midnight so it was technically July 1, Larry called Vonnie and wished her a happy birthday and informed her that he was in Hawaii.  Given this, Vonnie cut the conversation short to save Larry money.  Tuesday night, Larry called again because he wanted to talk to her.  They talked for a while and Larry lied about how beautiful Hawaii was, despite not being there.  Vonnie said that she would call him from her party on Friday because he would be missed.

That Thursday, he talked to a mutual friend of his and Vonnie’s named AJ.  AJ also lived in Fort Lee but was not coming to Vonnie’s party.  Given this, Larry told her about his plan to surprise her and sent her the directions to see if they were accurate.  AJ added to look for the skyview hotel next to Vonnie’s apartment rather than the street name since there wouldn’t be a sign.  The next day, he embarked on his first stop on his road trip.

Larry left for Pittsburgh by himself since his friend couldn’t make it.  Before he left, He had the directions, which started “turnpike to 79.”  He had gotten them from his friend in Pittsburgh.  Larry tried his one route to the highway that leads to the Ohio turnpike but it was closed for construction.  Luckily, he knew another route.  After traveling on the Ohio turnpike until it ended, the highway split to 76 toward Pittsburgh and 80.  Every time Larry had ever taken the turnpike till it ended he got on 80 (it’s the highway that leads to New York).  Since “76” was not in the directions, he ignored his common sense and took 80.  After driving a while, he realized he had made a mistake so he was going to call his friend.  She wasn’t picking up her phone so he called RYAN for the number of the other friend in Pittsburgh (RYAN’s girlfriend is Connie and Connie’s friend is Kristen).  For some reason, Larry’s phone wouldn’t connect with Kristen’s.  Larry thought of someone who would know; his friend’s sister that went to school in Pittsburgh.  He called his friend’s house and asked for her but she was already in Pittsburgh with no cell phone.  Luckily, his friend’s dad knew how to get back on track from 80 and told Larry.  Larry had already passed the exit that he needed so he took 80 back west and recrossed the Pennsylvania border to go back to the turnpike and get on 76, which made him cross the border for a third time.  From there the directions were good and he got to her house with minimal problems. That day they went by a swimming pool where Connie worked, ate Indian food, and saw Legally Blond 2 before returning home to sleep.

On an hour and half of sleep, Larry woke up ready to leave.  The three of them slept over Kristen’s house because Kristen, Connie and Kristen’s family were going somewhere at 8:00AM.  Larry had breakfast with them and got directions back to 80 so he could go to New York.  Kristen’s mom packed a lunch for him so he could eat on the road.  Larry realized that 79 and 80 intersect and he didn’t have to backtrack the day before.  It meant nothing now, it was actually better because now he didn’t have to back track to get back to 80.  While driving the 80 miles on 79, he encountered a big rainstorm that turned out to only last approximately 10 minutes.  When he got to 80, however, he accidentally went west.  He didn’t realize it for another 15 miles when he saw a sign for Youngstown, which is in Ohio.  He got off at the last exit before the border and went back East. He drove on 80 all the way to Fort Lee stopping only once for gas.  He ate his lunch at 12:00 and would be getting to Fort Lee at 3:00PM.  He called AJ and told her this since she had mentioned that she wanted him to call when he got to Fort Lee.  As he neared Fort Lee, his habitual route to New York caused another mistake.  Since his family never stopped in New Jersey but went straight to the George Washington (GW) bridge, they always took the express route; so did Larry.  The problem was exit 72 is on the local route forcing Larry to get off at exit 73.  Since he didn’t know how to get to Vonnie’s from that exit, he frantically called AJ, who was not answering her phone due to being in a mall.  Larry stopped at a gas station and asked some Koreans where North Ave. is.  He was told to ask the Koreans at the car wash next door.  They didn’t know either but they invited Larry to look at a map.  Larry searched but some of the streets were worn out and he couldn’t find North Ave.  He then decided to go across the street to a strip mall.  He walked across to check what intersection he was on to familiarize himself with where he was. On his way, he saw a police car and he stopped and asked, “Do you know where North Ave. is?”

“Yes” the cop replied

“Thank God”

She laughed and said, “Thank God, what you want to do is take this street right here”

“Hold on, can I run and get a pen”

The cop pulled out a small notebook and wrote down the directions.  It turned out he was just minutes away from Vonnie’s apartment, which made him doubt that the Koreans didn’t know where it was.  He got in his car and followed the directions and pulled into Vonnie’s apartment building.  There were no visitor parking spots available so he parked at the skyview hotel next door.  He called Vonnie to make sure she was home.  Vonnie answered the phone “Halloa”

“Hey Vonnie what’s up?”

“Not much, just cooking for the party, how’s Hawaii”

“Beautiful”

“Are you really in Hawaii or are you here?” she said out of wishful thinking. 

This scared Larry but Vonnie really did believe he was in Hawaii.  He told her that he was actually in Hawaii.  While he was talking on the phone he was walking toward her apartment.  When he walked in, he told Vonnie, he’d call her back.  Vonnie got off the phone, called Janilsa and then went on the terrace to have a cigarette.  Meanwhile, Larry approached the doormen.  It had been seven hours and eight minutes since he left Pittsburgh.  He had been thinking for a while how he was going to get past the doormen. His ideas were to have them tell Vonnie she has a package that she needs to pick up, or have the doorman escort them up.  At first they offered to call and say she had a visitor.  Due to Larry calling her a couple seconds ago, he was worried she would become suspicious.  Then one of the doormen offered to take him up.  Larry readily agreed and they went up while the doorman explained to Larry why he couldn’t just let him up alone.  Larry knew the reasons, they got to Vonnie’s apartment and the doorman knocked on the door.  Vonnie’s mother answered it.  At first, Larry thought he had the wrong apartment, for he had never met Vonnie’s mother.  He asked, “Is Vonnie here?”

She responded, “Yes, Yvonne!”

Larry walked in and saw Vonnie with her back to him on the terrace.  For about a month and half, he had been thinking what the first thing to say was.  He thought of “Who takes their kids on their second honeymoon” or “Vonnie, did you honestly think I’d miss your party?”  But now that he was there, there was only one thing that seemed appropriate, “Halloa”

Larry had been imagining what her reaction would be.  He had come up with white face and a hug most likely with all four of her limbs.  Larry underestimated it though.  Vonnie’s face did go white with surprise and her mouth opened in a gasp.  She threw her cigarette over the railing and hugged Larry with all four limbs making a noise only a human can make when extremely excited.  She then grabbed Larry’s arm and began jumping up and down repeatedly screaming with delight and hugged him repeatedly.  Larry tried to sit her down and explain his adventure up until then but he was being unrealistic.  Larry had had a month and half to count down the days to seeing Vonnie, the excitement of being back in New York and being with all his friends.  He knew that only car trouble would stop him.  Vonnie, however, had given up almost all hope that Larry was coming, the excitement Larry spread over a month culminated in one moment for Vonnie with an added dosage of shock because she had just talked to someone she believed to be in Hawaii and now that someone is standing in front of her pleasantly surprising her.  Vonnie pinched Larry to make sure that he was really there in the flesh.  The few words she could get out consisted of, “Oh my God I can’t believe you’re here” and “This is the best birthday ever.”  She calmed enough to introduce him to her mom officially and they left to go to the store to get carbonated beverages (pop).  Earlier that day Vonnie was shopping for food and drinks for certain individuals coming.  She remembered contemplating to buy pop but didn’t since Larry wasn’t coming (Larry drank pop religiously).  They got back and Larry showered at the request of Vonnie and her mom.  It wasn’t that Larry stunk, it was just that he had driven seven hours and he needed a shower.  Although Larry was skeptical, the shower made him feel a million times better and more refreshed.

About an hour after Larry arrived, the rest of the circle came at once.  Larry was on the terrace and Vonnie told him to hide, so Larry went into Vonnie’s room.  What Vonnie had in mind was to hide on the terrace.  Vonnie lured everyone to her room and Larry lay on the bed and when they all were able to see the whole body of the figure in the bed, they froze.  Alyssa’s eyes started accumulating tears.  They were all stunned stiff, and Janilsa was the first to say something, “Yo What’s up?”

That snapped everyone out of the shocked state and began talking with Larry.  Within five minutes it seemed like Larry had seen them every day for the past month.  It just felt right that they were all together again.  The party consisted of home cooked meals, socializing and watching the fire works.  After midnight, everyone at the party (it wasn’t just the circle but a few other people as well) went to a lounge to drink some more and dance.  Larry and Vonnie had a discussion on whether or not Larry was going to go (Larry hates dancing).  Finally Larry said, “Vonnie, what do you want?”

Vonnie responded, “I want you to go”

“Then I’m going”

“What do you want though?”

“It doesn’t matter what I want, it’s your birthday, it only matter what you want”

Turns out Larry had a great time at the lounge.  At first he was just drinking and didn’t get up to dance.  Then he remembered a time in the city when he briefly danced with some friends but then felt too stupid so he sat down.  Not long after that, Vonnie asked him to dance and he refused her because he didn’t want to feel stupid again.  Because of his action then he wanted to make it up to her now.  Plus, he didn’t want to be a party pooper after driving seven hours and most importantly, its Vonnie’s birthday, she wants it, she’d like it.  Given this, Larry got up and asked Vonnie to teach him to dance.  Larry ended up dancing with Alyssa, Tatiana and Vonnie’s sister as well that night and was very sweaty and drunk when the night was over.

                Everyone returned from the lounge at about 3:30AM and sat on the terrace and talked.  Larry passed out on the lawn chair so Vonnie led him to her room to sleep.  At 6:00AM everyone that wasn’t sleeping over left and those who were (Boris, Janilsa, Tatiana, Alyssa, and Vonnie) went to bed.  Vonnie slept with Larry in her bed and Boris, Tatiana and Alyssa slept in Vonnie’s parents’ bed while Janilsa slept on the couch. 

                7:00AM, Janilsa’s brother called because he wanted the car.  The phone was in Vonnie’s room so it woke both her and Larry up but Vonnie took the initiative to wake Janilsa and walk her out.  After Vonnie got back she went back to sleep.  Larry got up at 8:30, Larry tried to go back to sleep but at 10:30 realized it was helpless so he went on the terrace and just daydreamed.  Larry was a writer so this came easy.  It was here he realized how great of friends he had in New York.  He had one friend like the circle in Cleveland but he was always working.  Larry felt most comfortable with the people in Vonnie’s apartment than with anyone else.  He also thought about how happy it made him feel that he made Vonnie so ecstatic.  Because Larry is a pessimist, and happiness doesn’t come easy to him, he immediately accused himself of being egotistical.  He thought that talking about how happy he was, rather than just how ecstatic Vonnie was, was egotistical.  At noon, everyone else woke up. 

                As they had done on a few occasions the morning after a party, Alyssa, Tatiana, Vonnie and Boris made breakfast.  Larry can’t cook so he stayed out of the kitchen.  After breakfast they relaxed then went to Vonnie’s pool.  After the pool they changed, picked up AJ, and went for dinner at a diner where their friend George worked.  They then dropped AJ off to be with her friend while the rest of them played pool.  They finished playing pool at about 9:00.  They went back to Vonnie’s so Larry could get his stuff.  Due to a minor conflict between Vonnie and her parents, Larry couldn’t spend another night there, so he was going to stay with Boris.  Before leaving, Larry gave Vonnie a long hug in the parking lot of her building.  Vonnie’s friend Julia was taking Tatiana home and Vonnie was going with them.  Larry, Boris, and Alyssa left to see a movie.  They tried going to Manhattan but couldn’t find parking before the movie started.  They went to Queens, where Larry’s driving was extraordinary bad for reasons unknown.  They hung out at Alyssa’s a while until the 12:30 showing of Terminator three.  It was sold out when they got there, so they bought tickets for Charlie’s Angels and snuck into Terminator.  Afterwards, Larry took Alyssa home.  Larry stopped in front of her apartment and got out to hug her good bye.  Larry was blocking the road but there were no cars.  Alyssa said, “Now be safe driving; you psycho”

Larry took this as Alyssa not thinking he to be a good driver.  He asked her this and Alyssa grunted and shook her hand indicating “descent” Larry thought she was being nice.  Larry left and drove to Boris’s and arrived at 3:10AM and went to sleep. 

                Larry woke up at 8:00 and ate a lot of cherries.  Boris lived less than five minutes from Kera so he wanted to go over there.  He wanted to go for two reasons, one to see his Aunt, and the other to fulfill what he’s always wanted to since he was 16….drive to Kera’s by himself.  He did and had breakfast there.  Kera was not there but Larry talked to his Aunt and Uncle over breakfast.  Larry then got ready to head back to Cleveland at 11:00AM.  When he left, he called Vonnie because he left a videotape at her apartment.   Her dad answered and informed him that she was sleeping and to call back in two hours.  Larry said to himself, “We’ll see where I am in two hours” implying that it may take him that long to get to Fort Lee.

                Larry ran into trouble when he went through the battery tunnel and saw a sign that said “FDR right”  Larry said to himself, “Well that was easy”

                Turns out he jinxed himself because he turned right but it was not on the FDR.  He continued straight on that road, which turned out to be 12^th Ave., until he asked someone on 44^th street where the FDR is.  He told Larry to take 42^nd street all the way East.  Larry thanked him and did exactly that.  He did think the man lied to him since the GW Bridge is on the west side of Manhattan.  Because of this, he asked a cab driver, but got the same response, except the cab told him to go up first Ave.  While Larry was at a light a black man cleaned his windshield.  Larry gave him four quarters basically because Larry hated change and looked for excuses to get rid of it.  As Larry went straight, he approached a street “United Nations” Larry thought it should have said First Ave. but it didn’t so he tried to keep going.  The directions were to turn left and head north, but the street dead-ended into traffic going one-way south.  Larry saw a smaller street that headed north so took it without looking where it led.  A couple feet and Larry was in a closed port surrounded by poles and ramps.  Larry tried to maneuver his car out but when backing up checking his mirrors to not hit a pole, he heard the sound of metal on metal, for he hit the ramp that was before the pole that his rear view mirror couldn’t see.  This killed his nerves for his drive and didn’t even bother to check what damage was done but he thought the worst.  He followed the street south and turned when he could and got back on First Ave.  Turns out it turned into United Nations at 42^nd.  Larry found the FDR and took it to the GW Bridge.  For the first time, Larry enjoyed leaving Manhattan, only because he had sustained an accident there.  He had been driving for an hour and half, a half hour before Vonnie was supposed to wake up. 

                Larry decided to not stop by Vonnie’s and keep going.  He called a half hour later because he needed to be calmed down.  He did get a hold of Vonnie and they talked sporadically because Larry’s phone would lose connection every now and then.  He was right; talking to Vonnie calmed him down.  Larry stopped for gas in New Jersey, where it’s illegal to pump your own.  Larry’s gas meter said he had a little less than a quarter tank so about 13 gallons are needed to be put in.  The attendant put 14.6 and Larry’s car only holds 15 gallons.  Larry was worried that all of a sudden his gas meter had broken and was thankful he didn’t run out of gas, for a light didn’t even come on.

                Larry had minor difficulty finding 80 again but did eventually and traveled toward Ohio.  With about 167 miles left in Pennsylvania, Larry became extremely tired.  He promised himself he would stop at the next rest stop after mile 155, because that’s halfway through Pennsylvania.  Getting there saw him dose off for a couple seconds twice and almost end up in a different lane.  Finally he got to the rest stop after mile 155 and went to the bathroom.  His seat was already fully back when he got to his car (he did it before getting out) and he set his watch for 10 minutes agreeing that if he wasn’t asleep in 10 minutes, he’d leave.  He kept telling himself that his tiredness was psychological.  Ten minutes passed, he didn’t fall asleep so he left.  Somehow, the 10 minute relaxation rejuvenated him and he was fine the rest of the way.  He ran into a rainstorm toward the end of Pennsylvania but all in all he was okay. 

With less than 20 miles left he saw his gas meter go to quarter tank.  Remembering his previous experience he was worried that it was lying so he looked for gas.  He saw a sign that said “gas” next exit.  He thought it weird because normally it has the names of the gas stations near that exit, but he took it anyway.  When he got to the gas station, however, he was upset it was BP (BP fuel ruins the engines of cars) so he drove down the road looking for another one.  When all he saw was farms he turned back and decided to go with BP just this once.  When he got to the station, however, every single pump was out of order.  This shocked Larry and he drove around it thinking there had to be one that was operative…nope.  He got back on 80 and saw another generic gas sign at the last exit of Pennsylvania, which happened to be the same one he got off when he realized he was going west when he should’ve been going East.  He got off thinking that he turned around at a gas station the first time he took the exit.  After driving for at least 20 minutes, he saw nothing but farms and an occasional factory.  He turned back convinced he would run out of gas.  He went to Ohio and promised himself he would only get off if it said the company.  The first exit in Ohio had a shell gas station so he took the exit and stopped at Shell.  This Shell, however, was for trucks only.  Looking around, he saw another Shell station a half block away and figured that was for cars. The first pump he came to was Diesel so he asked someone where regular was, turns out he just had to pull up but after his gas experience, he couldn’t be sure.  He filled up and checked his car for damage…there was none.  He then went back to 80 again.

Driving on 80 he saw a sign for the Ohio Turnpike, but when he came to the exit the sign didn’t repeat so he didn’t take it.  He got nervous though so got off at the next exit, took 80 E, got off again and went back to west to take that exit.  Five minutes later, he realized he had made the same mistake he made the first time he was the driver while coming back from New York.  He took the alternate Ohio Turnpike.  He didn’t feel like backtracking again so he kept following signs, always nervous about whether he was doing the right thing.  Last time his mom helped him through the mistake but she wasn’t in the car.  He thought it a good sign that the sun was in front of him since the sun sets in the west.  About two to three hours later he found a highway he recognized and cheered it.  He then went home.  It had been nine hours and 43 minutes since he left Brooklyn.  He ended his entire trip after traveling 1273 miles. 

Was it worth it for Larry?  Driving 1273 mile, getting lost, taking alternate routes, getting in an accident, was it all worth it?  Was it shady of Larry to lie to Vonnie?  If you ask Larry, even if he got so lost and ended up in California having to backtrack back, it would have been worth it.  He finally did something he wanted to do for three years.  In doing so he pleasantly shocked his best friend and made her birthday a little better.  Anyone that doubts this trip was worth it cannot imagine the look of happiness on Vonnie’s face.  To see a friend that happy because of a simple act, justifies lying, and justifies any distance traveled.  Larry would do anything for his friends.  He would do it again in a heartbeat because he loves Vonnie and the rest of the circle.  He will see them again in two months or maybe before depending on if they visit him….or…Larry goes to New York again.