I sat in the back of the truck,
squeezed between paper bags full of questionable components _____
that rattled as the truck speed along the road
in the direction of Nurnberg.
We were rerunning the morning route.
_____Warm with the sun,
Gunter's leather jacket lay on my lap.
"Do you want to play twenty questions?"
The familiar sound of his voice
issued from his inside jacket pocket.

I felt for the flat two way communications device, _____
cupped it in my hand, held it to my mouth.
Certainly not," I said. "Where the hell are you?
______I had to hitch a ride with those mutterlaners."

"Obviously," Gunter said. "I'm thinking of something."
There was silence as I stared at receding apple trees.
I remembered the feel of his tongue
moving around inside my mouth in the bathroom.
I hadn't had lunch.
In the cab of the truck,
the mutterlaners were removing salami and cheese
from white butcher paper packages.

_____"Is it mineral?" I asked.

"Of course." His laughter crackled in my palm.

..................................................... home