Transsiberian Page #2

Uh, about two years.

You ever miss home?

No, I never really had much

of a home to miss.

You ever thought

about getting off the road?

You know, plant a root?

So, uh, you were

helping kids in China?

Yes. Yeah.

Roy's church... our church...

has a... has a program.

It's like a sister-city thing.

That's nice.

It was nice.

It was a lot of work,

but it felt good, you know?

I've never done anything

like that before.

Like what?

You know, lending

a helping hand...

and helping

someone who's down.

Roy's real good like that.

He's... He's good with people.

Da, da, da.

He seems like he would be.

Oh, God.

Okay. Show 'em.

Look at this.

Oh.

A tiger attack

him in Habarask.

There are tigers in Russia?

A lot of Siberian tigers.

He hunts them.

Tony the Tiger attack me.

Hey, look at this.

A deer attacked me.

A deer?

Yeah. John Deere power mower.

The Gulag?

What did he do?

Wrote poetry.

Gulag still exists?

No, but once in

Siberia were many Gulag.

If you want proof

about America,

you take a book.

You want proof about Russia,

take shovel.

They're all buried here.

Scientists, priests,

poets.

There is no God,

and there is no Siberia.

Oil. There is oil.

- To oil.

- To oil.

- Yeah.

Jessie, a little

poison for you?

- I don't drink.

- Are you sure?

She's sure, Carlos.

That poison will

kill you faster.

Thank you, Carlos.

I try and I try,

but that is the one

bad habit of hers...

that I haven't been

able to change.

Yet.

Kill off all my demons, Roy,

and my angels might die, too.

Roy.

- Cabrn.

- Cabrn. Cabrn.

- Oh, I'm sorry.

I'll come back.

No, no. It's fine. It's fine.

Stay.

You're hot.

Yeah. It's hot in here.

If we could just

crack this window open.

Yeah, I've tried already.

We're shut in tight.

We'll just have

to sweat it out.

It is good for resaca, huh?

What's resaca?

Hangover.

Oh.

Well, I wouldn't know.

You get anything good?

Yeah, I think so.

Do you mind if I take a look?

Wow.

They're beautiful.

Look at this one.

You must sell them

for much money.

- Don't you?

- No, I don't sell them.

No? Why not?

It's more of just

a hobby for now.

'For now.'

I don't know.

I might do a book someday.

I don't know.

I want to show you something.

Don't want those

strange Polacks...

looking in and getting ideas.

Wow.

No, not this one.

This one.

This is my favorite.

You see, all the

others are smiling,

and this one is so sad.

I love these things.

See?

It's sandalwood.

These are one of a kind.

Not for tourists.

They pay much money for these

in Amsterdam.

Is it legal... reselling them?

Yeah. I mean,

little packages to Customs

now and then,

but it's legal.

They are Matryoshkas.

That means 'mother.'

- See the belly?

- Mm-hmm.

They celebrate fertility.

And now, there she is.

The little bambina.

Look at it.

Isn't that cute?

- Carlos?

- Eh...

- Hold on.

- Carlos?

I had to lock it.

F***ing Polacks keep coming in

like they're invited.

Hi, Abby.

Hey.

Well? What did I tell you?

Next stop, Irkutsk.

Come on. Let's go.

- They have everything here.

- Where's the baby?

- Oh, the pirozhki's

really good.

They are?

- Yeah.

- Should we get one?

- Yeah.

- No. Wait. It's my treat.

Here they are.

Take a look at this, Carlos.

Wow. Coal-burners.

I'm in heaven.

You like them?

- So who said that?

- What?

'Kill all my demons,

and my angels might die, too.'

Tennessee Williams said it.

I like it.

Yeah?

I saw you have a journal.

Are you a writer?

- No.

- No?

No. It's more like

a travel diary.

Uh-huh.

Well, I bet you got

some good stories.

I sure did.

Yeah. None of them

I'm too proud of.

I left home when I was 16.

Maybe for the same

reasons as you.

I don't know.

Spun my wheels

into my late 20s.

Never spent more than a week

in one place.

No. Wait. I'm wrong.

There was jail in Memphis

for nine days,

and, uh, detox.

That was two weeks, I think.

This was all

pre-Roy, of course.

So, how'd you two meet?

How'd we meet?

Well, Roy likes to say

we met by accident.

I was drunk,

and I swerved into

his truck head-on,

going 40 miles an hour.

- Beautiful, huh?

I saw many like

that in Rajasthan.

- Where's, uh...

- India.

Oh, wow. You've been

pretty much everywhere, huh?

Life is a journey, right?

Not a destination.

I like that.

That sounds like something

Jess would say.

- Really?

- Yeah.

She's still a bit...

I don't know.

What's the word? Restless.

Yeah.

Okay. So, this trip...

the Trans-Siberian...

it was her idea.

No, that was me.

You see, we never

travel anywhere,

and, so, when the church

gave us this chance.

I thought it would be

a perfect opportunity...

to impress her with

a big adventure.

You know, make her happy.

She seems happy to me.

Well, tell you

the truth, Carlos,

we've been having

problems lately...

marital problems.

Oh. I'm sorry to hear it.

I think she thinks I just...

play it a bit safe sometimes.

Before I met Jess, I thought

I was the wild one.

I'm not sure she expected...

to end up with a

hardware store owner,

you know, much less one

with a train set...

in his basement, but...

I love her so.

Oh, Carlos,

you gotta check

out this boiler.

What a beauty.

Isn't she gorgeous?

He came to the

hospital every day.

There was no one else.

I pretty much pissed off...

everyone else in my

life by that point.

He said something

to me one day

I'll never forget.

He said, 'No matter

what your aim'...

No. Wait.

'No matter what

your dream in life,

no matter what your goal,

keep your eye upon

the doughnut...

and not upon the hole.'

What's that supposed to mean?

I don't know, but it's so Roy.

No, I guess it's like...

You know, if you...

If you focus on the positive,

you can do amazing

things in your life.

Before we met, I was a bit

too focused on the negative.

No, I'm not saying

settling down...

solves everything, you know?

It's... Roy and I

are so different...

in many ways.

He wants kids, for instance.

A family, you know?

I mean, I do, too.

Of course I do, too.

It's just... It's...

It's just such a

huge thing to...

Plant a root?

Yeah.

I want a family.

But I'd get it right,

you know?

There's this place

in Vancouver...

on a lake...

this cottage.

It's got this long wooden dock...

that you can go

out and sit on.

Surrounded by the mountains,

and it's quiet.

No one else is around.

Sounds nice.

Is it a family place?

Yeah, my grandfather's.

Well, he actually sold it...

to pay for his trips to Reno.

I'm gonna buy it back.

Wow. Vancouver on a lake.

Sounds expensive.

Yeah, I'm working on it.

With Carlos?

I'm sorry. That was

none of my business.

We should get back on.

Yeah.

Hey, it was good

talking to you, Abby.

Yeah, you, too.

Yeah. Thanks.

Roy? You there?

Excuse me.

Have you seen my husband?

You can't keep doing that.

- We have five more

days before...

Roy's gone.

What?

I just looked up and

down the whole train.

He's not on it.

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