The Plushie Pilgrimage: Southbound Shenanigans
Chapter 1: Back to Basics
“I think we need new identities,” Brenda announced, leaning dramatically across the sticky diner table, her freshly dyed auburn hair flopping into her eggs.
I stared at her, unblinking. “You’re joking.”
“No, no,” she said, waving her fork like a conductor’s baton. “Juan and Sandy were bold, but it’s time to be... unassuming. Let’s go back to John and Brenda. Nobody will suspect a thing!”
“Unassuming?” I repeated. “You two are the walking definition of conspicuous! You’re a plushie-hoarding lunatic, and John—”
“Juan,” John corrected, his mouth full of bacon.
“John,” I said, glaring at him, “isn’t capable of blending in
anywhere. You could literally slap a name tag on him that says
‘I’m a fugitive’, and it’d still be redundant.”
Brenda smirked, sipping her coffee. “John and Brenda sound like salt-of-the-earth names. Trust me, it’ll work.”
Chapter 2: The Southern Strategy
The next thing I knew, I was crammed into a secondhand RV Brenda had somehow bartered for at the diner. It smelled like old coffee, stale nachos, and regret, but John seemed thrilled. He immediately began decorating the dashboard with his plushies, lining them up like some sort of weird stuffed animal army.
“This thing’s a tank!” John crowed, slapping the steering wheel. “We’ll be at the border in no time.”
“Which border?” I asked, dreading the answer.
Brenda pulled out a gas station map she’d scribbled on with a marker. “The Mexico border, obviously! We’re heading south. Everyone knows Mr. Trump’s wall only stops people from getting in. It won’t stop us from leaving.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “That’s not how walls work.”
Brenda waved me off. “Trust me, I’ve done my research.”
I slumped into the backseat, surrounded by plushies. “This is the dumbest plan you’ve ever had.”
She grinned. “You’re welcome to walk.”
Chapter 3: Trouble on the Road
The road trip was a disaster. The RV broke down three times before we even hit Georgia. Each time, John would crawl underneath, emerge covered in grease, and shout something like, “I think I fixed it!” which was never true.
At one point, Brenda tried to barter with a mechanic using a lasagna she’d baked in the RV’s ancient stove. When he declined, she muttered, “His loss. It’s a real banger,” and stormed off.
By the time we reached Texas, the RV looked like it had barely survived the apocalypse. One of the side mirrors was held on with duct tape, and plushies were spilling out of the windows like they were fleeing for their lives.
Chapter 4: The Great Border Misunderstanding
When we finally reached the border, Brenda was practically vibrating with excitement. She leaned out of the passenger window, clutching a stuffed eagle and grinning like she’d just won the lottery.
“This is it!” she announced. “Freedom awaits!”
John, sipping a gas station slushy with one hand and steering with the other, nodded solemnly. “The plushies must be avenged.”
I buried my face in my hands. “We’re going to end up in federal prison.”
We pulled up to the customs officer, who looked at us like we were a traveling circus.
“Good evening, folks,” he said, clearly suspicious. “Where are you headed?”
“Just passing through!” Brenda chirped. “We’re starting a new life in Mexico.”
The officer blinked. “Uh, ma’am, that’s not—”
Before he could finish, John floored the gas. The RV lurched forward, plowing through the flimsy checkpoint gate like it was made of cardboard.
Chapter 5: Into the Wild
Alarms blared as we sped across the border. Brenda hung out the window, waving her stuffed eagle like it was the American flag.
“I told you it’d be easy!” she shouted over the chaos.
“This is a felony!” I yelled back, gripping the dashboard as the RV swerved onto a dirt road.
“Not if we don’t get caught!” John bellowed, cackling like a madman.
Of course, his plan fell apart almost immediately. The RV hit a pothole the size of a small crater and got stuck in a ditch.
We tumbled out of the vehicle, Brenda clutching her purse like it contained the secrets to the universe.
“Quick,” she hissed. “We have to blend in.”
“Blend in?” I repeated. “You’ve got a stuffed eagle, an RV full of plushies, and John looks like he’s cosplaying as a giant marshmallow! We’re about as subtle as a marching band.”
Brenda ignored me, already marching down the road. “Come on, boys! Mexico awaits!”
I stared at John, who shrugged and followed her. I sighed, knowing there was no escape, and trudged after them.
This wasn’t just a road trip—it was a death march. And I was the unwilling chaperone.