If you want the real joke in all this, I did not have an inkling, not a clue, not one idea as to the predicament I was in. My terror had frozen my rea...on youing faculties such as they are to the extent that although shaking with fear, still weeping - only quieter now. I was still looking to get out of the situation without being hurt.Boy #1 said “Come on, we’ll take to the club” and his words suddenly provided a hope - “civilisation” I thought. The boys caught my arms and propelled me not. Busy enough to warrant having 509 coach seats and 121 sleeper berths running the route in each direction each day between the Southwest Chief and Desert Wind, with an additional sleeper (44) and coach (75) going via the Texas Eagle an additional three days a week.Only the Northeast to Florida market warranted more. The Northeast to Florida market had four trains running it each day: Silver Meteor (New York-Charleston-Orlando-Miami), Silver Star (New York-Raleigh-Columbia-Tampa-Orlando-Miami),. Only 34 years old, Tim had just gotten tenure at the prestigious Ivy League university where he worked. His book, The Civil War; A Slave's Perspective spent ten weeks as number one on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. His publisher was hounding him for a follow-up, dangling a $2 million advance as the carrot. Tim would write when he was ready.The last year had been a blur. Book signings, speaking engagements and photo opportunities with prestigious black leaders (they wanted to be. At first you visited the women's wear ones,but soon left in revulsion. Apart from one or two little things,everything in there was always so big and yucky.Lingerie shops are much better - they know what clothes should look like.You discover that shops for little girls are good too - everything inthere is so wonderfully tiny and frilly and pretty and pink. Larry is sitting reading a paper and listening to the radio when youreturn with some more bags of clothes. The back of the taxi is.