Writer’s note
Names for stuff and the names of love and who it is - the question of identity drives this story. I wondered especially what love means in a world where you can't count on where you are or who you are. The orphans call the place they live the Texas motel - no matter where it is. And their own names, they figure, were assigned to them by the state. So if you love somebody, who are they? Who are you? The strangest name is route 56, the road that will take them someplace real.
Somewheres Texas Motel
An orphan falls in love - but what does it mean to him when he doesn't know his own background or his real name? Vernon, 14, finds himself asking basic questions in the summer before he starts high school. Love means everything against a backdrop of nothing, where the names come from street talk that no one can explain - for instance, you aren't in Texas, you're in California.
Vernon wouldn't mind knowing what his given name was, but he's at the point where no name is ever going to be his.
Vacancy... the motel has always got room for one more boy that an off-the-grid route 56 couldn't take care of.
The beginning of the story…
I sort of live in Williams, California. This place where I stay, they call it the Texas motel. I don't know what it means.
I mean, I could try and find out for you but I don't really care that much about this place or about what you think of it. I guess it's run by the state of California or something. There isn't like a sign out front that says Texas motel or anything. It's just what we call it.
Whoever made it up, they probably aren't here anymore. People come and go. That's how it is around here. I guess I'm like an orphan. So that's it, a boy of 14 that you don't know. My name is Vernon because I think the state assigned it to me. That's where they were in the alphabet, I suppose.
I don't dislike the name. When I'm 18, I can change it. Or keep it.
The food isn't that bad. I mean, I'm not like that Oliver kid in that book and he wants more porridge or whatever that is. So it's not like I'm expecting you to feel sorry for me or anything.
I have forgotten the past. I've been here and there. Some foster places that didn't work out for reasons you don't need to know that much about. Now I'm at the Texas motel. You see, the funny thing is, I have never been in the state of Texas. Or anyhow, not that I know of.
When you're young, you might not even know where you are. I know where I am now. That's because I'm way older and I know what's going on. I also know who I like.
I like this boy named Andrei. They shipped him out a while back. I heard he was in 29 Palms or Palm Springs. It was a rumor, that's why I don't have better information on it.
I'm gonna go looking for him when I can. Or try and find a way to get in touch with him. They don't really let us do that but route 56 will help me out. I think we call it that the same way we call this place the Texas motel. Whoever made it up, we don't know who they are. We just use the names they left behind.
I sometimes wonder if there was some other Vernon and now I'm the new one because the name opened up again. Whatever. I'm gonna keep calling myself Vernon because it's the name that Andrei knows me by. Geez, I hope they don't change his name on him. How could I find him without that?