‘As I said: it’s volunteer work. I am not paid for it. I don’t like the idea that it is “charity”.’

‘But teaching at UCLA … that’s not charity,’ I said. ‘It’s a good deal being a professor, right? Not many hours, right?’

In the back seat I could see Elise’s face tighten.

‘Just interested,’ I said, hearing a strange edge come into my voice.

‘Six hours of teaching a week, four months off a year.’

‘And how much did you get paid for that?’

‘Let’s not go there …’

‘Why not? I’m not being envious or anything. Just never talked to a professor before. I don’t know what you people get paid.’

‘Why would that interest you?’

‘Because everything interests me. And because I don’t have much to do but drive all day. So … if someone wants to talk to me – and most of my rides don’t – well, I’m interested in what they are about.’

‘What I was about isn’t that interesting.’

‘It is to me.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘Because it’s going to keep my mind off everything that happened a week ago … and because I know I’m driving you to another abortion clinic, and that kind of weirds me out. I wonder what you’re getting me into and whether I’m driving us back into trouble.’

‘Let’s drop this subject,’ she said.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said, knowing that I had stupidly crossed a no-go line with her.

‘But it’s me who should be apologizing to you.’

‘You know I’ve got a college degree,’ I said, ignoring her last comment.

‘In what?’ she asked.

I told her.

‘What college?’

I told her that too.

‘I have a couple of colleagues who teach there,’ she said.

‘But not in Electrical Engineering, I bet. And as I didn’t do French …’

I heard that edge in my voice again. I found myself gripping the steering wheel even harder now. Just as I had a flash image of that poor guy, Jose Fernandez, with his taser in my face, then the fireball hitting him, sending him up in smoke.

Elise must have known what was going on. Because she said:

‘Turn the car around, please.’

‘I’m fine,’ I said.

‘No, you’re not. Nor am I.’

‘I’m getting you to your destination, your clinic.’

‘I now want to go home.’

‘No, you don’t. You just think I’m acting strange.’

‘I think you’re more traumatized by –’

‘Don’t tell me how I’m feeling, don’t tell me whether or not I can drive. I can drive. Do you get that? I can, I will drive.’