“A stray like him must think that’s a possibility,” Mr. Alvarez said, watching Zack with keen black eyes.

Zack nodded. “Yeah, but he and I are in it for the long haul. Aren’t we, boy?”

Ziggy barked. Zack kissed his head, making obnoxious smooching noises until Mr. Alvarez snorted.

“I got good news for you, son.”

“Is it about the thermostat?”

Mr. Alvarez nodded. “It’s stuck, just like I thought. Easy fix, and then Marilyn won’t overheat anymore.”

“All right!” He pumped a fist in the air. “You are a genius, Mr. Alvarez! I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’d let that beautiful machine over there rot, is what you’d do.” Mr. Alvarez gestured at a large, sheet-covered lump in the corner of the lot. The bulk of it was obscured by moldy boxes and heaps of scrap metal.

“I don’t deserve her,” he agreed, moving toward the sheet and lifting it just enough to expose a flash of cherry-red paint. “Marilyn’s far too good for me. She should find herself a new, richer boyfriend. One who can afford to feed her all the premium gas and oil she wants.”

Mr. Alvarez rolled his eyes. “I’m sure she’d settle for being taken out on the town every now and then.”

Zack dropped the sheet and shrugged. “I would, but I’m too afraid to even take her off blocks. If we didn’t have all this junk piled up back here, she’d have been stripped down to the frame by now. It’s better to keep her looking like she’s already been scrapped.”

“I know, but cars are meant to be driven, not to sit in backyards or on showroom floors. Besides, eventually the other neighbors are going to want to put something useful back here. Like a kiddie pool or a barbecue pit.”

“After the week I had, I vote for a noose.”

Mr. Alvarez pulled a rag out of the pocket of his overalls. His fingers shook so badly he almost dropped it. Zack tried not to stare, but Mr. Alvarez spotted him.

He gave Zack a thin smile. “No need to look so concerned. The sclerosis hasn’t gotten the best of me yet.”

Zack hesitated and then asked, “How are you feeling?”

He shrugged. “About as well as someone in my condition can expect.”

Zack winced and looked at his feet. “I thought you were still in remission, though?”

“I am, but who knows how long that’ll last. Days? Years? For all I’m paying those doctors, they don’t really tell me anything.”

Zack nudged a pebble with the toe of his shoe. “I’m sorry.”

To Zack’s surprise, Mr. Alvarez chuckled. “Don’t act so glum. Happens to us all eventually. At least you gave me a fine last project to work on before the wife makes me take up bird watching or something.” He made a sour face and then began walking toward their building. “I swear, the day they forced me to retire, it’s like she got it in her head that a breeze could put me in the ground. I thought retiring was supposed to be about having time for fun again.”