A full tank of gas came to just under $7.50. The spare was worth about $40. Randy figured he could sell it for around $20, which meant that with the trade, he’d come out about $12.50 ahead, especially as the spare tire was on a rim.

“Most people never even touch their spares,” Randy told me. “Lot of my customers trade their cars in every two years. Most of them don’t even know they have an extra tire. Your dad like that?”

“Sort of.”

“Probably won’t even miss it.”

“Right.”

“Just don’t get a flat.”

I drove the speed limit down through Emigrant Gap, past Gold Run and Colfax. I thought about stopping in Auburn, but I didn’t have any money to speak of, and I didn’t want to take the chance that the car might break down.

On the drive up to Truckee, I had been a high roller out to see the world. Coming down, I was a fugitive in a stolen vehicle with no licence, trying to make it home without being arrested.

And I did.

I was sure that everyone was watching me as I drove along Main Street and pulled into Dr. Philips’s driveway. I backed the car into the garage and left it as I had found it. I hung the key back on the hook and locked the door to the house.

Then I went home and waited for my mother to return from work. And for the sky to fall.

KAMPA PARK IS FULL. There are food vendors everywhere. I get a sausage plate with brown bread, sauerkraut, and hot mustard. Along with a glass of beer. Mimi gets a cheese sandwich. She drinks most of my beer.

“Let’s get one of those trdelnik thingies,” she says. “We can split it.”

Along with the food vendors, there are craftspeople selling all sorts of stuff. Mimi buys a small bottle of beer shampoo. I buy a box of something called “spa wafers.” The food and the wandering have settled me, and I’m feeling better.

At the far end of the park, we find the band. Several couples are dancing on the grass.

“‘Sentimental Journey,’” I tell Mimi. “1940s.”

“Can we dance to it?”

“If we knew how to dance.”

“We’re in Prague,” says Mimi. “Who’s going to care.”

“Sentimental Journey” ends, and the quintet slides into “Embraceable You.”

Mimi drags me onto the grass and puts her arms around me.

“I could stand on your feet, and you could lead.”

“Or we could just stand here and hum along with the music.”

Mimi snuggles in against my shoulder. The night is warm. You can’t see the stars, but there are lights in the trees and on the bridge. All around, the city glitters, as we sway back and forth.