One of the twins started telling them about the nine-foot alligator he’d run over with their uncle’s Riviera, but apparently he’d already told the story at some point, because the other twin said it had been their father’s station wagon the last time around, and added, “That gatah’s getting longah since it died.”

“Can we go?” Karen called out the window.

“We can,” Talbot said, bending his head backward to look at her upside down through the windshield. “Should we?”

She glared at him until he pulled himself upright, climbed off the hood, and said, “Ladies, it’s been a pleasure.”

The twins were sharing a roach. One of them passed it to Colby, still inside the Firebird.

Behind the wheel of the Newport, Talbot looked at Karen in the rearview mirror. “So, did he do the flying-car routine?”

“I hate him,” Karen said. “He’s nothing but a troublemaker.”

“You sound like your mom.”

The idea stung; she forced a small laugh and told him to get bent. But he was right. And with a twinge of anger, she acknowledged to herself that her mother had been right: Colby was bad news, a punk who refused to grow up.

“What was all that about my cousin?” Talbot asked. “Did you tell Colby you liked him?”

“Maybe.”

“Do you?”

“Sure.” She picked up the warm beer she’d left on the seat next to her. “Why not?”

“Well, because he’s a dweeb. You don’t have to go with Lefty just because Colby—”

“I said, why not,” Karen snapped. She didn’t want to talk anymore.

“Yeah, okay,” Talbot said, “why not.” The game-show host was suddenly gone from his voice; he sounded almost sullen. “Fresh blood, I guess.” He stuck his head out the window. “We’re out of here.”

Colby started his engine. The twins climbed into the Firebird, and Winkle folded his stocky, schoolboy frame back into the passenger’s seat of the Newport. They left first, and were following the narrow access road back to Courtenay when Talbot said, “So I hear we’ve got a pair of lovebirds in the car.”

Winkle looked at Karen. She gave him her best sarcastic smile.

When they got back onto Courtenay, the Firebird pulled out from behind them and sped past. The twins shrieked out the open windows and Colby’s arm reached into the night sky with his middle finger raised.

Karen muttered, “There goes nothing.”

Talbot grunted. He suggested they stop by the drive-in.

“Can we not and say we did?” Karen asked. “I’ve had my fill of car antics for one night.”