I sat there and drank beer for a while, smoked cigarettes. It wasn’t a bad way to while away the time. I didn’t know what to do about the car (it was her car). I didn’t want to just leave it. I didn’t know but what there might be vandals about, unlawful guys who might strip off the wheels and rip off the radio/tape player, make off with the battery. I didn’t want to sit around there and watch it all night, though. So I got to looking at the car. Both the flats were on the driver’s side. And suddenly the idea came to me, Why don’t you just drive it like it is, but real slow? It was such a good idea I couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t thought of it before. I had read somewhere that you could drive on a flat for ten miles if you drove real slow. I knew that even with two flats I could probably drive it faster than Sheena Baby could walk, and that I might eventually catch up with her. So I got in the car and put the beer between my legs. I turned the key and it cranked right up. It was just sitting a little low on my side. I knew it looked a little ridiculous, probably, and I hoped nobody would drive up behind me and start hooting at me.

I turned around slowly in the road, testing the feel of it. It felt a little bumpy. The thought came to me that I might be ruining the tires, but I just got another beer out when that thought hit me.

I tried to see how fast I was going once I got straightened out and headed after Sheena Baby, but I was still in low gear and the speedometer was just bumping up and down between 0 and 5 mph. I figured Sheena Baby was probably walking about 2 or 3 mph. I wondered: Could I shift into second? I did. The tires went to slapping a little faster. The needle rose to nearly 10 mph. I smiled. I knew I’d overtake her before long. I turned on the radio and tried to find a little music. I put my sunglasses on. I felt like I was making some real progress.