I started driving. I didn’t figure it mattered where I drove to. I was sober anyway. I had a joint that I’d rolled up earlier, and I pulled it out of my pocket and lit it. I had all that cold beer to drink, and I figured I could handle it for a few hours. That would be about enough time for him to sleep it off. I didn’t want to interfere with his love life, but I remembered where Velma lived. I decided to go in a roundabout way over there.

Monroe had some good tapes, and as quick as the buzz hit me, I started playing them. I felt good about taking care of him in the back seat.

Night closed in. It came slowly, and we rode down by the river and I looked at the hawks perched on the high limbs in the trees and saw a huge owl come out of the woods and find a single light wire with his talons and sit there swiveling his head after me as we drove by. Life seemed pretty fine. I didn’t have a woman like he did, but I could at least enjoy riding around. Marilyn had always questioned it. We never had been able to get along. It always seemed that she thought what I was doing was nothing, that it would never amount to anything, and so far it hadn’t. I hadn’t sold anything, hadn’t published one word. Maybe I never would, but Betti DeLoreo didn’t seem to think so. I got to thinking about her again. I knew I didn’t need to, because I knew that if I really knew what she really looked like, I’d probably be disappointed. She’d probably have tartar on her teeth or something. I decided we’d better ride by Velma’s house at least and see if the light was on. I’d entertained the idea of stopping and explaining things to her, let her see him in the back seat so she’d know I wasn’t lying.

We rode by there four times. The light was on each time. I knew she was probably pissed.

“Hey, man,” I said. “You awake?”

Silence from the back seat.

“Hey, man! You awake?”

He wasn’t doing anything but sleeping, and I knew it wouldn’t go over well with her. I decided to stop anyway. I whipped it around in the middle of the road and went back to her house. I pulled up in front like I belonged there—after all, I did—and sat down on the horn. Nothing happened for about two minutes. Then somebody came to the front door and peeked out. Then another person came and peeked out. I figured the second one was probably her daddy with a gun. I let off the horn.

I already had it in reverse when she came out the door. She had on white pants and a black blouse, and she had a purse with her. I hated I’d even stopped.