She laughed. “Why?”
Then Vanessa bought the SUV.
“You have a ten-year-old.”
“Sophie knows better.”
From the passenger seat, Sophie rolled her eyes. “I can’t even eat crackers in here.”
Vanessa pointed at her. “Because crumbs get everywhere.”
Sophie gave me a look, then lowered her voice. “She made me take my shoes off yesterday because there was dirt on them.”
“Sophie knows better.”
Vanessa groaned. “It was one time.”
“They were barely dirty.”
“They were dirty enough.”
I laughed with Sophie and treated it like harmless new-car obsession. Still, it was the first time I’d seen Sophie look embarrassed by the thing Vanessa was so proud of.
For the next week, Vanessa talked about the car constantly.
“They were barely dirty.”
The cameras. The heated steering wheel. The special coating on the paint. Some kind of interior protection package that apparently deserved its own insurance policy.
I teased her that she’d started loving the SUV more than Sophie.
Vanessa said, “The SUV doesn’t leave granola bar wrappers in the back seat.”
It was still friendly.
Then, the following Thursday, I woke up to rain hitting the windows so hard it sounded like handfuls of gravel.
It was still friendly.
Emma came into the kitchen already dressed for school.
“Mom, it’s flooding outside.”
“It’s raining.”
“The street is a river.”
“The street is wet.”
She pulled the curtain aside dramatically. “Look at Mrs. Carter’s driveway.”
I grabbed my keys. “Get your raincoat and let’s go. We’ll pick Sophie up so she doesn’t have to walk in this.”
“It’s raining.”
I ran out to start my Honda.
Nothing. I turned the key again.
Still nothing.
I stared at the steering wheel, then checked the time. School started in twenty-five minutes.
The Honda was fourteen years old, and I’d known the battery was getting weak. I’d been hoping it would last until payday.
Nothing. I turned the key again.
I needed it for more than the school run.
I worked across town, and there was no bus route that got me there on time. A few days of rideshares would eat through the money I’d been trying to save for the repair.
I tried my portable starter, but still nothing.
For the first time that morning, being late wasn’t what scared me. If this was more than a battery, I had no idea how I was getting Emma to school and myself to work for the rest of the week.
I’d been hoping it would last until payday.
