Chapter 25

Dennis had the misfortune of standing at the front window when Anderson’s tow truck pulled up to the house. His jaw dropped as he watched the mechanic unload the ugliest rust bucket he had ever seen on his beautiful circular driveway. Before the man could unhook the chains the kept the car bound to the tow truck, Dennis strode purposefully out of the house and down his front steps.

“Have I done something to offend you?” Dennis asked pointedly of the Ted in Mechanic’s clothing.

“Sir?” the grease monkey said in bewilderment.

“Why,” the owner of the house said acidly, “are you depositing that monstrosity on my property?”

The man consulted the piece of paper in his hand, reading the address aloud, finishing with, “Aren’t you Mr. Braxton?”

“Yes, I am, and yes, this is my home, but I don’t understand…”

The front door opened and Marqi stood on the steps in Capri shorts and a tank top yelling, “Yoo-hoo! Hello, honey!”

“Go back inside,” he barked, “I will be there in a minute.”

Instead she defiantly came down the steps and crossed over to the ugly vehicle saying, “Thank you so much. We really appreciate your prompt service, don’t we, honey?”

Dennis stared at her openly, wondering what to say. Ted looked back and forth between them uncertainly. “So you do want it?”

“I guess we do,” he said frostily, narrowing his eyes at the pretty girl in tight pants. He signed for the towing fee, instructing them to bill him, knowing his account was above reproach, then waited until the man was done unhooking the car before he turned to go back into the house. He climbed back to his spot within the window and stood gazing down at the hideous hatchback rusting in his drive.

When the mechanic had gone, Marqi came inside and stood behind him.

“Look,” she began, a tinge of nervousness in her voice, “I’m really sorry I didn’t ask you first, but the university called and see… I don’t even know how they got this number, but they said that they were going to get rid of my car, and it doesn’t have any gas in it, and well, then they were going to charge me a disposal fee, and really, Dennis, I do need my car. Well, I don’t need my car in the sense that no one really needs one because we could all do without, to some extent and anyway, it’s probably better for the planet to do without one, but really, I couldn’t just leave it and what if one day me or Mei needed to get to a hospital?”

“Robert could drive you,” he said evenly, without turning around.

“Yes, but what if it were an emergency and we couldn’t wait for him to come all the way out here?” she argued.

“That’s what 911 is for,” he said flatly.

“Yes, well, I know, but you see…”

“How would you go anywhere when it has no gasoline in it?” he countered.

“Oh, well… yeah… about that…” she stammered, unsure of what to say.

“What you really mean,” he said slowly, “is that in case you wanted to get away, you wanted to be sure you had an easy out.”

This time he pivoted to face her. “You wanted to be certain that you could bail at any time.”

Marqi frowned. “No, Dennis, it’s not like that at all.”

“You left before, why not again?”

“I left school for you, Dennis!” she protested. “Don’t go twisting this whole thing around!”

“Enjoy your freedom, Marqi,” he said, brushing past her. “If that’s what you want.”

He exited the room cleanly, and left her standing alone by the long table. She drew in a deep breath and tried to decide what to do.

He was better left alone for a while… then she could figure out the best way to pay for the debt she’d incurred.