The car was pretty nice, some sporty little Toyota. Alvin must not have been doing too bad for a guy that was still working as an usher at the movie-plex.
“Hey, Alvin, thanks for the lift. I didn’t want to tell Mister Bauer over the phone that the alternator was out. He’d think I was accusing him of giving me a lemon or, even worse, think I was carless with the car. He loved that car! Anyhow, thanks. Sandy gets pissed when I’m late coming home on Fridays.”
Alvin seemed jealous. “Shit, brother. My old lady could care less if I came home.”
“Look, Alvin, maybe if you gave her a name it would improve her mood?”
“Oh, the hell with that, dude!”
And off they rode into the fender of a roaring Dodge Ram pickup.
“Shit!” Alvin yelled.
The car spun into a three-sixty and then slammed into the concrete median. The air bags did not go off, and, and, Benjamin’s fortune, which he had unwittingly kept in his hand, had been released when he opened his hands to cover his face, and now fluttered down onto Alvin’s lap.
Alvin was in a superstitious panic, “Oh shit no, dude—get out, get out!”
“What?”
“I said get the fuck out! You are cursed, dude! Go. Get the hell away from me!”
He felt terrible that his only friend was blowing him off like this and stepped out of the car. On inspection the only thing the matter was a crumpled up right fender and a—oops—bent axle on the driver’s side.
Alvin was stepping from his car with a dazed expression suffused with anger.
“I’m sorry, Alvin. I’ll walk.”
He walked away from his dazed friend and dialed Sandy, who picked up right away. “Hey, Baby, how are you? Getting off early?”
“Oh, I’m okay. I was going to get home early but ran into car trouble, and then Alvin got in an accident. I’m just going to walk home. That will get me there in two hours, in time for dinner.”
“Are you sure, Baby? I can come and get you.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s a nice evening out and I’m kind of tense. The walk will give me enough time to cool down and lose the tension.”
“I’ll give you a back rub when you get home, Baby, okay?”
“Can’t wait, Honey—see you in a few.”
He left Alvin there exchanging insurance information with the young guy who drove the pickup truck and walked off unnoticed.
