‘Sounds like it,’ Eddy echoed his wife.
I shook my head, reached for Andrew’s glass of wine and took a sip.
‘What happened to never,everdrinking wine again?’ he asked.
‘I feel the evening now requires it.’ I took a second sip as I sat down.
Andrew sat too, and, as he did, his knee bumped mine under the table. I looked over at him and his smile grew. This was the second time he’d bumped me, and I was now quite convinced the bump meant something. A secret handshake of sorts. Were we sharing an in-joke maybe? Were we part of the same team? I liked the knee bump. The knee bump felt good. I was not opposed to the bump.
When dinner was over, I found myself back in Andrew’s car.
‘What kind of car is this?’ I asked, running my hand over the dashboard.
‘It’s a 1996 Porsche Boxster. First and best Porsche Boxster.’
‘It’s not a very practical car.’
‘No, I guess not.’
‘It has no back seat. What’s the trunk size like?’
‘It’s big enough for a small overnight suitcase, which is all I need.’
‘It has a CD player,’ I pointed out.
‘It’s a classic.’
‘Why not at least buy a newer version of this car? One that doesn’t have so much mileage.’ I read the odometer in shock. ‘A newer one would probably come with a maintenance and service plan? If this thing broke down, the parts are probably impossibly hard to get.’
‘But where’s the fun in that?’
‘Where’s the fun in breaking down and not being able to get parts?’
‘When I was about twelve or thirteen years old, I was riding my bike around the neighborhood with my friends. We didn’t grow up in a particularly wealthy part of town, and I remember, at the time, my mom drove this old Toyota with a battery that needed to be jump-started on cold days. I was out with my friends when this guy came driving around the corner in this exact car. None of us had ever seen a car like that before, let alone in our area. I’d never seen anything so fancy in my entire life, and I remember thinking that the guy driving it must be so damn cool, like Vin Diesel fromThe Fast and the Furious.’
‘You wanted to be Vin Diesel fromThe Fast and the Furious?’
‘Which kid didn’t? Racing cars, beautiful woman, danger.’
‘So when you got older you bought yourself this car. And do you feel like Vin Diesel driving it?’ I asked.
‘Do I look like Vin Diesel in it?’
‘Absolutely not. You look nothing like him. You’re much better-looking than him, I prefer a full head of hair.’
‘Well, thanks.’ Andrew laughed again.
‘Besides, you’re almost too tall for it.’ I pointed at his head, which only had an inch or so to go until it was touching the roof.
‘What car do you drive? I bet it’s very practical.’
‘I drive a gray Toyota Prius. With rising fuel costs, it’s very economical. Toyota is also the most reliable car in the country, it has a five-star safety rating and gray is the easiest color to clean.’
‘But can it do this?’ Andrew asked. My head flew back into the seat as the car lurched forward with what could only be described as a ferocious roar.
‘Oh my God!’ I screamed as the car flew for a few seconds before returning to a normal speed. My heart pounded in my chest and, as soon as I was able to catch my breath, I laughed.
‘Do that again!’ I gripped the sides of the seat this time, bracing myself for what I knew was about to follow, which, I must say, I had enjoyed very, very much. It had filled me with a sense of sheer exhilaration!
