Page 1 of Five Days in July

1

LENORE

I'm elbow-deep in one of those days where nothing goes right no matter how hard I try. My alarm didn’t go off this morning, so I woke up well past my usual time. Panicking because I’ve already been late to work this month, I grabbed clothes in a hurry and couldn’t find matching socks, so now I’m sporting two wildly different individuals—one a plain black athletic sock and the other sprinkled with festive cats wearing sombreros and holding maracas. I decided to be okay with it. My shoes mostly covered them, and my dress pants were long.

Besides, it’s Wednesday. I might as well add a little extra spice to my hot mess of a morning.

After getting in the car and driving for ten minutes, I realized I hadn't grabbed my lunch bag. I’d have to wait until after work to eat since I didn’t have any extra cash. Plus, even if I did turn around to get it, there’s ‘forgivably late’ and ‘fire me late,’ and I was more than likely going to wind up in the latter category.

Thankfully, traffic wasn’t bad. In a perfect world, I’d be able to make up some of my wasted time going just a bit more over the speed limit than usual.

Except, at the same moment I have that encouragingly optimistic, positive idea, I hear nothing. No engine noise, no radio, no annoyingly rattling vent, nothing. The car is definitely not running, and I’m definitely coasting at forty miles per hour without power steering.

“Un-fucking-believable!” I pound the palm of my hand onto the steering wheel and immediately feel my breathing kick into a wheeze of fear. My heart rate goes from mildly panicked to flight or fight faster than a sprinter taking off for a hundred-yard dash at the Olympics.

The car coasts forward, thankfully slowing down as it goes. Hoping to keep it moving, I turn the key to shut it off and flick it back to restart the engine before it can roll to a complete stop in the middle of a two-lane highway.

The god-blessed sound of the engine turning over is clear for a second before the car shudders, chugs, and dies again.

“What the actual fuck?”

Mentally slapping myself into focus mode, I check things over.

The steering column is locked; therefore no power steering. I have to pull over, or I’m going to be a new variety of roadkill. Hoping I can coast to the right and make it to the wide shoulder, I tug the steering wheel as hard as I can and start offering up prayers to whatever helpful spirits might be listening.

“Please get me off this road. Please, please, please don’t let someone hit me. Please don’t let me hit someone. Sweet baby Jesus, please let this not be expensive.”

I can practically see the two pennies in my bank account disappearing while the lady at the credit card company crows gleefully over my growing balance. Hello, high-interest rate.

Focus. The car is stopped. You should be far enough off the road. Calm down and think.

The emissions light came on a couple of days ago, but my two pennies and I danced a little rumba and ignored it. Because that always works out so well for everyone who tries it.

You probably shouldn’t have done that, dumbass. Now you’re going to be so far up shit’s creek you’ll need an enema to clear out the blockage.

Breathe. Don’t freak out. Ignore the stupid voice in your head.

Could I have run out of gas?

I hadn’t seen the gauge go down. Surely my fuel tank must be malfunctioning?

There was a theory that said the most obvious answer was probably the best one. Right?

You probably fucked it up when you ran out of gas for real last month.

Apparently, my prayers had conjured up the malignant little part of my brain I've been trying so hard to tune out. Since it's everything-goes-to-hell day, the little asshole seems chatty.

We’ve also seen your luck with brakes and transmissions. Why couldn’t it have been one of those again? Let’s consider all the ways this isn’t going to be a cheap and easy fix.

This was my third ‘new’ car in a year. I’m apparently very talented at picking out lemons.

“Shut up, Debby. You’re not helping!”

My name’s not Debby. It’s Debb-rah.

Breathe in, breathe out.

“The lack of gas is the easiest thing to fix, so let’s start there.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com