“The ad said that the car was in great shape. There is no way this car is in great shape. Maybe if I squinted at night I could describe this car is being in ok shape but even that would be hard to do”.

  “Listen young lady, I don’t know what you know about cars but I know that this one here is a lot older than you most likely so for its age it is still in great shape. If you don’t want it then I don’t want to waste your time or mine, there’s plenty of folk looking for a good cheap car these days. I just put the ad up and I’ve had more’n a dozen calls by now”.

  “We want it, we need it.” Amos interrupted the older man while trying to give Alanah his back off already look. “I mean, we need it for her, uh, her umh…. aunt. She needs a replacement car and she needed help finding a good one. My Dad told me these older Corollas were a great find and a bulletproof car if taken care of properly”.

  Just twenty minutes ago they had knocked on the door of a tidy little brick bungalow and were greeted warily by an older man who had introduced himself as Sherman. He had seemed a bit surprised to find the two young kids at his door but Amos had won him over with his good manners and his mention of paying the full price in cash if they liked the car.

  Amos guessed that Sherman had definitely been retired for some years now and it did not look like he had spent much time just sitting around.

  His lawn was neatly tended to, and the little gardens areas were just so. Every blind in the house was raised to the same position and Amos had noticed when he knocked on the door that the small front porch was spotless and everything was tucked away neatly in its place from each pair of shoes to the newspapers on the small coffee table in front of the faded and worn couch.

  This is a man who takes care of things Amos had remarked to himself and then he had confirmed again that Sherman had owned the car since it was new. In response to that question the older man had proudly produced a thick folder that contained every receipt for every repair and every bit of maintenance done to the car.

  After he had gone through eighteen years’ worth of oil changes one by one and was going to move onto brakes and tires Alanah had appeared to be on the verge of saying something rude so Amos had quickly shifted the focus on the car itself. It was exactly what Amos had wanted and inside it looked to be in great shape but almost two decades worth of Boston winters and salty roads had dulled the paint and covered the bottom of the doors in rust spots. On the outside it was an ugly car but the engine started right away and seemed to run just fine.

  Now they were standing in the driveway and Amos was sure that Alanah, if she didn’t start being more polite all of a sudden, was going to tank the deal. “Even my aunt doesn’t deserve to…” Alanah started to say with a frown but Amos quickly cut her off “she doesn’t deserve to miss out on an opportunity like this just because she isn’t here. Luckily, we have the money for the car and her plates so we can pay you and get the car ready for her for when she comes”.

  “Well, are you sure now? I don’t want her sticking her nose up when she gets here like your young friend here” Sherman said while looking pointedly at Alanah. “We are sure” said Amos, Alanah will swap the plates with the ones we brought and I will come inside and pay for the car”. Ten minutes later they had given his old plates to Sherman and had gotten two car keys, the thick binder of receipts and an earful on what to do next and when.

  Amos had appreciated the advice and had written it all down, doing his best to rush before Alanah had another outburst. Sherman was due for his regular post lunch nap and was glad to see them off believing that the Aunt would come later for the car. Alanah and Amos waited on an old bus bench just down the street for twenty minutes before returning and quietly getting into the car.

  “You ready to do this?” Alanah asked Amos as she clicked her seatbelt in place after closing the door surprisingly gently. Amos was making his second set of adjustments to his seat and mirrors and he had put on his ball cap and sunglasses to look older. He was also sitting on the thick folder of papers and receipts to add a couple of inches to his height as a driver. “There, hopefully I looked old enough drive now.”

  “Look old enough, who cares, do you know enough…that is the real question and I don’t like how we are going to find out the answer”. “Relax, you’re making me nervous, I just need to think about what I need to do next”. Amos started the car and shifted into gear. He stepped on the gas and revved the engine but the car just made a lot of noise but didn’t go anywhere. “oh great…it’s a lemon” Alanah shook her head “I did not think I would need to push it so soon”.

  “Hang on, hang on it wants to move I can feel it, somethings wrong…there…fixed it..whoa..” The little car shot down the driveway the next time Amos gave it gas. He had released the parking brake but he had tried too hard to get the car moving. Without the parking brake on the car responded right away and they shot out towards the road. Amos had to slam on the brakes and the car screeched to a stop.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “Nice, this is more like it, keep going” Alanah was suddenly in much better spirits. “Hang on, hang on, look, signal on, turn the wheel and go” Amos was coaching himself and trying to slow down his inputs on the car as everything he did seemed to make the car accelerate, stop and turn in a much more exaggerated fashion that he had intended. After making it through three stoplights and several stop signs Amos was starting to relax just a little bit.

  He had spent weeks reading the rules of the road over and over again and for hours at a time he would go and sit at busy, fast moving intersections to see what made people mad and what mistakes people were making. In just five days he witnessed three accidents. All of them seemed to be because someone was trying to make a turn or get through a light when they were not supposed to. Slow and steady wins the race, Alanah won’t like it but I need to be the most boring driver on the road.

  As with all things Amos discovered that there was a balance. In this case it was between following the rules and making everyone driving behind you quite upset. He soon learned that you could not go just the speed limit or he would have cars honking incessantly behind him and Alanah yelling at him constantly to speed up. He wasn’t sure which was worse so he sped up until the honking stopped for the most part.

  After a long, slow, circuitous route back to their squat Amos gradually began to feel more confident and after he had parked Alanah had even said “not bad, at least you didn’t kill anyone”.

  Once he had locked the car and started towards the building he looked back over his shoulder and asked the question that had been bothering him. “Where did you get those license plates by the way, you never did tell me where you were going”. “Oh that was easy, those were Aunt Hazel’s, I got into her parking garage and just took em. Serves her right, she never drove me anywhere”.

  That evening they made plans to drive out to the farm the next day and buy a load of eggs and milk. Alanah had prepared really nice home made signs for their stall and Amos had purchased a collapsible wooden table that they could set up as well as some large cooler bags to keep everything as cold as possible.

  At seven am they were on the road and were soon nibbling on some bread and fruit in the car. Amos was driving with more confidence and a strict adherence to the rules. He had even gotten into the habit of pointing out when other drivers broke the rules of the road. “I can’t believe that you can get anymore annoying as a driver yet here you are, worse than ever and slower than ever”. “Nope, we are driving faster than Jim did and we will be there soon actually so get ready to explain what we need and please be nice about it”.

  Simon and Andi were surprised to see them back at the farm in their own car without Jim but soon the conversation shifted to milk and eggs and they were only too happy to sell the kids a lot of both. “It saves us loading up and running so much to the town each day so your helping us out too”. They showed them how to pack up the cooler bags and instructed them to get a deposit on the milk bottles. “As long as you come back they will come back and most likely buy from you again, an empty bottle just sitting around waiting to be retuned is a great reminder for a customer”.

  Two and a half hours later they were setting up at their first farmers market in a small park in Cambridge near the river. Alanah was a natural at sales. She had a look about her that invited attention and when she caught someone’s gaze she would almost challenge them to try some of her eggs and milk for sale. As it turns out, farm fresh eggs and milk were an easy sell and soon the kids were sold out and flush with excitement and even after gas costs and farm costs they found that they still were ahead by almost seventy five dollars.

  “More, we need more to sell, I told you we needed a truck”. “Hey, if this works out you can get a custom truck with your name and logo on it”. “No thanks dummy, you can’t speed or bend the rules if you are telling everyone who cares to look who you are”. Alanah shook her head “well, maybe this was not such a dumb idea, what do you want to do tonight?”

  Amos actually did have something in mind. It had been in his thoughts for weeks and weeks and everyday he felt a bit sick with worry that he was too late. He decided now was a good a time as it was ever going to be so he made the short drive across town and parked in front of the hospital. “Can you stay here please, I need to get something, if anyone tries to say you can’t park here just give them a dirty look and stay in the car. And no guns, please just stay calm ok?”

  “Fine, fine but hurry up, I don’t want to wait out here all that long.” Amos went into the building and this time found what he was looking for right away. The hospital morgue was in the basement and there was hardly anyone waiting in the small reception. He waited for a few minutes while the bored, middle aged clerk looked over his forms and then counted out his payment. Five minutes later he was back out on the street fighting back any tears from forming in his eyes and with a small grey cardboard box under his arm.

  Even with no visible tears Alanah could see the emotion welling up behind Amos’ expressionless, colorless face. “Is that what I think it is” she asked Amos. “Yes…. yes, I knew it was here. I felt so guilty leaving them here but I just couldn’t bring myself to come get her ashes, I don’t know what to do with them or where to put them”.

  Alanah put her hand lightly on Amos’s arm. “I ‘ve never met her but I am sure she would have loved the farm. Why don’t we find a nice spot near the forest and you can spread her ashes and tell me some of your favorite memories of your mom”.

  A while later, as the afternoon sun began to dip lower in the sky the small brown Toyota started up and eased away from the curb. It would be the last time any of them ever came within a block of this old hospital where so many painful memories from the past would remain for years and years to come.