LARGE LANGUAGE LOVE, DIVINE
The Accident
…Claire, massively hungover, endured Zeph’s passionate pontification on the ecology of donuts, and then fell asleep…
The Accident
The car engine woke her, sounding like someone was whacking on it with a sledgehammer. Claire opened her eyes and beheld an eruption of steam flooding from the Lincoln's hood.
Zeph was keenly aware. He glanced down. “Oh shit. I got no power. Fuck. Fuck.”
The Lincoln slowed quickly, and was rattling all over. Mid-day traffic honked and swerved around them. The sky was a lumpy blanket of dark gray clouds. Her headache had retreated but her neck hurt and the rest of her still felt like refried shit. A sign explained they were just outside Panama City Beach. Everyone was driving too fast around them.
The engine completely died and they were stalled out in the hammer lane.
“I don’t think anyone can see my fucking hazards.” Zeph licked his lips. “If one of those motherfuckers isn’t paying attention and rear ends us, that’s it. Even if we keep our seat belts on. Fucking head on, ninety miles an hour. Damn. If we climb onto the hood we’re going we’re still fucked if they hit us. That divider’s like eight-feet tall, and no chance we get get across the road the way these motherfuckers are coming at us.”
With the ac gone the interior of the car got hot and steamy. The smell of leather and vinal and donuts and dirt was overpowering. A ticking stopped. The hazard light went dead.
“There goes the battery,” Zeph said. “Oh man, this sucks.” His eyes were wide. All color had drained from his face. Cars and trucks kept swerving and shooting past so close they shook the Lincoln and made it wiggle on its tires like a bobble head.
There was nothing to be done. Claire tried to go back to sleep.
Zeph's voice sounding hopeful: “Oh hey. We got something.”
Her Timex told her it was about an hour later. The world’s largest utility truck was slowly lumbering up behind them. A tiny driver with a green metal hat towed them to a mechanic who was also his cousin. They rode with him in his cab. At the mechanic's Claire sat outside on an uncomfortable chair made of cut up tires, partially buried in the dirt. She stared at a cluster of pink cacti.
Zeph came to her. "A part needs to be ordered, but they said it's gonna be done by four." He shook his head. "I'm really sorry, man."
Claire said, "It wasn't your fault."
Zeph thought about it and nodded. "Yeah. The guy said we could hang out here, or, he told me the beach isn't far off."
They took to the beach. Fog deluged palm trees. They crossed a boulevard and cut through a gap in a wall of little motels that were all in different shades of Pepto Bismol or Mylanta. Cigarette butts poked out of the sand and the waves were as indifferent as the seagulls coasting above them. They hunkered in a patch of dirt off a walkway. Zeph gently put down his box of donuts.
Claire shivered.
Zeph said, "Yeah, it's chilly. It's that misty breeze. You want to find somewhere else -"
"No. I'm just cold. It's okay."
He took off his barn jacket and unbuttoned the sides.
"It's okay," Claire said.
"No, this is good. It'll work. The canvas is waxed."
He was right. The jacket felt like a tent. She felt protected. "Right?" Zeph said. Now he was shivering. He was crying.
She scooched close and tossed the jacket around him so they were both covered. She hugged him to her. It was the right thing to do. He initially felt like a frozen chicken leg, but he quickly warmed up and he stopped crying.
She'd never held anyone before. Never with her parents, that was for sure. Holding him right now felt good in a way that felt better than anything ever had. Better than eating junk food. Better than those first three Zimas. Claire luxuriated in the sensation. She thought, here is life. She wondered how long the feeling would last. Her stomach gurgled.
Zeph said, "You need a donut?"
"No thank you. I don't want to sound like an asshole, but I think I'm more of a Hostess girl."
"I'm not offended. Donuts are okay, but a little bit goes a long way."
Zeph said, "Man, this was not what I thought was going happen. But, you know, I think we're handling it pretty good."
Claire said, "You saved me."
…Life changing decisions that were made during the drunken blackout…