Delores Parker's Arc

Chapter 3 of 8

The drawer was shut, but the trouble wasn't. That evening her husband came in talking about the third one from the left, the one with the rebuilt carburetor. Delores nodded. She had no idea which one he meant. She walked to the window and counted them. Six red hoods in a neat row, six round headlights, six little Ford emblems shining back at her. They looked like one car printed six times. She needed a trick, and she needed it before he noticed. In the junk drawer she found an old novelty plate stamped with a bright number 1. She carried it outside, slipped it behind the front bumper of the scarlet one nearest the garage, and tucked it where the chrome hid the edge. Tomorrow she'd mark the others in her head — second from the plate, third from the plate. A small map only she could read. At supper he mentioned the carburetor car again. Delores said, "The third one down from the one by the garage?" His face lit up. He said she was finally paying attention. She smiled and passed the potatoes. The plate stayed hidden. She had her footing now.