Me at 10's Arc

Chapter 8 of 9

Dad comes home on a Saturday afternoon with a car so old it looks like it drove out of a picture book. The paint is green and shiny like someone spent hours making it perfect. He parks it in front of the house and stands there with his hands on his hips, smiling at it like it just won him a prize. She walks outside and stands near the lawn chair by the driveway. The car has round headlights and curves that look hand-shaped. Dad runs his hand along the hood and talks about the year it was made and how long he looked for one like this. She waits for him to turn around and see her standing there. He opens the driver's door and leans inside to check something. She takes three steps closer and says it's really nice. He nods without looking up and says it's a 1931 Model A. She asks if she can sit in it. He says maybe later, he wants to get it into the garage first. He drives it around back and she follows on foot. The garage door is already open and he pulls the car inside slowly like he's carrying something that might break. He gets out and stands looking at it under the hanging light. She stays in the doorway and watches him walk around it twice, touching the mirrors and checking the tires. She asks if he's going to drive it places. He says he'll take it to shows maybe, let people see it. She asks if she can come. He says we'll see, then pulls a rag from his back pocket and starts wiping dust off the fender that she can't even see. She turns and walks back to the house. He didn't say no but he didn't say yes either. The car sits in the garage where he'll spend his evenings now, polishing something that's already perfect. She realizes she was asking the wrong question. It wasn't whether she could come to the car shows. It was whether he brought the car home for anyone but himself. She already knows the answer. He doesn't need her to admire it. He doesn't need her to sit beside him while he works on it. The car is his and that's enough for him. She's been trying to be picked first but he's not picking anyone. He's just collecting things he can control.