Earthly Possessions - Anne Tyler [36]
“And friends? Used to be you could borrow from your friends, but I don’t know, lately it seems to me like all my friends have gone and married on me. Some of my coolest, finest friends have up and married. I can’t get over it. Leaving me right lonesome, and you know how little cash a married man would have free to lend. Seems like they’re always saving up for a automatic grill and such. There wasn’t no hope there.
“Well, I tell you what I did. I went to my brother-in-law, Marvel Hodge. He runs Marvelous Chevrolet. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. Anytime anything gets to happening on the ‘Late Show’ they break it off and here comes Marvel, wide-faced man with scalloped hair, grinning and slapping a fender. Why my sister married him I’ll never know. I can’t stand the sight of him, myself.
“But I went to him. I drove in to see him in Mom’s old Ford. (Has he ever given her a free Chevy? No. No, nor not even a used one.) I found him out on the lot, kidding around with some customers in this ho-ho way he has. I said, ‘Marvel, like to talk with you a minute.’
“He says, ‘Go ahead, Jake.’
“Right in front of all those people, that’s the kind of man he is.
“I said, ‘Marvel, even though you’re supposed to be some relation to me I’m not such a fool as to ask you for a gift or a loan. I do need money bad but I ain’t going to ask that. All I want is a job, fair and square. Just to tide me over,’ I said. ‘You know full well I’m smarter when it comes to cars than any three men you got. How about it.’
“Know what he did? He started laughing. Starts laughing and shaking his head. Right in front of these customers, whole family: man and wife and two little girls and some kind of uncle or something. ‘Boy,’ he says, ‘now I’ve heard everything. A job, you say. Give Jake Simms a job, that never was out of trouble since the very first day he was born. Why, I’d have to be a total fool.’
“I kept my temper, I will say that. I said, ‘Marvel, I may have done one or two hasty things in my younger days but you got no right to hold that over my head. I’m a grown man now,’ I said, ‘and never get in no more trouble than taking a extra drink or two on a Saturday night. I’d like you to reconsider your words, if you please.’
“ ‘Grown?’ says Marvel. ‘Grown? I doubt I’ll live to see the day,’ he says. ‘Go on, boy, leave me to these good people here.’
“Well, I still kept my temper. Walked back to my Ford, real quiet—felt like I was about to burst but I didn’t say a word. Climbed in, started the engine, fixed the rear-view mirror a little straighter so as I could prepare to back out. But I didn’t back out, I went forward. Well, I don’t know how it happened. I mean I did intend to do it but I didn’t know I was going to do it. I just raced full forward into the car lot, and Marvel sprang left and his customers sprang right. Hit a new Bel Air, buckled in the whole right side. Backed off and hit a Vega. Set on down the row of them, crushing everything I come upon. Fenders was crumpled like paper, bumpers curled, doors falling off—and this crunchy feeling every time I hit and everybody screaming and dancing. Of course my own car got dented some too, but not what you would expect. I believe I could’ve drove her on home, in fact, till I took this notion to hit a Monza head-on. See, in a derby you just don’t hit head-on. The rules don’t allow it. So I got this urge. I hit head-on and the two of them cars went up like the Fourth of July, and I rolled out as quick as I could and was picked off the concrete by three cops.”
I laughed. Jake glanced over at me as if he’d forgotten I was there.
“Later they all tore into me,” he said, “even Mom, asking how come I hadn’t held