Chapter 11

I'm still standing here in shock as Josh walks from the driver's side door to the trunk he just popped as if nothing's happened. I believe he just said he was selling me his very nice, very expensive car for ten dollars. I must've misunderstood something, right? I mean… right? "Joshua," I say calmly, walking over to him.

He opens the trunk and starts rooting around, careful not to look at me. "Look at the trunk. It's… spacious," he says. Ok, if that's not misdirection, I don't know what is. And I know misdirection. I can misdirect with the best of them.

I stand next to him. "Yes, it's a very nice trunk," I say, placating him. "Now, about…"

"We're done talking about the other thing," he cuts in while pulling up the cover for the spare tire.

"We are most certainly not done talking about…"

"So, how's it going over here?" Chetshark the Beast killer asks, walking up to us. Josh smirks at me and then turns to him.

"Well Chet, there's good news and bad news."

Chetshark smiles. "You're interested in this car. Donna's not interested in the other."

Josh nods. "Plus, you have to unload The Beast for us."

"No!" I shriek.

"Donna…" he says, giving me one of his looks.

I start pouting. "I just don't think you need to use words like 'unload'. Can we show a little respect, please?"

Josh stares at me for a few seconds like he can't believe I'm serious with this statement. I go up to a level two pout and he caves. "Certainly." He turns back to Chetshark. "We need to discuss you… disposing of The Beast." He turns back to me. "Better?"

"Barely," I mumble.

"The Beast?" Chetshark asks with wide eyes.

"Donna's car."

He nods and glances back at her. "Ahh… good name." Then he looks back at us. "And she'll be buying your trade-in?"

"Yes." I say quickly.

"No," Josh says calmly. "I'll be selling it to her myself."

Chetshark seems unsurprised by this turn of events. "Fine, but I can't take her car in as a trade in if she doesn't by a car from me."

"Right…" Josh says slowly, squishing up his face.

"Oh, that's a shame," I say cheerfully. "I guess I'll have to hold on to her then. Don't worry," I say to Chetshark, carefully avoiding Josh's eyes. "I can find some way of… taking care of her."

"Absolutely not," Josh says, causing me to look up at him and see the 'not in a million years' look he likes to give me. It's the same look I got when I asked to drive today. He squints his eyes for a second and then pulls a dime out of his pocket and hands it to me. I stare at it confused as he turns back to Chetshark. "I just bought it from her."

Chetshark nods. "Ok."

"What?" I nearly scream. I just sold The Beast for a dime? That can't be right.

Chetshark and Josh start for the building. "But…" I say weakly and quietly to myself as I stand here like an idiot.

Josh turns back to me when they reach the door and nods towards The Beast. "Get anything you want out of it."

This breaks me out of my reverie and I see an opportunity for escape. "I need the key."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "So you can take it on one more joy ride? No. It's unlocked."

I stick my tongue out at him. "You're not a nice person."

He smirks at me. "I never claimed to be."

He has a valid point. "But this is my last time ever," I say, tilting my head and really bringing on the pout, we're talking level three, pushing level four.

He watches me for a second as I wait for his resolve to crumble. It always crumbles. "That's not working today," he says with a grin before disappearing inside the building. What?

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So Josh and Chetshark are working out the details of the sale, including the… disposal… of The Beast. I watch them go inside and then quietly walk up to her and get into the driver's seat.

"Hey Beastie," I say quietly. She doesn't answer. Sometimes when she's running and I talk to her, she coughs or revs her engine back in acknowledgement, but today she's quiet.

"See… the thing is…" I start fiddling with the steering wheel, looking for the words to make her understand.

"The thing is, Beastie, that vehicles are only meant to last for so long, and then they…" get tossed to the wayside as if they never mattered. As if they're nothing but metal. As if they weren't there with you when you lost your virginity. As if they don't know your every secret and your every rant, not to mention every time you bumped into a car and drove away. "Retire," I say, trying to put on a brave face for her.

"And you…well, you've done such a good job over the years," my voice starts shaking. "That it's your turn to retire."

"And it's gonna be great. They're gonna take you to a…" dump, where they're going to flatten your body with no regards to what it once was and then throw it on top of a pile of other flattened out dead cars. "To a retirement village, and there'll be lots of other retired cars there and…"

I take a deep breath. "You're gonna love it there. It'll be peaceful. No more driving in the snow. No more traffic jams and other cars honking at you when you stall. No more overheating. No more people getting under your hood and making you feel cheap and violated."

"It's gonna be great, Beastie. And…and maybe I can come visit sometimes. To see how you are. I could bring some soap and water and Armor All and give you a good wash and tell you all kinds of administration secrets. Just the two of us, won't that be fun?"

I hear the passenger door open then and Josh starts rooting around the glove compartment. "I need you to sign the title over…." He stops suddenly. "What's wrong?"

I look over at him and try to smile. "Nothing," I say in a tiny voice.

"Why are you crying?" he asks in a worried voice.

My lip starts trembling then. "I'm not," I choke out.

His eyes are wide and he's looking at me strangely. Then he must figure it out because he's suddenly trying to hold back a smile. "Are you…"

"Leave me alone," I sob.

He grabs the title and shuts the door, walking over to my side with his head down and no doubt a huge smile on his face. He gets to my door and opens it. "Come on," he says gently, and I can tell he's about to lose it.

I shake my head and grip the steering wheel harder.

"Donna," he says softly, taking my closest hand and pulling on me gently. "Come here." I've got to give him this; he's trying his very hardest not to laugh at me.

I reluctantly let him pull me out of The Beast and into his arms where I continue crying on his shoulder. "The Beast and I have had some really good times."

"I'm sure you have." We stand there like that for a minute while I calm down, then I pull back a little and look at him. "You ok?" he asks softly.

"You're gonna laugh at me about this aren't you?"

"Not for a few days, at least."

I stick my bottom lip out. "Ok."

"Did you get your stuff?"

I shake my head pitifully. "Not yet."

"Ok… what do you want out of it?"

I take a deep shaky breath. "My cell phone charger and my tapes."

"Tapes?"

"She doesn't have…" I start sobbing again. "A cd player."

"Of course she doesn't." He gets them out. "What else?"

"My jumper cables."

He nods and tries to pop the trunk. It doesn't have a popper. "How…"

"You gotta… use… the key."

He sighs and walks around to the trunk, getting out my jumper cables and bringing them around to me. "Anything else?" he asks softly.

I nod. "Can I have the door handle?"

"The door handle?"

"As a memento?"

"How the hell am I…"

"It falls off sometimes. Just twist it."

"Of course it does," he mumbles, twisting off the door handle and giving it to me. I hug it close to my chest.

"And the gear…"

He cuts me off. "No more mementos." I stick out my bottom lip and he softens his voice. "It's better this way. Just let her go."

I nod. He looks at me for a second and shuts the door one last time. I put my hand on the window. "Bye Beastie," I whisper, crying again.

He pulls me to his chest again and holds me while I cry. I think Chetshark comes outside, because I hear him whisper that he'll be right back, but I don't turn around to see who he's talking to. Finally I stand up straight.

"You gonna be ok?"

I bite my lip and nod. "I think so."

"Why don't you come inside and use the restroom to wash your face?"

I look over at The Beast. "Can't I…"

"Just let her go, Donna," he says softly.

I nod again and we go inside to Chetshark's office. Josh hands me a pen and it takes me a minute to muster the courage, but finally I sign the title over to him, then leave to find a restroom.