“You need to go somewhere else,” Jem said.He kept his voice friendly but dropped the volume.
The woman blinked at him.“What?”
“You need to buy a car somewhere else.A minivan.Whatever.You need to— You know Christensen Ford?They’re about two miles north of here, the other side of I-15.Go there.They’re about as honest as a dealership gets.They’ll fix you up.”
“I don’t— I’m sorry, you want me to leave?”
“Christensen Ford.It’s just north of here.”Raising his voice, Jem called, “Kids!D’wayne!Your mom’s leaving.”
Confusion lingered on Martha’s face as she herded the children toward the exit.A moment later, they were gone.
When Jem turned around, Brian was right there.He was trying to look stern—no, he was trying to lookthreatening—but underneath it, he was so happy he was about to shit himself.“Did you tell her to leave?”
“Get out of my way,” Jem said.
He circled around Brian and made his way back to the cubicle.He grabbed his jacket.He picked up the framed photo of him and Tean, the one where Tean wasn’t really smiling, but it didn’t matter because he looked alive, because he was glowing, because it had been one of those moments when they had been out in the world, and touched something that Jem didn’t know what to call, and for a few fragile seconds, they had been…connected.Or whatever the word was.And that one time, he’d been lucky enough to snap a picture.
Anything else?Pens, takeout napkins, a shitload of business cards he’d never use now.
“What happened?”Little Dick said as he came across the showroom.“Why’s she leaving?I thought you were going to lock her down.”
“Jem told her to leave,” Brian said.He was going up and down on his toes.He looked like he was about five seconds away from pointing.“Jem said she should leave and go to Christensen’s.”
“What the fuck?”Little Dick said.“Is that true?”
“Yeah,” Jem said.“Excuse me.”
He tried to move around Little Dick, but the ex-wrestler stepped into his path.“What the fuck is wrong with you?You’re sending people to other dealerships?Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“Yeah,” Jem said.“Yeah.I have been.But I’m not anymore.I’m done.I quit.”
Little Dick’s mouth hung open.After a beat, he said, “You can’t quit!”
“Yeah, well, I just did.”
This time when Jem circled around Little Dick, the other man didn’t try to stop him.
“You are fucking up your life!”Little Dick screamed after him.“I’m going toruinyou.You’re never going to get a job in this town again!”
It sounded like something out of a bad movie, so it made Jem smile.
“And that’s my car!”
“I’ll bring it back,” Jem said as he stepped outside.
October cold met him, the late afternoon light slanting and weak, so that the shadows stretched out across the parking lot.Pennants snapped overhead.
Oh my God, I’m going to have to tell Tean.
That was his first thought in the fresh air.And the second was, He’s going to be disappointed.
Jem’s phone buzzed as he walked toward the street.It was a number he didn’t recognize.He almost ignored it, but there was a chance it was Tean calling from one of the DWR landlines, which was something he still did, even though he had a perfectly good phone of his own.
“Hello,” Jem said.
Wind whistled at his ear, and for a moment, Jem thought he might not be able to hear the other speaker.
But then Tean’s voice came across the line: small, almost confused.“Jem.”