The Parade

She had a basket of daffodils hanging off her elbow. She stood pressed against a storefront window, beneath an awning that protected her from the rain as she sold them for 25 cents apiece.

Lewis and I had taken his 48 Desoto into town to see the parade. He was in it last year, but due to a disagreement with the local Chrysler chapter about suspension and engine modification they had asked for his resignation. “Those old fat bastards were looking for a reason to get rid of me anyway,” he said. So last year he painted it a fire engine red and we parked it right off Pacific Ave. so the floats would see it when they passed by.

Lewis didn’t see her right away. I had caught her out of the corner of my eye and kept my mouth shut. With Trina you never know what you’ll get. She and Lewis had dated a few times, but that was during the Gulf war when he was still wearing his patriotism in the form of an imitation bomber jacket with a two-foot American flag decal on the back. Since then, she had done a little time for meth and found Christ. Lewis got himself a new jacket after Waco and had stopped talking about joining the Marines.

I think she saw that car first and then Lewis. She came right over and started telling him how much she liked the car and asking what he’s been up to and all that. She hardly even said boo to me other than to ask how Sweetie and the boys were doing. I thought she looked good. Better than I’d seen her in the past anyway. I don’t always go for the Christian beauty makeover thing but I gotta say it’s done more for her than meth ever did.

Lewis wound up buying all her flowers and accepting an invitation to her church as well. He tried to buy her a cup of coffee but she said she had to catch up with her daughter who was watching the parade with some of her friends. He asked if he could call her and she said she would meet him this Sunday. From there they would see.

After she left, Lewis didn’t seem to have much interest in the parade. He had missed seeing his old car club pass by as he was talking to Trina but I don’t think it bothered him all that much. We took off for Frisco Freeze for some lunch and then wound up cruising Ruston Way for the rest of the afternoon. The waterfront was empty on account of the rain and the parade but that didn’t seem to matter. He just kept on steering that old boat from puddle to puddle, driving that one stretch of road like it was summer and we were in high school. Past the dock, past the smelter, looking for seagulls to scatter to the wind.

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