“Teach me?” He raises a brow. “Iknowhow to change a tire.”
I peer up at him. “Do you want to help or not?”
He takes a long breath. “Okay. Teach me then.”
“First, we need to get the van off the flat tire. We don’t want to ruin the rim,” I say, pumping up the jack.
“The rim. Right.” Trent nods.
“So we are going to pump the jack up like this.”
“Pump the jack.” He holds out two fingers like he’s counting the very tricky steps.
“Then we need the lug wrench.”
“The lug wrench.” He hands it to me.
“Are you going to repeat everything I say?”
He shrugs. “Are you going to allow me to do anything else?”
“Probably not,” I admit.
“Can I at least retrieve the spare?”
I suppose that’s simple enough. “Fine. It’s under the back of the van.”
He gives me a grateful nod, then retreats to the back of the van.
I get the lug wrench onto the first lug nut and loosen it while Trent makes weird sounds in the back. The first three lug nuts are off before he speaks up.
“Uh, where did you say that spare was?”
“I have to do everything around here.” I sigh dramatically as I walk to the back.
“Be my guest.” He motions to the back of the van. He probably couldn’t see it from his tall height.
I lay on the ground and scoot under the vehicle. Loose gravel digs into my back, but it’s a small price to pay to be right. I shine my flashlight under the carriage.
Huh. It’s not there. And now that I’m here, staring at the bottom of my very rusty vehicle, I remember. I used it three years ago and never replaced it.
I slide out and stand up, brushing off my backside. “Well, this was fun.” I walk past the half-undone tire.
“What are you doing?” Trent follows me.
I open the driver’s side door and pull the key out of the ignition. Then I grab the two sticks out from under the driver’s seat and prop one up under the door handle. “Locking up the van.”
He follows me to the passenger side where I do the same thing. Bertha’s locks gave out sometime before the radio did.
“Why?”
“I don’t have a spare. And it’s too late to call for help. The nearest auto shop will be closed, so I’m going to call it a night.” I head to the back of the van.
“Wait,” Trent says. “There’s a rest stop a mile that way. Maybe we can make it.”
“On the damaged tire? Did you forget step number one? Don’t ruin the rim.”
He glances at the van, the worry in his eyes betraying that he already knows what’s coming. “So, then what?”
