Read The Red Car for Free Online

Sometimes, still, I heard her voice in my head. I would be swimming laps, and I would think, today, maybe I will write Judy, and then, I didn’t. I went into the bedroom and closed the door. I sat on the bed. It felt strange to call Beverly. I remembered my last day of work. They had a send-off party for me in the office and I felt guilty because I felt so overwhelmingly giddy to be leaving, and they were all staying. That was the night I made a pass at Diego. I did the math. Ten years had gone by. Beverly had five more years until retirement. I supposed, really, that that was not very long.
    â€œ I AM SORRY TO TELL YOU the bad news,” Beverly said.
    â€œI am sorry you have the job of telling me bad news.”
    â€œDo you remember?” Beverly said. “I never thought Judy should have bought that car. I told her that.”
    â€œThe car made Judy happy.”
    I sat down on the edge of the unmade bed. I tried to remember. Did I make the bed that morning? Yes, yes I had. At some point in the day, Hans must have taken a nap. He had not remade the bed. These were the things about being married that I hadn’t anticipated. Judy knew. Judy had warned me. Judy had never met Hans.
    I got up and pulled the comforter straight. It took a couple of seconds. I walked over to the window and I opened it. It was surreal, looking out into the small fenced-in backyard. We did not have access to the backyard; it belonged to the landlord and his family who lived downstairs. This summer they had put in a tiny aboveground pool that completely filled the space. Outside, the two Morillo kids splashed in the water. I felt a fresh tear roll down my face.
    â€œShe named me the executor of her estate,” Beverly said. “She left you the car. And some other things.”
    This took me by surprise. The car was Judy’s most precious possession. Also, she had died in that car. A car crash.
    â€œIt’s not totaled?”
    â€œApparently, it’s not,” Beverly said. “It’s at a mechanic’s. He is waiting on you for how to proceed.”
    â€œHow to proceed.”
    I felt a little bit dumb. It was a Thursday and it was hot outside, ninety something degrees. Could that explain it? I could hear Hans’s TV in the living room. He was watching something with shooting in it. Guns and police sirens.
    â€œI don’t want the car,” I said.
    â€œI think you should respect Judy’s wishes.”
    â€œI don’t think she wanted for me to have a wrecked car. It’s crazy that she left me her car. She loved her car. It was her most prized possession.” It looked nice, the Morillo’s swimming pool. It was small, but big enough that I could have floated on my back, looked up at the sky. “You said there were other things.”
    â€œShe left you a small painting and a sealed envelope. I have it here at the office. I don’t know what is in the envelope. You need to come out here, sweetheart.”
    A painting. An envelope. A red car. I bit my lip. It was cruel of the Morillos to put in that pool. Cruel to taunt me like that. I thought about jumping out the window, jumping into their swimming pool, how surprised they would be. But it wasn’t feasible. Yes, I could jump out the window, but there was no way to take a running start. Probably I would land on the small strip of concrete just in front of the pool. I would jump out the window and I would break some bones.
    â€œI think you should come,” Beverly repeated. “The funeral is tomorrow. I should have called you sooner. I did not know about the will.”
    â€œYou are kidding me,” I said. “I can’t come to a funeral tomorrow.”
    I wiped the tears from my cheeks. Lately, I felt like I couldn’t do anything, even though Hans constantly told me otherwise.
    â€œI checked online, sweetheart, and there are flights. They are expensive, granted, but there are flights.”
    â€œI