Why We Missed Church on Sunday (Part 2 of 4)

It was still raining when I pulled into the am/pm Arco station on Rosecrans and Carmenita in Norwalk. I did happen to have my phone charger with me so I had decided to march into the convenience store and demand an electrical outlet where I could plug my phone in and get Josh’s phone number. That’s almost how it went. I parked the Corolla next to the air/water machine, foolishly thinking that maybe one of my tires was just a little soft and all I would need was a blast of air in one of them. As I got out of the car all hopes of that were dashed when I looked at the rear driver’s side tire- or what was left of it. The tire was completely shredded. It reminded me of the tire that the T-Rex chewed off the truck in Jurassic Park. I have to admit I was a little relieved that nothing more traumatic (or expensive) had happened. As far as I could tell, the rear axle was still in place, I hadn’t been dragging the muffler, and there were no zombies in the trunk (this happens more often than most people would like to admit). I knew where the spare was and I knew I could probably figure out how to put it on the car but it was raining and I didn’t want to get my “man skirt” dirty so I gathered my dead cell phone, the charger, and a pen and entered the mini-mart. There were about four people ahead of me buying beer and/or gasoline so I patiently waited my turn, returning the perplexed looks of the other convenience store patrons with a sheepish grin. Finally, I approached the counter. I don’t think the gas station attendant was prepared for my request because she just stared at me blankly as I told my sad story without any pauses, the way I talk when I’m a little bit nervous, “Hi-I-have-a-flat-tire-do-you-think-I-could-plug-in-my-cell-phone-somewhere-just-long-enough-to-get-my-husband’s-phone-number-and-call-him-from-the-pay-phone-to-come-and-rescue-me?” It took her a moment to process what I had just said but then she pointed toward the “Coffee Station” on the other end of the store and I thanked her profusely and headed straight for the outlet… To be continued…