[Hey]
(align:"==>")+(box:"X=")+(live: 1s)+(t8n:"slide-up")[
(stop:)Hey]
(live: 2s)+(t8n:"slide-up")[
(stop:)How are you feeling this morning?]
(align:"==>")+(box:"X=")+(live: 3s)+(t8n:"slide-up")[
(stop:)I'm alright. How are you?]
(live: 4s)+(t8n:"slide-up")[
(stop:)Annoyed. Have to go to the DMV today.
Getting new plates for [[Jody]]]
(align:"==>")+(box:"X=")+(live: 5s)+(t8n:"slide-up")[
(stop:)Want some company?]
(live: 6s)+(t8n:"slide-up")[
(stop:)Love some
I'll come over right now
Then let us be [[off]]]I had always pined after a ‘76 chestnut-brown Triumph Spitfire-the exact make and model of car my grandfather bought during his mid-life crisis (I’m guessing, I never received explicit confirmation).
(live: 2s)+(t8n:"slide-up")[
(stop:)That’s the car my mother took to college, and it was still hanging out in my grandparents’ garage when it was time for me to start driving. I loved that car. Unfortunately, my aunt was also quite attached, and when it was time for my grandfather to get rid of it, she was consulted first.]
(live: 7s)+(t8n:"slide-up")[
(stop:)I kept a "wanted" ad posted on craigslist for years until one day I got a call. And then I had my Jody. She's named after a girl I knew. I like the irony. I could never turn human Jody on, but car Jody always roars at my touch.]
(live: 12s)+(t8n:"slide-up")[
(stop:)Now, if you will, please let us venture to the most widely despised governmental [[off]]ices in existence.]The DMV was as expected. Packed and beige and uncomfortable. There was an odd scent too, like burned cumin and sweat.
I was glad to have the company.
(click:?page)+(t8n:"slide-up")["What do you think their deal is?"
"Who?"
"Them."
"The nervous looking [[daughter and mom?]]"
"Actually, no, that's too easy. That[[ lady]], the one being weighed down by jewelery."
"She's here because of her son. He recently got a motorcycle and took her for a drive. She can't shake the thrill and is here to follow suit."
//"B27."//
"Oh. That's [[me]]."]
Katherine and Stella Thompson were sitting and suffering, waiting for Stella's turn to take her learner's permit test. This was her third try, and a failure on this attempt meant that she would have to take some class to be able to drive. The embarrasment would be too much. And Stella, sweaty palms and all, decided that if she failed this attempt, she would never touch a steering wheel in her life.
(click:?page)+(t8n:"slide-up")["I'm worried, mom."
"Don't be sweetie. You've been studying hard, and I'm sure you'll pass."
"But I studied the last two times too. And what am I going to do if I fail again?"
"It's not the end of the world. There is the supplemental instruction course you can take."
"That class for idiots?"
"It's not for idiots. Don't say that."
"Oh my God, you think I'm going to fail again."
"I didn't say that, and you know it....What is with these places? They always [[smell]] awful?"]Brenda Feldman was in an almost unheard of situation-she was in a great mood at the DMV. Her visit that day was an act of cathartic liberation. She had recently divorced her husband and had come in to officially get her name changed back on her license. Goodbye Feldman, welcome back Brenda Biocelli.
(click:?page)+(t8n:"slide-up")[Brenda had noticed the [[smell]] too.]"How can I help you today?"
"I'm here to get my plates changed."
"The registration system is down, at the moment. But it will be back online shortly."
"So, what does that mean?"
"You can wait, and when the system is ready we'll call you up, or you can always come back at a later date."
"Any idea how long it will be down?"
"Usually, it turns back on in 10-20 minutes."
"Ok, I'll [[wait]]. Thank you."We seemed to all recognize the smell at the same moment - Brenda, Katherine, and I. We all got up, informed our companions (Katherine and I) that we should leave, and walked out of the building en masse.
I remembered it from when I was a kid, riding with my grandfather in that beautiful car of his.
(if:(history: where its name contains "leather jacket")'s length >= 1)[[A shotgun in the trunk and spent shell casings strewn across the back seat. Gunpowder, recently ignited.
] ]
(t8n:"slide-up")["They say it's going to be 15 minutes. Something about the registration system. I don't know."
"Well, that stinks. Want to keep playing?"
"Sure. What do you got for [[leather jacket]]?"
"I can't go motorcycle, huh? 'Cause you already took that one?"
"It's your story. Use what you will."
"God, what is that [[smell]]?"]He was in the far corner, and he hadn't gotten a ticket. He didn't have a car or a license. He'd lived here all his life, and he rarely left his apartment. His mother had left early, abandoned his father with him when he was seven. He had never forgiven her for that. His father didn't want a kid and didn't know what to do when one was forced on him. He grew up in the world but apart from it, detached, isolated, and angry. The [[smell]] was eminating from his jacket.