Dude, Where's My Car?!

Eddie and I have made a mutually beneficial arrangement regarding his use of the Matrix. Even if I need to use the car during the day, he’ll still be able to drive it to school. I’ll just need to be sure to add an extra ten minutes to my schedule – the time it takes me to walk to the high school parking lot.

Yesterday I almost regretted this agreement. A light rain was falling when I left the house, but an umbrella kept me dry. As I approached the car, I noticed that Eddie had parked it in an area reserved for people using the indoor swimming pool

PARKING AREA

IS RESERVED FOR

POOL USE ONLY

VIOLATORS WILL BE TOWED

AT CAR OWNER’S EXPENSE

How could Eddie not see these signs? I wondered.

One was posted every twenty feet.

I waited until after school let out to return the car to the lot. In this way, I was able to park closer to the building.

While getting supper ready, I glanced out the window facing the driveway and saw Eddie walking toward the house. I moved to the hallway to meet him.

“Why did you walk home?” I asked in surprise. “Where’s the car?”

He looked shellshocked – which made me think What the hell happened here?

“I have bad news,” he announced, his voice tight with emotion.

At this point, I did not know how to react. I imagined the car unable to start – or worse.

A flat tire? An accident – the car towed to Jim’s Amoco or Ball Body Shop?

“The car was towed,” he added, meekly awaiting a wrathful response.

“No, it wasn’t,” I returned, trying my best to hold back a smile. “I used it for awhile today and parked it in a different area when I was done. Any why did you park it in a restricted area anyway?”

He practically crumpled in relief.

“Oh, Dad, you don’t know how happy I am to hear that.”

Then he told me his side of the story. He was running a bit late getting ready for school. (Which I already knew, since I had to knock on his bedroom door to rouse him out of bed.) He parked the car in the first open space he found, even though the sign told him to go elsewhere. He returned to the lot during his lunch hour to move the car – an immediately assumed it had been towed. He spent the next five hours in a state of suspended anxiety.

I guess I'll need to be clearer as to when I need my car.