The Odds (41 page)

The old-fashioned ice cream truck that comes by every evening pulls into the street, but the driver has to idle and then skirt wide because three teenage boys are tossing a football right in front of him and they aren’t looking at anything else. In fact they’re especially reckless. One of the boys keeps falling into Colleen’s car. He clearly likes the big thumping sound his body makes when it hits metal.

The ice cream–truck driver starts his melodeon music-thing going. Kids of all ages start to appear from various doorways. It’s going to be daylight for a while yet. She reads over her completely unnecessary list and laughs to remember a guy she once knew who wrote rest on his todo list. She writes
rest
.

The boy who likes to smash himself into the fender of her old Accord does it again.

“Hey, watch it!” she yells.

Watch what? This old car? his outraged face says.

She levels him a look that makes him slink away. The car isn’t worth much, but hey, she loves it anyway. She stretches her tired body and goes into the house to scrounge something to eat.