Her foot is on the pedal and her head is in the stars. Joy was a Bettie Page styled hottie on a mission. After a chance encounter with Nick Joy finds a kindred spirit but is she just too much for him to handle?
Hang on tight, this girl drives as...
"Joy, we've never discussed anything like this but seeing those planets like that," I paused, searching for words.
"It was like I was looking at God's clockwork first hand."
She glanced at me, half smiling.
"I felt small, tiny, but somehow touched by something larger, like maybe there I was part of the universe, of everything for a split second."
I started laughing as another tear rolled down my cheek.
"Can you believe this!" I said.
"It's like I suddenly can't control my emotions. What the hell is wrong with me?"
She was watching the road ahead.
"I get it, Nick; I felt the same way, still do sometimes. I knew you would like it. Not everyone has time for that sort of thing. You can get pretty deep in your head trying to figure it all out, and there always seems to be more to discover. It's endless. That's why I love mathematics. I can use it to verify and explain, which helps me stay centered."
She glanced over and nodded.
"It's cool, Nick; I'm glad you came."
"Radio sort of does that for me," I told her.
"How so?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"When I was a kid, my grandfather gave me a little transistor radio. I used to be scared at night in the house we lived in. My bedroom was on the opposite side of the house from my parents and nowhere near my little sister's room either. I used to turn it on, tune it in, and find some program. The jockeys were more like talk show hosts back then, and at night people would call in and talk on this particular station. I used to feel somehow connected, like not so alone as long as I could hear them, then I was part of the world outside, part of something bigger."
"That's cool," she said, glancing at me.
"The first time I got a job, I got teary-eyed in the studio."
"Really?" She looked surprised.
"Really. It was like it had all come full circle. I just thought of maybe some kid out there like me feeling the same way."
She smiled, glancing over at me, and winked. Joy stayed straight on Ponce De Leon, passing the Majestic, the Plaza theater, and my old apartment. I noticed a car pull out of a side street ahead of us. It was an old nineteen seventies Monte Carlo that looked to be in mint condition. It struck me to be a little strange because they seemed to be in no hurry to cross in front of us. Joy paid no attention.
As we passed, I gave in to curiosity and turned to watch the car quickly make a wide U-turn, tires squealing in an effort to catch up to us. Joy was talking about the Hale Bopp comet, but I could hear the deep roaring V-8 engine growing louder as the car closed the spatial gap between us. Then suddenly, they began blaring their horn and flashing their lights. Joy finally noticed, glancing in her rearview.
