by Swellison

"Thanks so much for bringing your notes over, Blair." Claire smiled, indicating the two spiral notebooks and a cassette tape placed on the coffee table.

"You're welcome. I enjoyed the walk over here from campus, anyway. Gave me a chance to stretch my legs and plan out my next lecture. Do you need anything else? Are you comfortable--?" Blair gestured towards Claire's cast-encased left leg, elevated by a couple of pillows. Claire half-lay on the sofa, her back supported by a couple of cushions, while he sat in an overstuffed chair kitty-corner to her.

"No, I'm fine." The petite blonde winced slightly as she shifted to pick up one of the notebooks. She glanced at the wall clock and amended, "Or I will be, after I take my painkiller."

She reached for the small, brown prescription bottle and opened the childproof cap. "Damn," she muttered, peering inside the empty bottle.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot I took the last pill last night. Jeri was supposed to pick up my scrip before she left for work, but I guess she forgot."

"Who's your pharmacist?"

"Campus Pharmacy."

"I'll be glad to go over and pick up your prescription for you."

"No, you've done enough already. Surely you have better things to do on a Saturday morning than run errands for me. I'll just wait 'til Jeri comes home."

"Nonsense, Claire," Blair said. "Jeri won't get off work 'til after five. I don't think you should wait that long to take your meds. I'll just walk over to the pharmacy--"

"No, Blair. I can't impose--"

"That's what friends are for," he interrupted firmly.

"Okay," Claire agreed reluctantly. "But at least take my car, so you'll get there and back faster? That way I won't feel like I've ruined your whole morning."

"All right."

"Good. Hand me my purse and I'll give you some money and the car keys."

Blair handed Claire her purse, and she extracted a twenty-dollar bill and a set of car keys. "It's the red Camry, parked under the carport out back." She gestured towards the rear of the house. "Take the back door out, you'll be right there. And thanks again."

Blair took the keys and slipped the money into his pocket. "Good-bye, Claire. See you soon." He walked across the living room and through the kitchen to the back door. He stepped outside, making sure that the door closed completely behind him.

Claire, Jeri, and their other two roommates had banded together to rent the comfy older house in a semi-quiet neighborhood that bordered Rainier's campus. The post-World War II house came complete with a driveway along the left side of it that led to a fully detached garage about forty feet behind the house. The owner had widened part of the driveway and added a two-space carport in front of the garage to accommodate extra cars when he had turned the residence into student housing several years previously.

He spotted Claire's Camry immediately, parked on the right-hand side of the carport in front of the closed garage. A blue late-model Cougar was parked next to it. He squeezed between the two cars, unlocked the Camry and settled in behind the wheel. Claire had neglected to mention that her car had standard transmission; fortunately Blair was an experienced stick-shift driver. He started the car and shifted into reverse. Glancing backwards, he realized that he would have to move the car from its present position on the short side of the driveway to a spot directly behind the Cougar in order to back down the driveway and onto the street. He measured the distance along the driveway's curved right edge from the front of the carport to the start of the single lane and realized that he didn't have much room for maneuvering. Oh, well it can't be that hard, he thought.

He backed out of the carport and quickly applied the brakes when he felt the back right tire go off the cement and onto the grass. Oops, misjudged the curve there. Then, Blair put the gearshift into first and applied enough pressure to the gas pedal to get the wheel back onto the driveway. The car edged forward and bumped into the garage door before he could brake successfully. He sighed and started backing up again. Just a little more, almost there-- The Camry's back wheel again rolled off the edge of the driveway and onto the grass. Shaking his head, he put the car back in forward and crept towards the garage door, then shifted into reverse.

Blair backed the car out a couple of seconds, and discovered that he wasn't exactly backing in a straight line when the right rear bumper nudged the slender pole that supported that side of the carport. "Argh," he grumbled, shifted back into first, and drove forward slightly to straighten out the wheels.

Think a minute, here, he told himself, taking a deep, soothing breath. He decided to approach the maneuver as if he were parallel parking, since he wanted to end up "parked" in back of the Cougar. He shifted into reverse and started cranking the wheel to the left. The Camry angled too sharply, and its right front wheel rolled off the concrete and onto the grass. Frustrated, he slammed on the brakes with both feet and promptly stalled out.

Blair whacked the steering wheel with his right hand. "I am letting this go." He repeated his mantra aloud as he started the car and inched forward, bringing it almost back to its original position under the carport. He shifted into reverse for what seemed like the umpteenth time and slowly backed down the driveway. When the front of the Camry was even with the Cougar's front passenger door, he turned the wheel to the left, following the instructions pounded into his head by a long-ago driver's ed class. Miraculously, this maneuver worked and the Camry slowly slid behind the Cougar. Triumphant, Blair proceeded to back down the driveway, not even bothered by the slight jump as the Camry kissed the corner of the house.

Finally, Blair reached the street and headed on his errand of mercy. Fleetingly, he wondered if it would be as difficult to park the Camry as it had been to back it out. Don't go there...

The End