Laura Ray (Ray Series) by Kelley Brown

thirty feet could hear everything she said over the hum of all the machines. Laura learned in a hurry not to speak of anything confidential to her. Candace lived with her father who ran a fruit stand. Apparently he was hard of hearing so Candace learned to speak loudly. That was Laura’s guess anyway.
    The woman directly behind Laura didn’t talk at all. The one sitting to Laura’s back left lived in her own little world. The only thing she would talk about was would you come to her church.
    The months rolled by and school started again. Danny entered into Junior High. He took football. They met for practice every day for two weeks in the hot sun before school started. Laura worried about him every day. Some of the boys wouldn’t drink enough water and passed out on the field. One thing about Danny, he always drank lots of water.
    The day came when the Coach named the starters for the team. “Bobby made the starter team but Aaron and I are second string,” Danny told her with disgust.
    “Is Bobby that good?” Laura asked.
    Danny thought a minute. “He is good, but so are Aaron and me. Why didn’t I get on the starter team?”
    “You may have to ask the coach that, but I have an idea.” Laura rubbed his back trying to comfort him. “Have you looked at how big those ninth graders are?”
    Danny’s eyes got big, “Oh, yeah. Some of them are twice as big as I am.”
    “How would you feel if one of them ran over you or stepped on you?”
    “I wouldn’t want that, I don’t think Coach would let them,” Danny said with assurance.
    “Right.” Laura agreed. “Coach wants you to live for another day. To get bigger before you have to take on those big boys. He did put you on second string. He may let you play a little during the games.”
    “Okay, I see what you mean.” Danny relented then said accusingly, “Coach let Bobby play.”
    “Remember, Bobby is a year older and bigger than you.”
    “Yeah, okay.”
    Laura’s car started making funny noises. She didn’t know what to do for it. She drove it back and forth to work every day hoping it would make it and then hoping it would start to go home. The day that she noticed it was time to fill up, she drove into the gas station to fill up. The attendant asked her if she would like for him to look under the hood, always before she had always told them no, because that’s what John always said. This time, she said, “Yes.”
    After a few minutes, the attendant pulled his head out from under the hood and came to her window wiping his hands on a greasy rag. “Ma’am? Have you checked your oil or water lately?”
    “No,” she shook her head. “Was I supposed to?” she asked.
    “Well,” he said with a little smile, “Somebody’s supposed to.”
    “How long have you had your car, Ma’am?” he asked.
    She rolled her eyes around thinking, “Something like a year now.”
    “Your car is at least two quarts low on oil. Your water is low and maybe needs antifreeze.” He shook his head, “I can add some oil and water, but if I were you I’d have an auto mechanic look at it. Just to check it out and see what all needs done to it. Now , I can do it or you can have someone else look at it.”
    Laura hesitated, thinking about another bill she hadn’t anticipated. “Could you add some water and a quart of oil until I decide what to do?”
    He nodded and went to fetch the oil and water.
    As she drove away she remembered John changing the oil. He w as always tinkering with something on the old truck. She had never paid much attention. She derided herself hoping she hadn’t ruined her new car .
    When she got home she called Harold, “The man at the station said that I needed a mechanic to look at my car. Where should I take it?”
    “What seems to be the matter with it?” Harold asked.
    “I really don’t know. It’s been making funny noises, but today when I filled up the man at the station said that it was low on water and oil and that I needed to take