Sex in a Sidecar by Phyllis Smallman Page A

whether to close us down.”
    I reached past him and turned off the last row of lights as he nudged open the door.
    The narrow alley funneled the wind down between the Sunset and the condo behind it, increasing its power so it took the weight of both of us to push the door open. The blast of the wind caught the door, pulling it away from us and slamming it back against the railing. The wind roared through the open door and blew me back a few steps.
    Miguel used his short solid body to block the door open so it wouldn’t be slammed shut on us while I fought my way out onto the metal grating, barely able to breathe. This was worse than I’d bargained for. I held onto the iron railing, struggling to keep my balance and looked back to Miguel. He tucked his body over against the metal balustrade to steady himself and shouldered the door closed. I yelled at Miguel to ditch the box. He couldn’t hear me over the howl of the wind.
    Twenty feet down the alley we came out into the parking lot and the full force of the storm. It caught me and threw me sideways into Miguel. We staggered but Miguel kept us upright. The air was dark and gritty with sand. It was like nightfall rather than midday, terrifying and oppressive. I took a handful of Miguel’s shirt and we hunched our bodies together for support while we fought our way forward. It was crazy wild out there.
    I looked up just as Chris’s red Mazda exited the parking lot. He wasn’t even waiting to make sure we all got out safely.
    Only three vehicles remained in the parking lot: Miguel’s beat-up brown utility van, my red pickup and a white car parked next to it that I didn’t know. But at least someone was there to make sure we got out alive.
    When we got closer, I saw Gina behind the wheel of the white Audi. She waved.
    Miguel and I shouted goodbye at each other but the keening wind stole the words away. Miguel struggled for his van, while I dug in my purse for my keys. Miguel drove quickly to the exit, expecting me to follow him. I kept searching; they had to be in there. Miguel stopped and waited for me.
    Jimmy’s little red pickup sat there with the wind buffeting it, rocking it back and forth, waiting. I was frantic now, searching wildly. The keys weren’t there.

Chapter 15
    I must have left them on the bar. That was all I could think of as I looked back at the building in shock. My keys were inside and Chris, the only person who could let me back in the building to get them, was long gone.
    Gina got out of her car and let the wind blow her over to the pickup, bumping hard into the left fender to stop her forward rush and grasping the outside mirror for an anchor as she rolled to a stop at my door. I couldn’t make out what she was saying. The motion and pointing of her hand told me all I needed to know. She was offering me a lift to safety. I had no other choice but to leave the little red pickup behind.
    All my plans and the careful packing of the covered bed of the truck had gone for rat shit.
    We struggled to the Audi. I shoved the cooler over to the back and collapsed onto the passenger seat.
    â€œThanks,” I yelled. “I bet it’s gusting to sixty miles an hour or more out there.” I couldn’t hear my own voice but Gina nodded and sped to the exit behind Miguel. The first big fat splats of rain hit the windshield. Miguel was watching us in his rearview. I made the okay sign and he smiled, gave me a thumbs-up and pulled out, heading north to the mainland bridge.
    I swiveled back to look at the red pickup abandoned in the lot, Jimmy’s pride and joy. “It’s going to get sandblasted. I’ll have to have it painted.”
    Gina couldn’t hear me but having no one listening has never stopped me from talking, especially when I’m nervous. “Never mind. If we get a six-foot surge of saltwater, the engine will be ruined. An act of God. The insurance won’t cover it.” I turned