Joy and sorrow Red Light chapter four

Celeste took a brief respite from her John Grisham novel,the pecan tree and white weeping willows waved at her as the Lebron sped by.Celeste and her husband are en route to give a speech in the southern most part of the state in order to sway voters.

At a traffic light, an enormous pair of Chuck Taylor's with pink shoelaces hung low from the red light pole.."Hola" is spelled in red spray paint on each sneaker.

"The strangest incidents happen in cars," Celeste muses,flipping the butt of her cigarette out the window.

''Did you say something?'' Joel said, voice garbled by the crunchy sounds of his fourth Clark bar.

Celeste let out a gasp,dumbfounded she had spoken her thoughts out loud.

Oh, just remarking on he bizarre shit that happens whenever the two of us are traveling in the car together."

'' Ah," Joel says steering with one hand and opening a Capri sun and a bag of pizza flavored combos together.

In that moment,Celeste's mind speeds backwards to when she and her brother Tony were kids.When they weren't at each other's throats, she and tony used to count all the cars painted patriotic colors and scout for peculiar billboards.Celeste relayed this,giddy with nostalgia, to her son and niece.Both youngsters gave her blank stares,as if that was the most pathetic thing they 'd ever heard.

Celeste finds her brain had wandered off to the beaches of Martha's Vineyard as the 1980's were waning.After three years of trying ,Sebastian came to be after a tryst in the burnt orange Barretta.The couple has cleverly hidden their fine automobile with shrubbery.Seagulls gawked ,probably ripping on the two middle -aged people taking a roll in the hay.

There happened to be a terrifying event  some months later.Joel attempted  to teach Celeste how to drive a stick shift.

"Come on babe,it will be a piece of cake.I taught my sister,my grandmother, and even my secretary ,who is thick as molasses how to drive a stick shift,"Joel said in that annoying optimistic Clark Griswold kind of way.

The driving lesson met with disastrous results from the word Go! First ,Celeste shifted gears too aggressively.She tried pushing forward the way Joel had patiently showed her, but her ever growing belly got in the way.Her stomach was bigger at this point in the pregnancy than it had been all those years ago with her daughter.She ended up slamming the car in reverse and accidentally punched Joel in the nose,breaking it.

Joel couldn't drive with his nose bleeding so profusely.After a fair amount of arguing and cussing from both parties,by some small miracle,they pushed the car into the correct gear before they crashed.With quite a lot of jerking and stopping,Celeste reached the hospital in one peice.Celeste was shaking and sobbing with sobbing and such ferocity her words were unintellible.Joel tried to mime what was going on while blood dripped down his face.The nurse at the sign - in desk glared at them like they were lunatics.

Another incident occurred at Joel's college reunion at Columbia University when they first met.Didi Pratt and her enormous frizzy hairdo greeted them as they walked through the lobby at their hotel.

'' I used to sit next to your brother when we were studying law together," Didi giggled.

" Funny I don't remember you in the slightest,'' Joel spat out in dry tones.

'' I am his girlfriend.'' Celeste smiles tightly.

''Are you a lawyer as well?" Didi says cackling.

'' Actress,'' Celeste murmurs,searching for a potted plant to hide in.

''Well,that is something,'' Didi said, pressing her pinky to her lip.

The entire reunion festivities dragged on like this.Didi Pratt situated herself between the two and their crew , no matter how many times they moved.

One might,Joel and Celeste and a few others snuck to an area eatery,relieved to be rid of the irksome Didi.No sooner had they sat down to a feast of steak medium rare,sauteed with mushrooms and tarragon,that Didi plopped down on Joel's lap and giggled like a drunk sorority girl.

''Kindly find another table in which to situate yourself,'' Joel said , enunciating each syllable for effect.

Didi sat the table across the way, speaking in brash tones, while the couples tried to ignore her idle prattle.

Celeste found herself flirting extra thick with Joel in front of Didi. She was ashamed of her foolish behavior at this stage in life.It was the opposite of feminism.She'd known even then, he was not some stupid fling.You never knew what a lover would do in the face of temptation.Worse you had no control over the situation.

As the crew ventured into a cab for a late night movie,Didi tried to force her way inside.

"Step on it,'' Joel commanded the cabbie.

That is when both parties knew they were the one for each other.Joel appreciated his lady love not freaking out and acting crazy under surreal circumstances.Celeste was thrilled that the man she loaned her heart out to was built of strong stuff.

Five minutes later,Celeste is jolted back to real time.

'' And we have reached our destination,'' Joel said, mimicking Darryl Waltrip.