151. As he turned the DeSoto onto Highway 20,

they both knew the girl would not be meeting her curfew.
...

150. The man realized he hadn’t wanted

to know; it was irrelevant.
...

147. “How so?” the girl asked in a raspy voice.

A curl of smoke swirled around the ceiling light and then disappeared.
...

146. “You duped me,” he said, gripping the wheel.

His knuckles were white, and he thought about hitting her.
...

144. She took one, lit it with the car lighter,

and sucked in a long drag.
...

142. “I’m grounded,” the girl said, plopping on the car seat

and nestling close to him. “You have a cigarette?”
...

141. He pulled away from the girl

and motioned for her to get in the car.
...

140. “Whoa,” the man said, looking furtively

in the direction of the school.
...

139. Without a word, the girl ran into his arms.

He was not wearing his wedding band.
...

138. He leaned against his black 1941 DeSoto,

smoking a Winston.
...

137. He resolved to never see the girl again,

but at 3:00 o’clock sharp, he was waiting for her.
...

136. “A goddamn kid!”

He crumpled up the note and crammed it into his pocket.
...

135. “Pick me up from school at 3,”

she wrote in her girlish curlicue hand. “Immaculate Conception High School.”
...

134. Before leaving, though, she had tucked

a note under the lamp on the night stand.
...

133. At dawn, the girl slipped

out of the room, went home, and donned her navy plaid school uniform.
...

132. That night, he rented a cheap motel room

out on Highway 20, and they made love all night.
...

130. The girl saw the man’s wedding band

glint in the low light; she knew immediately it wasn’t a strong union.
...

125. The redheaded girl, encased in a white sweater,

was tall and curvy, tips of her breasts aimed at him like torpedoes.
...

124. He was broad-shouldered and trim,

his black hair cropped close, his blue eyes impish. She would win him.
...

123. He cut a dashing figure:

a dark blue coat with gold buttons and a white belt forming a vee.
...