Devonne Brown

“Salty or sweet?” he asked in an online conversation.

“Salty.” I replied without even thinking about it. Potato chips and dip are my absolute favorite snacks, God’s ambrosia. I prefer salt over sweet any day. I even put Chex Mix, my all time home made favorite Christmas snack over ice cream to balance it out. It was a no brainer. I didn’t think anymore about it and went about the business of living.

I drove the car to the car wash. I had to crawl up into the back of the SUV and sweep out the shards of cardboard and sticks left over from hauling God knows what over months. The back seats were full of sticks and debris. It took all the quarters I had, and then more dollars in the machine to turn into quarters to keep the vacuum running. It seemed like hours and five dollars later before the carpet in the car was nearly debris free. 

I had brought Windex and rags to wipe off the console and clean the touch screen. I had a need for sheen. The impulse for a clean car was driving me crazy, and this was the day to do it. I scrubbed and wiped. The windows were an afterthought, but got cleaned as well. My car’s interior looked and smelled as good as when I brought it home from the dealer. 

I was surprised that it took a little more than an hour. 

I bought a ticket for the automatic carwash, and drove it through the bubbles. Pink, blue, orange, and green ribbons of foam coated my car like cotton candy ribbons. The froth foamed up and off by the mighty jets of water that pounded around the car. It was nearly a sexual experience. “I should do this more often,” I thought to myself, knowing I would let the debris and dirt pile high again.

I pulled up into the driveway and was greeted by a package at the door. I smiled when I opened it, a package of  salty black licorice. He’d paid attention when I mentioned that licorice was more satisfying than chocolate. A discussion that we had in passing a lifetime ago. He made me smile.