They left the house in a hurry as the traffic cops were due to arrive in their three-wheeled “interceptors”, and both cars would be ticketed.  The taller of the two reached the street first and started his large blue car and waited for his brother.  Together they drove just up the street where the shorter boy got out and into the small gold car and started the engine.

They sat there for quite some time as the sun came up and warmed their skin through the car windows and the boy in the small car waited for his engine to warm.  He had made oatmeal with raisins and now, sitting behind the steering wheel with his foot holding down the clutch he ate the oatmeal out of a plastic tupperware with a spoon and watched his brother in the rear-view mirror.

Finally the car was warm enough to move, and in procession they made their way up to Market Street and turned East to face the rising sun.  There were cars in neat rows stretching ahead into the sun and the road was so crowded that they were forced to inch forward very slowly and the boy in the gold car, who was in front, turned right off of Market and led his brother on a different route.

They moved much faster now, and with less cars around the going felt easier and the boy in front thought how his brother would enjoy the scenery because the city felt good and clean in the morning, with no ill effects from what had happened during the night.  They turned left on Church Street and went up the hill two blocks and turned right again, heading straight through the Mission district now and there were people walking in every direction and all the shops were starting to come to life.

The boy in front held a small notebook on his lap, and he opened it often to check one of the back pages where he had written directions to the shop.  He knew that they were to turn left at Portrero street but since he didn’t know exactly where it was he lifted the notebook to his eyes often and read each street sign carefully as they passed.  Coming out of the Mission now the road felt more open still and they were moving very well now and they both felt good to be driving into the sun in the morning.

They reached Portrero street and turned left and the city appeared ahead of them in the sun.  The buildings were tall and white and gold and so close together that they looked like something out of a dream.  They went under the freeway and there were more cars now and everybody was driving fast heading towards the city.  They were getting very close and again the boy in front checked his notebook and read the addresses on the buildings as they passed, and he thought that it was very possible that they had gone past the shop without even noticing.  Finally he saw it and felt very relieved and as he turned on his indicator and pulled into the driveway he was glad to have arrived easily and with his brother in the big blue car behind.

There were cars everywhere, some that were old and dying and others that were shiny and new and he parked the gold Honda amongst the other cars and put on the parking brake before gathering his bag and the empty plastic bowl that had held his oatmeal and got out of the car.  The older boy had turned around and sat with the engine on and smiled as his brother approached and reached through the window to leave the plastic bowl on the floor of the blue car.

“Is it OK if I leave this here?”
The older boy nodded, “I’d come in with you but I’m not sure where to park”
“That’s alright I’ll be right back”
The boy walked through the wide garage door and into the dark interior that was cool and quiet in the morning and smelled just slightly of oil.

“Good morning” he called to the shop man who hadn’t seen him come in and, turning around, smiled and walked towards the desk at the front of the garage.

He explained how the car needed to have the oil changed and how in the morning there was no pressure in the clutch and how you had to wait at least ten minutes while the car warmed before you could drive.  As they spoke the older boy came inside, very tall against the sun and he stood beside his brother as the shop man wrote on a piece of carbon paper.

“OK no problem I’ll take a look and let you know what I find.  Phone number?”
The younger boy gave his phone number and then the key to the car, and they all nodded in agreement and the two boys went out and together got into the big blue car.

The younger boy looked at his phone and saw that it was still early in the morning and they’d made very good time driving to the shop.

“I’ve got one hour.  Maybe we can find a cafe around here and have some coffee”.