I went out to the garage and looked at it again. I didn’t want to ride it. I couldn’t ride it. So I had to go back in the house and change the note to read that I was walking downtown.
When I got there I walked right by the entrance and stood on the corner. I knew a lot of things, then. I knew that no matter what happened, I wasn’t going to run around with Mitch and Arn and Del any more. Because it had all been spoiled. And I knew I was going to ask Dad to sell the scooter. Not to punish myself, but because I didn’t want it any more. And I knew I washed we could move away. A good long way away.
I stood on the corner and then turned back and I thought that I was going to have to go right on by again. I kept thinking that when I saw my folks again, it would never be the same as it used to be. It would be like the time when it was brand new, and the way they looked standing and watching me ride it for the first time. You lose something, and you can’t get it back.
But when I got to the doorway again, I was able to turn and go up the stone steps and go inside.