The Angels, They Keep Appearing

Kansas City, MO - Saturday, May 25, 2013 continued

Driving to the convention this morning in the 7 o'clock hour, we had seen a number of police cars coiled to pounce. Since it was overcast and raining slightly, Jacob turned on the headlights. One flaw of our Hyundai Elantra, it does not beep if you leave the headlights on when you park.

So when we get in the car to take a rest from the book signing carousel, the key turns in ominous silence. No spark or sputter. Nothing.

There are so few car problems we can actually solve ourselves, Jacob is almost excited to know what to do. He pops the trunk, lifts the floor and scoops our jumper cables out of the wheel well where we put them for exactly this moment. We just need to find another car, but we are in the edge row of a crowded parking lot at a busy hotel. This shouldn't be hard.

The man at the front desk tells Jacob he isn't legally able to offer assistance, in case something goes wrong. "You'll just have to ask around."

Back in the parking lot, the first person Jacob asks says he can't because he is leaving and needs to get somewhere.

The second person says he is arriving and needs to get inside.

The third is a young couple and they look at the cable like it's a welding torch and say, "We don't know how to do that."

"It's okay," Jacob tells them, "I know how. I just need another car."

They back away awkwardly. "We're sorry."

Charlie Brown music plays in Jacob's head as he trudges back to our car-shaped paperweight. "Can you maybe walk with me," he asks Leighann. "I don't think they believe I have a wife. I think they think I am trying to mug them."

At Leighann's suggestion, we go inside to the Con registration desk and tell our story. A man with sun-leathered skin and a baseball cap gets up with a sigh. "I ran a tow service for ten years. Take me to her." As we walk to the door he says, "You can call a tow truck to jump a car, but they'll charge you $50 or more. It's highway robbery. I made good money." And then, "Where are you parked? I'm that white van up the hill."

We look. His van is parked next to our car.

When he has us in power again, he advises us to drive for thirty minutes to charge the battery up. As he turns to leave Jacob stops him, pocket-fishes for a second, then gives him the rest of our star stickers.