Deflated

As I was leaving the office the phone rang and it was my boss reminding me about the important client meeting first thing tomorrow morning. I reassured him I was prepared and that I would be there on time. I was now rushing out the door fifteen minutes later than normal. I didn’t call home to let my wife know I would be late, I decided to just hurry on my way. I took the elevator as usual to the parking garage and got in my car, lit a cigarette and began to unwind from the day. The drive home is usually mindless and I listen to the music on the radio to relax me. My Oldsmobile was a good car and it got me where I needed to go. As I made my way through downtown Detroit the traffic lights were timed as usual and I stopped at every other one but traffic was heavier and I was wishing I’d left the office on time. I knew I would arrive home later than usual and Jennie would be worried. I turned the radio up louder to get my mind off the worry, but it didn’t do any good. I was making my way out of downtown and onto the freeway. As I made my way down the on-ramp the car suddenly pulled to the right and a loud thumping noise was coming from the back of the car. Great, a flat tire on the right rear. I must have run over something in the road. I didn’t even see anything. My mind was elsewhere. “Dang it, now I’m going to be even later” I said to myself as I pulled to the side of the road. Cars whizzed by me in a hurry to get home which is where I wished I was right now. I took off my suit coat and threw it in the back seat of the car. I opened up the trunk and got out the tire iron and the spare tire. I wasn’t looking forward to changing this tire in this heat but the quicker I got it done the quicker I would be home with Jennie eating the dinner she’d prepared and talking to her about my day.

I began to loosen up the shredded tire so I could take it off the wheel when suddenly I heard something over my shoulder. A man was standing there. I greeted him and he smiled back but he didn’t say anything. I hadn’t heard a car pull up, I’d only heard the scuffle of his feet and with the sun in my eyes I couldn’t see a car behind him either. I stood up and wiped the sweat off my forehead and I got a better look at him. He was wearing a white t-shirt and some faded jeans. His t-shirt was a bit dirty but looked like it had been pressed recently. His jeans weren’t worn, just faded. His shoes however looked like he’d walked a million miles in them. I couldn’t tell what color they were or used to be for that matter. They were dirty and I had a feeling if I’d seen the soles they didn’t have much left. I smiled again and said “hello” but again he just smiled back. I looked around and I didn’t see a car anywhere along the road. He must’ve just been walking along the highway. I wasn’t sure who he was or where he was going but now he was standing in front of me just staring at me with a half-smile. He had a pleasant face but I was feeling a little uneasy when suddenly he reached out his hand towards me. I was startled but he reached out and grabbed the tire iron in my hand and took it from me. I jumped back a bit but he proceeded to walk to the car and started removing my tire. I hadn’t asked for his help and I didn’t need his help, I was doing just fine. In fact, I knew it would only take me a few minutes to change the tire. I was a bit taken back by the whole thing and didn’t know what to say. I assumed now he was doing it so I would give him a few dollars to get a meal. I didn’t want to give him a couple of dollars because I didn’t need his help and I didn’t appreciate the scam.

“You don’t have to do that, I know how to change a tire” I said to him but he wasn’t persuaded. He just kept changing the tire continued staring forward. I knelt down to get closer to to see if he would look my way but he didn’t. I could see now that his jeans were thin in the knees. He was kneeling down on the hard concrete and it was hot outside. I looked around for a piece of cardboard or something by the side of the road that he could rest his knees on but I couldn’t see anything. I reluctantly opened the door to the Oldsmobile and pulled out the floor mat from the driver’s side. I placed it on the concrete next to his knee and said, “here, put this under your knee so you’re more comfortable”. He stopped turning the tire iron and looked at me for a brief moment and nodded and stood up. I pushed the floor mat over a bit to where he’d been kneeling. He bent back down and proceeded to finish putting on the spare tire and tightening the lug bolts as he’d been doing before. He was almost done but he seemed to be moving freer and faster now and he had a slight smile on his face. As he tightened the last bolt he made a small grunting sound and sniffed and wiped his brow. It was hot and uncomfortable and he was sweating quite a bit. I’m sure my floor mat had absorbed quite a bit of it by now. I wasn’t sure what I was going to offer him, maybe a ride to wherever he was going would be enough. I was arranging the floor mat back in the car as I heard him throw the shredded tire into the trunk and close the lid. He brushed off his hands quickly, turned and began to walk back down the freeway shoulder. “Hey, don’t you need a ride? Where are you going? I can at least take you to my exit.” He kept on walking and shook his head slightly as if to indicate he didn’t need a ride, didn’t need anything. I was puzzled. He didn’t want money. He didn’t want a ride. Why did he stop and change my tire in the first place? Why didn’t he just keep walking by. It’s hot outside. Why couldn’t he speak?

I yelled one more time but he just kept walking. As I arrived home I walked in the door still in shock from the events that had unfolded in the previous hour- leaving work late, the flat tire, the stranger who was walking the freeway who may not have been there had I’d stopped fifteen minutes earlier. I would’ve been done changing the tire by then and getting back into my car. There wouldn’t have been a need for him to stop at all. Jennie was worried and she rushed to the door, taking my coat off of my arm and asking me where I’d been. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to describe the man who seemed to want nothing more than a sign, an indication that his need however small was received and reciprocated today. He continued on in hope that the same question would be answered in the same way the next day and the next day after that. As I washed my hands at the kitchen sink I looked out the window and wondered who would cross his path tomorrow.