(George Boorujy, Lincoln, 2008)

The most famous person to whom Aaron Luck sold a bicycle tube was Wilford Brimley, the actor. Locals referred to Wilford as Al, and he was the richest fat person living in Utah Valley. Aaron was the mechanic at Orem Schwinn and had seen Al driving his white Dodge around town, the kind locals called a “dually,” but he’d never had a chance to speak with him, or really wanted to for that matter. Aaron wasn’t much of a talker or one to seek out friendships. He was raised by his maternal grandmother, a Baptist who lived through the Great Depression, lost her husband in World War II, then converted to Mormonism and moved to Utah after a faith crisis.
            Aaron tried to smile at every customer. Outside his role as mechanic and salesman, he was shy and perpetually anxious. The nervous tic in his cheek muscles and eyelids intensified when he spoke. If he wasn’t at the shop or riding his bicycle, he was at home. If he wasn’t thinking about bicycles, he was thinking of Neena Martinez. He was in love with Neena, the cashier at Gallegos Deli, which shared a wall with Orem Schwinn in the same strip mall near State Street and Center. Several times a week, Aaron would buy a bottle of imported Coke from Gallegos. That’s how he first met Neena. Despite Aaron’s shyness, within a week of Neena’s working at Gallegos, the two were on a first-name basis.
            The deli was small and perpetually packed with customers. Gallegos was famous for its deep-fried chicken tacos and pickled carrots. Aaron couldn’t think of a time when he was alone with Neena in the deli. He desperately wanted to ask her out. She spoke in slow, measured English, always enunciating her words with a thick Spanish accent. Her steady English made Aaron’s come out fast and thoughtless. Aaron thought she was beautiful and forward and confident. At 22, he had never been in love like this, and his attraction to Neena bore the marks of an adolescent crush. She was 28 and short, with a curvy body. Aaron had never seen a wedding ring on her hand.