This is the picture that nice man, the one who stopped to see if we two single women needed help changing the flat after I’d done it, bless his heart, took with my Brownie. Oh, that roadster looks dirty, but then we’d done a lot of driving. And there was more to come, yes. We’d already been all the way to Smithsburg, and we were on our way back here. Days alone together, taking turns driving, before the roads became highways.

Should I tell you the story about the not-so-nice man who tried to rob us in Pittsburg? Millie kicked him in his tender parts, and when he dropped his gun I picked it up, so when he finally got up and said he was going to kill us both I really did have to shoot him. It was bad luck that a policeman came by, and quite a chase until we lost him in a bad part of the city. They could still be looking for us, though it’s been a lot of years now, and there’s only me left to look for.

Or should I tell you the truth, that we went to Millie’s brother’s wedding, and aside from the flat tire and the lovely nights, it was a very boring trip? Maybe it’s all true.

Yes,we’re standing sort of far apart in this picture. It wouldn’t have done for anybody to think, let alone know, that Millie and I shared a bed. We both had family and children, jobs and church.It’s different now, mostly, and since I lost her, I don’t really care what people might say. Either story you believe, that part I swear to.