Around four o'clock, near Kimball, South Dakota, the engine started losing power. I tried to nurse it to an exit, but it sputtered and died.
"Well, f**k," my mother said.
I looked at her. "Wow."
My mother glowered at me. "Just because I don't employ the coarse language you prefer does not mean I don't know the words. For this situation, there is simply no substitute. What is your plan?"
"My plan? You rented this truck and dragooned me into driving. I'm just the help." I got out and opened the hood.
"Do you know what's wrong?" she asked.
"Hell, no. You need a f*****g degree to fix these things. I opened the hood as a universal sign of distress."
My mother was going through her phone. "Why else would somebody stop?"
"Well, mother, in my experience, it's usually because somebody has t
