Red dropped Ellis off in downtown Douglas, not too far from the dirt lot where Goat Man had parked the Jetta. At first, Ellis was unsure that it was the right lot, but then he saw the toppled CARPET WAREHOUSE sign. The Jetta was gone. He stood in the lot for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. He thought about going across the border into Agua Prieta again, and looking for Jesús, but he didn’t know if Jesús would still be there, and he didn’t want to go back into the Super Puerco Bar. He decided to walk to the convenience store next to the crossing station and call the Douglas police.
‘I’m wondering where my car would be if it was towed,’ Ellis asked the woman on the phone.
‘It depends,’ she said. ‘Was the car parked on private land, or on city land?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Ellis said. ‘It’s just a dirt lot in front of an old carpet warehouse, near the border crossing.’ He shooed Freida from chewing on his pack.
‘On the east side of the street?’
‘Yes,’ Ellis said.
‘We wouldn’t tow from there,’ she said. ‘How long was it there?’
Ellis had to think about that. It seemed like a week or two had passed since they pulled into Douglas, but it had only been two nights. ‘Two days, I guess.’
‘You want to report it stolen?’
‘No one would steal it,’ Ellis said. He pulled his bunched underwear out of his butt, and scratched dried mud off his chin. ‘You didn’t find any dead guys floating in the wash, did you?’
‘Excuse me?’
Ellis hung up and walked back to the main strip.
He rushed into in a five-and-dime after tying Freida to a parking meter, and bought as much junk food as he could carry to the counter: a tube of Pringles, a box of Fiddle Faddle, a two-liter bottle of Mountain Dew, a Snickers, and a big bag of Doritos. He sat on the warm sidewalk in front of the store, the broken-armed mannequins standing behind him. He devoured his food, pausing every minute or so to throw Freida a chip or some popcorn. He didn’t notice the stares from people strolling by, stepping over his extended legs, as he crammed the food into his mouth and talked to Freida.