What it was， was a Cadillac convertible. The car was cus-<br > tomized-that much is unarguable. A gross understatement， but<br > a kind one. Aesthetically， the car was neither kindly nor re-<br > strained. It impinged， it exploded， it crashed onto the reef of<br > one s sensibilities， a neon Flying Dutchman.<br > Bets， the bouncer， saw it first. She was peering through a rec-<br > tangle of wavy glass， set chest-high in the door. "I ve always<br > found it useful to know what s coming，" she would say. What<br > was coming this time was that big， gaudy car， a candy-apple_<br > orange Queen Mary nuzzling up to the curb in front of the bar.<br > In fact， the boat was nuzzling over the curb， onto the side-<br > walk. In a moment of cowardice most unbecoming to the profes-<br > sionally brave， Bets stepped back from the door. She regained<br > her nerve just in time to watch the right front wheel drop off the<br > curb. Clunk. "There goes the front-end alignment，" she mut-<br > tered， practical as always， perhaps even seeking to mask her<br > moment of doubt in a firmly delivered opinion.<br > The car came to rest. Bets pushed open the door to confirm<br > the vision she had seen through the glass. " ，，<br > Jesus， she mur-<br > mured. The car was very new. Every bit of paint and chrome an-<br > nounced this to the world. There were few signs to suggest this<br > vehicle had traveled as far as its license plate proclaimed. In all<br > its poor taste， from the long horns， real ones， mounted on the<br > hood， to the flames and pin stripes swirling down the sides， to<br > the oversized antennae curving graciously over the back end，<br > her eyes had not betrayed her. It was awful， it was ridiculous，<br > and it was parked smack-dab in front of her bar.<br > Bets reeled from the door， letting it clo~ ungently， and called<br >to May behind the counter， "How about o:beer over "here?" Bets<br >was not one to overreact. When overwhelmed on any level， by<br >any particular feeling or impulse， her reaction was the same.<br ><br ><br >