I paid Arthur his last hourly fee in cash and walked out into the strip mall parking lot.

The late afternoon sun was baking the cracked asphalt outside my motel room.

I unlocked my aging sedan and rolled down all four windows to let the trapped heat out.

The inside smelled of stale coffee and old floor mats.

I took a small handheld vacuum out of the trunk and plugged its cord into the cigarette lighter.

I spent twenty minutes vacuuming the passenger seat.

I cleared out the stray receipts, the empty water bottles and a forgotten black umbrella.