Lee teaches Maren to drive

Lee’s driving lessons give Maren a new, practical skill while marking a shift in how she takes part in their journey together. Her request begins with hesitation and a joke about a prom date; the lessons that follow are less polished than the idea of independence might suggest. In a Home Depot parking lot in Ohio, the clutch and grinding gears make driving an anxious physical task. Later, near Chicago, Maren takes the wheel for an hour despite her fear, and the modest outcome—no accident and no police stop—counts as success.

The Request and Lee’s Promise

Maren raises the subject tentatively, asking Lee whether, if there is time and a suitable place, he might teach her to drive. Lee rolls his eyes but smiles, then teases her that next she will ask him to be her prom date. Maren turns to the window so he will not see her blush and checks whether the teasing means he will refuse. He says he will teach her, proposing that they find a large parking lot after dark, once the stores have closed. Maren’s condition that it not be a Walmart keeps the exchange playful, but the promise is concrete: Lee has agreed to teach her, and they have settled on a kind of place and time for beginning.

The exchange makes the lesson more than a sudden practical favor. Maren has to ask for instruction, and Lee responds with both teasing and a definite commitment. Her embarrassment at the prom joke, followed by her direct question about whether he will teach her, shows how much she risks in making the request. The lessons begin within this lightly teasing closeness, but they also give the pair a shared task with real consequences for how they travel.

The First Lesson in Ohio

Maren’s first lesson takes place in a Home Depot parking lot somewhere in Ohio. It does not go smoothly. She struggles to remember to press the clutch when shifting gears and winces at the crunch of metal against metal. The difficulty is specific and audible: the unfamiliar sequence of operating the car interrupts the simple idea of being able to drive, and each bad shift gives her another reason to tense up.

Lee proves patient. He tells her to go slowly, stay in first gear, and concentrate on getting used to being behind the wheel. Rather than demanding that she manage the whole task at once, he reduces it to a first step. After an hour, they switch places and pick up a pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni. Dinner warms Maren’s lap as they leave the shopping-center area, returning the lesson to the ordinary rhythm of their trip rather than treating the frustrating first attempt as a crisis.

Their plan is to camp on the way to Sandhorn, choosing state parks more or less along their route. Lee traces that route in his dog-eared road atlas. The atlas gives the driving lessons a place within the larger journey: Maren is not practicing in isolation, but learning while Lee is already navigating a route they intend to travel together.

Taking the Wheel Near Chicago

The next morning, with Chicago ahead on the route, Lee offers Maren the chance to drive the rest of the way to the park. He points out that traffic is light and that she can stay in the right lane. Maren says she is not ready. Lee does not force the choice; he tells her she is ready if she says she is and asks whether she is sure she does not want to try.

Maren eventually accepts, partly because she thinks Lee will think less of her if she turns him down. For an hour she sits tensely behind the wheel, reminding herself aloud to press the clutch before shifting. Cars speed past in the left lane and honk. Lee tells her not to pay attention to them and reassures her that she is doing fine. His advice keeps the task narrow: attend to the car and the lane she is in, rather than letting other drivers’ impatience define her ability.

They do not get into an accident, and the police do not pull them over. Maren counts that as a success. The result is deliberately modest; the scene does not claim that she has become a confident or accomplished driver. It records instead that she has driven for an hour under pressure and completed the trip without incident.

A Small Measure of Independence

The lessons move from Lee’s promise, through a difficult first attempt, to Maren’s longer drive on the road. Across that progression, his instruction remains practical and encouraging: start slowly, stay in first gear, focus on the right lane, and do not attend to the honking. Maren’s part changes as well. She first asks to learn, then struggles with the mechanics, and finally accepts the wheel while still anxious.

Driving does not make Maren independent of Lee during this episode: he chooses a suitable practice setting, traces their route, offers her the opportunity to drive, and reassures her when traffic becomes unnerving. But she is no longer only a passenger. The contrast between the crunching gears in Ohio and the uneventful hour near Chicago gives the lessons their quiet payoff. Her first success is not mastery; it is taking the wheel, continuing despite fear, and arriving without an accident or a stop by the police.