Max "Bunny" Sparber

YOU ARE 10 YEARS OLD, and on vacation in Puerto Vallarta with your mother, newly separated, and your aunt Lacie, never married. You've just had dinner at the El Dorado restaurant, where you think you may have spotted Sammy Davis Jr., and, later, you and your mother will be going to a class in dancing the cha cha offered by your hotel, the Crown Paradise. Aunt Lacie, in the meanwhile, met a man on the beach, and has a date with him later after dinner.

Exiting the restaurant, Lacie sees her date waiting for her. She runs happily across the parking lot, to a broadly grinning man with a small mustache, a deep tan, and a captain's cap. He leans against a smart red sports car, until Lacie reaches him. He leans toward her, grasping her hands, and brings them forward, kissing her knuckles. Then he crosses to the passenger side and opens the door for aunt Lacie. She sits, and waves goodbye to you and your mother. Crossing to his side of the car, the man glances over at you, and then winks.

For a moment you are jealous of your aunt. You turn to look up at your mother, in her Capri pants, oversized sunglasses, and straw hat. She is chewing the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit, and she's been doing it a lot lately. Since the divorce.

You imagine your mother in the red car, and you in her lap, the wind stinging your face as the man in the cap drives along the Banderas Bay coast. He stretches his arm out and rubs your mother's knee. You glance back over your shoulder at her. She is smiling.

More Vinyl Oddities.