How It All Goes Down
- Okay, buckle up, because things are about to get even worse.
- Yes, worse than they've already been, which came as a surprise to us, too.
- The winter is a particularly bad one for Enzo.
- Enzo's hips hurt, the cold makes him stiff, he's tired of the stairs, and he's tired of being a dog.
- Enzo and Denny go for a walk one night in the light winter snow, and as Enzo sniffs and watches the flakes, he separates from Denny.
- As Denny calls for him and Enzo bounds toward him, a wild car appears and hits Enzo.
- Yes, things can indeed get worse.
- We recommend that this might be a good time to take a break and grab your favorite snack, comforting stuffed animal—but no zebras—or to play some of your favorite music.
- It's like Enzo can hear us, because he also takes another break from narrating to talk about Ayrton Senna, a racecar driver who died on the Grand Prix circuit in the town of Imola, Italy.
- Good, we needed a break.
- Remember Imola, Italy for later, too.
- Enzo thinks about Senna from the backseat of the car that hit him, sitting in pain in Denny's lap. He wonders how Senna could have survived, could have walked away from the race, retired that morning without racing at all.
- Instead, Senna ran that race, and when his car hit a dangerous turn, it flew off the track at one hundred ninety miles an hour and hit a concrete barrier.
- That sounds…painful?
- Senna's soul left his body because its mission was over.
- Apparently, it was more of a "mission probable" than a Mission Impossible.
- Enzo, by comparison, didn't die the night he was hit by the car because his soul still had work to do.
- Isn't that a little conceited, Enzo, to compare yourself to a mythic racecar driver?
- Well, the dog had a rough night, so we won't judge.
- In the hospital, the vet examines Enzo and determines that he cracked his pelvis.
- Oh, joy.
- To top off this evening of grossness, Denny can't pay the $800 vet bill.
- The vet's office allows Denny to write the equivalent of an I.O.U. and leave with Enzo.
- The vast amount of gross misfortune that Denny has to deal with piles up on him that night, and for the first time, he admits defeat. We seriously can't blame him.
- So, to recap quickly, Denny's been through his wife's brain cancer and death, a battle for custody of his daughter, rape charges and the threat of being labeled a sex offender, restrictions to his livelihood because he can't leave the state for work or racing, the selling of his house to pay his lawyer's fees, a lawyer switch-up, the injury of his dog, and he's just now admitting defeat?
- Clearly we should never ask Denny what he'd do for a Klondike bar.
- Scene shift.
- Two weeks after this incident, Denny takes Enzo to Mike and Tony's house.
- The weight of the moment is upon them all.
- Mike tells Denny that his decision is sound, that settlement at this stage of the game is a smart decision, and that Denny shouldn't keep running himself ragged.
- Mike hands Denny a pen with a zebra inside it so he can sign the papers.
- That stupid zebra, again?
- We really, really hate that thing.
- Enzo makes the jump analysis that the zebra is a metaphor for our insecurities and fears and own self-destructive tendencies, and Enzo won't let Denny self-destruct.
- Enzo tells Denny what he thinks as only Enzo can: he takes the papers off the table, dives through an open window onto the porch with them, stares Denny down, and urinates on the papers.
- Gestures are all that Enzo has, after all. And he does all of this with a cracked pelvis? Maybe he could be the next James Bond.
- Denny and Mike take the surprise of Enzo's behavior in stride, and the scene sobers Denny enough to tell Mike that he agrees with Enzo: he's not going to sign the settlement.
- Yay, Denny. Don't give in.
- There are some dog treats in it for you if you stay strong.
- The time seems to fly by: Zoë gets taller, Enzo gets older, and life continues.
- Maybe Enzo's telling this story in dog time, because he takes liberties with time jumps.
- Denny starts working at Pacific Raceways again to earn some extra money to pay for Mr. Lawrence.
- One day in July, a certain Luca Pantoni shows up at the racetrack and asks Denny to show him what he can do.
- Remember Luca? We told you he'd be important.
- Denny impresses Luca with flying colors, though not with all the colors of the wind.
- Luca offers Denny a job in Maranello, Italy, at Ferrari headquarters, as a track instructor. He would basically get paid to test Ferraris and ride them around the track.
- Whoa, that sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
- Denny would love this job, obviously, but he can't take it, because he's not allowed to leave the country—womp womp.
- Luca tells Denny he'll hold the position for him until after the trial is over and he can make the decision with a clear head.
- Luca is basically a miracle worker, and we love him.