How I Learned to Drive

Li’l Bit tells the audience that she was kicked out of school in 1970. Rumors about her sexual escapades circulated. The real reason, however, was that she drank too much whiskey.  

During the recession in 1970, she “slept on the floors of friends who were out of work themselves” (16) and worked “[a] string of dead-end day jobs that didn’t last very long” (16). 

At night, she took long drives along country roads. Often she would realize how easy it would be to steer violently off the road; however, “reflex took over” (16-17), and she “never so much as got a ticket” (17). She concludes her monologue by noting, “He taught me well” (17). 

One evening in 1968, Li’l Bit and Peck are dining at a restaurant on the Eastern Shore in Maryland. As she returns from the ladies’ room, Peck tells her he chose this restaurant because she’s interested in history. He tells her a story about how the town managed to escape being attacked by the British. 

Peck asks her if she’d like a cocktail; he says he will not drink as long as she’s with him. After Li’l Bit expresses horror, reminding him she isn’t legal, he tells her they’re celebrating her getting her driver’s license and that on the Eastern Shore, restaurants are more “European,” in that they are “very understanding if gentlemen wish to escort very attractive young ladies who might want a before-dinner cocktail” (18).