SCOUT
TWO MONTHS LATER
“I passed!”I leapt out of Desi’s rental car and threw myself against him. “I’m getting my license!”
“That’s amazing, baby! I knew you would. You had the best guide,” he teased, lifted me off the ground, and spun me around once before setting me down softly. He was careful gripping my still-healing arm.
The tester climbed out of Desi’s car and gave us a little wave. He scribbled something on his clipboard and ripped off the paper, handing it to me. “Just take this down to the DMV, and they’ll take your picture. Good job.” With a tight smile, he walked back to his car.
“How does it feel?” Desi asked.
“Amazing. So good!” I spun around on my own again. “And just in time for spring.”
After the accident, Desi begged me to let my body heal instead of trying to continue learning to drive and risk another accident. While it hadn’t been my fault, a drunk driver had hit us.
“Yes,” he agreed. “No snow to be had. Perfect for driving solo.”
“Yeah, yeah. You know, I drove Luis and Brucey around town the other day and neither had any complaints.”
“They don’t want to be evicted,” Desi teased.
“Ha-ha. Okay, let’s go before the DMV closes.”
We got the picture taken and my license came in the mail that next weekend, which was perfect timing because Desi was free and ready to go with me to buy a car.
“His and hers, remember?”
“I doubt we’ll find matching ones with our two vastly different budgets,” I reminded him. When we got there, Desi informed me that his friend Mick worked there with his dad. “I think we’ll be able to get a deal on something for you.”
I walked through aisle after aisle of cars and frowned. “I don’t think even a deal will help me afford any of these.”
Desi put his arm around me and kissed the top of my head. “We’ll find you one. Come on, I think there are some over here in your price range.”
My budget had been something we’d argued over almost every day since the accident. He was already paying my hospital bills and helping me cover… everything. I didn’t need him to pay for my car as well.
“Desiderio, is that you?” Mick waved to us.
“Hey, man. Yeah, we’re both looking for cars today.” Desi tugged me forward to greet his friend. Mick gave me a funny look, but it was so quick I wasn’t entirely sure I hadn’t imagined it.
“That’s great. You and…”
“Scout,” Desi reminded him. “My girlfriend.”
“Right, yeah, from Valentine’s Day.”
“Scout is looking for a reasonably priced car to get her to and from work,” Desi told him.
“Wonderful.” Mick turned to me and smiled. “Scout, why don’t you take a look around, and Desiderio, why don’t we discuss your budget.” He put his hand on his back and led him away. I watched them for a moment before turning away. That was weird.
Now that I had a smidgen of freedom, I took off toward the cars that I could realistically afford. I grimaced, as I started to examine them more closely. No wonder they’d been placed in the back. Almost all of them were rusted, dented, or over twenty years old.
I glanced back to where Mick had taken Desi. He was throwing up his arms, all the while Desi seemed his normal, cool, and collected self with his hands in his pockets.
The music being pumped in from megaphones all over the lot was too loud for me to hear what was being said, but it didn’t seem like Desi was happy about it. His hands came out of his pockets and he grabbed Mick’s suit jacket. He tugged him and said something close to his ear. To which, Mick nodded and Desi let him go. Mick straightened his suit and motioned toward my area of the lot.
I quickly dipped behind some cars and feigned interest in a few. As they drew closer, I was able to pick up their voices.
“How are you going to explain that to your folks?” Mick asked Desi.
