My eyes drift from the mountains in the distance to the street, where I see a familiar SUV pulling into the sheriff station’s parking lot.My hands still as I watch Tessa climb out.She starts moving toward the door when she notices me sitting here and freezes, her eyes fixed on me.
I’m still a bit ticked off at her for the shit she gave me last night, implying I might have some nefarious intentions toward her kid.So I keep my face straight when she changes direction and heads my way.The closer she gets, the more hesitant she seems.
“Hey…Clem.”
“Tessa.”
“I…um…am sorry about last night.I reacted poorly to what was probably a kind gesture.”
The apology is clearly costing her, but I can’t resist poking her a bit.
“Probably?”
She lowers her eyes to stare at the toes of her sneakers.
“Look, I just wanted to say thank you for looking after my kid.He’s been struggling a bit and I’ve been worried, maybe more than I should be.But regardless, I’m grateful you’re giving him a chance.”
Shifting a little, I reach behind me to grab the extra beer I’d kept in the shade to stay cool, and hand it out to her in invitation.
“Pull up a tire and have a drink with me.”
I know I told the kid I wouldn’t tell on him, but I’m starting to rethink that promise.Maybe part of me had hoped he’d tell her himself, but her comments just now make it clear he didn’t.She’s his mother, and I don’t want her to let down her guard, so I think she should know.
She only hesitates for a moment before she appears to shrug something off and accepts the beer.Then she gingerly perches herself on a second short stack of tires.
“You need a bench,” she suggests.
“I’ve been thinking about it.Or maybe a couple of those Adirondack chairs.These tires are hard on the ass after a while.”
A brief silence follows as she takes a sip of her drink, and I contemplate how to broach the subject of her son, and the backlash it might have.I don’t want to break the boy’s tentative trust, so I’m going to have to convince Tessa to keep the knowledge to herself.That’s probably going to be a tall order.
“I’m about to break a promise I made your son,” I start.“And in addition, I’m going to ask you to trust me, a man you barely know.”
That definitely gets her attention.She leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and pins me with a sharp look as she utters a single word.
“Talk.”
So I do, telling her how I found him in the back lot, stealing parts off the parked vehicles, noticing her knuckles turn white as she tightens her grip on the beer bottle.Afraid she’ll break it; I reach over and pluck it from her hands.
“You should’ve called me,” she grinds out through clenched teeth.
“Yes,” I concede.“I probably should’ve,but…I wanted to give Remi a chance to do the right thing, which he did.He showed up yesterday morning and worked his butt off all day.”
“No.The right thing would’ve been to stay home Friday night, where he was supposed to be.Nothing is right about this,” she argues as she starts to get to her feet.
“Look, I don’t disagree with you, but please hear me out,” I request.“I got myself into plenty of pickles and made my own boneheaded choices when I was his age.I was mostly acting out, like I suspect he is.He’s not a bad kid.Back then someone gave me a chance, a purpose, which stuck better than any punishment had.I thought it might for your son as well.”
She leans forward and aims her index finger at my face.
“You don’t know my son.”
I could probably argue that I may not know him, but I understand him better than she thinks I do.However, I have a feeling that might not go over well.
“Maybe not, but yesterday he wasn’t out stealing catalytic converters off cars, he was in my shop, doing oil and filter changes all day long.He was good at it, and he had a good time doing it.I’m willing to bet he’ll be back next Saturday.He’s paying off the damage he did, and I have a good feeling he’d rather be here, learning as much as he can, than out there getting himself into more trouble.”
Her hands are clenched in fists by her side, and her entire posture screams barely contained anger.I’m not sure whether it’s directed at me, at Remi, or both, but she’s not yelling at me, and she’s not running off, so I’m going to push through to my last point.
“And this is where trusting me comes into play.The moment Remi finds out I talked to you, I can almost guarantee I won’t see him back here, which would be a real pity.Any small measure of trust I may have gained will be gone, and he’ll just be pissed at you for being found out.That might send him right back to where I found him.”
