“I haven’t exactly been makin’ friends at work,” I told her, tightening my arm around her shoulders.
“You said it was all good now.”
“It’s not bad,” I hedged.
“You know they were just trying to—”
“I know exactly what they were doin’,” I cut her off. “And it was fucked.”
Teddy sighed.
“Dad!” Dylan yelled.
We turned to look at the house and found the kids standing in the open garage.
“I moved your bike so there’s room,” he called.
I looked down at Teddy. “You wanna climb in?”
Teddy laughed and leaned up to kiss my jaw. “Nah, I’ll let you take the first, very short ride yourself.”
She left me and crossed the street, herding the kids onto the front porch as Dylan climbed into his truck and drove it out to the curb.
My heart pounded as I climbed inside the Chevelle and sat there for a moment, inhaling the long-forgotten scent of the interior. The car was just a car, but the memories it brought back were like a ten-year home video of my life.
“You realize you can’t even drive it for four more years, right?” my dad asked as we stared at the beat-to-hell Chevelle that they’d just towed to the garage. “And it’s gonna cost more to restore than it’s worth right now? All right, son. I’ll help you, but you’re payin’ for it.”
“You can’t paint it yourself. It’ll look stupid,” Draco said, tossing a baseball into the air. “Just wait until you’ve saved up for it. Get it runnin’ first, then worry about how it looks.”
“Curt, I’ve told you a thousand times. I don’t want you under that car unless your dad’s home. Get out of there and come help me put away the groceries.”
I rolled out from under the Chevelle to look at my mother.
“Ten more minutes and I promise I’ll take you on its maiden voyage.”
“Tempting, but no. You’re not going to get crushed by a muscle car on my watch. Come on. The ice cream is getting cold.”
“Fine.”
“Plus,” she said, grabbing my hand to yank me to my feet. “Your brother would cry if you took anyone but him on the maiden voyage.”
“We’re gonna get so many girls in this thing,” Draco announced, leaning back in the newly reupholstered passenger seat. “We should take a road trip. Go to the Grand Canyon or somethin’.”
“You two eat twice as much as I do,” Charlie accused, all dressed up in the backseat as she hit Draco.
“We’re twice your size,” Draco said, blocking her swings. “Knock it off. You’re gonna mess up your hair.”
Charlie laughed as she continued smacking at him. “Wrong way to deter me, asshole!”
“It’s not gonna be that long,” Draco said, turning to face me. “I’ll just keep my head down, do my time, and then I’ll be out.”
“It’s fuckin’ bullshit. We should just go. You know the club has connections everywhere. We could just disappear.” I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel, resisting the urge to turn the car on and take off.
“You know I’m not gonna do that. I’d never be able to come back.”
“Fuck it. Who cares?”
“I do,” he said quietly. “You know I can’t do that.”
