AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Three
SARAH
“So, we have two options, we can head back exactly the way we came, then veer west when we hit Pennsylvania, or we can take the scenic route and drive through West Virginia. It’s basically the same in terms of time.”
“You’re driving, so what’s your preference?” I ask him.
“I’ve never ventured past Ocean City, Maryland, so any direction we take will be a new adventure for me.”
It hits me again, same as when he told me without a hint of shame that he’d never been to New York, which is just a quick forty-minute ride on the train. It highlights our differences. It’s not normal, but I tell myself it’s not ridiculously abnormal either. It’s just thatmylife isn’t normal. To have just about every page in your passport stamped by the age of seventeen is weird.
“I can practically hears those gears grinding,” he says with a chuckle. “Don’t feel bad, Tiny. I’ll get to all those great places you’ve already seen someday.”
“Well, I’ve never been to West Virginia, so let’s take the scenic route.”
He shoots me a warm look. “West Virginia, here we come.”
“Poor West Virginia, our trip reviews will be highlighting a series of drive-through windows and restrooms.”
“And we’re going to be in the pitch dark for most of it.” He taps his phone to look at the list of directions. “Make that all of it.” Pulling out of the lot, he says, “Adios, North Carolina, it’s been real.”
“Do you need some coffee before we get back on the highway?”
“I don’t drink coffee, but I’ll stop for a soda in an hour or two.”
“So tell me about Ocean City, Maryland.”
He side eyes me. “Have you ever been?” and then nods in a knowing way when I shake my head. “Too low-brow, am I right?”
I brush him off, when in reality, it is probably the last place on Earth I could picture my family vacationing. “We have a perfectly beautiful beach close to home, don’t we?”
“I was just teasing.” He looks out his window for a beat. “Or maybe avoiding the topic…Not sure which.”
“If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine.”
“Ah, fuck it, who cares. It’s a tale as old as time. Deadbeat dad calls on occasion, always promising to come see his kid but flaking out whenever plans are made. Then shows up one day out of the blue and says, ‘How’d you like to take a trip with your Dad?’ At first I was like, ‘No thanks, I’m good’.” He catches my eye before looking back to the road. “Mind you, I’m ten years old and I’ve met the guy twice. I wasn’t really eager to jump in a stranger’s car.”
“Your mom was cool with him taking you?”
He nods. “She’s a pretty relaxed individual, but I get your point.”
“So what was the conversation like? Was it awkward as hell?”
“No, I don’t remember feeling awkward, but I do recall wanting to make a very good impression on him.”
“So he’d stick around?”
“Or maybe realize what he’d been missing out on…Who knows? So I told him I was making straight A’s, that I won the science fair for my grade that year…I was selling myself big time.”
“What was his reaction?”
“He told me those were his genes at work.” Smirking, Liam says, “Apparently he was top of his class ineverysubject, the best pitcher his hometown had ever seen, fastest runner on his track team…You get the idea. And I’m mesmerized, like, he’s my new hero, you know?”
I’m thinking Liam’s father is an ass, but I keep that to myself. “I’m sure there’s some truth to the intelligence part, because you’re smart, but he sounds like,” I look to him with an apology in my eyes, “a child.”
I’m relieved when he seems to agree. “Yeah, it took me a few years to work that out.”
He’s quiet, and I study his profile, silently willing him to go on. I want more, I want to know everything, so I feel rewarded a moment later when he decides to go on. “The whole way down he’s talking about the ferris wheel, the great candy shops and ice cream parlors on the boardwalk. And the guy is always talking in superlatives.” He puts on a voice that’s not his own. “It’sthebest. No, youthinkyou’ve had ice cream before, but you’ve probably only had store-bought crap. The placeI’mbringing you to hasactualpeaches in their peach ice cream.” He frowns. “I was trying to act interested, but even back then I was thinking:Big deal, I’ve had homemade peach ice cream before.Every sentence started withIormy,and everything was thebest,thefastestorthebiggest.”
