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“Shut up and answer my question.” She gives me the Nat stare, the one that says you better tell me and tell me now, otherwise I will continue until you do. For a supposedly shy woman, she packs a hell of a metaphorical punch at me every time we’re together.
“Yes, boss. The answer is Xav doesn’t know I’m home. I didn’t tell anyone, only my family knows I’m here. I packed up and came home early.”
“Why? Like, why didn’t you tell him, and why did you come home early?” She swivels her wet ass sideways on her seat to really look at me straight on.
“The honest truth?” I ask her, my nerves rumbling through me a bit.
“Is there any other kind?” Titling her head sideways, she looks at me with intrigue.
“Nerves. I’m freaking out about the draft, and I needed to hide away and just try to find some peace somewhere. And the only place I know is here, my grandfather’s pond.” It’s hard to admit your weaknesses. Especially to someone who you want to see you as strong.
“Oh, Jordan. Hence why you’re on this road.” Her voice is softer now.
“Yep, but it doesn’t explain why you are out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“Kind of the same thing. Stepping out into the big world is scary, and I don’t know what it has in store. So, I come out here to the pond sometimes. I hope you don’t mind. It calms me.”
My mind takes me back to that night I brought her here, and I know her mind is going there too. Although she’s wet and a mess, her cheeks are still flushed, and her eyes are warming up to that sparkle that she keeps just for me.
“Of course I don’t mind. I’m glad it brings you the same special spirit it brings to me.”
Both of us sit in silence for a few minutes. Tension is building as we’re both living in our own memories, and I know we need to get out of this storm.
“I’ll take you home and you can get dry clothes and some food into you.”
“But what about the car? I can’t just leave it here, can I?” She looks lost as to what the right thing to do with it is.
“Yes, we will, and I can talk to your dad when we get home, and we’ll organize to come back tomorrow and tow it.”
“Umm, that’s the problem, no one’s home. As you probably know, Xavier is off on a boys’ weekend which I’m sure is a total train wreck, and if he makes it back home alive it will be a miracle.”
“You know him too well.” We both laugh as I signal her to buckle up and start to turn the truck around. “And your parents?”
“They’ve gone on some trip with the Davidsons, you know, from down the street.”
“Oh yeah, I remember them. Mrs. Davidson used to make the best little ghost meringues for Halloween each year.”
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you remember that. I used to love them.” Her smile gives it away too.
“I know, you used to make Xavier and me run there first to make sure we got double for you before she ran out. I figure she made extra just for when we arrived, knowing they were really for you.”
“She did not! And I can’t help it that I have a sweet tooth. Well, I did back then.” She folds her arms across her chest like she is trying to defend herself.
“Yeah right, like you would pass up a big bowl of ice cream right now.”
“Not a chance, and in fact, when I get home that’s the first thing I’m doing. It fixes everything!”
“Ah-ha, so nothing has changed.”
We just chat and catch up on the drive home. It is probably the most relaxed we’ve been with each other in a long time. After her visit to my college, she never came back, but we did as we said we would and continued our friendship. A few text messages here and there and the occasional FaceTime. Quite often by chance when she would walk in on Xavier and we were on the phone. But on the rare occasion, she would call me, and we would have a good laugh. It’s not the perfect solution but better than being cut out of her life altogether.
Pulling up in her parents’ driveway, the rain starts to pour down again. She hesitates but finally the words come out.
“I think I owe you a bowl of ice cream too, for saving my wet ass out there.” She looks down, a little unsure of my reaction, but she needn’t be.
“Too right you do! It better be chocolate chip, you know it’s the best.”
“Umm, I taught you that. Xavier always tried to say it was the rainbow bubblegum one, which is disgusting and just used to make him hyperactive. Like he needed any encouragement to act crazy.”
