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“Love you, Leland,” I yell after him.
Victor scoots closer behind me and waits while I put the door back together. Occasionally, he hands me a bolt or a wrench. Quietly following along.
“Almost done. Let me clean up. Did you want to go ahead and I’ll meet you at my place?”
“Did you eat dinner?” he asks.
“Not yet.”
“Alright, I’ll pick up some food and meet you back at home.”
I hand him a key to my house, and he drags me in for a lingering kiss. I could get used to this kind of kiss from him. He rushes out the door, pulling his phone from his pocket. He’s ordering food from my favorite poke truck.
He’s raised the bar. A bar I didn’t even know existed. I’m finally alone, so I quickly wash up and turn the lights off. I see that Leland’s office door is propped open as I pass by. A glance inside, I see a picture sitting on the desk behind a pile of paperwork. It’s a “family” picture I drew as a kid. It was for a school project and we had to draw our families. I drew my mom, Leland, Lawson, and myself at the shop. Bright flowers and make-believe grass all around. A poorly circular sun overhead. It was a dream to have the four of us together as a real family again.
Leland kept this horrible drawing. I forgot what I wrote at the top and seeing it now is a reminder of why we need to save this place.
“We have no one else but us.”
Chapter 15
Collins
Iam standing in front of my rusty girl, ready for a test drive. Three years of work, acquiring parts, with long days and nights are all worth it for this moment. Though she still has some cosmetic work to do, she’s ready to feel the ocean breeze through every curve of her body.
Leland suggested finding a hobby to focus on, and this 70’s Chevelle was my project. I bought this car as a frame with a dream in mind during a dark part of my life. I watched Lawson give his heart away to someone he thought to be his forever. Teenage love can concur all. At least that’s what he thought. She, however, didn’t feel the same way. Their break up shattered his loving heart. Lawson ended up on a party binge. Drinking from sunup to sundown.
Leland and I took turns picking him up from party after party. One night, he was so bad off that he ended up passing out and wouldn’t wake up. His “friends” freaked out, dropped him at the ER, and left. They literally rolled him out of the car at the bay doors and left.
Leland and I showed up as soon as they called us, and we walked into the ER at the same time they were pumping his stomach. They admitted him for alcohol poisoning because he drank way too much. After a couple of days of being sober in the hospital, we gave him an ultimatum. If he didn’t handle this, we wouldn’t show up. Since that day, it’s taken a long time to get my brother out of that hole. He feels more than the normal person, so healing wasn’t the easiest.
After years of heartache, I’m finally feeling… good. Victor shows up all the time, especially when I think he should be at the office. “It’s local research.” He keeps teasing, but he just hangs around me while I fix cars. He stands close, giving me sweet kisses and laughing with my brothers. Lawson is still keeping him at an arm’s length but hasn’t given me any more trouble. I can’t help the massive grin on my face when Leland and Victor talk. Leland makes everything seem so easy, unless they are talking about cars. Victor is trying to get better, but make no mistake, he is still awful.
Victor has fallen into my daily routine as if it was nothing. He splits his time at the office and with me. If we aren’t at the shop, then we are surfing or at my house. He says it feels like being on the TV show Naked and Afraid. It’s nothing like that. We have takeout. We just don’t wear any clothes.
Victor comes up behind me, resting his hands on my hips. I follow his lead as he sways us back and forth, with his chin resting on my shoulder.
“You ready?” he asks.
I nod enthusiastically, biting my bottom lip. He presses his mouth against my cheek, then shoves me forward.
“What are we waiting for?” He hums.
I watch him rush to the driver’s door and swing it open. With an open palm, he waves me to him. I prance toward him and slide my body into the brand-new leather seats. My lips press together, trying to hold in my squeals of excitement. A simple flick of my wrist. Turning the key, my girl rumbles to life. Her powerful purring speaks to my soul, and it’s like our own secret language. The seats vibrate with anticipation and I can’t help the goofy grin on my face. It’s almost too much to handle.
“That smile looks good on you.” Victor caresses my cheek.
I look over at him warmly. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, it does. I’d like to think it was me. Which it is …” he teases.
“Calm down, peacock.” I shake my head. His smile with big puppy dog eyes, pleading for the truth. “You are a small part of it.”
“Big part.”
“Itty bitty part.” I squint and press my fingers small showing him a tiny measurement.
He grabs my hands, pulling them wide. “Woman! It’s bigger than a pebble, we all know!”
