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Lincoln
“Me and Bobby McGee”played five times between Chelsea and Warren Street in Tribeca.
Miss Adeline, Eric, and Beau sang at the top of their lungs as if every loop of the song was the first time they’d heard it in years.
Lexie drummed the steering wheel, though her singing was more muted. She seemed to be concentrating on making this ride as miserable as possible.
I braced on the ribbed floor as she took another turn on two wheels. Every time Eric, the dogs, Beau, and I slid, she had an evil grin.
Muffy dug his nails into my thighs. Even his weight on my legs wasn’t enough to keep us from moving.
Thiswas why I should’ve driven.
Iwould’ve been conscious of their comfort.
Shewas determined to make this the car ride from hell.
But as I looked around, everyone else was happy. That only amplified my misery. It was like a spotlight beaming on my unhappiness. They could have fun even in the simplest situations.
I couldn’t remember what the word meant.
Sure, I enjoyed basketball games with my friend Daniel Elliott and beers with my brother and dinner with my sister. But it wasn’t this.
Singing my head off to an awful song like it was the best thing I’d ever done.
Beau elbowed me. “It wouldn’t kill you to loosen up.”
She resumed screeching and clapping to the music.
I wasn’t a loose kind of guy even before all the responsibility fell on me.
Even as a kid, I was serious. My mother had helped me to let go sometimes, but she’d been gone a lot of years. I had fractions of memories like the day she and Teague had danced to Cher in the front yard.
I’d been worried about my baby sister. And when they’d gotten me to join in, I still hadn’t had as good a time as they had.
To this day, I hated every single note of any Cher song. Whenever my brother’s phone rang with the tune the firefighters at his station had programmed, it was like a thousand pinpricks of pain.
Perhaps “Me and Bobby McGee” on repeat wasn’t so bad after all. But the words that were ringing in my head loudest were still Agent Walker’s. You’re under arrest for securities fraud and tax evasion.
How had those charges been levied against me? Who had instigated that? I doubted it would simply go away . . . he would be back. Then what?
Lexie maneuvered the van down the ramp to the underground parking at Daniel’s building at far too high a rate of speed, though I was the only one who seemed aware.
My words to slow down were swallowed up by the screech of tires as we came to a stop.
She turned off the ignition and blessed silence followed.
Finally, I can hear myself think. Maybe even make heads or tails of these ridiculous charges.
How had Dad known?
I rubbed my temples.
Eric grinned and held up his fist. “Awesome ride!”
I bumped it, though my movement was stilted. Beau would say I had a broomstick up my ass. But I had to if I was going to keep her and Teague happy.
Eric threw open the sliding door. Three dogs popped up and no one had their leashes. If they escaped, my brother would be devastated.
