Chapter 26

For the Rumors and Chips…

THEN

(Leith)

"What the fuck are you doing, man?"

I climbed out of the back seat of my car and wiped sweat off my forehead.

I had a handful of trash and walked it to the trashcan outside the carwash.

Half the stuff fell to the ground and I just left it there.

"All this to get laid?"

I stopped and pointed at Erik. "Dude. Don't."

"Don't, what? You're going out of your way for a girl?"

"And so what if I am?"

Erik put his hands up. "I'm just saying… there's got to be an easier way. I mean, we can go to one of Chetty's parties. You know how that shit goes down. He brings in girls from all over the area too. I mean, if you want something quick… to just take the edge off…"

"I didn't say that's what I fucking wanted," I snapped.

"Okay. Cool. Cool. How can I help?"

"Go home, man," I said. "You don't get it."

Erik stuffed his hands into his pockets. "So you really love this chick, huh?"

"Yeah," I said. "I really do. We were together before I moved here."

"Right. I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Not see her."

"I see her."

"Her dad's a cop, right? How are you going to pull this off?"

"That's why I have my wheels, man," I said. "I want the car cleaned out and I want it all perfect. This isn't about… doing it … it's more."

"Wow, man. You sound grown up now."

"I told you to go home."

"My parents are fighting again. I don't want to go home."

"Then dig up some quarters so I can vacuum the car and wash it."

"Nice," Erik said. "I'll be back."

Erik took off. He was a master of messing with machines to get money out of them. Or he'd go to the shopping center next door and open unlocked cars and steal the change from the center console.

Which was fine with me. It was his head if he got caught.

My only thought was getting my junker car cleaned up as much as I possibly could. There was just something about tonight. Something about Beth. We hadn't seen each other in almost two weeks, which never happened. And to me that meant one of two things was going to happen.

She was either not going to show up at all.

Or if she showed up, things were going to go to the next level between us.

Not that I was just meeting up with her for that one thing, but at the same time, I wasn't going to deny my chances at it with Beth. I was pretty sure I loved her too. Which everyone thought was crazy because of the distance between us. In some weird way the only person I could talk to about it was my grandmother. I didn't do that often though… because it really was weird.

Once I got my car cleaned out as best as I could, I looked for Erik.

He had his t-shirt folded in half, a bulge bouncing as he walked toward me.

He could never just take enough to do what needed to be done. It always had to be more.

I jammed my hand into his folded shirt and took a handful of quarters.

"Careful, man," he said.

"What are you going to do with all that change?" I asked.

"I don't know. Get some food or something."

"You better take off then. I can't get into trouble today. Not with you."

"Wow, you're really hung up on this chick."

"Yeah, I am."

"She's really worth all of this?"

"More than you'll know."

Erik shook his head. "Well, good luck."

Erik trotted away with his shirt full of change.

I never understood that.

Stealing a few bucks in change like that.

It gave him some sense of a high but if he got caught, he would get into some serious trouble.

I shrugged my shoulders and went back to my car.

I made sure everything was perfect.

Pillows. Blankets. It didn't smell.

I was ready for anything with Beth tonight.

I wasn't in the kind of position where I could just pull up in front of Beth's house and pick her up. I fantasized about that quite a bit though.

Tim still hated me. And he would for the rest of his life.

There was no way to work around that.

He knew the way we felt about each other. He knew we snuck around to see each other. And he did everything he could to stop it. It had become some kind of cat and mouse game, which really wasn't all that fun to play.

And me getting a car and finally having a sense of freedom only made Tim crazier. I loved how much he thought he needed to protect his daughter from me when I was the one who seemed to protect her from herself.

I parked my car around the corner and walked the sidewalk with my head down.

My interest in the party was zero.

But this was our neutral place to meet.

As always, Debbie's parents were out for the night, leaving the house empty. There was a time when Debbie would invite over a handful of us to hang out. We'd actually sit and watch movies or play video games. But as we got a little bit older, the idea of being alone sparked other desires. And her parents just thought their precious Debbie could do no wrong.

There were at least ten people on the front porch.

I tried to keep a low profile, but was outed in a second.

"Leith is here," someone said.

I lifted my head and nodded.

"Traitor," someone called out and laughed.

"Nice to see you too," I said as I hurried through the front door.

Inside the house it was like half the people knew me and half the people didn't. Or they just didn't care. Those were the people I liked. I didn't want to reminisce about a year ago or five years ago. I didn't want to hear the latest gossip. I didn't want to talk about my new school or my new friends.

I just wanted Beth.

And when I got into the kitchen, I found her.

She was on the counter.

Her arms up in the air with a drink in her hand. Her head swaying back and forth, her hair bouncing all around. Her hips dancing left to right out of rhythm with the song.

"Shit," I said.

"She's out of her mind tonight," someone said next to me.

I looked and saw Cat. Her eyes looked dead drunk already.

"Is she drunk or just pissed?" I asked.

"Don't know," Cat said. "Something happened. Oh, watch out…"

I heard a glass shatter and jumped back.

Beth walked across the counter, kicking things out of the way.

This was what she did.

She had to make a scene.

"Hey, angel," I called out.

Beth froze.

She looked down and saw me.

She smiled big.

Without hesitation she dropped the red cup. It hit the counter and spilled to the floor. She stepped forward and off the counter, falling into my arms.

I caught her and turned, putting her on her feet.

Her lips touched mine gently and I tasted booze.

Damn.

"Are you drunk?" I asked her.

"No. That was my first drink."

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Beth…"

"That bitch you were talking to? She told everyone I slept with someone."

My heart turned around, squeezing inside my chest.

"What…"

"It's not true," Beth said. She blinked fast. "I didn't want you to think…"

I turned my head and saw Cat standing at the counter. A sly smile on her face while she talked to some guy.

"She said that about you?" I asked.

"Yeah," Beth said.

"And it's not true."

"I swear it's not true. You have to believe me. I've never…"

Beth was a lot of things. She was wild. She was fun. I knew I wasn't the only guy she kissed. I knew I wasn't the only guy where other things had happened. We weren't together. We weren't exclusive. We weren't even dating or anything like that. But in some way she was all I ever wanted and all I ever had.

"Then take care of this," I said to her.

"What?"

"Fuck dancing on a counter. Take care of this. Quick though. I'm parked around the corner."

Beth smiled big. "You're the only one who understands me, Leith."

"I'm not sure that's such a good thing."

Beth kissed me again and hurried by me.

I kept a lookout just in case things got really crazy.

Beth grabbed Cat by the shoulder and turned her around. She said something and then smacked the drink out of her hand. Cat laughed. Beth slapped her across the face. Then she grabbed Cat by the hair and pushed her face down into a bowl of chips.

Cat screamed and I lunged forward.

My hands wrapped around Beth's waist and I pulled her away.

The guy Cat had been talking to made a move.

I grabbed a drink off the counter and threw it at him.

Maybe that was a weak thing to do but I wasn't in the mood to actually fight anyone.

We ran through the house together, hand in hand.

Through the front door, off the porch, and we didn't stop running until we got to my car.

I drove away, laughing, as though we had just escape robbing a bank.

Two blocks away, Beth reached for my hand and interlocked her fingers tight.

She was quiet. She looked away.

"Hey," I whispered. "I believe you. Just so you know. Fuck any rumors."

"Yeah," she said. "Fuck them."

I broke my hand away from hers and turned on the radio.

I took her hand again and just kept driving.

It only took a few seconds before Beth started to hum and then softly sing along to the radio.

I took a deep breath in.

It was the only time in my life that everything felt right.