Page 128 of Truck Off

I place her in the tub, same as I do most months, and turn on the shower head. Cold water hits her in the stomach and she shoots up screaming. She blinks several times and tries to slide back to escape the spray but ends up sliding under the water further.

It only takes a few seconds for the water to turn warm. I adjust the temperature until it’s a comfortable heat level. When I look down at her, she’s glaring up at me with a murderous look in her eyes.

“Hey, Mom.” I force a smile.

“Don’t hey Mom me. What the fuck are you doing here? It’s not time for you to visit again.”

The laugh that escapes me is a tad on the sinister side. I typically try to keep my anger in check with Mom, but with Lina here, it’s a struggle.

After all of these years, Mom has never once caught onto our schedule. For some reason, her acting like she has a clue what it is only feeds that anger more. “Don’t know what to tell you, Mom. We’re right on schedule. I’ll be back in a moment with some clean clothes.”

I head to her room and grab some clothes. At least on this visit, she has some clean clothes in her drawers. That doesn’t happen often.

By the time I make it back to the bathroom, she’s stripped out of the clothes she was wearing and tossed them on the floor without care. Water puddles around them. She glances over her shoulder at me, still glaring, before she turns back to her shower. She doesn’t bother pulling the shower curtain closed. Probably because she knows that pisses me off.

I step around her wet clothes and yank the curtain closed. Then I place her clean clothes and a towel on the counter. I gather up her wet clothes and toss them in the pile of dirty ones on the floor by the washer. Grabbing another towel from the linen closet, I spread it out on the bathroom floor to soak up the water from her wet clothes.

Lina and I work together for several minutes in the kitchen before Mom walks out. She’s dressed, but her hair is dripping wet like she didn’t even bother using the towel I left for her.

“Who the fuck is this?” Mom barks. When we look at her, she’s frowning with her hands on her hips.

“This is Lina, my girlfriend,” I say and then turn back to the pile of dishes in the sink.

“Girlfriend?” Mom questions. “How the fuck did you manage that?”

Lina frowns, and I chuckle. I pull her closer and give her a chaste kiss. “Persistence. I refused to let her ignore me.”

Lina rolls her eyes and my mom scoffs. “So you forced her to date you? Sounds like something you’d do.”

Lina raises her brows and stares at my mom like she just said the dumbest thing she’s ever heard. “No one forces me to do anything. I do what I want.”

“Then why are you dating this idiot? If you want a man, date my Christian. Now he’s a good boy.”

I stiffen at her words. Normally, Mom’s comparisons between Christian and me never bother me. But considering how Lina and I got together, it stings to hear Mom say that to her.

“I’m sure Christian is a great man, but no one is better than Chase in my eyes. He’s it for me.” Lina shrugs with a grin on her face that begs to be challenged. Then she turns back to help me load the dishwasher.

When our eyes meet, I mouth, “I love you.”

Her blue eyes light up with nothing but happiness staring back at me. She leans forward and cups my cheeks before she plants a kiss on my lips. “I love you too.”

Mom grumbles something but I don’t make out the words. She leaves us alone before I can ask her to repeat herself. That’s probably for the best anyway.

Once Christian gets here, I’m sure I’ll hear worse.

With Lina by my side, I can’t bring myself to give a shit.

* * *

Summer is coming to an end and the day we’ve been working so hard toward for a couple months is finally here.

The county School Bus Derby starts any minute now. Five buses—one representing each of the county school districts—are lined up on one end of an open field. The first to make it to the other end wins.

Eastern Local—that’s our bus—is by far the most menacing. Lina and her team did a kick ass job with the bald eagle on the sides. Waverly took a cute approach with their design.

Whoever led that effort must love My Little Pony. With as many ponies as I see, all the characters must be painted on the bus. It’s a mix of bright blues and purples with soft pastels over a solid white bus. I’m glad that’s not our bus.

The other three districts went with the same theme as us—school mascot—but their design is tame compared to ours. Lina really outdid herself. If we don’t win from speed and power, at least we win on design.

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