Page 14 of Pretty Broken Things

A genuine smile crosses my face. Maybe there’s hope for her yet. I asked her to shed the rich bitch persona, and it appears she isn’t going to shirk from a challenge. Good to know.

Lydia slides a pair of oversized, hot pink sunglasses on her face. She slides in the back while Tracy settles into the driver’s seat. Once Tessa is in, the girls squeal as Tracy peels out of the lot. She throws up a middle finger at me, and shouts, “Eat our dust, boys!”

“I don’t think she listened to you,” Shane points out the obvious.

Glaring at him, I shake my head. “Ya think?”

“Stop scowling, let’s go see Pops,” Shane says and climbs into his own car, an old beat-up Mustang he works on with his grandpa.

There’s a line of us driving cars in various states of disrepair on the highway out of town. It’s like a parade of rust and duct tape. Mr. and Mrs. McKinnick live at the edge of Jefferson Park. Close enough to have the unfortunate zip code, but far enough that a lot of the problems are far enough removed from their doorstep.

Shane’s mother has her head perpetually buried in the sand, while her husband ruled their home like a tyrannical dictator. Shane frequently takes the brunt of his anger, that was until his grandfather started stepping in and giving him a place to run to.

We pull up in front of the McKinnick’s ranch style home. It’s a modest home, well-kept with butter yellow siding and white trim. Gloria McKinnick is a dedicated gardener, and has cultivated a landscape full of carefully chosen native plants. Her yard never looks brown, because she’s used rock and other materials to create a sustainable oasis, even in the middle of a drought.

They have an older Lincoln station wagon parked in the driveway, because the garage has been emptied for Shane and George to work on the Mustang. Shane will hang out with us for a little while, but inevitably we will lose him to his tools and parts. He is happiest when he’s tinkering around with his grandpa under the hood of a car. I join them sometimes, but this time I think I may be inclined to hang out in the shed with everyone else.

Tessa’s car is already parked in front of the house, and they are just waiting for either Shane or I to lead the way. Tracy has been here many times, and I know Gloria and George have told her to make herself at home, but she never feels comfortable anywhere.

I give her car a lingering glance, taking note of how much it stands out in this neighborhood. George tips his head to me. “Don’t stress so much, boy. I’ll be out here for hours. No one will mess with it.”

He might be in his sixties now, but very few people around here are dumb enough to challenge him. Former military, well over six feet tall, and built like a brick house, he’s more imposing than men half his age. Especially around here, where most of the men were drunk within an hour after work. Shane is lucky to have him in his corner, not all of us have a safe place to fall.

Tracy’s fingers lace through mine and she squeezes my hand. Without me having to say a word she understands how suddenly a wave of self-pity can wash over me. I don’t begrudge Shane for having people in his life that give a shit about him, but it does make my lack of it stand out more sometimes.

“How ‘bout you kick my ass at some video games?” she suggests.

A grateful smile pulls at my lips. “Let’s do it.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Tessa focused on Tracy and my joined hands, but if she’s going to hang with us, she’s going to have to get used to our group’s different dynamic. Wait until she realizes that Lydia and Shane have a similar arrangement. I doubt she’s going to start up with Ted. He’s new to our group, since he and his mom moved to Jefferson Park just before the start of our junior year.

Speaking of our nerdy friend, he’s already waiting for us in the shed since he doesn’t play sports. Ted prefers virtual people to real ones, and I’ve yet to see him talk to a girl without turning bright red.

We enter the shed, which in reality is more like a tiny home. There’s a window air conditioning unit that keeps the building cool, even with a group of teenagers piled inside. The sofa pulls out into a bed, and there’s a kitchenette with a medium sized fridge that Grace keeps stocked with soda and bottles of water. The biggest attraction for us is probably the large tv with several connected gaming systems.

Ted doesn’t look up as we enter, probably trying to avoid making eye contact with Tracy and Lydia who love nothing more than to get him flustered with their blatant flirting. Every time they do, he shifts uncomfortably and ignores them for his video games.

“Hey, Teddy,” Lydia coos, quickly making him blush. “Have you met Tessa?”

He looks away from the screen, runs his hand through his longish brown hair. It flops back in his face, covering his green eyes. “Yeah,” he answers without elaborating.

Tessa hesitantly approaches him and takes the seat on the sofa next to him. Ted immediately scoots over to put more space between them without otherwise acknowledging her.

“We have chemistry together, right?” she asks him.

Ted’s head snaps up, and for a moment he looks pissed off, but almost as quickly his expression neutralizes. He turns his attention to me and Shane. “I know those two like to tease me,” he points at Tracy and Lydia, “but I thought we were friends.”

“What do you mean?” Shane speaks up before I can.

Ted jerks his thumb in Tessa’s direction. “Like the most popular girl in school really wants to talk to me about science class.” He turns to face her. “Do you even know my name?”

Tessa sucks her full bottom lip in between her teeth and nods. “Theodore Reese, but I usually hear the other girls call you Teddy.” She narrows her eyes and looks him over. “For some reason, it doesn’t seem to fit.”

Lydia plops down on the arm of the sofa next to him, and runs her hands through his hair again, stealing his attention. “Of course it does. He’s our snuggly Teddy bear.”

Tessa purses her lips, and shrugs. “Every bear has claws.”

Ted turns his face away, but not before I catch a hint of a smile on his face. I guess even our shy friend isn’t immune to the Countess’s charms.

---