Page 6 of Until Now
He thinks about what I’ve said and comes back with his way of making the day palatable.
“Can we take the bike?”
“Not today, buddy. Because Cali is coming with us. But I’ll talk to your mom tonight and get her permission for you to be a passenger. If she says yes, we’ll buy you a good helmet. Tennessee law, you know.”
“I have a helmet.”
“Okay. We can get you your own leather jacket. Sound good?”
“I guess.”
I’m not really expecting any sort of excitement.
“Then maybe we can take off for an overnight camping trip in the mountains.”
I thought it was a good offer. I imagined he’d be kind of happy thinking about the idea. Instead, his face drops.
“Never mind. She’s never going to say yes. I have to be sixteen to ride on a Harley.”
“Don’t be so sure. I know my sister. Have a little faith, guy. Look at Cali. We need to be like her. She’s in the middle of a shitshow, and she thinks it smells like roses.”
An hour later, I make the last turn onto Wes and July’s street.
“I don’t like to talk much, so just let me sit there quiet, okay?”
Hunter’s words land with a thud. Poor kid. He’s so fucking wounded.
“Okay. I hear ya. But I need your help with the dog. She’s going to be in hog heaven with the other animals I expect to see. She might go chasing some strange boy dog action.”
“Girl dogs don’t do that much,” he says as if educating me.
“This one does. Just like some girls I’ve met do.”
Now that’s the first smile I’ve seen on the boy. Okay. I’m going to run with that.
“You’re what, thirteen?”
“And a half.”
“Oh, man. You’re at the perfect age.”
The guffaw proceeds his words. “For what? Bad things to happen?”
I glance at his face. He’s completely serious.
“No. There is no right age for that. It’s always hard to take, no matter how old we are. I’m talking about the good stuff. Girls.”
Now I’ve embarrassed him. A barely noticeable shake of the head signals his response.
“No,” he mumbles.
But there’s no conviction behind his denial.
“No, what? You don’t like them? You think they’re annoying? Or no, as in you haven’t talked to many yet?”
“That last one, I guess. I don’t want to talk about it.”
We pull up as close to the house as I can get. There’s lots of cars and bikes parked on the street and in the long gravel side approach to the Silver’s home. I put the car in park and shut the engine. Cali starts whining and pacing from the backseat.
