Page 8 of Walk on the Wilde Side
"Shit, Nev, you just saved my old man's life. Not entirely sure whether to thank you or not, but I can at least give you a ride back to the shop. Be right back." He turns to go back inside but stops. "Wait, he said you saved his life twice."
I roll my eyes, embarrassed to have to tell him. "It's stupid and I had about as much hand in saving his life then as I did this time. It was a long time ago. I walked up while he was underneath his truck clanging away on something. I was delivering a birthday cake that Nana baked him. She did always have a soft spot for you Wilde boys." I wink. "He rolled out to take the cake and thank me. Just seconds after he rolled out, his jack broke and the truck fell. So, you see, it was my grandmother who was the true guardian angel. I was just the messenger."
Zander smiles. "Your grandmother was everyone's guardian angel. I'll get the keys."
four
Zander
It's hard to explain, but something about driving through town with Nev in the passenger seat feels right. I can picture the two of us, a true couple, heading to the feed store to pick up hay for the horses. Jameson's truck, with its techy dash, self-driving beeps and alarms and shiny leather seats is far too fussy for a good farm truck, but it's still easy to imagine. Nev in a cotton dress with gritty cowboy boots, her hair tied up in a bandana and sunburn on her cheeks as she hangs her head out the window to get a better look at the prairie sunflowers growing along the road. A country ballad blasting out of a scratchy radio, our big black collie sitting in the seat between us, and the scent of her lemony shampoo filling the cab.
"Did the doctor say how long he'll be in the hospital?" she asks. It takes a second for her question to break through my daydream.
I look over. There's no bandana or cowboy boots or sunburn, but she's still every bit the goddamn daydream. "Depends on a few tests but probably four or five days." I laugh. "She did tell him that if he continues to sexually harass the nurses, she'll personally wheel him out to the parking lot and dump him out of the chair."
"I liked her the second we met," Nev says. "She was the doctor on call when we got there." Nev rests her head back and turns her face to the window. "I always wanted to be a doctor."
"Really? My money was on astronaut. In sixth grade, you did a whole report on becoming the first woman to step on Mars."
She chuckles lightly. "I did want to be an astronaut but then I watched a training video where you're strapped into a chair while experiencing some crazy ass amount of G-force. Looks like your skin is going to rip right off. I decided I wasn't brave enough to be an astronaut. Wasn't brave enough to be a doctor either."
"Bullshit," I say. "You stayed because you love Rockhurst, and you didn't want to go out into the, and I quote, 'wide world because you were sure it would disappoint.'"
Without lifting her head from the head rest, she turns to look at me. The light coming through the windshield turns her hazel eyes green. "Did I really say that?"
I nod. "You were sitting in the park one day reading through college brochures. I was riding past on my dirt bike, so I stopped to talk."
She smiles. "I remember. You offered me a bite of your Snickers bar?—"
I laugh. "And you took a gigantic bite, and I told you that was the last time I'd share a candy bar with you."
She laughs too. It's always like that with Nev. Comfortable, easy, exactly right, like my fucking daydream. We know each other so well that we could jump back in time a million times and always pull up a story about us.
"I can't believe you remember my astronaut report," she says.
I tap my temple. "I've got a photographic memory when it comes to Nevada Mason."
Her smile fades, and she gazes at me with those incredible eyes. I glance at her for a second and am glad to have the excuse of having to watch the road as a reason to look away. I'm not sure why I said it, but I'm fine with it being out there. Nev knows how I feel about her. At least I think she does.
"Hey, remember that shell bracelet I made you?" I ask. I don't know if it's Dad's heart attack and the slap of reality that we'll lose him someday or if it's sitting in a truck with Nev, but I'm feeling stupidly nostalgic for the past.
Nev is quiet for a second. She turns to look out the window, and I'm embarrassed about bringing it up.
"It was just a meaningless memory that popped up," I say quickly.
"Of course I remember it," she says quietly. "I remember why you made it for me."
I'd forgotten that part of the memory. "Yeah, that was one of those moments in life that helped me grow up fast. Dad was really good at that, helping us become men fast as he liked to say."
"Nana was so pissed at him. I think she really was planning to pull out grandpa's old shotgun."
Then
I sneak in the back door, hoping to avoid my dad. I can hear him talking angrily on the phone to someone. He is always cussing out someone. My backpack bounces against my back as I tiptoe through the kitchen to the stairs. I talked the vice principal out of calling Dad to tell him about my suspension. It wasn't hard to do. My dad scares the shit out of him.
My plan is to hide out in my room and then come down later, after school is out and pretend like I just walked in the door. It's a good plan that is quickly obliterated when I accidentally drop my heavy backpack on the floor. I freeze, hoping he didn't hear the noise. I finally take a breath and a step, and there's a new hitch in my plan. The squeaky floorboards in my room.
Seconds later, heavy, angry footsteps pound up the stairs. Dad smacks open my door. He's holding his pistol. "Zander, what the fuck? I thought someone broke in. Why are you home so early?"
