Chapter 102
"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask.
"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine - it's only a few yearsold, really."
I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up that easily. "When did he buy it?"
"He bought it in 1984, I think."
"Did he buy it new?"
"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties - or late fifties atthe earliest," he admitted sheepishly.
"Ch - Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic..." this was half a lie I really couldn't fix it honestly I have zero mechanic skills but I could afford a mechanic I'm still a small millionaire I also plan to rob fort Knox in the world I have plans for the gold I'm going to turn all of it into a giant golden ball over 8000 tons of gold and when I'm upset I'll throw it at things. I'm thinking of naming it "PROBLEM SOLVER" who said you couldn't throw money at problems to make it go away?
"Really, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."
The thing, I thought to myself... it had possibilities - as a nickname, at the very least.
"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise on.
"Well, son I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.
Wow. Free. "You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to
"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. So I was looking straight ahead as I responded.
"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." No need to add that my being happy in Forks is a.s.sured I mean vampires shape s.h.i.+fters this is gunna be lit fam. He didn't need to know these things. And I never looked a free truck in the mouth - or engine.
"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled,embarra.s.sed by my thanks.
We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for Conversation. We stared out the windows in silence.
It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. Everything was green:the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves.
Eventually we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small,two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother in the early days oftheir marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had - the early ones. There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new - well, new to me - truck. It was a faded red color,with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. To my intense surprise, I loved it. I didn't know if it would run, but I could see myself in it.Plus, it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged -the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed. Now all it needed was bulletproof gla.s.s and adamantium and a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p style engine. I couldn't do any of these things cause I'm s.h.i.+t with vehicles but I can dream.
"Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!" Now my horrific day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful I hate new kid day. I wouldn't be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief's cruiser.
"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly,embarra.s.sed again.
It took only one trip to get all my stuff upstairs. I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the black out curtains around the window -these were all a part of my childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a second hand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. This was a stipulation from my mother, so that we could stay in touch easily That computer is being swapped for a WiFi card and alienware later tonight f.u.c.king dial up, my a.s.s. I'm gunna swap the bed too for a nice tempur pedic one so no noisey squeaking if fleur sneaks out to attack me. I couldn't show my trunk right now cause I'll be having vampires around and I don't want them to know I have magic anytime soon I'm just going to muggle it out however I'm sending my shadows off tonight for fort Knox cause I can and same as last time in not touching a cent of it it's going right into the Problem Solver.