On the Plus Side (7 page)

By the end of our three hour conversation I learned so many things about her. She talked about her and her mom’s shitty relationship, which was uncomfortable considering I had already met her bitchy mom. She told me about her dad that lived in California and how she never really saw more than his back and briefcase when she was growing up. She told me about going to an all-girls school, which let’s face it…was really fucking hot! The point is, I could tell from our conversation that she was kind of raised alone—no brothers, no sisters, and really no mom and dad.

It made me appreciate my crazy ass dad and goofy little sister. Yeah, we sometimes argued and sometimes my little sister tried her hardest to make me choke her, but at least we were a family. We were a family who laughed together and worked together to make it through this crazy life. I’d do anything to keep my family’s life afloat. I know I should feel bad about what I was doing to Lilly, and in a way I did, but I couldn’t regret the fact that doing this was going to pay the bills.

My little sister came bursting through the door about the time that I was about to hang up with Lilly.

“Who you on the phone with?” she screamed across the house while the refrigerator door was being slammed.

She came busting into the living room with a coke and a bag of chips.

“Did you hear me, Dev? Who you talking to?” she continued to loudly yell, while shoving a handful of chips into her big trap.

Lilly started to laugh through the phone.

Jenny’s name should’ve been Benny because everything about her screams male teenager. She’s fifteen, soon to be sixteen, and is in tenth grade. She has long, dark hair that she keeps tied up in a low pony tail and big, green eyes that match my own. When I sit and think about it, there really isn’t a girly thing about her. She dresses like a boy, burps like a man, walks like a dude, and fights like a pit-bull. The last part is thanks to me, of course. Even her bedroom is covered with car posters and blue and green bedding.

“Hey, I’m gonna let you go, OK? My loud ass little sister is home. I’ll be by to pick you up after work tomorrow, OK?”

“Okay sounds good. See you tomorrow.”

I hung up the phone, rolled my eyes at Jenny, and then got up to leave the family room.

“That wasn’t Renee, was it?” Jenny smiled back at me like she had just caught me red handed.

“It’s none of your business, nosey,” I smirked back.

“Oh my God, you cheater!” she laughed and bits of chip flew out of her mouth. “Thank God! It’s about damn time. You know I never liked that bitch Renee.”

“Would you watch your mouth? And no, it wasn’t Renee, but keep that between you and me, OK? Seriously, Jenny, it’s important, OK?”

“OK, cool! So…when do we get to meet her?”

“Never!” I laughed, as I poked her on the tip of her nose when I walked by.

“Ah, come on. No fair, Devin!”

It would never go that far. I would date her, get my money, and then never see her again. Yeah, it would last about three months, but there was no way in Hell she’d be meeting my family, especially considering my dad would see right through me and the situation if I ever brought her around.

Oh well, I got a date tomorrow. It’s all in a good days work.

That night, after dad got home and we ate dinner, I relaxed in my bed and had a sudden guilty feeling.  Would I be able to do what needed to be done? Would I be able to lie in Lilly’s face? Most people consider me a heartless bastard and honestly I kind of made it that way myself. It was, in a lot of ways, my wall. It kept people from getting close to me, which in turn kept me from getting close to people. A psychologist would call it my defense mechanism. I call it being smart.

The reality of it was that I wasn’t a heartless bastard. I didn’t want to hurt this girl, and by lying to her and making her think that I was interested in her, I was hurting her without her knowing it.
Honestly, she was kind of sweet. I could see me hanging out with her and being friends. Maybe that’s why I felt so damn bad about what I was starting with her.

I barely got any sleep that night. I tossed and turned, and when I finally did sleep I had horrible nightmares about the day my mom left and never looked back. I woke up at five thirty the next morning drenched in sweat and hyperventilating. I didn’t even bother going back to sleep.

By the time dad came out to the garage to open I was already mostly done working on Mrs. Bennett’s old Cadillac and had already changed out the tires on Ralph’s new Chevy. Dad stopped in his tracks and stared at me like I had suddenly grown two heads. I swiped at the greasy sweat that was draining down my forehead with the back of my hand.

“What?” I asked.

“Nuttin’…if you keep workin’ like this we’re gonna run out of work. We’re already ahead. What’s going on with you? You’ve been acting funny the last couple of days. You OK?”

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m just trying to stay busy. We got to make this money. I don’t know if you forgot, but we got eight thousand dollars to pay in a couple of months.”

“No, I ain’t forgot, but you sure you’re OK?”

“I’m fine.”

I really had to be careful around my dad. The man didn’t miss a thing and he wouldn’t approve of what I was doing.

I finished up around the garage and then headed inside to get a shower and to get ready for the night. I needed to pep myself up big time, and I needed to figure out exactly where I was going to take this chick. She was rich and I didn’t know if I could afford to take her to the places that she was used to. Hopefully, after this first date, her mom would give me that first installment. That would help out a lot.

Seven

A Date with the Devil

I spent most of Thursday afternoon shopping with my mom. As much as I complained about it before, I needed her expertise in finding something to wear on my first official date. I ended up with a very low-cut black top and a sexy pair of slimming boot-cut jeans. We finished it off with a cute, black necklace that almost touched my cleavage and dangly earrings. Mom tried to convince me to get my hair done, but I refused.

“Are you going to tell me about him or not?” Mom smiled an unnatural-looking smile as we sat at her favorite ritzy restaurant.

“There’s not much to tell really. He came into the store. Then I saw him later at the café and he just asked me out.”

“Oh come on, Lilly. More than that happened. Don’t you know anything about dishing with the girls about guys?” she laughed.

“OK, fine.” I sloshed my straw around in my drink. “He’s really hot, like, super-hot, and he has the most gorgeous green eyes I’ve ever seen. You probably wouldn’t like him though. He’s not rich, but I like that about him. He works at his dad’s garage and yes, he still lives with his dad, but they kind of own everything together.”

Mom didn’t flinch, which I found extremely unnerving. She should be going on and on about dating a poor guy and how he was probably only after my money. I pushed harder to try and break her silence.

“He doesn’t wear expensive clothes or anything and if I’m not mistaken he drives an old car. Like, really old…I think, but money isn’t everything, right? I mean, as long as he’s a nice guy.”

“Whatever makes you happy, honey, and you’re right, as long as he’s a nice guy, that’s all that matters.”

I stared back at her like she had just shot fire out of her ass. Something was definitely up.

“What’s wrong, mom?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Why?”

“Come on, now. What are you playing at?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Please! By now you would’ve already been going crazy about me dating some penniless guy and blah
blah blah. You know, the usual we’re rich and above him comments. What the hell?”

“No, I know you’re lonely, Lilly, and if this guy makes you happy, then I’m happy. Now, can we please order something? I’m famished. What kind of wine do you want?”

Maybe mom was going through menopause or something. I’d have to be sure to Google the symptoms when I got home. I’d never heard her speak so level-headed. People change, though, and maybe my mom was going through some emotional changes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing.

We ate dinner in an almost silent state. It was really odd. She didn’t comment on anything except to say that she thought I looked really nice in my new outfit and that I was sure to make him drool. I laughed at that one. Why would anyone drool over me?

*****

On date day, the hours seemed to stand still. I couldn’t wait until he picked me up and took me out. This whole thing was so new to me. It’s been way too long since I felt excited about a new development. It was always the same thing over and over again for the last year or so.  I was slowly becoming a hermit who only came out for work and the occasional girl’s night out.

At about six thirty, I went into the store bathroom and refreshed my hair and makeup. Shannon agreed to close up and drive my car home for me so I didn’t have anything to worry about, except looking my best. I was in the middle of applying a fresh coat of lip gloss when I heard the little bell over the door jingle followed by Shannon calling my name.

I shoved my powder compact and lip gloss back into my little black purse and then patted my hair down one more time. As I walked out behind the counter Shannon turned to me and mouthed, “Oh my God—hot!” I couldn’t help but smile.

That’s when I saw him again.

He was leaning against the counter all sexy looking with a pair of loose fitting jeans that hung from him hips and a black Henley shirt. He turned to look at me and I could swear I saw something in his eyes that said, “Wow.” I blushed and looked down at myself one last time. He held out a single white rose and I took it from him and held it to my nose.

“Thank you…it’s beautiful.” I smiled up at him.

“You’re very welcome.” His eyes dropped to my cleavage.

“If you want, I can put it in some water when I get home. That way you don’t have to leave it to die in the car,” Shannon said.

I handed her the flower and then smiled back at Devin. My very first flower from a guy, you know that bad boy is getting dried and crushed between the pages of my journal.

“I know roses are kind of typical, but I figured you’ve probably gotten like a million lilies in your life,” he said.

I chuckled to myself on that one. If only he knew. No lilies for Lilly!

“You ready to go?” he asked in that creamy, mocha latte sounding voice of his.

I know I know! Stop with the food already!

“Yes, I’m ready.”

I ran over closing with Shannon real quick to make sure she didn’t forget anything and then followed behind him to the door. He held the door open for me and as I was passing by I heard Shannon yell.

“Have fun, kids. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, or better yet do everything that I’d do!” she laughed out loud at that.

I rolled my eyes and felt my face turn red. Devin chuckled softly to himself.

On the walk to his car, he placed his hand on my lower back and I suddenly felt like all my skin was melting off of my body. The heat from his hand went through my shirt and straight into my spine.  It was such a sweet moment in time and I was kind of sad when we finally got to his car. I felt his hand leave my back as he opened the car door for me.

“It’s not much, but it’s mine,” he said apologetically before he closed my door and ran around the front of the car to the driver’s side.

Before he could get into the car, I whispered out loud, “It’s perfect.”

It was perfect to me. It wasn’t a brand new vehicle, but it had character and small touches all over that reminded me of him. I had seen enough flashy cars in my life and this, as far as I was concerned, was a real car. Just like my old Honda, a real car, with scratches and dents—a car that had lived, and if I
wasn’t mistaken, it
was
an older sports car, just like I had said before. Nail on the head baby…nail on the head.

Remembering the day in the café when he had asked me out made me wonder again why he wanted to take me out. I couldn’t for the life of me see this incredibly hot guy being attracted to me. Me! Large Lilly, the fat girl in class, the loser who hid behind mommy and daddy’s money—at least that’s what the kids at school used to say. I had to stop thinking these things. I wasn’t in high school anymore. I wasn’t large Lilly anymore. I just needed to remember that…even repeat it to myself all night if I had to.

After jumping in and starting the car, he turned to me and smiled as he revved the engine. I felt my cheeks heat up, and for a second I worried that maybe this date was bad for my blood pressure. Lord knows I was feeling a little flushed just looking at his sexy smile.

“I believe I was correct about the old Mustang named Bertha,” I said, as I hoped for a sudden change in mood.

“Nope, her name’s Lucy and she’s a Camaro.” He smiled sweetly as he caressed the dash of the car like it was an actual female.