by Sandy Hall
“Yes. I hadn’t gotten past the sting.”
Margo was laughing.
“Don’t laugh,” Jane said to her. “It was traumatizing. I thought someone was making fun of my boobs or calling me a bitch but the marker ran out of ink.”
“Looking back, it’s funny,” Ravi said.
“You are the worst,” Jane said.
Around the Illinois border, Margo pulled the car into the large parking lot of a motel and parked around the corner from the front-desk area. She looked less than confident as she went in, but she was skipping by the time she came out.
“It worked! I told the lady at the desk I was stuck in traffic all day while driving home from dropping my boyfriend off at college, and I just needed somewhere to crash. And she bought it. Lying makes me feel alive!” Margo said.
Jane laughed as she pulled her bag out of the trunk.
“The only thing she said is that checkout is at noon.”
“I can imagine how ridiculous you were when you lied to that woman.”
“No way! I was amazing. I was like a villain in a movie. I was freaking Keyser Söze.”
“I don’t know who that is,” Jane said.
“You’ve never seen The Usual Suspects?” Ravi asked as they walked across the parking lot toward their room on the first floor.
“I have not,” Jane said.
“What is this world coming to?” Ravi asked the night sky, shaking his head.
Margo unlocked the motel room door. “Welcome home, children,” she said, swinging it open.
“There’s only one bed,” Ravi said. “Have you lured me here to take advantage of me? Is that what this is all about? Has this all been a farce? Where is Teo, really?”
“Yes, Ravi. Your self-proclaimed archnemesis and I have lured you to the Illinois border to ravish you. You asshole.”
“You’re going to ravage my asshole?” Ravi asked, putting his hands on his butt.
“You’re a ridiculous human being,” Jane said.
“I guess the lady at the desk figured I’d only need a king-size bed, since I’m only one person. We’ll have to share. It’s a huge freaking bed,” Margo said.
Jane pulled the bedspread off and threw it onto one of the armchairs. “I hate thinking about all the other people who have slept here.”
“You and Dateline,” Margo mumbled.
“There’s no way I’m sharing a bed with you two,” Ravi said. “You’ll both have to sleep on the floor.”
“Oh, come on, Ravi. It’ll be fun. I thought we were bonding,” Margo said.
Jane lay down on the bed and rolled over six times before she got anywhere near the opposite edge. “Yeah, I don’t mind sharing with you.”
“I’ll even sleep in the middle,” Margo said. “Then you won’t have to go anywhere near Jane’s cooties.”
“And what about your cooties?” Ravi asked, but there was something flirtatious in his delivery.
“I do not have cooties!” Margo said, hitting Ravi in the face with a pillow.
“Oh, I thought pillow fights only happened in movies,” Ravi said, picking one up and smacking Margo lightly in the shoulder.
“See?” Margo said, settling down next to Jane. “This is going to be totally fun.”
“Well, I think this has been worked out,” Jane said, leaning back on the pillows and putting her hands behind her head. “Now let’s see what’s on basic cable this evening in Indiana.”
“Excellent idea,” Margo said.
“Fine,” Ravi said, flopping down next to them. “This is a decent bed. Firm but not too firm. No springs in my back.”
“I like it when you’re pleasant,” Margo said, punching his shoulder playfully.
“I can be pleasant. If I must.”
Chapter 24
Sleeping late was not an option the next morning. As soon as one person woke up, everyone woke up.
“Well, that was the weirdest night of my life,” Ravi said.
“What time is it?” Jane asked, rolling over and hugging her pillow.
“Like, seven,” Margo said. “Better known as ‘time to find Teo.’”
Jane jumped up at that and started getting ready.
“And breakfast. I think we should eat breakfast before Teo,” Ravi said.
“But—” Jane started.
“Oh, come on, you said it yourself. It’s not like he’s being tortured. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have some waffles. Some bacon. Some eggs.” Ravi got a far-off look in his eyes. “I just really like breakfast.”
They got ready to go, and Ravi and Jane waited in the car while Margo checked out of the motel.
“I can’t help feeling like he’s going to be mad at me for telling you guys everything,” Jane said, thinking aloud.
“I knew about the dad search.”
“Yeah, but I told you a lot of stuff. Hopefully, he’ll listen to reason.”
“Teo normally … Wait! Why am I comforting you? Why does that keep happening?” He took a deep breath and turned back into normal Ravi. “I don’t think you’ll be able to talk your way out of this one.”
Jane chewed on her lip, trying to ignore Ravi, but it was hard when the image of pissed-off Teo rose in her mind. He was so mad at her for getting involved in his dad search; what if he got just as mad that she had dragged Ravi and Margo into this?
“I know him very well,” Ravi continued. “He’ll be totally pissed.”
“I’ll just present the facts. Margo had to come because she is over eighteen, and you had to come because you’re annoying and threatened to blackmail us. I think it makes perfect sense.”
Margo got into the car a moment later, and they set off for a quick breakfast and then on to Champaign.
“Are you okay?” Margo asked, trying to decipher the look on Jane’s face.
“She just realized that Teo is going to hate her after he finds out she betrayed his trust,” Ravi explained.
“Aw, don’t worry, Janie. You’ll make him understand.”
The closer they got, the less sure Jane was that Teo wouldn’t be angry, but she had bigger things to deal with.
“All right, you guys stay in the car,” Jane said as she drove onto campus and looked for a parking spot. “I think it’ll be less weird if I go find Mateo alone.”
“What are you going to tell him?” Margo asked.
“That I’m Teo’s friend and I want to surprise him.” Jane found a spot and parked.
“Good luck,” Margo said.
Jane walked quickly across the campus, the skies growing darker and a storm threatening as she searched for the building she knew Mateo Rodriguez would be in, preparing to teach one of his last literature classes of the summer. She had a moment of panic, thinking there was a good chance he had canceled his final class.
Her panic disappeared when Jane found the classroom and saw the professor just about to walk in.
“Are you Mateo Rodriguez?” she asked, walking toward him.
“I am. What can I do for you?”
Jane immediately liked the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. “Well, I’m Teo Garcia’s, um…”
“Are you his girlfriend?” Mateo asked.
Jane was about to correct him but decided against it. “Did he say I was?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t know who you are, so maybe?”
“Oh, I’m Jane. Jane Connelly.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Jane nodded.
“And for the record, he has spoken highly of you for the past two days.”
Jane practically glowed. “Do you know where he is?”
“At my house.”
“Do you mind telling me where you live? I feel weird asking, but I need to see him, and I drove all the way here. I’d be willing to wait until after class if that would make you feel more comfortable.” Jane’s babbling trailed off as Mateo scribbled his address on a scrap of paper.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Are you goin
g to try to talk some sense into him?”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Jane said.
“Is Connie with you?”
Jane shook her head.
“Does Connie know where he is?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh God.” He glanced into the classroom and then back at Jane. “Mostly today is just for handing in papers. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She nearly ran the whole way back to the car, which was easier said than done in a sundress and the flattest flip-flops ever made. Thunder was rolling overhead, not helping matters in the least, but she tried her best to ignore it.
She typed Mateo Rodriguez’s address into the GPS, and the trio was on the way to his condo just as the skies opened up.
Once they got into the neighborhood, the condo development was easy enough to find, even in a downpour. It was the individual condo that was an issue. It was in one of those impossible-to-navigate complexes that even confused the GPS.
“Turn right onto Birdsong Terrace,” the GPS voice said.
“Make a sharp left to go north on Melody Drive.”
“Yield to the left and then follow the road to keep right.”
“Find a safe place to perform a U-turn.”
“Drive off nearest cliff,” Ravi said in a spot-on impression of the GPS voice’s cadence.
When they finally pulled up in front of the right condo—or at least what they hoped was the right condo—Jane was tense enough to snap. She turned off the car’s engine and prepared to slide out of the driver’s seat.
“You guys wait here,” she said.
For once, neither of her passengers complained. She must have really sounded like she meant business, if Ravi stayed quiet.
She rang the bell and stood on the front step under the small overhang and looked around, dripping wet and trying to ignore the lightning crackling in the distance. It was a nice-enough area. The lawns and bushes were well manicured. Teo wouldn’t have to be on landscaper duty around here.
The door swung open and Teo stood on the other side.
“Jane?”
“That’s me,” she said.
“This is…”
Jane nodded.
“You’re here. In a dress. In a thunderstorm.”
“Yup, that’s me.”
“You’re really here?”
Jane nodded, starting to shiver.
“You came to find me in a thunderstorm.” He pulled her in for a hug just as lightning flashed behind her.
“I did,” Jane said.
“Come on, get inside,” he said, ushering her through the door and glancing back at her car parked at the curb.
“Is that Ravi and your sister in the car?” Teo asked, waving at them through the screen door.
“It’s a long story,” Jane said.
“Are they going to stay in the car, or are they allowed to come in?” Teo gestured for Ravi and Margo to come inside, and they ran to the front door.
They entered into a wide-open first-floor condo in which the living room flowed into the dining room flowed into the kitchen.
“Hey, Margo,” Teo said.
Margo waved awkwardly.
“Hey, man,” Teo said to Ravi. “It’s good to see you, no matter how surprising it is that you’re here.”
“I missed you so much,” Ravi said, pulling Teo into a hug.
“I understand,” Teo said, patting him on the back.
“No, you don’t. Last night was the worst night of my life. The three of us slept in the same bed. All three of us!”
“Was it a twin bed?” Teo asked Jane over Ravi’s shoulder.
“No, it was huge. Definitely a king,” Jane said.
Ravi finally let go of Teo and started wandering around the house, looking at all the photographs.
“You guys want anything?” Teo asked.
They all shook their heads. Jane shivered.
“I’ll get you a towel,” he said to her.
“Have a seat,” he said when he got back.
They arranged themselves around the living room, Jane pulling the towel over her shoulders and drying the ends of her hair.
“What are you guys doing here?” Teo asked.
“After I read your last text, I got worried that you thought staying here was a legitimate plan. And you wouldn’t answer my messages or take my calls, so I panicked.”
“My phone was off.”
“I kind of figured that out.”
“And it is a legitimate plan,” Teo said. “Maybe not one I’m totally sold on yet, but it’s not crazy talk. It’s possible.”
“You can’t stay here, Teo,” Jane said.
“Why not?”
“What about school?” Margo asked.
“What about me?” Ravi asked.
“And does your uncle really want you to stay indefinitely?” Jane asked.
“He hasn’t explicitly said anything on the subject,” Teo replied.
“And even if you stay, you can’t avoid your mom. You’re under eighteen. She’s going to have to give the okay on this.” His face softened after Jane said that, so she kept going. “You’ll have to see her again, no matter what. Even if you stayed here, you’d still have to see her. She would still be in your life. You’re her child.”
“I’ll be eighteen in February,” Teo said. But his argument was weaker somehow.
“It’s a fun fantasy, Teo, but it can’t magically happen with a snap of your fingers.”
“And what about your sisters?” Ravi asked. “They’re not quite as important as I am, but what would they think if you never came home?”
Teo smiled. “They’d hate me.”
“Yeah, we’d all hate you.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to talk to my mom about all this,” he said, choking up.
“It’s all good,” Ravi said. “Connie’s cool. We know that. And maybe some of this is super messed up, but she’s still your mom.”
Teo looked so sad.
“Remember that time she took us to see that concert at PNC?” Ravi went on. “The salute to country music, because you were so in love with Carrie Underwood? Connie surprised you for your birthday. What mom does that? She loves you so freaking much she sat through the world’s most annoying concert for her twelve-year-old son.”
Before this, Jane had only seen outside Ravi, bold Ravi, too-much-to-say Ravi. This was a whole different kind of Ravi, talking Teo off the ledge. Jane couldn’t believe how sensitive Ravi was when it came to Teo. How much he obviously cared about his friend. If he hadn’t written Jane Connelly is a B on her locker in middle school, she might really respect him.
Around then, Mateo came in through the front door. After being introduced to everyone, he turned to Teo. “What’s up?”
“My friends came to get me,” Teo said.
“They did,” Mateo said.
“They want me to go home with them.”
“And what do you want?”
“I don’t want to deal with my mom,” Teo said. He sighed. “But I think I should probably go back with them.”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
“I just don’t know how to talk to my mom after everything you told me.”
“I’m sure she had her reasons. Just remember that. Try to see it from her side.”
“I’m a little too blinded by my own side.”
“Just give her a chance, for me.”
Teo took a deep breath and nodded. “Lemme get my backpack.”
Ravi made small talk with Mateo while Teo was gone, and Jane wandered around, looking at the family photographs on the mantel. Even though Teo hadn’t gotten a dad out of this mess, it looked like he was going to get a ton of new family members.
Saying good-bye to his uncle was obviously tough on Teo. “Thanks, Uncle Matt,” he said as his uncle hugged him long and hard.
“Anytime. I mean, you’re my namesake, man. I want to see more of you. Just next time tell Connie where
you are.”
Teo nodded.
His uncle turned to the rest of the group. “Do you guys need anything for the road? Money? Food? Anything I can help you with?”
“No, we’re good,” Jane said. “We can keep running up the balance on Margo’s credit card.”
“And if we leave now, we might even make it home by midnight,” Ravi said, faking enthusiasm.
Matt hugged each of them and then gave one last hug to Teo, as though he really didn’t want his nephew to leave. Uncle Matt said something to him in Spanish, and then all four walked back to the car.
The sun was starting to come out by then, drying up the morning’s rain.
“This sucks,” Teo said.
“You wanna drive?” Jane asked. “Maybe that would cheer you up.”
“Of course Teo gets to drive,” Ravi muttered.
“Yeah, I think I’d like that,” Teo said, ignoring Ravi.
Chapter 25
As they set off, Teo was clearly upset. Jane took his hand from where it was resting on the gearshift.
“You okay?” she asked quietly, giving his hand a squeeze.
“Yeah,” Teo said, swiping at his eyes.
“Margo is taking up more than half the backseat,” Ravi whined.
“I am not!” Margo said.
“Children, children,” Jane said, using the same tone Margo had employed the day before. “It’s time to calm down and get on the road.” Then she turned back to Teo. “You sure you’re okay to drive?”
He had his face in his hands, and his shoulders were shaking, but when he looked up, he was laughing instead of crying. “How did you put up with them for the past two days?”
“It hasn’t been easy—I’ll tell you that much.”
“Put up with us?” Ravi asked from the back. “As if. It was all about putting up with you and your sister and your stupid king-size-bed motel room.”
“Did Ravi really just say ‘as if’? Like he’s Cher from Clueless or something?” Jane asked.
“I think he did,” Margo said.
“Clueless is a highly underrated movie, and I have learned more about life and style from Murray than I have from anyone else. On earth.”
“You know, Ravi, most guys would be psyched to share a bed with two girls,” Margo said.
“Whatever,” Ravi said, folding his arms and looking out the window. But there was a small smile on his face, because he had in fact shared a bed with two girls in one night. And maybe he could turn that into a much more interesting story while still having some basis in reality. Something to keep in mind for college.
