County Line Road

by Marie Etzler

  “I can change that,” Jimmy said and reached for the car door handle.

  She hit the accelerator and the handle slipped from his grasp faster than candy taken from a kid. She hit the brakes and skidded to a stop a few feet away.

  “I’ve seen that on TV a hundred times,” he said. He strolled to the car and reached for the door handle again.

  She hit the gas again, but only for a second, just enough to make him miss.

  He stood in the street with the heat of the late afternoon sun burning his back and radiating up from the black asphalt at him, creating waves of a mirage on the street, as if Allison’s car were just an illusion and once again here he was, standing empty handed in his life. He approached her again, but warily this time.

  “Tell me something,” she said through the open window to him. “You don’t think I’d let just anyone get in my car, do you? What are you going to do for me?”

  “Anything you want,” he said and meant it.

  She popped the door lock open the door for him.

  “That I like. Get in, before all the A/C disappears.”

  She turned up the air conditioning and the fan blew cold air on Jimmy, raising goose bumps on his legs. She gunned the engine and took off down the road. “Let’s go on the highway. Get some speed going.”

  “Fast is good,” Jimmy said. He pulled the seatbelt across his chest and clipped it in. He could just see the curve of her breast peeking out of the buttons of her shirt from his angle. The lace edge was as inviting as a neon sign blinking ‘Touch Me’.

  “Here, sit on this towel, you sweaty bastard.”

  He wasn’t sure if she was mad for a second until she smiled and set him at ease.

  She pulled a towel from the back seat and shoved it under his legs, grinning the whole time.

  “Hey, gentle with the merchandise,” Jimmy said. “I’m in line for a track scholarship, you know. These legs are very valuable.”

  “Track, huh?” she said. “Nice legs.”

  “Not bad legs yourself,” he said.

  He lifted himself up to let her tuck the towel in.

  “Your arms broken? Fix it yourself! I gotta’ drive.” She laughed at him.

  “Okay, okay. But this towel is more wet than I am.” He looked in the back seat and saw her gym bag. “Did you just work out?”

  “Yeah, at the Everglades Athletic Club,” she said.

  “La-de-dah,” he said. “Only rich people go there. But you must be rich, look at this car — Satellite radio, navigation system, OnStar — everything. You get ebay on this?” He looked at the screen more closely.

  “No,” she said with a laugh. “What are you looking for?”

  “I like what I see here,” he said and gave her a once-over.

  “That is such a bad line.”

  “Sounded bad, didn’t it,” He looked around the interior of the car. “So when did you get this car?”

  “Changin’ the subject?” she said. “About a month ago. When we moved here from Oregon. My dad got it for me, as a bribe. I did not want to move.”

  Jimmy almost said, Aren’t you glad you moved now and met me? But thought the better of it. Too desperate.

  “Are you a senior?” Jimmy said.

  She nodded Yes.

  “Hell of a time to move,” he said. “Did you already have plans to go to a college there?”

  “Nothing definite. Life kind of got put on hold last year,” she said. “Where are you going?”

  “Clemson,” he said. “If I get the scholarship. I’m no A student, so if I don’t get it, it’s ‘You want fries with that?’ for the rest of my life.” He made his best southern accent.

  “Good accent. Where’s Clemson?” Allison said.

  “It’s in South Carolina, where my mom lives,” Jimmy said.

  “Yeah? Talk like that, and you’ll fit right in. What, do you live with your dad here?”

  “And my brother and Linda.”

  “Who is Linda?”

  “Evil stepmother.”

  “Poor Cinderella-Boy,” she teased.

  “Hey. She’s manipulative and you have to stay away from her.”

  “She ought to meet my mom,” Allison said. She stopped at the red light. “Let’s talk about something else. It seems like a lot of people around here are into sports. Do you know my neighbor, Cassie? She invited me over when I first got here. Her room is covered with a hundred trophies.”

  “You say that like trophies are a bad thing,” he said. “I have a few.”

  “So do I, but I can still see the walls and carpet,” Allison said. “She has wall-to-wall trophies. Doesn’t she do anything else? That can’t be healthy.”

  “Ain’t much else to do around here,” he said. “Although I could make a suggestion if you’re bored.” He rubbed her leg.

  “Not at the moment, but I’ll keep you in mind.”

  Allison accelerated and passed a dump truck.

  “Look at all those rocks flying out of that truck,” she said. “Scratch my hood.”

  “Get used to it,” he said. “One thing we got plenty of around here, dump trucks and torn up roads. I can’t wait to get a car.”

  “Yeah? What are you getting?”

  “I’m still looking,” he said. He knew it wouldn’t be this nice. His father already told him to look for used cars only.

  She changed the radio station.

  “Hey, this band is coming to town,” Jimmy said eagerly. “Tickets go on sale tomorrow. Want me to get you one?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Don’t be so enthusiastic,” Jimmy said.

  “Woo-hoo!” Allison yelled, making Jimmy jump. “How’s that for enthusiasm?”

  “Better,” he said.

  She laughed. The sound of her laugh made him happy. She wasn’t laughing at him, but he could hear in it that she thought he was funny. It made him feel good about himself.

  They zoomed down the highway.

  “Uhm, that was my exit,” he said, pointing. “Back there.”

  “Let’s go for a ride. Use up some gas,” she said. “My dad pays the bill.”

  “Won’t he get pissed? My father is always complaining about gas prices, Double A too.”

  “Double A?”

  “My best friend.”

  “My dad probably won’t even notice,” she said. “That’s his specialty.”

  “Who’s poor little Cinderella now?”

  “Two points for you. After this I’ll take you back to your house so you can get a shower. How big is the shower in your house?”

  “I’ll make room, believe me,” Jimmy said.

  CHAPTER 10

  Jimmy was relieved that there were no cars in the driveway as he and Allison pulled up to his house.

  In the bathroom, he turned on the water and held his hand under it as it warmed up. He was nervous. He’d never been in the shower with a girl before. He’d seen it in movies and it always looked hot. He was getting excited, so he pulled a towel off the rack in front of himself, pretending to rearrange it. He was also afraid someone might come home any second.

  He kicked off his sneakers and pulled his t-shirt over his head, hoping she was admiring his physique.

  “Want to get in?”

  “You get clean,” she said. “I’ll watch.”

  “I’m shy,” he said and stepped inside and pulled the shower curtain in front of him. He tossed his shorts out. They landed on top of her purse.

  “Shy?” she said. “Not the other night.”

  He washed as fast as he could. When Allison pulled the shower curtain back to peek at him, he splashed her with water. Soon he was drying himself with the towel.

  He leaned out of the shower and kissed her.

  Just then the bathroom door flew open.

  Linda stood in the doorway.

  “Well,” Linda said. “This is what you do when I’m not here? When your father is away? Invite girls over? In the shower?”

  “We weren’t in
the shower,” Jimmy said.

  Linda folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot.

  “We were just leaving,” Jimmy said. He tried to push past her.

  Linda didn’t budge. “Not until you tell me what you were doing, unclothed.”

  Neither Jimmy nor Allison opened their mouths.

  “Nothing?” Linda said. “I’ll have to call your father.”

  “Wait,” Jimmy said. “We didn’t do anything. She waited while I took a shower. That’s all.”

  Linda looked from Jimmy to Allison and back, scanning their faces.

  “It’s true,” Allison said.

  “And why should I believe you?” Linda said. “Are you using birth control?”

  “Linda!” Jimmy said.

  “Men never take responsibility for the messes they create,” Linda said to Allison. “Remember that – what is your name?”

  “Allison,” Jimmy said.

  “Don’t think you can count on him, Allison.” Linda looked over Jimmy from head to toe, as if suddenly disliking him. “He moves from one girl to the next every month. Or is it every week, Jimmy?”

  Jimmy grabbed Allison’s hand and pushed past Linda. He took her to his room.

  Linda started to laugh, catching Jimmy off guard.

  “I’m just trying to teach you kids something,” she said. “Stop. Stop. Wait a minute, okay? Come on.”

  Jimmy said over his shoulder, “We have to go.”

  “Please,” Linda said to Jimmy. Then she sidled up to Allison who was pinned in the bedroom doorway. “Is that your car out front?”

  “Yes,” Allison said.

  “It’s very nice,” Linda said. “You parents must be well off. Not everyone can afford a new Mustang or this purse.”

  Linda lifted Allison’s mini bag.

  “And I love your nail polish.” Linda held Allison’s hand in hers.

  Jimmy tried to step in between them to protect Allison from Linda.

  “We have to go,” he said.

  “Where are you going?” Linda asked. She dropped Allison’s hand and walked over to her own tote bag that she’d dropped on the couch on her way in the house. She rummaged around in the bag with her back to them. She pulled out something, but Jimmy couldn’t tell what it was.

  “We’re going to see the new James Bond movie,” Allison said.

  “Oh, I’d love to see that,” Linda said, acting sweet. “Jimmy and I used to go to the movies all the time when he was little. Remember, Jimmy?”

  “I wasn’t that little,” Jimmy said with embarrassment. Anger and that caged feeling began to rise inside him again. “I was thirteen.”

  “Anyway, do you need any money, Jimmy?” She picked up her purse.

  “I have a job,” he said.

  “Yes,” Linda said, waving him off. “Allison, I meant to show you this perfume.”

  Linda took Allison’s hand, turned her palm up, and sprayed the inside of her wrist.

  “Stop that!” Jimmy yelled. Horrified, Jimmy forced himself in between Linda and Allison. He had to touch Linda’s hand to get her to release Allison’s wrist. Jimmy moved Allison away from Linda and rubbed his hand on his shorts as if to wipe off the feel of her skin. “Come on. We’re outta’ here.”

  He raced for the door, ushering Allison in front of him.

  In the Mustang, Allison turned the key, and the engine roared.

  “I felt like a pawn in there. A rag doll,” Allison said. “She was tugging me. You were tugging me.” She backed up and drove off. She turned up the air conditioning. “What the hell was going on with your mother?”

  “She’s not my mother. I was trying to get her away from you.”

  The cool air blowing from the vents at full blast spread the smell of Linda’s perfume throughout the car.

  He suddenly felt claustrophobic as if the car were getting smaller. The scent seemed overpowering to him. Jimmy grabbed the towel from the seat. He held his breath and fumbled for the window button. Then he turned to Allison.

  “Give me your arm.”

  He rubbed the towel on her wrist.

  “Ouch!” Allison said and pulled back.

  He opened the window. “How do you open your window?” He started pressing buttons in the center console.

  Allison’s seat moved back.

  “Stop! I got it.” Allison lowered her window. “It’s hot as hell out. I don’t want the windows open.”

  “I can’t take that smell,” Jimmy said.

  Jimmy stuck his head out like a dog, gasping for air.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” She stopped the car. They sat, pulled over on a neighborhood street.

  “That bitch,” Jimmy said, his mind still completely consumed by the emotions of what Linda had done. “I can’t believe she did that to you. Like I said, she’s not my mother; she’s my stepmother, and don’t ever let her get near you again.”

  He paused.

  “Look, I’m sorry about freaking out. She stole my father’s baseball and made it look like I did it. Now he might cancel my trip if I don’t find it or prove she did it. There, now you know the whole pathetic situation. Still want to go to the movies?”

  He waited for Allison to call him a loser, but she didn’t.

  “And here I thought you were perfect,” she said.

  “Far from it,” he said. He put his hand on the door handle, ready to open it if she told him to get out.

  “Now we have something in common,” she said. “Besides sex, that is.”

  “What? Being trapped in a crazy family?”

  “I don’t know if they’re crazy,” she said. “But we have our problems.”

  “I thought you were perfect,” he said, taking his hand off the door.

  “Far from it,” she repeated. “Forget about that. Kiss me and let’s start over.”

  “Agreed.” He leaned over and kissed her. He touched his lips to hers softly, as if kissing for the first time. The song on the radio ended and another began, one about how love lasts forever. It was perfect, one of those moments for which radio was made.

  “I haven’t seen you for three days. I thought you’d come by.”

  “I decided to today,” she said. “Can we roll up the windows now before we burn up like a nuclear war just happened?”

  He laughed.

  “Besides,” she said. “You want to go to the movies, right? We can kiss in the dark like teenagers.”

  “Uh, we are teenagers,” he said. “And I’ll kiss you anywhere.”

  “We can get to that later,” she said. “Oh, I really shouldn’t say things like that, give so much away.”

  “No, I like it,” he said. “It means you’re telling me the truth. I need that.”

  “Okay,” she said and smiled.

  It was at that moment that Jimmy felt himself fall in love, as solid as if he’d just jumped out of a plane and landed on firm ground after being thrown around by the wind forever.

  In line at the movie theater, he stood close to her. He nudged her along in line as they shuffled with the crowd from the ticket window to the candy counter. He only paused to look in his wallet, feeling how little money he had, a sting that only lasted a moment until she took his hand and led him into the dark theater.

  They selected seats near the back and kissed through most of the film. He was only torn away from her to watch in amazement as Bond chased the bad guy through tight alley ways of an old city out to a dock. They were running so fast, Jimmy couldn’t believe it.

  After the movie, they drove without talking. Jimmy was perfectly comfortable, something he’d never felt around a girl before.

  “Let’s go to my house,” Allison said. “Go swimming.”

  “I don’t have a bathing suit with me,” he said.

  “You won’t need it,” she said and kissed him.

  CHAPTER 11

  They pulled up to Allison’s house, and she pressed the garage door opener.

  Jimmy watched the two-car g
arage door rise and could hear the motor grind away.

  “If they weren’t awake before, they are now,” he said.

  Inside the garage sat a silver BMW and a Jaguar in a green color Jimmy had never seen before.

  “No room for mine as usual,” Allison said.

  She parked behind the BMW. “He’ll have to come get me to move mine in the morning. Serves him right.”

  “Are you sure we should do this?” Jimmy said. “It’s kind of late for introductions.”

  “They’re probably both working on their computers. We’ll say Hi-Bye, and head out back.”

  He followed her inside. As the garage door closed behind them, Jimmy heard Allison’s mother.

  “Allison? Is that you?”

  “No, Mom, it’s a serial killer,” Allison said. She waved for Jimmy to follow her. He walked gingerly on the plush white carpet, feeling like he had to be careful and not disturb anything. It was quiet, clean and cold. The a/c blew on his skin, giving him a chill. A large silver bowl sat in the center of a glass coffee table with three red balls inside it, looking like they were made of barbed wire. He couldn’t figure what that was about.

  They cut through the dark kitchen to the lit den in the back. The kitchen didn’t smell as if anyone had cooked any food recently, and the counters were bare except for two sets of car keys. They glinted in a pool of light from a teardrop lamp. His and Hers key rings with BMW and a Jaguar emblem cleared up any guess Jimmy had about who drove what car.

  They kept walking through the kitchen to another room that turned out to be a den.

  As soon as they stepped inside the den, Jimmy thought, This is a room I could live in. It had a wide flat panel television set on one wall with ESPN on, dark wood book shelves, a bar with glasses and mini fridge, leather couches and chairs and a large wood coffee table.

  On a shelf were some family photos – he looked at one of Allison sticking her head out of a tent, smiling, and a younger girl just below Allison. Jimmy wondered who that was.

  Allison was right – there they were, one parent at each end of the couch, feet touching, laptop on their laps, tapping away.

  They both looked up at once.

  “Mom, Dad, this is Jimmy,” Allison said. “We’re going out to the pool.”