She gets back in her car, and a moment later it sputters to life. This time, I can see her smiling through the windshield. I walk over to her window, and she rolls it down a few inches.
“Keep it running so it can charge back up. There’s a place on Benham that does batteries if you want to go there.”
“Yeah, I know the place you’re talking about. That’ll be good.”
I unhook the jumper cables and drop our hoods then jump in my car and wave her on when I’m ready. She zips out of the parking lot driving more like a guy than a girl, and I wonder who taught her how to drive. Maybe one of those brothers she mentioned.
She manages to get to the car shop with no problems, and I follow her inside. The small waiting room smells like engine oil, and there is grimy dust and smeary, black fingerprints on everything. No one is behind the counter, so Kerri taps on the bell and turns to me.
“You don’t have to stay, Connor. I’ll just hang out here till they’re done.”
“Let’s just see what they say first. You might need a ride.”
A few minutes later, a middle-aged guy comes out, wiping his hands on a rag. Everything about him is streaked with gray — his hair, his blue coveralls, even his face.
He glances at Kerri then turns to me. “How can I help ya?”
“I think I need a new battery,” Kerri pipes up. “Mine won’t hold a charge.”
“It’ll be about 30 minutes ‘fore I can look at it. Another 30 if that’s what’s wrong.” He rubs his tongue around his yellow teeth, making sucking noises.
“That’s fine. I can wait.” Kerri pulls out her keyring and holds it out to him but then pulls it back and unhooks a lime green rabbit’s foot before handing him the keys. She rubs the furry foot a couple times before shoving it in her pants’ pocket.
“I need to run to the grocery store up the road and get a few things for my mom. Why don’t I come back and check on you when I’m done?” I jab my thumb in the direction of the supermarket.
Kerri and I both look behind us at the hard, plastic chairs and the stack of old Auto Trader magazines on the rickety table between them. “Or you could come with me, if you want.”
Kerri’s eyebrows shoot up and her mouth makes a little O. “I need to go to the store, too. Do you mind?”
Kerri gives the man her name and number, and we head back out to my car. I’m suddenly grateful that I cleaned it last weekend. I vacuumed, used Armor All on the dashboard, and I even bought one of those air fresheners that clip to your air vent, so the inside of my car smells like ocean breeze.
Kerri climbs in and scopes it out like she’s judging my entire life based on the inside of my vehicle, and I wonder if I passed her test.
“Nice.” She flashes me a smile, and I take that as a yes. “Are you one of those guys who’s totally obsessed with his car?”
I grin and buff a spot off the dash with my sleeve. “Maybe a little.”
I zoom out of the lot and down the road like I’m suddenly possessed by the need to prove my manhood by how fast I can drive.
“What is it about guys and vehicles? My dad and brothers are like that, too. They couldn’t care less about the house, but they love their cars. They’re always waxing them and buying add-ons like spoilers and lift kits and underbody lights.” She rolls her eyes.
“Sounds pretty cool to me.”
“Seems like a big waste of money, in my opinion, but they work for it, so I guess if that’s what they want to spend their money on…” She waves her hand around and shakes her head but then grins.
“Of course, it works out for me, cuz they all chipped in to buy me my car, and I almost never have to spend money on repairs. One of them is usually able to fix it.”
We pull into the grocery store and head inside. The store is decorated with green streamers and paper shamrocks, and it feels weirdly domestic to be going grocery shopping with a girl. I pick up a small basket, but Kerri grabs a cart and pushes it towards the produce section, randomly tossing in stuff.
“Oh, these avocados are perfect! We’re having guacamole tomorrow, for sure.” She fingers them till she finds the best ones and puts them in a bag.
“That’s a lot of vegetables. Do you have a list, or are you just getting one of everything?” I pick up a small head of lettuce and a tomato.
“There’s four men in my house, and they eat a ton. They’re like marauders; they just come in and pillage everything. Dad goes shopping once a week, but the food’s usually all gone in a couple days. I’m hoping this will last a little longer.”
She pushes the cart alongside the meat cases and grabs packages of beef, pork, and chicken, barely looking at what she’s throwing in. Meanwhile, I pick through the steaks looking for the perfect one.
“Wow, sounds pretty crazy at your house.”
“It is, but it’s a lot of fun, too. They’re always making me laugh. I think brothers are probably easier than sisters — less drama. If they get mad at each other, they just punch each other, and then they’re over it.”
My eyes get big. I couldn’t imagine anyone hurting her. Of course, she’d probably punch them back. “I hope they don’t punch you when they get mad.”
She laughs, throwing back her head. “God, no. Dad would kill anyone who hurt me, if the others didn’t get to them first. They’re very protective of me, overprotective, really. Sometimes it’s like having four dads.”
“So, are you and your mom the only girls in the house?”
Suddenly, she stiffens, and the happiness drains out of her like I pulled a giant plug.
“Mom’s dead.” She stares down at the cold cuts, her back to me as she says it, so I can’t see the expression on her face, but her tone tells me that wound is still as red and raw as the steak in my hands.
“I’m sorry. Did she die recently?”
Kerri shakes her head, her neck still bend down. “17 years ago — while she was giving birth to me.”
She looks at me then, and her face is twisted with guilt. “She survived three 10-pound boys, but I was more than she could handle.”
The store is playing an instrumental version of Pharrell’s “Happy,” piping artificial joy into the cold, overly-bright store, and Kerri stands there looking broken and pitiful, her arms dangling limp at her sides.
I want to take her in my arms and hug her, but I barely know her, and we’re in the middle of the grocery store, so instead I just stand there feeling like an idiot for bringing it up. This is why I’m a loner, why I have no real friends — I have no idea how to talk to people.
“So, your dad does the cooking and stuff?” I say lamely, trying to switch to an easier subject, but her face pinches again.
“Yeah, well, he did, but it looks like I’m going to be taking over that job for a while. He got in a car accident last Friday, and he’s in pretty bad shape. That’s how he lost his replacement sweatshirt; they had to cut it off of him.” She rubs her hands up and down her arms and shivers.
Holy geez! I’m really batting a thousand here. Any other open sores I can poke?
I sigh and scrub my head with my hands. “I’m sorry, Kerri. None of this is any of my business; I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
She shakes her head, throwing off her frown, and forces out a bright smile. “It’s okay, it’s fine. You didn’t know.”
I can only think of one thing I can do that might help, so I grab the hem of my sweatshirt and pull it over my head, handing it to her. I don’t even know why I insisted on keeping it; it’s just a sweatshirt. Because I’m not good with people, that’s why. I always say or do the wrong thing.
“Here. I’m sorry I wouldn’t let you have it earlier. I was just being a jerk, I guess.”
Kerri looks at the sweatshirt and smiles, this time for real, then pulls it over her head, letting the thick material engulf her. It’s way too big for her, but she looks kind of adorable in it. She pushes the too-long sleeves up past her wrists then holds the neckline up to her nose. Is she sniffing
it?
I wince. It probably smells like sweaty pits and a dozen different lunches. “Sorry, I can wash it first if you want. I’ve been wearing it a lot.”
She shakes her head and takes another sniff. “No, no, it’s fine. It smells nice, actually.”
“Oh, uh, okay.” I have no idea how to respond to that comment. What does that mean? Is she flirting with me? No girl has ever complimented how I smell before.
She wrinkles her nose and lets the fabric drop. “Sorry, was that weird? I have a big mouth sometimes; I just say whatever I’m thinking, especially around guys since I’m used to my brothers.”
I chuckle at her transparency. “No, it’s okay. I usually have no idea what girls are thinking, so your bluntness makes it easier for me.”
She laughs at that. “I take it you don’t have any sisters.”
“Nope, no brothers, either.”
Her mouth falls open. “Wow, I can’t even imagine. No one to fight with over the TV, or the front seat, or the bathroom. Your house must be so… calm.”
“Yeah, I guess it is. Boring might be a better way to describe it.”
We start walking down the aisles again, and Kerri throws in pretty much everything she sees while I pick out the few things my mom asked for.
“Didn’t you say you’ve moved a lot? I bet it was hard to have to make new friends all the time.”
I stop and look at her, blinking slowly. I can’t believe she remembers that. “Yeah, the guys on the basketball team are pretty cool, but I can’t say I’m really friends with any of them yet. It always takes a while to fit in at a new school, and half the time we move again before I do. And no siblings to be built-in friends.”
She frowns. “That must be tough. I’ve lived here all my life, and I still only have a few close friends. My brothers drive me crazy, but they’re always there for me.”
“That sounds nice.”
“I bet my brothers would like you. Maybe you should come over some time and we can hang out.”
“Oh, uh, okay, maybe.” And now I’m confused again. Is she interested in me, or is she just offering to be friends with me? Or is she trying to set up a play date for me and her brothers?
She gets a freaked out look on her face. “I don’t mean like… I’m not… I know you’re into Mallory, I just thought maybe you could use some friends.” She smacks a hand over her face and shakes her head. “I’m not saying that you don’t know how to make your own friends. I just…”
I reach out awkwardly to touch her arm. “It’s cool, Kerri. I’d like that,” I say, realizing it’s true. Kerri is fun, and I don’t feel the same pressure around her that I do around other girls.
I’ve never had a girlfriend, and I’ve never even been friends with a girl before, but it might be good to hang out with one, just to get over the tension I always feel whenever someone of the opposite sex is around. Although, now I feel weird that I touched her. Was that too much for friends? She touched me before, but the rules for guys are different than for girls.
I quickly pull back and start walking again, and Kerri doesn’t act like I’ve committed a faux pas, so I guess it’s okay.
We reach the last aisle of the store, and Kerri plucks a few more things off the shelf before finally announcing that she’s done. The cart is overflowing, and my few items are all contained in the little section meant for handbags and babies.
“Sorry, I guess you probably weren’t expecting this big of a trip.” She wrinkles her nose, squishing her freckles.
“No big deal. You ready to check out?”
I push the heavy cart into a lane and start putting things on the conveyor belt. The cashier gives us a strange look, and I realize how weird it must be to see two teenagers and a cart filled with enough groceries to feed a family of five. I feel self-conscious, but Kerri just smiles and swipes her dad’s credit card like it’s all perfectly normal.
We load up my trunk and head back to the mechanic’s, but my phone rings as soon as I park. There’s only one person who calls me instead of texting, so I know right away this conversation is gonna take a while.
I pull out my phone with a sigh. “I need to take this. Why don’t you go on in, and I’ll come in when I’m done?”
She nods and gets out, and I press the accept button. “Hi, Grandma. How are you?”
Chapter Seven
Kerri
Well, I’ve got good news and bad news.” The grimy mechanic leans on the counter, poking at his nicotine-stained teeth with a toothpick, and my stomach starts to churn.
I rub my thumb and forefinger back and forth along the hem of my sweatshirt, trying to conjure up some good luck mojo.
“Good news is, I got your battery switched out, and that should be all good. Bad news is, my diagnostics say your tranny’s going bad. Probably gonna need a new one.”
I don’t know anywhere near as much about cars as my brothers, but I know transmission problems are serious, and expensive. I turn and look out the cloudy windows, wishing Connor were here, but I can’t even see his car from here.
“How much is it gonna cost?” I fiddle with the broken zipper on my wallet, wondering if the car is even worth repairing. Charge is getting up there, and we’re probably going to get hit with some big medical bills soon. I really need to get a job.
“Parts and labor, you’re looking at a couple grand.” He says it like he’d say it’ll be a couple dollars, and my eyes bug out. Holy crap, that’s a lot of dough!
I look down at Dad’s lucky sweatshirt and scowl. Why isn’t it helping me? Maybe it only works if someone else is wearing it.
“You really shouldn’t be driving it like this. Not safe for a young girl like yourself. You wouldn’t want to have a blowout in the middle of the road, now would ya? Want me to call you a cab?”
I gulp and chew on my lip, not sure what to do. Maybe Connor can drive me to the hospital so I can talk to Dad about it. I really hate to burden him with this when he’s in so much pain, though. I wonder if one of my brothers can replace a transmission? Seems like a big deal.
The mechanic stares at me, waiting for an answer, and I’m standing there, nervously twisting my Claddagh ring, wishing I had a magic wand to make everything better, when the door swings open with a jangle, and in walks Connor.
The mechanic flinches and stands up straighter, and Connor takes one look at my face and mimics my worried look with one of his own. “What’s wrong, Kerri?”
“He says my transmission is bad, and it’s not safe to drive it.”
Connor narrows his eyes at the mechanic then turns back towards me. “Has your car been acting weird — making any strange sounds, grinding, leaking fluids, anything like that?”
I shake my head. “Just trouble starting the last few days.”
“When I hooked it up to the scanner it came back clear as day — that tranny is done for. You gotta expect it in a car that age.” The mechanic sounds kind of defensive, and suddenly I wonder if he’s trying to scam me.
Connor looks at me, a hidden warning in his eyes. “Kerri, I think you should let your brothers look at it before you have any major work done. I’ll follow you home to make sure you get there okay.”
I nod, still staring into his eyes. They’re the color of chocolate, my favorite food, and right now there’s so much depth to them, I feel like I’m drowning. Niall was right; Connor is a really great guy. Why is he being so good to me when he likes someone else?
The mechanic grunts, and I tear my gaze away from Connor to look at him. “Suit yourself, but just know I think you’re making a mistake.”
I’m pretty sure trusting him would be the bigger mistake, and I’m so glad Connor was here to help me. Even when he’s not wearing the sweatshirt, he’s still good luck. I pay the man what I think is way too much for my new battery, and he pulls my car out of the bay.
“We might as well leave your groceries in my car since I’m following you home. No point in transferring them,” Connor says.
&
nbsp; I shake my head. “You don’t have to follow me, Connor. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my car.”
“I still want to. I’m no expert, I just think he was trying to rip you off. But I’d feel terrible if you actually did have your transmission go out while you’re alone.”
I smile at him, and he smiles back — an awkward grin that makes him even cuter. “Okay, thanks. That’d be great.”
I give him my address, just in case, and we head to my house. Charge starts up right away and runs as good as ever, and I’m almost positive it’s just fine. When I pull into my driveway, Connor pulls in behind me and pops his trunk. Before I can even get to his car, he has his arms loaded down with grocery bags.
I laugh at him. “Okay, Superman, you don’t have to prove your brute strength to me.”
“Real men only need to make one trip,” he grunts, his face turning red under the strain.
Sure enough, the only thing left in the trunk is his stuff. “Why don’t you let me take some of that? All I have is my book bag.”
He rolls his eyes at me and croaks, “Just open the door, Kerri.”
I scurry ahead of him and unlock the door, swinging it wide open. Lucky rushes to the door and starts woofing. I dump my bag by the door, grab his collar, and yank him out of the way. “Macho man coming through, Luck. Better get out of the way before we get run over.”
Connor hefts the bags up and drops them all onto the counter then pulls his arms out of the handles and shakes them to get the blood flowing again.
Lucky is pulling at my arm, trying to break loose. “No, Lucky. Settle down.”
Connor holds out a hand to him. “You can let him go; I don’t mind. I like dogs.”
“Okay, but be warned; he’s kind of rambunctious. I tried to teach him some manners, but my brothers let him get away with anything.” I let go of Lucky’s collar, and he races over to Connor, licking and jumping and scuttling around on the slick, vinyl floors.
Connor starts scratching his head and ears, and Lucky flops down on the ground and exposes his belly, begging for a tummy rub. Connor squats down and pets him, and Lucky wriggles around in ecstasy.
Good Luck Charm Page 6
