“David!” She gasped. Her mouth was opening and closing like she was a trying to breath air. I was getting slightly worried. I hadn’t considered that she might be so shocked it would actually cause problems. But that was what it was looking like.
My eighteenth birthday was about to go from the best ever to the worst ever.
“Who paid for that?” Her next question came as a relief, not only because it meant she probably wasn’t going to die, but it also meant I got to deflect some of the Wrath of Grandma. I reached behind me, picked Lucy up by her elbows and set her down right in front of me as a human shield.
Lucy wiggled her fingers in a hesitant wave hello and bit her bottom lip. Adorable. As usual.
“Lucille Jessica Peterson!” My grandmother started laughing. I couldn’t believe it; how did she do that?! My grandmother had been ready to make me fetch a switch from a tree in the backyard, but once sweet Lucy was in front of her everything was hunky dory. Typical.
“That is incredible, David.” Sean interrupted my grandmother’s fit of mirth, picking up my arm and holding it out to inspect. He winked at me when he heard my grandma’s huffing and puffing. Sean had a few tattoos, so his admiration was greatly appreciated.
“My mom hated my first one, but she got used to it.” His reassuring voice was as much for Grandma as it was for me.
“He drew that.” Lucy voice burst with pride as she glanced sideways at my grandma.
“You what? So you had this planned and you couldn’t have warned me?” My grandma was furious again. I folded my arm back into my shirt and through my sleeve before I reached out for her. Grandma backed up, wagging a finger and spouting admonitions at me, but I caught her and picked her up off of her feet in a bear hug. She fought to get away from me, which felt like a butterfly trying to escape from my closed palm. I didn’t loosen my grip. She was so little; I had to make sure I didn’t squeeze her to tight.
“Looooooove you,” I crooned as she wriggled to get free.
“Oh you scamp!” She muttered in disgust.
“Grandma. I love you so, so much.” I kissed the top of her head and hugged her tighter. I heard some air escape her little lungs and a quiet huff that sounded like she was giving in to me. Or maybe I was just squeezing too hard. Either way, it meant I was winning.
“I love you, too, David.” She put her feeble arms around me as I placed her gently back on the ground. The amazing little woman immediately slapped my left arm harder than she normally would have. I groaned in pain, which made her smile.
“I don’t know what you were thinking,” her mumbles of disgust trailed behind her as she walked away into the kitchen. I didn’t catch the rest of it, though it sounded like “mother rolling around in her grave.”
Lucy turned around to kiss me quickly then ran happily into the kitchen after my grandma.
The guys had ordered a few extra large pizzas and my grandmother made a German Chocolate cake from scratch.
German Chocolate was my favorite cake in the world. I wasn’t much for sweets, but when she made that cake I could eat the whole thing and enjoy every single stomach cramp that came with it. Grandma and Lucy bustled around most of the evening, serving everyone and cleaning up as they went. Lucy was not a naturally tidy person but she loved to serve people so she did everything she could to help my grandma. Part of that meant cleaning as they went. Lucy had learned previously that, if any mess got left until the night was over, Grandma would fight Lucy out of the kitchen, not allowing her to touch anything left behind. Lucy’s fix was to become a Tasmanian devil of cleanliness when she was around my grandmother. It worked for both of them, and it was so sweet to watch my gorgeous, hyper girlfriend following my frail grandmother around, picking up dishes and wiping off surfaces as she went.
Everyone else sat around the living room talking about this and that. Sean spent some time teaching me the basics of tattoo healing and care.
“It’s going to start itching in about three days; don’t scratch it!” he warned. “It’s healing like any other scab. Use aloe or lotion to knock it back a little. Does your grandma have any cortisone cream?” I shook my head “no.” I wasn’t positive about that, but I didn’t really want to ask my grandma for prescription steroid cream. Sean shrugged, “that’s cool. It’s a little better with the itching, but you should be good. The hardest part is leaving it alone once it totally scabs over. Weirdly fascinating.”
Then he started asking me about drawing him one. But, after he’d been describing what he wanted for a few minutes, he offered to pay me whatever labor it took to draw. I couldn’t believe that someone was willing to pay me for one of my dinky little drawings. I had no idea what I would charge for something like that. I refused and told him I would draw him anything he wanted, he didn’t have to pay. He didn’t really argue but I could tell he was one of those people who would figure out how to make things go the way he wanted.
It was cool being in my grandma’s living room with all my old friends and a few new ones for my birthday, eating and talking. This would never have happened at my father’s house. I’d never realized what I was missing while I was living there, but a night like this made it so obvious to me. I felt, for the first time in my life, genuinely happy. Not just because things were going my way, but because I felt like I had a future.
A feeling of hopefulness washed over me as I sat in the middle of my own birthday party, witnessing people celebrating my birth. I know, a little dramatic, but it was true.
Lucy walked in from the kitchen with a big wrapped box in her arms and an excited look on her face.
“Lucy, you already got me something.” As I spoke, I saw my grandma glare at me.
“Oh hush.” She plopped down on the floor next to me and wiggled around in excitement, waiting for me to open it. Johnny, Sean, and Isaiah all pulled gifts from secret hiding stashes around the room and tossed a wrapped gift of their own into (or near) my lap. Talk about a first. A pile of birthday presents was totally unknown to me.
I opened Lucy’s. It was a jet black jacket made from real leather, nothing like the fake one I wore all the time. It was amazing. I knew it must have cost a ton of money and I tried not to feel guilty about it.
“Thanks, Luce.” I met her eyes and my heart about died from pleasure, seeing those blue eyes looking back at me in excitement.
“Yeah, yeah, Lucy’s gift is amazing. Big shocker. Open someone else’s.”
Isaiah’s dry voice broke our little stare-contest. I looked down at my pile of gifts and opened the smallest one next. It was from Sean. It was a big bottle of over-the-counter cortisone cream.
I started to laugh.
“How did you know I’d be needing this?”
“People talk.” Sean laughed and pointed at my arm.
“Use it; you’re going to be thanking me. That’s a big tattoo.”
“Thanks man.” I put it to the side, placing it carefully on my leather jacket. The next package I reached for said, “from Johnny and Jennika.”
They were giving gifts together now. I needed to get him alone and make him tell me what was going on. I looked up at him and, from the swift red blush that instantly spread over his face, I knew they’d probably had their “first kiss” weeks ago. What a jerk for not telling me.
Inside was a frame with a picture I had never seen before. I remember Jennika taking it, but had totally forgotten about it until now. It had been taken the day I finally kissed Lucy. The image was of Lucy and I sitting together at a table in the restaurant we had gone to after church. Lucy and I were looking at each other, our fingers intertwined. She had an affectionate, dreamy look in her beautiful eyes while I had a stupid grin on my dumb face. The quality of the picture was amazing. I had heard rumors of Jennika’s photography skill but this was the first time I had seen it. This was wall-worthy in any home.
“Thanks guys, this is fantastic.” I got up to hug Lucy’s best friend, who I had become incredibly fond of.
“I got the fr
ame, man.” Johnny opened his arms out like he wanted a hug, too.
“Thanks a bunch for bankrolling the artist, Johnny.” I matched his goofy hamming, and bear-hugged him. He slapped my left arm affectionately. I groaned in pain and his eyes held a mix of mischief and apology.
“Oops, sorry man. Gotta’ get used to that.” His act did not fool me and he started to laugh at my grumpy face. I had never realized how much people smacked me until I had a giant open wound on me that screamed in pain whenever anyone came near it.
I went back over and slouched down next to Lucy to open Isaiah’s gift.
As soon as I picked it up I started laughing.
“What?” Isaiah spoke in an unconvincingly innocent tone.
“Because I already know it’s something ridiculous.”
I pulled out a stuffed animal, a little black puppy with a tiny noose around his neck. Lucy started howling in laughter and threw a pillow at Isaiah from across the room. I had no idea why it was funny. Isaiah was quick to explain, in his best Godfather impersonation.
“Lucy told me about the dog that almost killed her outside of your bedroom window, so I took care of it for you.”
“Love it, man.” I put all my gifts together in a pile and sighed with satisfaction. Everyone else seemed pleased as well. Gift-giving had been a success. Michelle hadn’t gotten me anything, which was no surprise and completely unexpected. She had been quietly sitting on the couch the entire evening growling at anyone who came near her. Her going so far out of her comfort zone and spending time with me was more than anything she could have purchased for me.
My grandma walked over to me, surprising me with a little black box. It wasn’t wrapped, but had a big red bow on it.
“What’s this?” I asked as I took the box from her.
“Do you want me to tell you, or do you want to open it?”
My grandma was so sassy.
I lifted the lid off the little box. Inside was a black rectangle with a silver car key, the kind cut with lasers, jutting from one end. The rectangle had a Honda symbol on it. I looked up at Grandma, then looked back down at the contents of the black box again, in total disbelief.
“What?” I asked, picking up the little key in confusion.
“Dude. Did you get a car?” Johnny walked over and grabbed the key from me. I looked, opened-mouthed, back over at my grandmother. She had an indulgent, delighted look on her face, like the grown-up version of Lucy’s gift-giving face.
“You want to see your new car?” she asked.
“You got me a car,” I said, shocked.
“Oh, I hate it when you drive all the way to Kalispell and back in that ridiculous death trap.” She stomped her foot; it didn’t make any noise. Nothing a human ear could hear, anyways.
Grandma grabbed the key back from Johnny, and led me thru the kitchen to the garage. She opened the door and turned on the light. Inside was a little four door green Honda Civic with a big red bow on the top.
I was overcome.
“Grandma, this is amazing. I’m so sorry I got a tattoo.” I pulled her up into my arms in another bear hug, her second of the evening.
“Oh, don’t lie.” She poked me in the ribs, hugging me back. “Besides, it’s not a new car. It’s about seven years old, but Hondas are good cars and the other owners took good care of it.” She sounded like she was apologizing.
“Thank you.” I felt like I was talking from the end of a tunnel or something. My disbelief was making everything tune out a little bit. What an amazing day.
I looked over at Lucy whose eyes were excited for me. Then I realized the day wasn’t over yet. It was barely dark.
“Its 9, I gotta’ go back to Kalispell.” Sean’s voice broke through the Hallelujah chorus going off in my head. He was shaking my hand and pointing to my tattooed arm by the time I’d fully snapped back to reality. “Use that cortisone and tell me when you get a chance to draw me one.”
“Yeah, we should go, too.” Johnny grabbed Jennika’s hand and came over to hug me good-bye. He winked at me and made a phone sign with his hand, his pinky by his mouth and his thumb up at his ear. Jennika snorted, rolled her eyes, and hugged me. Michelle stormed off after them, not saying good bye to anyone. Gosh I loved that girl. She was a such a grumpy little thing.
“I need a ride home,” Justin said apologetically.
“I’ll take you!” I started to unlock my new car, feeling insanely happy.
“Hold up, dude, we’re not in a hurry. We can leave whenever.” Isaiah shrugged, glancing back and forth at Lucy and I.
“Oh, you guys drove together.” I remembered we had ridden in Lucy’s car. So until they all left, the rest of the evening would be spent with Lucy and Isaiah and Justin. Joy.
“Wait a sec,” Lucy said to me, then turned around to face Isaiah. “Would you mind driving Justin home then driving back to my house to get your car? I want David to drive me back. Alone.” She had a mischievous smile on her face. Isaiah’s eyebrows shot up and my heart jumped. I tried to beat it back into submission with the awesome powers of my mind.
My brainpower failed me.
“Always a bridesmaid and never a bride,” Isaiah moaned in a forlorn voice as he turned around to leave. He stopped in front of my grandma and put his hand up in a sort of salute, his version of “goodbye and thank you.” Justin came up to Lucy and me. He put his hand out for a shake. I grabbed it and shook vigorously. He reached out to shake Lucy’s hand but she completely ignored it and just went straight for the hug. His sheepish grin followed him through the garage door, into the kitchen, and out of sight.
My grandma followed the two guys out of the garage, leaving me alone with Lucy for the first time that day.
“So, did you like your birthday?” She placed both her hands in mine.
“It was easily the greatest birthday I have ever had, Lucy. Seriously, thank you.” I kissed her forehead, and I felt her body go mushy.
“Want to go for a drive in my sweet ride?” I opened the passenger door with a flourish. She slid in easily.
I ran in and kissed my grandmother good-bye. She slapped my arm again, cackling as I flinched in pain.
I raced back to the garage, like the whole thing was a dream and my new car and girlfriend might disappear if left alone for too long. I got into the front seat and turned the ignition. It didn’t sputter or stall like my Rabbit had, but started right up, sounding like a kitten purring happily. There was already a button for the garage door on my visor. I pressed it and the streetlights slowly came into view behind us.
Lucy talked my ear off the whole hour’s drive back to Kalispell. She would get into a story, moving her hands and gesturing wildly. Eventually, she’d put her feet up on the dash, then notice my sideways glance and take them down quickly. She was constantly beating her hands against her legs and moving some part of her body.
By the last few miles, the constant flailing around was actually beginning to bug me.
“Can’t you stop moving?” I asked seriously. She instantly went still, looking at me with hurt eyes.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize I was.” She clasped her hands together and sat up straight. I felt guilty for being so impatient with her. I hadn’t realized just how hyper she actually was. Being in this confined space for a length of time made me realized how much she really needed some kind of regulator. I wondered why her parents didn’t keep an eye on whether or not Lucy was regularly taking her medication. It seemed kind of careless to just let a minor be in charge of their own health regimen.
I was slowly realizing that the carefree attitude of Lucy’s parents, trusting their daughter so much that they pretty much let her do whatever she wanted, wasn’t actually helping her.
We drove into her neighborhood. Lucy was still sitting up straight trying not to fidget. I wanted to get her to talk, but realized that she was probably pouring her whole concentration into staying still. So I just put my hand on her back gently. She turned her head to me and I smiled at her apo
logetically. She leaned back into her seat, relaxing a little, but keeping her hands clenched. I parked in front of her house and turned off the ignition.
I looked up hopefully at her, then I had an idea.
“I think I need a re-do.” I said, bumping under her chin with the side of my curved pointer finger and jumping out of the car. I walked coolly to the passenger’s side and opened the door. When she didn’t jump out, I grabbed her hand and led her out. She rolled her eyes at me and started laughing. I put my arm out, crooking my elbow and winking at her. She linked her arm into mine, and I led her up to her front door, making a point to have some swagger in each step I took. When we got to her front door I put released her arm. I licked my left pointer finger and slid it across my eyebrow and spun my piecing I had at the end of it. I winked at her and leaned against the door with my arms crossed, like an old-school Fred Astaire. I was being extremely silly, but Lucy’s eyes were big and she closed her mouth, sucking in her lips like she did when she was nervous. I loved it.
“So. I had a smashing time tonight, darling.” I made my voice deeper, with a pretty decent French accent, and I cleared my throat impressively.
“Me too.” She smiled up at me, her hands fidgeting with her shirt.
“May I call on you sometime, madam?” I raised my eyebrows and made a kiss face. She laughed at me and cocked her head to one side.
“Well, I appreciate it, swanky dude, I really do,” she started playing along, “but, I’m dating this guy I really like…”
“Oh, dear, what a shame for me. But he cannot be that wonderful if you are out with moi on this lovely evening.” I made a mental note to use the French accent evening more often. She was getting a kick out of it.
“Actually, I’m kind of in love with him.” She stared at me as she spoke and blushed a raging red.
“What did you just say?” I dropped the accent instantly, standing up straight.
“What?” Lucy asked in a fake clueless voice.
“Um, you just said you were in love with me.”
My Stupid Girl Page 22