Eugene Loach and the twins were dismissed from the Atamasco VFD, along with the captain of the station. Eugene closed the family store on the highway, and no one had heard from him or Dewayne since. I sometimes worried what they were up to.
Cedar took a long drink of her beer, tilting her head back so that her neck stretched out, tanned, long, and delicate.
“Cedar,” he began after clearing my throat.
“Yes?”
“I was thinking.”
“Thinking about what?”
“About fall semester and where we would both be.”
“Funny,” she said, “I was a lot more interested in the summer than the fall.”
She threaded her fingers through my and stood on tiptoe for a kiss, which was immediately interrupted by the sound of a car horn. A Chevy Suburban bounced over the rough group, coming too fast. I recognized the truck.
It was Gretchen’s.
But Gretchen was in the passenger’s seat.
“Oh hell. Luigi’s driving.” I started waving frantically. “Hit the brakes! Hit the brakes!”
“Oh my god,” Cedar said.
She hopped from the table, then grabbed my shirt and pulled me back. They stumbled through the row of plastic chairs as the brakes on the Suburban squealed, and the front bumper knocked into the first cooler, spilling ice and beer on the ground.
“My bad!” Luigi hopped out of the truck. “That is correct slang, no?”
“Yes, very correct. I think you’re getting the hang of idioms.”
“My bad luck.” He snapped his fingers. “Just in time to leaf.”
“That’s leave.”
He grinned. “I know!”
"Are you insane?" Cedar ran up to Gretchen. “You let Luigi drive?”
“Wasn’t he cool?” Her face was glowing. “I was taking him to the airport? And he says, I have only one regret about America, and I say what? And he says, I have not learned to drive a car. So I was like, I’ll teach you. So I let him drive from my house to say goodbye to you guys. Très cool, huh?”
“Gretchen,” Cedar said through clenched teeth, “You think it was cool that he almost ran over us?”
“Very!” Gretchen laughed and ran to the driver’s side. “Hurry up and say bye, honey-kin.”
“Honey-kin?” I turned to Luigi. “You let her call you that?”
Luigi shrugged. “How can I stop her? She is like the breeze though my bushes.”
“You mean the wind through the trees.”
“That, too.” Luigi stuck out my hand. “This is sayonara, Boone-san. Thank you for being my friend.”
“Uh.” I shook my hand. “Uh. Well. Sure. I—“
Luigi laughed. “Ah, you know so many words in class, but with friends, not so much. You must work on that.”
Gretchen honked the horn. “You’re going to miss your flight!”
Luigi hugged Cedar, then jogged back to the Suburban. “Boone-san! Do not forget the exchange program application. The deadline is soon. You must come Osaka. Visit me on my grass!”
“Turf!” Cedar and I both yelled.
Gretchen put the truck in reverse as Luigi closed the door. She whipped through a three-point turn and floored it, throwing mud behind her.
“I’m sad,” I said.
Cedar turned to me. She set a tender hand over mine. “It’s okay to miss your friend, Boone. I know you military types aren’t good at expressing emotions.”
“No, not that.” I removed the wrap from a tray of cookies. “I wanted Luigi to try my snickerdoodles.”
“You jerk face!”
I stuffed a cookie in her mouth.
“Mmm,” she said, taking a bite and chewing. “These are terrific. How did you make them?”
“Mom taught me.” I scooped up one and took a bite. Buttery, just the way he liked them. “You know, spending time in the kitchen with someone is a bonding experience? You talk about all sorts of things. And not just recipes.”
“Mm-hmm,” Cedar said, taking another bite of snickerdoodle. “Like what?”
“Like, you know, stuff.” I moved closer. “Like how sometimes, you can see all of the dots, but for some reason you can’t see to connect them. Know what I mean?”
She reached for another cookie. “Nope.”
I caught her hand. “I was just thinking.”
“What about?”
“That you have crumb on the side of your mouth.”
“Oh?” Cedar smiled. “Want to help me out with that, sailor?”
“Yes, ma’am, I do.”
I bent down and touched my lips to hers. I traced the edge of her lips and felt the heat from her mouth as her breath caught, and I held there, feeling her skin against mine and thinking that she tasted way better than any cookie ever could.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INFO
TIN CITY TINDER
Copyright © 2014 David Macinnis Gill
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Macinnis Gill has been a house painter, cafeteria manager, bookstore schleper, high school teacher, and college professor. He now lives on the Carolina coast with his family and a rescued dog who thinks he’s a cat.
OTHER WORKS BY DAVID MACINNIS GILL
For Adults
Tin City Tinder, a Boone Childress Mystery
Ironville Inferno, a Boone Childress Mystery
Broken Circles & Other Stories
For Young Adults
Stand-Alones
Soul Enchilada
The Black Hole Sun Series
Black Hole Sun
Invisible Sun
Shadow on the Sun
Rising Sun, a novella
Short Stories
“Broken Circles”
“Cut Bait”
“Eating Dirt”
“Going for Broke”
“A Pale Heart”
“People’s Song”
“The Scent of Apples”
If you enjoyed reading this, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com or Amazon UK.
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