Lily shifts. I can feel her eyes on the side of my face, but I don’t turn to look at her.
“I’m pretty sure that’s what everyone is doing, Theo. No one actually has any idea what they’re doing.”
She faces forward again, and we sit there in silence, letting the sound of the summer fill it for us.
A screeching noise interrupts it, nearly making my ears bleed. A distant thump follows it, and then a slam of a car door.
Turning, I see Morgan standing over his car, cursing. The screeching was a telltale of a belt, and I’m guessing the thump was when it flew off the pulley.
Hopping off the tailgate, I stick my hand out to help Lily down, and she takes it.
“I’m going to go help the kid. Thank you for coming today and doing this,” I say, letting go of her hand and pointing between us. “All of this.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Theo. We’re both benefiting.”
I press my lips together, but I want to argue. It feels like I’m getting more out of it than she is.
Lily lifts her hand and pats my chest, right over my heart, and I hopeshe can’t feel how hard it’s beating.
“I’ll see you around,” she says, finally dropping her hand.
I watch her until she gets in her car and drives away, and then I walk over to Morgan.
There’s a serpentine belt lying on the ground, and Morgan has his back leaned against the car, his head hung down. Defeat hangs over him like a blanket.
I know that feeling all too well.
“Hey,” I say, calling his attention to me.
His head snaps up, and the defeat turns into hatred.
“What?” He demands.
I put my hands up to show him I’m not here to fight. “Do you need a ride?”
“I’m fine.”
“Well, I’m not leaving you here. I’ll stay until someone shows up.”
“Look, man,” he says, shoving off his car. His whole body vibrates with tension. “Just leave me alone. I don’t need your help.”
Looking at him is like looking in a mirror when I was his age. Anger that runs deep. The weight of the world is sitting on his shoulders. A future that isn’t clear. A parent who thrives on trouble.
No one stepped up to help me at that age—and, if I’m honest, I probably wouldn’t have let them—but I wished someone had tried.
“Maybe you don’t need my help, but I think I’ll stay anyway. Just in case.”
“You don’t get it,” he growls. “No one’s coming.” The anger bleeds out of him like a plug being pulled. He sinks back against his car and refuses to look at me, whispering, “No one’s coming.”
Walking closer, I spin to lean on the car next to him. “I came, Morgan. Let me take you home.”
He glances at his watch, and worry fills his eyes. “Fine.”
I can see how much it cost him to agree, so I don’t say anythingas I shove off his car and walk over to my truck, letting him follow at his pace.
I’m in my truck and watching out the rear view mirror before he ever decides to move, and even then, it’s just to kick his tire before opening his driver’s side door and grabbing his bag.
I’m not surprised that his dad isn’t here, but I still hate it for his kid.
