A Week In Hel by Pro Se Press Read Free Book Online Page B

mom. I
had so many uncles, you’d a thought she had sixty-two
brothers.”
    I tried hard, but couldn’t
contain my laugh.
    “ Well what do you know? My
teddy bear can laugh after all.”
    She was dangerous. Cute, and
knew exactly what to say, even to a stick in the mud like me. So
much for riding my lead balloon. I sat there starting to puddle. I
found myself thinking about what it might be like to spend time
with her on a regular day. Meanwhile, I drove us through Geron Glen
on the way to the interstate.
    “ So White Walls belonged to
one of your uncles?”
    I didn’t really expect to
get the truth out of her, but I was at least hoping that she would
tell me the same lie as the last time.
    “ He might as well have been
my uncle for real.”
    I mulled this over for a
second, then offered her some more rope.
    “ How’s that?”
    She laid her head on my
shoulder, and I thought she was gonna try to steer my question off
track.
    “ I told you before, my Mom
wasn’t really around. My aunt, who really happened to be my Dad’s
sister, took care of me. Steve Stamper was her neighbor. He was
into cars and always had a hotrod in the driveway. My aunt’s
husband got killed in Vietnam. She always cooked and did Steve’s
laundry. He took care of her.”
    “ He was her sugar
daddy?”
     
    “ I don’t know about that. I
only ever saw him put his hands on her one time. They held hands at
my high school graduation and she kissed his cheek. I’m sure there
was more to it than that. I know men, and even a good one won’t
hang around if there isn’t something in it for him.”
    Steve Stamper was a name
that was widely known among boys when I was a kid. He was a real
live walking Champion City super hero. He built and raced at the
old Champion City Bowl. He was a drag racer and also owned a short
track racing team. His everyday ride was a Hudson
Hornet.
    “ I remember going to see him
at the track. When I was a kid we all wanted to be him.”
    She gave me those brown eyes
again.
    “ Y’know, when I got out on
my own, they took up together. When I was a girl, he always
said—‘Teeny, one of these days gal, I’m gonna make an honest woman
out of you.’ You know, he had that rough Kentucky, chainsaw
voice.”
    She smiled, but I wonder if
it wasn’t painful for her to talk about. I was getting into her,
and I was enjoying our time. I turned us on to the highway, and she
figured out a way to get closer. She took my hand off the wheel and
held it between both of hers for a minute before she put it on her
knee.
    “ What happens if I’m
straight with you? I’m not stupid enough to figure that you’ll
forget what’s happened tonight.”
    Her hands covered mine on
her knee, and our fingers were partly interlaced. She wasn’t
offering anything by doing that, and I didn’t take advantage of it.
It was nice just being there with her, but she had a point. I
needed to choose my next move carefully.
    “ Let’s get into that. Let’s
say you’re straight with me? Those guys can’t hurt you if you
decide you’re leavin’ that life behind and you do. But when you
flirt with both sides of the line, that’s when you get
hurt.”
    “ Are you trying to be my
hero again?”
    For some reason this turned
my knob, something about the whole business seemed wrong just
then.
    “ No, but you keep asking me
if I like you, and every time I try to do something to let you know
I like you, you come off with this crap.”
    She let that cook for a
minute while I passed a couple of trucks.
    “ So you do like
me?”
    She sounded excited again.
The next thing I know she’s got my hand north of her knee cap far
enough to get my attention.
    Again, she wasn’t really
securing my hand in that position, but she wanted me to know that
she was perfectly fine with it being there.
    I let it rest there for a
couple of minutes so she wouldn’t think I was put off by her, and
then I moved it back to the wheel. I didn’t want either one of us
to start