Secrets and Lies by H.M. Ward Read Free Book Online

“Hello?” A guy says in broken English.
    “Hi. I just messaged you about the VW Bus. Listen, I know you were asking $1500, but is there any way you’ll wiggle on the price?” My heart is racing. I want this van. I can already picture myself in it. I’m going to get little pink curtains for the back windows. It’s going to be bitchin’!
    “Wag gul?” he asks like he doesn’t understand.
    “Yes, will you take $1000? That’s all I have.”
    “You no do $1500?”
    “No, I can’t. I only have one thousand.”
    “I do PayPal for that price. You pick up today?”
    I try not to squeal. “Yes. Sounds great.”
    “Ok. I send you invoice. You pay and pick up by 5. Bus is yours. I no sell to no one else.”
    I hang up and skip back to the table, completely and totally excited. This is the best thing that’s happened to me since I came down here.

CHAPTER 8
    This is the worst thing that’s happened to me since I came down here. WTF? He can’t be serious. I circle the vehicle I bought with Beth gaping behind me. My arms are folded across my chest and I’m ready to have an aneurism. I point at the thing in front of me, and repeat, “I did not buy this. I bought that.” I point to the VW Bus parked on the grass next to it.
    The little Asian man shakes his head and points at the papers from PayPal. “No, you buy bus. This is bus. Right here.” He slaps the sides of the vehicle and nods way too much. Yes, it’s a bus all right. Apparently, I bought a bus. No, not a VW bus, but an actual little yellow school bus that’s three decades old, burnt out on the inside, and with a generous heaping of rust on the outside.
    “No, I bought that! I called. I said I wanted it, and you said you’d take a thousand bucks for it.” I’m whine-yelling at the man, but he still smiles at me.
    “Yes, you buy bus.” He pats the yellow beast again and gives me a thumbs up.
    “No, not that one. That one.” I gesture toward the van and point excessively, jabbing the air with my finger. “I bought that one.”
    His dark eyes are kind and he just stands there smiling. “You buy bus. Nice bus. Run good.”
    I slap my palms to my face and try not to scream. Seriously. I’ve been at this forever and I’m not getting anywhere. I turn to Beth and say, “Please help.”
    She steps daintily through the gravel and mud towards us, holding up the hem of her trademark hippie skirt. “Uh, sir, Mr. Nice Man, she wants that one.” Beth walks over to him and then actually crosses to the van and taps it. “This one.”
    I glance at the guy, hopeful that he understands, and he does because his smile widens. “You want van?”
    “Yes!”
    He nods and says, “Fifteen hundred dollar.”
    My face falls. “But you said I could have it for a thousand.”
    “No, bus cheaper. Van fifteen hundred dollar.” He leans forward, nodding over and over again. The man is shorter than me and if I had the slightest inclination that he was screwing with me, I’d run him over with his yellow bus. The thing is, I don’t think he is. He’s been smiling and nodding at other people, and several of the girls in my hallway said he’s a great guy with cheap cars. No one mentioned a goddamn bus.
    I groan and look over at Beth, before telling the guy, “I guess I need to cancel my payment. I don’t want a bus.”
    “Yes, you buy bus. It nice.” He pats the side again.
    “No, I didn’t want that.” I point at the thing and shake my head. “I need to cancel the transaction.”
    “No cancel. Bus. You want bus, bus is here. Bus!”
    “Beth, kill me. Please.”
    She tries again. “She doesn’t want that one. She wants the other one.”
    “Yes, extra money.”
    “No!” I yell and my tiny voice suddenly sounds very loud as it travels through the yard. The few other people looking at old cars look my way. “No extra money.”
    The man shakes his head and looks at Beth and then back at me. “What she want?” Beth points to the van and he lights up