Chapter 3: His Cute...
"I found a good car for you guys, its really cheap," Charlie announced when we are cruiser on our way home.
"What kind of car?" I asked, even though i know what it is.
"Well, it's a truck sctually, a Chevy."
"Where did you find it?" Now Bella asked
"Do you renember Billy Black down at La Push?" La Push is the small Native American reservation on the nearby coastline.
"No." (Bella)
"Yes"(Him)
"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie promped looking at Bella through the rear-view mirror.
"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when we didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his cheap truck. "
"What year is it?" i could see from the change in his expression that this was the question he was hoping she wouldn't ask.
"Well, Billy had a lot of work done on the engine—it's only a few years old, really."
Did he think she would give up that easily?
"When did he buy it?"(Bella)
"He bought it in 1984, I think."(Charlie)
"Did he buy it new?"(Bella)
"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties—or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.(Charlie)
"Ch—Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic..."(Bella)
"Really Bell, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."(Charlie)
"How cheap is cheap?" he asked
"Well, son, I kind of already bought it for you guys. As a homecoming gift." Charlie glanced sideways at me with a hopeful expression.
''Thanks dad" he smiled
Charlie smiled back.
"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car." Bella said
"I don't mind. I want you two to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. Another thing we had in common. So I was looking straight ahead as I responded.
"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." Bella said.
"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by his daughter thanks.
We exchange a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for conversation. I stared at the window, Bella's reading a book, while Charlie looked on straight ahead, hands on ten and two of the steering wheel checking for any deer or ducks trying to cross the road.
It was probably beautiful or something. Everything was green: the trees were covered in moss, both the trunks and the brances, the ground blanketed with ferns. Even the air had turned green by the time it filtered down through the leaves. I wondered if it felt as soft as the books I read of forests and moss said it was.
Eventually we made it to our home. He still lived in the small two-bedroom house that he'd bought with mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had—the early ones. There, parked on the street in front of the house tv never changed, was our new—well, new to me and Bella—truck. It was a faded red color, with big, curvy fenders and a rounded cab.
And I loved it. I wasn't really a car guy, so I was kind of surprised by my own reaction.
"Wow, Dad, it's awesome! Thanks!" Bella and i said with serious enthusiasm this time. Not only was the truck strangely cool, but now I wouldn't have to walk two miles in the rain to school in the morning. Or accept a ride in the cruiser, which was obviously worst-case scenario.
"I'm glad you two like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.
It took only one trip to get all my stuff upstairs. I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The room was familiar; it had belonged to me since I was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the faded blue-and-white checked curtains around the window—these were all a part of my childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a full sized bed with its black and gray covers, and adding a desk and TV set for my PlayStation 2 as I grew. The desk now held a secondhand computer, with the phone line for the modern stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack.
There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Bella and Charlie, but I'd had to share with the kids in the orphanage that was definitely worse. We had a lot of more stuff, and they all doggedly resisted all my attempts to organize any of it.
'Haaah, lets try my power soon'
"Hey Arthur, Bella, come here for a second I have someone here who wants to see you."
I was completely thrown out of my reflective, thoughts at the voice of happiness laced in Charlie's gruff voice, got up from the bed that he was currently sitting and walked down the stairs, one step each at a time.
He descend, and he saw Bella is already there, talking with a cute guy.
'O may gad'
'its Jacob, kyaaaaa'
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[To be continued ]