Dancing Hours (7 page)

Unfortunately,
I didn’t know enough about peppers and spent the entire
morning
in glasses after rubb
i
ng my eye with the hand that held the jalapeno. 
Nan
insisted it was cute, but I felt like a dork. 
I put my contacts back in even though they burned. 
I didn’t want anyone to see me in my glasses
. 

Mrs. Merchant and Nan
sat
on
rocking
chairs sipping special iced tea for a couple of hours.  It didn’t make sense to me that two people who didn’t care for each other could sit and discuss mundane topics like the weather and local events and act like everything was just fine.  But I saw it happen all the time and supposed that was how you acted in civilized society.
Several of the neighborhood kids showed Jessica the many wonders and shapes a sparkler can make on the front lawn.

David and I stood watching the occasional people headed for the park to watch fireworks
as it began to get dark.

“Do you usually go to the park?”
he asked.

“No, as you can see we have a pretty good view from here.  I loved the park when I was little.  They have a band play and the firemen bring their truck, let the kids play on it.  It’s a lot of fun.”

“Why don’t you go then?”

“I guess I grew out of it.”  I thought, for a moment, of Jessica

“Well, you don’t have many 4
^th
of Julys left here if you’re going to travel the world.  Maybe we should go.”

Out of nowhere, Noah was there.  “Where are we going?” he asked cheerfully.

My heart stopped for a moment.  I sensed some tension between them as David said dryly “I didn’t hear you coming.”

“I walked.  It’s a nice night.”

“It IS a nice night.”  I said a little too brightly.  “Should we go to the park and take Jessica?”
Noah was up for it, but David agreed only reluctantly even though it had been his idea. 
On the walk there, I joked with Noah about missing my spectacular food.  Jessica joined in about how she’s been learning to cook, to which Noah replied “Oh yeah, squirt?” and lifted her onto his shoulders.  It was the first time I’d seen them together and it warmed my heart that he was a caring uncle.  They trotted ahead together leaving David and me behind walking at a leisurely pace.  I was anxious to catch up and spend more time with Noah, but didn’t want to appear so.

We chatted about the humidity for a while, how David had to take several showers each day because he felt like he stepped out of the shower and started sweating again.  I agreed that air conditioning was a very important advancement in southern living.  It was nice to laugh with him.  He had a good sense of humor.  When the small talk ran its course
,
I
started asking David question
s
about his brother. 
He answered politely and, it seemed, a little diplomatically, but a
few minutes
later
David stopped walking so I stopped too.  The park was just ahe
ad
and I looked to see if I could see
Noah and Jessica
in the crow
d
.  David turned to face me and search
ed
my eyes for a minute.

“Andy?” he started, then hesitated.

“What?” I prodded, growing concerned.

“You are a really… sweet girl.”

Oh no.  Here it was.  He was about to tell me that I was making a fool of myself, that I was obvious, that Noah hated me.

“I don’t want to see you get hurt by my brother.  I can tell that you like him and I think that if your family knew…”

Wow.  He was bringing my family into this.  That felt a little low.

“What I’m trying to say is that he is bad news.  He’s not the kind of guy for a girl like you.”

A girl like me?

“Right now, I’m a little concerned that he’s left Jessica somewhere scared and alone because he saw a
snowcone
stand.  He thinks about himself first and other people
only
when they are directly impacting his ability to have fun second.  I think I’ve gotten to know you recently.  You just…” He heaved a heavy sigh. “You deserve better. Don’t sell yourself so cheap.”

I was embarrassed and a little angry and more than a little upset.  I saw David differently in that moment.  He wasn’t a grownup – or at least he didn’t think of me as a kid.  He was talking to me like a peer.  Not a big
brotherish
feeling really, but could he really think that poorly of his own brother or was it me he disapproved of? 
Because I was planning to run
away to college
and be irresponsible?
  Who was he to talk being a single father at the ripe old age of 21 or 22?  Clearly he’d done his goofing off.  But I kept these thoughts to myself. 
S
omewhere deep down inside, I knew David’s character… and
that
his warning came from a good place.

I never really found a good way to respond and we awkwardly continued walking.  We found Noah and Jessica, both with
snowcones
, just as the fireworks began.  It was thankfully loud and the lack of conversation seemed natural. 
Jessica danced and screamed at times and shrank into David at times.  Each time she did, Noah prodded her to giggle and play again.  When Jessica had to go
to the bathroom
, David took her, leaving with a cautious eye to Noah and me.  Noah stood there next to me.  We were alone in a crowd now, everyone looking to the sky.  I felt his arm slip around my waist as he leaned to my ear and said “This is pretty cool.” And I agreed.  This was pretty cool.  Then as quickly as it was there, it was gone.  Jessica came back looking much less energetic.  The excitement and sugar had worn off and she was fading.  The crowd started drifting
away
after the fireworks were over.  Some after-parties had begun on my street in the yards.  Jessica was all but asleep on David’s shoulder when Noah turned to me “
Wanna
do something fun?”

Jessica perked up “I
wanna
do something fun!” she demanded.

“Sorry Squirt.”  He planted a kiss on her head.  “This is fun for big kids.”

“I’m a big kid.”  She screamed and David mouthed the word
Thanks
with a pointed look at Noah.

“Sorry” David explained “but it’s bedtime for you Jessica Sue.”

Before he walked off, I asked if he could make it back okay and he said he could and told me to be safe.  I hoped he was referring to wearing a helmet.

It turned out Noah had walked to my house from the park, where his motorcycle sat waiting with two helmets.  The air was still warm and thick with humidity like a glove folding around us.  I could smell smoke and sulfur in the air. Fireworks were now over in the sky, but just beginning in my belly.

Noah picked up one helmet and held it out.

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course not.
  I barely know you.”  It was true and not at the same time.  He laughed quietly.

“Well then, this should be interesting for you.”

He helped me secure the helmet, straddled the bike and reached for me.  The back was awkward with nothing to hold onto except for him.  I put my hands on his shoulders and felt the heat beneath his shirt, like
a sunburn
warming through.

“It’ll be easier if you wrap your arms around my waist.”

I did, but it felt very personal.  I felt him laugh again.  He gave me a few quick pointers.  These things get
hot,
don’t cover his eyes
, that sort of thing
.  I made a face he couldn’t see and dryly said I thought I could manage that.  The vibrations of the motorcycle matched my racing pulse perfectly.  We headed out.  I didn’t know where and I didn’t care.  I had my phone and David knew I was with Noah.  I trusted David.  But as I thought of him, I thought of what he’d said and got upset again.  I reasoned that he was jealous of Noah for being younger, being able to do kid things when he was stuck at home with his daughter.  It was his fault for knocking some girl up.  And where was she anyway?  Jessica’s mother… who just leaves their child?  I would find out, but not tonight.  Tonight I was being 18.  The wind was exhilarating on my skin and the hard, rippled body I’d wrapped my arms around didn’t hurt either.  Before I knew it, we were on a winding steep two-lane road I knew very well.  It extended for miles into the woody foothills with occasional tight turns and cliff-like drop offs.

Of course my mind entertained many ideas, not the least o
f
which was that he was bringing me to a remote area to kill me or he’d found a good
makeout
spot that he presumed I might want to go to.  The reality was much more juvenile.  He
wanted
to drive without the lights on.  At first it didn’t make me nervous.  The moon was large above and very few people lived on this road,
much
less traveled it at night.  But then I thought of the holiday and someone coming home late wouldn’t be able to see us, perhaps after having a drink or two. 
Then I remembered his friend had been in a fatal motorcycle accident. 
I held him tighter and buried my helmet in his back
.  He laughed again and sped up, but I wondered how he managed to even get on a motorcycle after something like that.

Fin
ally we were at our destination s
omewhere off th
e map.  My phone chirped with a
text when we arrived and I dug it from my pocket. 
Kate
wanted to know where I was.  No doubt she either already knew or had shown up at my house after the fireworks. 
I texted back “With Noah.
 
Middle of nowhere.”
 

“Where are we?”
I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Well I hope you know how to get back.”

“Yeah, Miss W
orry, I know how to get you home, safe in your bed.”

Mention of my bed from this gorgeous guy made me blush.  Good thing it was too dark to see. 

“Come ‘ere” he said taking my hand and leading me into the trees.  “Watch your step.”
He added.
  I did.  There was a tree with a low crooked branch that almost made a bench.  It was slightly tilted so when we sat, it was an effort not to lean into him.

“Do you come here a lot?”
I asked.

“All the time.”
He said earnestly.