Chapter 6
Luther
It took another full day for the snow to stop. Not that I minded it; I had Shannon to ‘occupy’ my time, which is pretty generous euphemism for the things we did. God, that girl’s body, and her mind…it was more than I’d ever imagined I would find crumpled on the ice outside of the DIK house.
We were sitting in the kitchen—well, she was sitting, I was cooking soon-to-expire eggs. We had a gas stove, which obviously had survived the power outage. Just as I was serving her some sunny-side-up delight, the power flickered back on.
“Oh shit,” we exclaimed almost in unison, then laughed. Even over a few days, we’d grown so use to life without power. Who cared? We had candles, and whiskey, and one another. Power was superfluous.
“Plug your phone in and call your mom,” I instructed Shannon. “I’m sure she’s worried sick.” Shannon rolled her eyes at my newfound care and concern, but followed orders. Soon, she was juiced up enough to make a phone call. Phone in hand, she paced through the house, waiting for the dial tone to click through.
“Mom?” she asked at last. “Yeah, hey, it’s me. Storm’s stopped, so you should be all clear to go.” She paused, and her lips parted. “What? Seriously?” Another pause. I listened in, worried. “Uh, wow, alright then.”
With that, she hung up the phone.
“What happened?” I queried.
“My mom,” she replied with emotion clouding her usually clear pitch, “can’t come get me. Says it’s too hard to drive here and back and make it to Jacksonville in time for Christmas.” She was struggling to keep it together, that much was clear. She attempted to keep her emotions in check, tacking on the justification, “She hosts the Christmas feast for everyone, so it’s important that she makes it back in time. I get it, I’m just… disappointed.”
I couldn’t believe I was about to do this. I shouldn’t do this. We just met. We didn’t even know each other a few days ago. Was this normal? But I didn’t care anymore. Operating on instinct, I said simply:
“I can drive you.”
She swiveled her head around to meet my steady gaze. “What?”
“I can drive you. Back home, that is.”
“What’s the catch?”
I held up my hands. “No catch. I like you. You’re smart, and funny, and kind, and I think you deserve to be with your family over the holidays.” I swallowed. And that was the truth. “And I wish I had a family to be with. If I were in your position, I’d move heaven and hell to get to them.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she accepted gratefully. “Thank you, Luther. You have no idea how much this means.”
“Anytime, kid.”
We gathered our stuff—money, phones, etc.—and piled into my pickup truck. It had snow tires, so this drive would be easy breezy. Shannon took shotgun, and Lucy lounged happily in the backseat, her tongue lolling at the prospect of a drive. Little did she know that the GPS says it’ll take 10 hours. Those numbers made me nervous (that’s a long day’s drive, even for me), but I promised Shannon. Time to toughen up.
The time on the road passed quickly. I had a collection of old CDs from my high school days in the glove department, a record of how deeply uncool I was. She pulled out some old Green Day despite my protests, and before long, we were belting out (the lyrics) to ‘American Idiot.’ We went on a tour through my old music tastes, and it was unexpectedly intimate. I let her see a side of me that people didn’t usually glimpse. I felt open, and whole.
At last, the music died down, and the night descended. I looked over, about to ask her to put on another CD to keep me awake, when I realized that she was fast asleep, even snoring a little. I turned around, and saw that Lucy is also asleep in the back. I couldn’t bear the thought of waking either of them, so I drove the next two hours in silence, eyes on the road, mind on the curvature of Shannon’s body.
Groggy, I pulled to a stop in front of her house at 11pm. I gently poked her awake, and whisper, “Hey buddy, we’re home.”
She sat up, dazed, and looked around. “Home?”
“Yeah, your house.”
“Oh shit, right.” She rubbed her eyes, and settled into the land of the waking. “Hey, wait a minute,” she said, realization dawning. “Where are you gonna stay?”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m used to bunking down in random towns. I’ll find a Motel 6, get a Diet Coke from the vending machine, and call it a night.”
She held up a finger, interrupting me. “You wait right here.”
I had no idea what she was getting at, but I shrugged, willing, and watched her scramble out of the hub of the truck, and into her home. I let Lucy out of the car—she’d only had one pee break during the trip, poor dog—and she peed on Shannon’s grass. I wondered in passing if this was a polite thing to do at a stranger’s home. Oh well. While Lucy peed, I unloaded Shannon’s bags from the back. Or rather, bag singular. She traveled lightly, with just a duffel.
Shannon reemerged from inside the house, and jogged up to where I stood on the curb.
“Here’s your bag,” I said, hefting her duffel into one hand. “Want me to set it down inside?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. And while you’re at it, set yourself down inside.”
“Huh?” I asked, perplexed.”
“Sorry, I thought that would sound cooler. What I meant was, was…I want you to stay for Christmas.” She looked at me breathlessly, a smile playing at the corner of her rosy pink lips. “I told my parents, and they’re cool with it, and I figured that since you don’t have a family to go home to, maybe you’d like to spend the holidays with mine.”
My heart pounded, and my mind reeled. All I could say was, “But we’re not dating—“
“I know,” she cut in quickly. “Of course I know. And my parents know, too. It’s just that you were so kind to me, that I wanted to give you some kindness in return. Call it the Christmas spirit.” Her eyes twinkled.
“We’ve only know each other a few days,” I commented, as if she isn’t aware of this.
She shrugged. “Big fucking deal.”
I needed more reassurance, so I affirmed once more, “And your parents get that we’re not dating?”
She sighed, exasperated. “Yes, Luther, again, my parents understand that we are not an item. It’s totally fine. I told them we’re friends, so if you’re cool with that, they’re cool with that.”
“Do they know about the ‘with benefits’ part?” I asked with a smirk.
Shannon sidled closer, and put her hands on my chest, tracing the outlines of my chest. “Who said there was a ‘with benefits?’” Not waiting for an answer, she leaned closer and drew me in for a kiss. I pulled back, ending it.
“I think you just did,” I replied with a grin.
She giggled. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
I paused, and pondered the offer. Should I do it? I didn’t know her all that well, and meeting family was like a 20th date sort of thing in my eyes but—well, fuck. This girl is special.
I kept her on edge, drawing out the moment until she was biting her lip nervously. Finally, I broke down, and said, “Only if Lucy can stay.”
“Bro, I want her here as much as I want you.”
Yeah, that was probably true. “Alright then, I’m in.”
She grabbed my hand, and tugged me eagerly towards the house. A million questions swam through my mind. How would I get clothes? How long would I be here? Was her family weird? And, most importantly, did this mean she was down for future sexual prospects?
But I didn’t have time to consider all of my questions, because she was opening the door, and yelling, “Mom, Dad, Luther’s here!”
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs.—“ I broke off, realizing I didn’t know her last name.
I was about to go spend Christmas with a family whose name I didn’t even know. And I couldn’t have been more fucking excited about it. I gave Shannon one last peck on the cheeks, and strode into the house to meet her family.
THE END