Joey

We’d ridden the rollercoaster a dozen times. Exhausted, my stomach hurt from laughing and screaming for an hour and a half straight.

“My stomach hurts.”

“Why’s that?”

“From laughing and screaming.”

He motioned toward Sweet Shoppe. “I need some ice cream.”

“Me too.”

We walked to the front of the store, and he motioned to the bench. “Have a seat, I’ll bring it to you.”

“I can go in.”

He wrinkled his brow. “Have a seat.”

Reluctantly, I sat. “What are you going to get me?”

“Butter pecan, and pralines and cream, what else?”

I liked it that he knew my favorite flavors. “Fine, I’ll wait here.”

I watched as he walked to the counter, ordered the cones, and waited. He was a wonderful man, and very few realized it. Being one of the few who knew him made me feel privileged. I hoped he felt the same way about me, but had no real way of knowing.

I watched as he talked to the boy at the counter, and then grew curious as he motioned toward me. The boy made eye contact, and then quickly looked away when Percy said something. I imagined him threatening the poor kid with violence for looking too long, and smiled at the thought.

He walked out of the store with two ice cream cones and a cup of water. He sauntered toward the bench, struggling to hold all three.

I stood. “Let me help you.”

He handed me the cone. “Here.”

I accepted the cone, took a bite, and then looked at him. “Were you being mean to that kid?”

He set the water cup between us and licked his cone. “What kid?”

“The kid in the store?”

“No. I was just talking to him.”

“It looked like you were scolding him.”

“Looks are deceiving.”

I glanced at him, and then took another bite. “They sure are.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“It means what it means,” I said mockingly.

“Finish your cone,” he said. “We’ve got shit to do.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Gonna ride to Meathead’s house.”

“Who’s Meathead?”

“One of the fellas.”

“Haven’t heard too much about him,” she said.

“Been in jail awaiting trial,” he said. “But they dropped charges. He’s free now. Pretty happy about that. I want you to meet him. He wants to thank you.”

“For what?”

“His freedom.”

I scrunched my nose and stared. “What do I have to do with it?”

“We’ll talk about it later, finish your shit.”

I rolled my eyes and took another bite. “Sometimes you give me an ice cream headache.”

He laughed. “Whatever.”

We nibbled at our cones and exchanged glances. He seemed happy about his friend, smiling each time he looked at me.

I wondered what he was thinking, and took another bite of my cone. My teeth clanked against something. I lowered the cone and pressed my thumb to my teeth.

“That was weird.”

I looked at the cone. Teeth impressions were left where I’d bitten into it. It felt like I’d hit a rock.

I raised the cone, looked at the spot where I’d bitten, and poked my finger at what appeared to be a piece of shiny metal covered in ice cream.

Idiots.

After pulling the chuck of funk from the cone, I wiped at it with my fingertip.

He tossed his cone in the trash, looked at me, and grinned. “What did you find?”

I found it odd that he’d tossed his cone, and wondered if he bit into something, too. I handed him the wad of ice cream covered metal. He looked at it, shrugged, and then poked it into the cup of water. After swishing it around, he raised his hand.

My heart shot into my throat.

I looked at the ring, and then at him. “P--Per—Percy…”

He reached for my chin with his free hand. He lifted it slightly, and looked me in the eyes.

“I was going to give this to you to let you know that I was committed to you. But, the more I look at you, the more I realize I can’t imagine living a day without knowing that you’re mine. That you’re as committed to this relationship as I am.”

He released my chin, got down on one knee, and held the ring between us. “Joey, will you marry me?”

My lips quivered against one another. My throat tightened to the point of choking me. I couldn’t respond. I wanted to terribly, but my mouth wouldn’t follow my mind’s thoughts.

So, I did the only thing I could.

I made a fist, held it between us, and nodded eagerly.

He pressed his knuckles to mine. “We got a deal, then?”

My head bobbed up and down. My lips parted slightly. My heart raced.

Then, somehow, I managed to speak five simple words.

“Yes,” I said. “We’ve got a deal.”