American Honey

“I Don’t Dance”

I always had a feeling she might be too good for me even though she never acted that way. Her grandparents always accepted me with open arms as well. Now I was about to go into the lion’s den and meet her mother who would make my worst fears come true. What if she could convince Kara to go back to Madison and that I wasn’t good enough for her? My stomach was a bundle of nerves just thinking about it.

We pulled up to the cottage and there was a huge black SUV in the driveway that probably cost more than the trailer Dad and I lived in. I assumed her family did ok since her grandparents had this nice cottage on the lake and she told me her dad was a surgeon. Guess I didn’t realize what that really meant.

“Ready?” She asked me, her eyes wide with fear.

I reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I wanted to be brave for her even though I was scared shitless inside. “Yes. It will be ok.”

“I hope so,” she mumbled and let go of my hand. She got out of the truck and I took a deep breath, gathering my courage to face whatever there was inside that cottage.

She walked to the door and I followed behind her. She went inside and we found everyone sitting around the kitchen table. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife and they all stopped talking the minute they saw us.

“Mother tells me you want to stay here.” A woman that I presumed was Kara’s mother spat out.

Kara looked to her Grandma. “I’m sorry, dear,” she said. “She was spouting off about how terrible it was to grow up here and I couldn’t help it.”

“It’s ok, Grandma.” She went over and gave her shoulder a pat before coming to stand by me. “Yes, I want to stay in Mountain and work at the diner. Who knows, maybe one day they’ll let me take it over.”

Her mother let out a gasp and put her hand to her chest. “Kara, don’t be ridiculous. Who’s this?” She pointed at me. “Don’t tell me you want to stay here because of a boy?”

She grabbed my hand and held it so tight I winced. “His name is JT and he’s only part of the reason.”

She laughed and waved her hand. “Do you think you’re in love? You don’t know a thing about love. In no time he’ll break your heart and you’ll come crying back home.”

“I won’t ever hurt your daughter,” I said quickly.

She looked at me, her eyes a steely grey. “What do you do for a living, JT?” She asked, her voice dripping with disdain.

“I run an auto shop with my dad.”

“A grease monkey? Oh really, Kara. You can do so much better than that.”

Her words cut right to my core. I had never been ashamed of who I was until that moment. She was right; Kara could probably do better than me, but she had chosen me, and I wasn’t going to let her go.

“Mom!” She cried out, her eyes filling with tears. “What is wrong with you?” She looked to her dad. “Daddy?”

He shook his head. “I wish you would come back to Madison, but I support you if you want to stay here.”

Kara’s mother looked at him with her mouth open. “Oh really? And when she comes crying and asking to come home because he broke her heart, what will you say then?”

He looked at me and gave me a sad smile. “I’ll welcome her home because she’s our daughter and I love her.”

“Thank you Daddy.” He got up and gave her a hug.

Kara’s mom got up from the table. “Let’s go then. There’s no reason to stay here.” She stormed outside without saying goodbye.

“I’ll talk to her,” Kara’s dad said, reaching out to hug her. “She’ll calm down.”

“I doubt it,” she sniffled and let go of him.

“Take good care of my daughter,” he said, holding out

his hand for a handshake.

“I will sir,” I said, taking his hand and shaking it firmly.

“I better go. I’ll call you later, Kara. I’m so sorry.” He turned and walked out the door. I could hear arguing outside and car doors slamming shut. We stood in silence, listening to the SUV leave.