It was Caleb again. I kept going.
“Does your mama know you’re an asshole?”
I stopped in my tracks. This mouthpiece just wouldn’t shut up. I was about to turn around and read him his last rites when I felt something hit the side of my face.
I smelled mustard, ketchup, and the mouthwatering aroma of burger meat. I grabbed the tomato on my cheek, popped it into my mouth. Chewed. Swallowed.
My anger faded.
We looked at each other, assessing, watching.
“Got another one?” I asked after a moment.
Surprise flickered in his eyes.
Then he grinned. “Yeah. I got two more, but you’re paying for drinks.”
I studied his face and determined I didn’t detect any deceit. I thought about it for a beat. “Deal.”
From then on, Caleb Lockhart has been my friend.
Rick gave us both the chance to purge our anger by giving us sledgehammers to break walls, destroy fireplaces, rip Sheetrock. Eventually, we were promoted to framing, replacing shingles on roofs, painting, and everything else in Rick’s business.
I had taken to it naturally. At first, I went because I wanted to focus on something other than my miserable life, but eventually I came to look forward to doing renos after school. It was something I was really good at and I found joy in it. It gave me a sense of purpose. It made me…less miserable and not focus so much on my problems. To forget about that day I regretted the most, that day I desperately wished I could go back to and change.
“I’m going to ask you again. You sure about this?” Caleb indicated the building behind me.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Go ahead to the site. I’ll come over soon as I’m done here.”
He yawned again. I yawned. “Get your ass out of here, man. You’re making me sleepy,” I grumbled.
“Need that first.” He nodded at my beanie. “Cold as hell for a demo today.”
I thought about it.
“You owe me for this morning,” he pointed out.
That sounded reasonable. He hated waking up early, and he had to be at the site before nine today, so he’d had to wake up even earlier to drop me and my motorcycle off at the shop.
“You’re right,” I acknowledged and threw my beanie at him. “Don’t sleep with it under your pillow tonight.”
He caught it easily, put it on, and shot me a grin. “Hey, how’d you know?” He gave a dainty wave of his fingers before sliding into his truck.
He slid his window down. “Cam,” he called out.
“Yeah?”
“Want a sandwich?”
I heard him laughing as he drove away.
Chapter 8
Cameron
As soon as Caleb left, I turned to study the auto repair shop again.
It looked old but clean and decent enough. Appearances could be deceiving though, so I didn’t get my hopes up.