“Of course, is there anyone cooler than Bruce Wayne?” Max asked, talking Kevin’s kind of language.
“Exactly,” Kevin said before he launched into a full account of Batman’s attributes and why they set him apart from every other superhero.
Max had no problem keeping up with Kevin’s mania and made a point to add in his own two cents.
I sank back in my seat and listened to Kevin happily jabber away with the guy that was slowly beginning to weed his way into my heart. I knew none of this could end well. We were on borrowed time and yet I couldn’t help but let myself be pulled in.
Kevin piled out of the vehicle as soon as Max pulled up to our trailer.
“Thanks for being so great with him,” I said, lingering behind.
“It’s easy to do, he’s one cool dude.”
“Thanks, I think so too.”
“You guys seem really close.”
“We are. He’s all I got,” I said honestly.
If Max thought my comment was odd since I obviously had my mom, he let it slide by.
“You sure you can’t go out this weekend?” he asked before I could climb out of the SUV.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked, no longer wanting to fight his advances.
He grinned at me. “It’s Clint’s turn for movie night tomorrow. We were all going to head over there. You game?”
“Sure, I guess. What time?”
“How about sixish? Don’t eat before I pick you up, we’ll eat there.”
“Do I need to bring anything?” I asked nervously, pulling on my lower lip.
His eyes dropped down to my lip, distracting him. It was embarrassing, but the lip pulling was a nervous tick I had that I couldn't seem to shake no matter how hard I tried.
“Just yourself,” he finally answered.
“That sounds good,” I said, climbing out of the vehicle. “I guess I'll see you tomorrow,” I added as the trailer door behind me slammed open.
I closed his door hastily and turned to face Lucinda.
“Who’s that?” Lucinda asked, taking a long pull on her cigarette.
“Just a guy from school,” I said, walking around her to climb up the stairs. I sighed with relief when I heard Max’s vehicle pulling away.
“Pretty snazzy car,” Lucinda said, following me into the trailer. “Is he slumming?” she asked meanly.
This was nothing new. Lucinda was all for me dating since she hoped I would prove her right by being as promiscuous as she was. Her joke was to constantly tell me I was bound to wind up barefoot and pregnant. Her words scared me to the core and I had made it my mission to prove her wrong. I cautiously picked who I would date, and I set all the rules, including my own curfew. If the guy turned out to be a complete toad, my curfew was always unusually early. The same thing applied if he turned out to be an octopus and couldn’t control his groping. Lucinda said I was a tease since I had many first dates, but not a whole lot of second dates. What she didn’t know was that most guys bored me, they were either too immature, too self-centered or were too hands on.
“I guess,” I answered, heading toward my room with her on my heels which filled me with apprehension. Something was off. She seemed almost jittery. “Where’s Jim?” I asked.
“Off looking for a job,” she grumbled, lighting up a new cigarette.
“That’s good,” I said in relief. We definitely needed an influx of cash.
“Fine for you to say, you’re not cooped up in this stupid trailer all day.”
My heart dropped at her words. It was not good for her to be sick of our new place this soon.