He smirked. “Yeah right. Dinosaurs don’t exist anymore. What’s the point in being afraid of them? It’s not like you’ll ever see one.”
“Not until they make a real-life Jurassic Park, that is. Then we might have something to be afraid of.”
His face lit up and finally he looked at me. “You think they will make a real Jurassic Park one day?”
I laughed. “Maybe!”
“That would be awesome! But my dad would probably not let me go there either. He’d be too worried about my safety or whatever. He’s so overprotective.”
This warmed my heart to hear. Regardless of the strange interaction I had with Matt before he got on the phone, I was starting to like the guy. His son was a sweetheart too.
“Your dad just wants to do right by you,” I said. “Trust me, my mom was the same way growing up. I hated it back then, how she would hover and constantly want to be involved in my life, but now that I’m an adult, I can see everything she did for what it really was—she just really cared about me. She still does, in fact. I betchu five bucks if I take my phone out right now and check my messages, I’ll have one from her just reminding me to have a good day.”
Will raised a dubious brow at me. “If there isn’t a message from her, will you really give me five bucks?”
“Sure will.”
He grinned. “Okay, you’re on.”
I took my phone out of my purse and went to my messages. I had two missed texts in fact, one from Michelle and one from my mom. I ignored the one from Michelle and just opened the one from my mom which read, “Have a good day sweetie! I’m sure your interview will go great!” followed by a little heart emoji.
“Told you,” I said.
He sighed. “Darn. I had big plans for that five bucks.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said. He leaned in close and lowered his voice. “I’ll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret, promise?”
“I’m not sure I can promise that,” I said. “It sorta depends on what the secret is.”
“I’m saving up to buy a VHS player.”
I smiled. “A VHS player! How do you even know what a VHS player is? And why do you want one?”
“Because,” he said. “Last winter break, I was at my friend’s house while his dad was cleaning out the garage, and his dad let us have this box of all these old VHS movies that he didn’t have a way to play anymore. We went through them, and there was a copy ofJurassic Park IIin there! Among other things.”
“What other things?”
He looked guiltily down at his feet. “There was a copy of that vampire movieBlade. I watched a trailer online. It looks awesome.”
“I’m sure you’re not supposed to watch that movie either.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t technically asked, but it’s probably rated PG-13. My dad says I have to wait until I’m 13 to see those.”
“Yeah well, that makes sense. They have those ratings for a reason,” I said.
“Are you going to tell my dad about my plan to buy the VHS player?”
I cocked my head to the side and thought about it. “How much money do you have saved up as of now?”
“Nine dollars.”
There was something very sweet about this kid’s relationship to money. Even though he’d grown up surrounded by wealth and prosperity, all he wanted was a busted old VHS player and the freedom to watch a dinosaur movie from the ‘90s. Not to mention, the fact that he only had nine dollars to his name at this point told me that Matt wasn’t one for giving his son lavish allowances just for the hell of it. This meant the kid wasn’t going to be spoiled, and that made my job a lot easier.
“How about we cross the bridge of talking to your dad once you get a little closer to your goal of—-” I frowned. “How much does a VHS player even go for these days?”
“I saw one on ebay that’s selling for $15 but I’d also have to pay for shipping. So, at least $20 probably.”