The crowd went nuts, led by his team members, who all but rushed the poor delivery guy as soon as he exited the vehicle after lowering the ramp. There was a huge midnight blue bow wrapped around the car that matched the custom-made leather interior, and I saw Cody’s eyes glaze over when he got his first real look at it.
“Damn baby, you designed this yourself?” I was as proud as if I’d just completed some monumental feat as I nodded my head up and down, too choked up to speak. I really didn’t expect him to be this excited about the heap of metal, but I guess I forgot just how much of a guy he is.
One of the men who drove the truck asked me to look over the car and make sure everything was in order, but I left that up to Cody, who was only too happy to do it. I, of course, stayed close under his arm close, in fact, as he perused the interior and fiddled with stuff. It really was beautiful, and that new car smell made me think of gifts under the Xmas tree.
“It’s all here. Do you need me to walk you through everything?” The other deliveryman, who looked to be in his late twenties, was all smiles as he passed me the paperwork along with the other set of keys. I felt Cody’s arm come around me, and his cold, “she’s fine, thanks’ was enough to send the poor man running back to his truck for cover.
“Babe, you wanna take it for a ride?”
“I can’t drive, remember?” I passed the keys off to him. “But you can, let’s go.” Steve and Chad were right there with Jess and Alexis right behind them, each one’s voice higher than the other as they begged to tag along.
“You want them to come, baby?”
“Your choice.”
“Give us a minute, guys; let her enjoy her first car first, then we’ll take you for a spin.” Right answer, I thought as the others complained good-naturedly. It was only after he helped me into the passenger seat with the crowd still oohing and salivating that I remembered Susie.
The baseball cap and shades she wore did a very poor job of hiding her identity from someone who’d spent the last few weeks memorizing everything about her. I didn’t let my gaze linger too long in her direction, just long enough to notice the tight grimace on her face. She should’ve worn a mask; then, I wouldn’t have seen the sour expression around her lips. Wait until the vanity plates arrive; she’s really going to lose her crap then.
I tinkered with everything in the car while Cody drove it as if he thought it would break. His excitement was rubbing off on me a little, and I took a moment to enjoy the fact that I had my first car. Dad had gone out of his way to reassure me that the car was in my name, and I held all responsibility for it, except for maintenance and insurance. I’m not sure what other responsibilities come with a car, but okay.
“I knew it!”
“Knew what?” One thing about this sneaking around behind Cody’s back is I’m always wary of being caught. Every word out of his mouth has me on tenterhooks some days as I wait for the hammer to drop on my head.
“This doesn’t even feel like a car; feel how smooth this is.” There was the kind of awe in his voice that he usually reserves for me or football.
I listened as he droned on and on about the many different features and nodded where necessary like I understood a word he was saying. “Baby, are you seriously going to learn to drive in this?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You wanna start practicing now?”
“Sure!” Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.
For the next half hour, I did everything possible not to learn what he tried so hard to teach me. “Brake baby, brake, use your other left foot.”
“Huh? Sorry, what did I do? I thought this one was the brakes?” I tapped on the brakes gently, looking all kinds of confused.
“It is, but every time I tell you to brake, you step on the gas.”
“I don’t wanna; it’s too hard. You drive it. I just wanna play with the pretty lights.” I tapped the dashboard doing a perfect rendition of a ditz. The truth is, I could learn to drive with my eyes closed if I wanted to. Mom never allowed me the privilege, but I’m one of those hateful people that can do anything I put my mind to.
I was once told that that was one of the main reasons for my bullies’ hatred of me. Whatever, right now, if I learn to drive, then Cody would find every excuse in the book not to keep the car with him, which is my plan. I’ll drag things out until he doesn’t even realize that he’s in sole possession of the thing, and it’s not just about rubbing it in Susie’s face either. His truck is an accident waiting to happen. If he gives me any lip, I’ll just remind him that he’s carting around precious cargo, namely yours truly, and this plane on wheels is perfect to do that in.