Page 9 of Second Chances

Now, across the flames at the kegger, her eyes latched onto his before he swiveled to his friends.

“Um, dude, don’t look now, but she’s coming your way,” Kyle announced. “Man, what could she want?”

Henry’s stomach sank. Steve nudged him as he finished off the bottle of Boone’s Farm. “Pretty sure I know. I mean, you heard that she and Dirk broke up again, right?”

No, he hadn’t, but an urgent need to escape overwhelmed him. Throwing his drink into the fire, he backed away, his boot heels sinking into the dirt, soft from last night’s rain. “Henry…Henry…” she called, but he kept his eyes forward until he slid into his car, forcing himself to concentrate only on getting the hell out of there.

The following morning, he woke, resolved with his plan to leave and stay as far away from DD as long as he could. On the doorstep of their house stood Henry’s mother, Catherine, waving a handkerchief. “Henry, are you sure you want to do this? You’ll be all alone.”

Shaking his head vehemently, he loaded his duffel bag into the back of his ‘72 Dodge Dart. “Mom, I’m sorry, but I am outta here.”

“But you could stay, work in the shop with your father this summer.” Anything but that, he thought, not having the heart to say as much to his mom.

After bounding back up the steps to the house, Henry kissed her cheek. Wiping her eyes with her apron, Catherine instructed him to call when he stopped to get gas, pressing four twenty-dollar bills into his palm.

“Mom, I have all that graduation money,” he protested.

“Nonsense—save that for college. And here,” she reached behind her to open the screen door, pulling out a small Igloo cooler. “I made you some sandwiches and put some pop and cookies in here, so you don’t have to pay for food.”

Choked up now that the moment had come to leave, he said, “Thanks, Mom, for everything. I love you.” Despite her words asking him to reconsider his trip, Henry had no doubt that his mother supported him.

“I love you, my baby boy.” She held his face in her hands. “I’m so proud of you.” Wait until I’m a doctor, he thought, envisioning her pride in a few years.

“Hey, you’re not getting away without giving me a hug, too!” Flip-flops slapping as she stormed out of the house with a paper bag overflowing with what looked like packages of chips, Trixie placed the bag in his car, then embraced him tightly. “Have fun, okay? And never forget how amazing you are.” His sister had just finished her first year at college, astonishing everyone with her decision to major in accounting, after declaring office jobs insufferable while working in the office of their dad’s shop three summers in a row.

“Thanks, Trix. For everything.” His sounding board after his post-prom let-down, she’d cursed DD for taking advantage of him.

“Don’t spend one more minute thinking about that bitch.”

“Beatrice!” their mom scolded.

“Sorry, Mom.” His sister grinned. “But she is. You’re better than she deserves, you know, and one day you’ll meet someone who appreciates you.”

“Make sure you stop at the shop and see your dad and brother on your way out of town,” Catherine instructed him as he got into his car and started the engine. Waving goodbye to his mom and sister, their figures got smaller in his rear-view mirror as he drove further away from his house.

As he pulled into an open bay at Check Auto Care, George was waiting for him. “Mom called. Could barely understand a word she said, she was sobbing so hard.”

Fora split second, Henry reconsidered leaving Clover Lake, until he looked down at George’s hands, stained under the fingernails with grease he knew from his own experience would not come clean regardless of how hard his brother scrubbed. No matter how much he respected his dad for the long hours he put in at the shop, or how much fun he had working beside his brother, dad, and grandpa over the years, this was not the life he wanted for himself.

“Where’s Dad?” Henry glanced around.

“Right here, son.” His dad, William, handed him a silver thermos. “I made some coffee for you, to make sure you stay alert on your drive.” Henry grimaced. William Livingston was talented at many things, but coffee was not one of them, the flavor ranging too often from bitter to burnt. Not an ideal sliding scale.

“Thanks, Dad.” Taking an appreciative sip while repressing a shudder, he watched his dad extract an envelope from his back pocket. Henry shook his head when William handed it to him.

“Dad,” he protested, “I don’t need that. Besides, Mom gave me money before I left the house.” While his family didn’t struggle financially, he didn’t feel right about taking money from them, not if he wanted to be completely independent. His dad insisted, tucking the envelope into the front pocket of the western shirt he’d thrown on over his t-shirt that morning.

“Make sure you get something good to eat on the road, not just those sandwiches I saw your mom whipping up this morning. And stop every couple of hours to stretch your legs. Never let the gas gauge get below half a tank…” Henry nodded respectfully while his dad covered everything they had talked about on a weekly basis since he first made his plan. “And you damn sure better call your mom once a week after you get there, but until then, you call her every time you stop for gas. Got it?” Staring into the earnest blue eyes of the man who worked harder than anyone should have to, Henry allowed this chapter of his life to close. Enfolding him in one of his signature bear hugs, his dad squeezed his ribs. “I’m so proud of you. You’re a fine young man.”

Henry, released from his father’s embrace, looked to his older brother, the one he had trailed while growing up: imitating him, irritating him, and idolizing him. The brothers had shared a room until George was fourteen and Henry twelve, trading comic books in the dark of night, each one reading by flashlight, a memory he held dearly. He would miss George, but he was ready to be out of his brother’s shadow, excited to be doing something no one in his family had ever done.

The brothers hugged, and George ruffled his hair, knocking his Minnesota Twins baseball cap off. “This is it, Henry. You’re starting your life. Don’t let me down.” And he wouldn’t, not now when he finally had the chance to do something bigger than Clover Lake. Leaving the tiny town behind, Henry resolved to forget the disappointments he’d experienced, from his best friends bailing on him to the unrequited love for Diadema Sommer. This was the summer he would become his own man and carve his own future out. With the windows rolled down, he drove five miles over the speed limit, blasting Tom Petty and relishing the freedom of his new life.

Charlotte cast a glance around the high school auditorium, awaiting the teenage actors she had cast in the roles for three one-act plays. Their first practice was in less than an hour, and why she was nervous, she had no idea. Some of the actors were her students, and most of the other teens she’d become familiar with in the weeks since school had begun. Aside from her classroom, the auditorium, with its wooden stage that creaked just so when she walked across it, was her favorite place in the school, even more so now that Del, the head custodian, had rehung the freshly laundered stage curtain for the upcoming performance season.

“I’m so bored,” a voice echoed through the empty room. Entering from the heavy oak door leading from the high school hall and pushing a stroller was a woman in her mid-thirties, heavily pregnant and with strawberry-blond hair. “And now my feet are tired. Is it okay if I just sit here before I walk back home?” Positively radiant, the woman was familiar somehow, but Charlotte couldn’t place her.

“Of course.” Charlotte pulled a chair down from the stack lined up against the wall. “But may I ask what brought you to the high school at seven in the evening? I’m Charlotte, by the way.” She introduced herself. “New English teacher and even newer play director.” Her new job included coaching the extracurricular drama activities, something she hadn’t done in Sioux City for at least a decade.