Halcyon Days: Chapter 33 (Patreon)

As we collect the take out bag at the bar and I go to pay Otis raises a hand. “Your money’s no good here, Mei. Grandpa’s got ya.”

Mei goes still for a moment, her expression unreadable, before saying. “Dusty.”

“Mm?”

“Could you please pay the man.”

Otis and I glance at each other, not quite sure what to make of this, then I pull out a couple of bills and slide them across the bar. “Keep the change.”

As Mei leaves us to go speak to her Yeye Otis shakes his head. “She’s always been different.”

Taking the doggy bag I say. “Thank God for that.”

At the cribbage table Mei whispers something to her grandpa then kisses his head. He smile warmly, pats her cheek and says something back to her. When she turns to return to me he meets my eyes once more with one final warning, ‘You mess with this girl and you mess with me’. I don’t shrink from his stare but neither am I smug. I had received the message and I would respect it. Not only am I not offended it made me feel good to know that Mei had somebody watching over her.

Slipping her hand around my arm she says. “Let’s go.”

Although she had her arm looped into mine like some old-fashioned lady on her gentleman’s arm there was no question who was steering this thing. She leads me back out into the night and guides us toward the car with an unhurried stride. For my part, a bit fuzzy-headed from chugging two pints back to back, I keep stride with her adoring every second of this ‘take charge’ moment. Though I tried mightily to remain in the role of the gallant new beau my old self stirs and I cannot help but begin to wonder how my willful and dynamic date would be in the sack. Would we kiss tonight? Would there be more? I didn’t know and I didn’t want to know. Those answers were up to her and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I tell myself not to get my hopes up, I remind myself how every other women who had showed a bit of dominance had wilted the moment that clothes were off, but those hopes were rising higher by the second regardless.

“I’ve got a place in mind.” She says as she slips from my arm and heads for the driver’s door. Moving as if she’d done this a hundred times she unlocks the Honda, slips into the driver’s seat, adjusts the seat and mirror then starts the engine. She leans forward to look at me still standing by the right front fender grinning like an idiot. The passenger window rolls down with hum and she calls out. “Are you coming?”

Shaking my head I laugh and hurry to hop in. “You said not to rush things too much.” She rolls her eyes then starts to drive. I put the food behind us, the deep-fried aromas filling the cabin, and settle into my seat. It had been years since I’d sat in the passenger seat of the old CRV while someone else drove, not since back home. “So where are we headed?”

“You’ll see.” She answers, clearly relishing holding this mystery close to her chest to leave me guessing. Turning onto the highway she doesn’t turn right, toward the bulk of the town, as I expected but turns left to leave town. Streetlights behind us the car falls dark, the glow of the dashboard with the reflection from the headlights illuminating the highway and grassy shoulders ahead of us makes Mei’s beautiful face seem luminescent against the darkness. In that wholly unique comfortable silence I could enjoy in her presence I lay my head against the headrest and watch her drive. That flash from back in Earl’s truck when I imagined her, us, older and grayer and cruising down the road flits through my mind. After a few minutes she glances over at me to catch me fawning and she giggles then rolls her eyes again. “You act like you’ve never seen a woman before.”

“None like you.” I say softly. Before my compliment could bring out any of her usual quips or deflections I ask. “You want some music?”

She glances at me once, twice, three times then says. “Nah. This is nice. The hum of the road is…relaxing.”

I smile as, after all the miles I’ve traveled, I knew exactly what she meant. The steady drone of the engine and tires could be so soothing, almost hypnotic, especially on a clear, quiet night like this. The subtle creak of her jacket joins the relaxing din while the aroma of her lovely orange blossom perfume mixes with the smell of the food. After only five or six minutes she slows and takes at turn down a wide gravel road. The headlights reveal barbed wire fencing that ran along both sides of the arrow straight road and nothing else as beyond the cone of illumination was nothing but inky black.

“Good place to hide a body.” I jest.

With a smirk she says. “Out here nobody will hear you scream.”

I chuckle at her dark yet suggestive humor. “Mei?”

“Mm?”

“Just curious, why didn’t you let your grandpa pay our bill?” I ask. “It seemed you two got on well.”

“We do.” She says then after a few moments adds. “I hate this car.”

“Ha!” I guffaw at the complete non sequitur. “You and Marigold keep saying that. But it’s really not that bad. Sure it’s boring, but she’s reliable.”

“It is boring, but that’s not why I hate it.” She says, her hands twisting on the wheel as her focus remains glued on the road. After another moment’s silence she glances at me quickly before snapping her eyes forward again. “This is your dad’s car?”

My amiable expression fades as it was my turn to take a pause. “Yeah. Technically.”

“This isn’t a car, Dusty. It’s a leash.” She says, her tone somehow blunt and gentle at the same time. “He lets you have it because it lets him keep control. He keeps a hand on your shoulder, holding you down as he says he’s holding you up.”

Damn! Never had anyone, ANYONE, pierced my defenses so completely to strike to the heart of something this personal. I clear my throat, struggling to think of how to respond to that. Before I can she reaches across to take my hand.

“But who am I to say?” She gives my hand a squeeze. “I’m a damn hypocrite. I run my Yeye’s shop. I drive my Yeye’s car. I stay in a town I hate because I’m too scared to leave.” Pulling back to take the wheel again she says. “I didn’t want grandpa to pay the bill because tonight isn’t about him. Tonight is ours.”

“That is…the most romantic thing anybody’s ever said to me.” I whisper.

With that smileless smile of hers she doesn’t miss a beat. “Don’t get used to it.”

Just then her eyes widen and I am pulled forward as the car slows rapidly. Following her focus I look out front to see two snow white rumps bouncing at the edge of the headlights. Deer! No, antelope! The pair of pronghorn bounce and weave left and right in front of us with the grace of dancers before, in unison, breaking right to leap the fence and disappear into the night.

Our hearts beating quicker Mei and I look at each other, both confirming with the other that the fleeting moment we’d just shared was real. We share a smile then without a word she speeds up again, just in time to start up a rise. We climb the long gradual slope until we reach the top at which point she pulls off the road and onto an access into the pasture. She parks and gets out of the car, leaving the engine running. I hurry after her.

“What are we doing?” I ask as she walks to the wire gate and unhooks the post.

“Trespassing.” She answers, deadpan.

“Ah.” I nod. “A date’s not a date without at least one of us breaking the law.”

She thrusts the post into my hands. “Pull this open and let me through.”

My fingers brushing hers we fall still a moment in the lights of the car. Our eyes meet and sparks fly. With something approaching a blush Mei pulls her gaze from mine and returns to the car. I drag the loose bit of fence open to let her pull through then drag it back again to shut the gate. I trot back to the passenger side and get in. Before I’d even belted we were off, following a trail of preexisting tire grooves through the grassland. She drives slow, taking the lumps and bumps carefully, as we strike out across the field. We skirt alongside a herd of confused cattle, thankfully none of them were laid across the path. I stare ahead for any sign of where she was taking me and all I see is field and darkness.

Without warning she slows and turns the car hard to the right. She turns us all the way around then puts it in reverse and backs up for a few seconds. She then stops, puts the car into park and shuts it down. Everything goes black, pitch black. From the inky dark comes Mei’s crooning voice. “We’re here.” And with that she slips out and closes the door behind her.

I follow, of course I do, and when I join her at the back of the car…my breath is stolen!

From horizon to horizon the starry heavens display their full celestial glory. In a dark like I’d never experienced I gaze up in awe. Every point of light shines clear and brilliant. Among the familiar constellations I see stars I’d never seen before back east. I see colors where I was accustomed to only seeing black and white, I see the faint glow of the Milky Way, I see the stunning mosaic of the universe as if for the very first time. And it doesn’t stop at the point where the heavens met the horizon as below us the vast prairie stretches to meet infinity. The land falling off steeply in front of us, Mei had brought us to an overlook that allowed us to see the whole area from which we’d come. Across the darkened landscape are farm houses and LED yard lights and blinking cell phone towers. Along the dark ribbon of highway a distant semi-truck crawls slowly from left to right. And in the middle of it all is Halcyon itself, its homes and businesses and streetlights forming a galaxy all it own, a beacon of warm light in the middle of nothingness.

Mei’s feet rustle the grass as she steps up beside me.

“Wow!” I whisper.

“Do I know how to choose a picnic spot or don’t I?” Mei says softly as she slips her arm around my waist to press her soft, buxom body to my side. She takes a long, deep breath then rests her head against my chest. “Tonight is ours.”

Chapter 34