They went back to the Grill. Of course. Sean did not even bother pointing out that Raleigh was home to hundreds of other restaurants. As far as Sean was concerned, it really didn’t matter where they ate. He still carried his burden of worry. Even Dillon noticed it, despite the fact that the guy was living inside a buffet line of dreams come true.
Toward the end of their meal Dillon finally groused, “Think you could check your cloak of doom with the lady at the door?”
“Sorry. Maybe you should just drop me off at the house.”
“No way. Like you said, we’re in this together.” He pointed at the half-finished burger on Sean’s plate. “You want that?”
“You can not still be hungry.”
“No, man, but this is too good to leave.”
“Go for it.” Sean glanced out the window at the westering sun. He didn’t enjoy being a drag. It wasn’t like him. His general state of mind was mild optimism. But there was something . . .
Dillon asked, “How much cash do we have left?”
“You know perfectly well how much.” But he said it anyway. “Seven thousand minus the cost of this meal.”
Dillon sighed contentedly. “I am just loving this.”
They left the Grill and arrived at the bank where they had their savings accounts in time to deposit the funds. Just drove up to the outside window, and Dillon chatted with the lady while Sean filled out the deposit form. Like they were two normal people with a normal wad of cash that came from a normal kind of job.
Dillon asked what Sean wanted to do, and when he didn’t answer, Dillon turned them back down Hillsborough. The five-lane road divided the shopping district known as Cameron Village from the thirty-two thousand students of NC State. Hillsborough was a main artery that defined much of what was Old Raleigh, the good and the bad. They headed east toward the state capitol, passed the Y and the Candlelight Inn, toured the blocks of head shops and bakeries and pizza joints and T-shirt factories, before meeting up with the stone canyons of downtown. Then Dillon wheeled them around and started back. Keeping their speed down, just out for a sunset cruise. Sean should have been thrilled with everything. Instead of acting like he was a card-carrying member of the dark-cloud set.
The Charger came with an automatic regulator that reduced the engine’s power to just four cylinders when idling or driving at low revs. The switch was remarkably smooth, and the motor still gave off a throaty rumble even when geared down. The noise filled the car with a sense of easy anticipation. Dillon had the radio turned to some HD rock station, which Sean could take or leave. Normally he would have insisted on equal time being given to his jazz, which Dillon absolutely hated. But Sean was still filtering everything through his glum lens. Even the bass line strong enough to thump the car like a metal drum couldn’t touch him.
As Dillon slid into the turn lane and rumbled past the old bell tower that marked State’s main entrance, Sean tried to argue his way out from under his dark cloud. Gone was any concern over pocket money or summer jobs or SATs or even which college might find room for them both. All of it. Vanished forever. If only they could keep passing those tests. As they rumbled along the university’s tree-lined streets, Sean knew he should have been basking in the dual glows of ready cash and a new car.
Which was when the girls flagged them down.
Three female students stood by one of the many glass-covered bus alcoves that serviced the main campus. Dillon swung the car to the curb like he was always getting signals from a trio of beauties. Which these ladies most certainly were. Two blondes and a brunette. All dressed in mini shorts that fit them like bikini bottoms. Small ones. And tank tops that looked spray-painted into position.
The lone brunette leaned into Dillon’s open window and gave them a smile Sean felt in his toes. “You guys going to the party?”
“We are now,” Dillon replied.
Sean already had his door open. “Ladies.”
The brunette chose to sit up front with Dillon. Which meant Sean was crammed into a blonde sandwich. Not that he was complaining.
After all, these were college girls.
Going to a party.
Every single fantasy his seventeen-year-old mind had ever dreamed up instantly grew wings and did a fluttery bat thing around the car’s interior.
Thankfully, his inability to respond was masked by the brunette declaring, “I love this song.” Then she cranked the stereo up to a volume that could only have been described as headbanging.
And suddenly Sean was in between two girls who actually managed to dance in that small backseat.
Again, no complaints.
The brunette directed Dillon to their destination by means of sign language. And smiles.
NC State still had a number of freshmen dorms inside the main campus. But the vast majority of student housing was now outside the Beltway. The university had bought entire apartment developments, over four thousand units, and were building still more. They set up free dedicated bus service that ran 24-7.
The brunette directed them across the Beltway and into the confusion of countryside being transformed into mini campuses. They passed one cul-de-sac after another, taking a sunset ride through the growing collegiate sprawl.
They pulled into a half-finished complex, where the buildings were surrounded by raw earth and roads going nowhere. A party filled the avenue and spilled into the weed-strewn meadow. Young people danced and drank and shouted and flowed around bars and buffet tables and . . .
Cars.
The center of the lane held every dream car Sean and Dillon had ever drooled over.
Including a new seven-series BMW. The color was Sean’s favorite, a sophisticated blend of café au lait and silver. Twenty-inch Michelins with racing treads. The most beautiful machine on the planet.
The blonde next to him said, “Want to drive it?”
The other blonde said, “What is this, drive? I bet he wants to race it.”
The brunette turned down the music and said to Dillon, “Forget those foreign heaps. Let’s go drag this baby.”
Sean was already preparing the standard backseat warning. It was an instinctive response, because if anyone had asked he would have said that he and Dillon had left their thinking brains back at the bus stop where they found the ladies.
But Dillon said, “Not tonight.”
The brunette revealed the most amazing pout. “Not even if I ask nice?”
Dillon said, “Not even for seven thousand dollars.”
Which made no sense to anyone but them, but it was good for a real smile. Sean was about to ask the brunette to let them out so they could go join the party.
Which was when he heard the scream.