DRIVING LESSONS
For the next couple of days, Justin didn’t have much time to think about Little Billy’s situation. He hadn’t realized when he got picked for the team how much practice would be involved. He’d figured he was as good as the other players, but he soon discovered that “as good as” was not good enough. Because he was the youngest, he had to be better. Anytime he messed up, the coach frowned and made sarcastic remarks about his “immaturity.” The other players, who were all older, mostly ignored him. He had yet to make a single friend among the more experienced team members. And he was already falling behind on his schoolwork.
By the end of the week Justin still didn’t have a clue what he was going to do about Little Billy. But when ball practice ended Friday afternoon, at least there was something to take his mind off the problem. His dad was waiting at the field, as he had said he would be.
“Hey, Dad,” Justin called. His teammates watched as he ran toward his young-looking dad standing beside the sexy sports car. As usual, Charlie had the little red car’s top down.
“You’ve waxed her,” Justin said. “Looks great.”
“She’s a honey, all right.” Charlie dangled the keys in front of Justin. “Want to drive her?”
“Me? Drive?” Justin couldn’t believe he had heard right.
“You do drive, don’t you?”
“Well, uh, sort of,” Justin stammered, eyeing the sleek red car.
“Know how to drive a manual?”
“Yeah, I learned on our pickup. Mom’s been letting me drive it on the farm roads around our place for awhile. And I did get my learner’s permit when I turned fifteen last month.” Justin paused, wondering if his dad would remember that his birthday was February 19. “By the time I’m sixteen—”
“Sixteen?” Charlie interrupted. “Why, you don’t want to wait that long!”
“It’s just that I wasn’t able to go out in traffic, you know, on regular roads, until I had a learner’s permit. Now that I do—”
“You must be rarin’ to go!” Charlie slapped him on the back. “How about I drive out of town, and then you can take over?”
“Really? Oh, man!” Up to now, the most exciting thing Justin had ever done was to hit the occasional home run. Driving a car, this car in particular, was going to be way more fun than that!
Once they got out on a country road, Charlie pulled over so they could switch seats. Justin looked around for a place to put his ball glove.
Charlie took it from him like it was something that came from the dump. “That’s about the most beat-up baseball glove I ever saw. How about I get you a new one—late birthday present?”
“Oh no,” Justin said quickly. “I wouldn’t part with this glove for anything. Booker Wilson gave it to me for Christmas. It’s the same one he played with all through high school and Triple A.”
“That a fact?” Charlie said sharply. “What’d he give your mom?”
Justin didn’t answer. In the first place, it was a weird question, and in the second place, he didn’t think Booker gave Mom anything except a box of Ruby’s chocolates, which they all ate on Christmas Day.
He waited for his dad to suggest something else for a birthday present, but he didn’t. Instead, he settled down to giving Justin some serious driving lessons, which, as far as Justin was concerned, was the best present Charlie could have given him.
Charlie was a terrific teacher, so enthusiastic that he made the hardest parts of driving seem both easy and fun. First he gave Justin tips on shifting smoothly, then had him try it out. Justin ground the gears a few times, causing Charlie to wince, but his dad didn’t say anything. When Justin seemed to get the hang of shifting gears, his dad moved on to parallel parking, something his mom hadn’t showed him yet. Charlie took one thing at a time, instead of telling him everything at once and expecting him to remember it all.
The little red sports car was actually a lot easier to handle than Mom’s pickup. Within a couple of hours Justin was able to stop on a dime, back up, pass other cars, and even whip a U-turn in the middle of the road.
“You definitely have a feel for how a car’s supposed to handle,” Charlie said, sounding pleased.
“Can I drive it again sometime?”
“Anytime, long as I’m here.”
Justin stopped at an intersection. “How long will that be?” he asked.
“Till April. Then I’m off to Arizona. And after that,” Charlie said, grinning over at Justin, “it’ll be the granddaddy of all races, the Indy 500.”
Justin put the car into gear and inched forward to get a better view of oncoming traffic. He could see what was coming from the right, but not from the left.
“If you came with me, we’d have to get you your own set of wheels.”
Stunned, Justin forgot the car was still moving forward. His head swiveled toward Charlie. Was he serious?
“Watch it!” Charlie yelled.
Justin slammed his foot on the brake and the car lurched to a stop and the engine died. A truck roared by on the highway just inches away. Justin had almost pulled right into its path. No way a truck that big, traveling that fast, could have stopped!
“Oh, man!” Justin whispered. His whole body was shaking.
Charlie started laughing.
Then Justin started laughing, too. It wasn’t because what almost happened was funny, it was because—well, because they were both still alive!