1988
The Ford Pinto shook as I pressed my foot down on the accelerator, singing my favorite Grease song at the top of my lungs. I glanced over at my home fry, Cassie Strong, the whites of her knuckles popping out as she clutched the door handle. We’d been best friends since eighth grade, when my parents decided Koppe, Texas would be a way cooler place to live than Los Angeles.
Not!
“What’s wrong, Cassie? You look a little green.”
“You-you-you said you passed the driver’s test, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh, okay.” She gulped and then her eyes suddenly widened. “Watch out!”
Turning my attention back to the road, I swerved, missing the car in front of me by an inch.
“The speed limit’s forty-five, not five!” I yelled out the window.
Shaking my head, I wondered why people drove so slow in this town. It wasn’t like LA, where the roads were basically one big parking lot. With all the open roads in Texas, you’d think people would take advantage of it.
The driver, an old woman with black-framed, oval glasses perched on her nose, gave me a slight nod and turned her attention back to the steering wheel.
“Well, how rude. The least she could do is move out of the way if she’s not willing to go the speed limit.”
“Mandi!” Cassie said, exasperated. “That was Mrs. Matthews. She can’t hear you. She’s partially deaf. Besides, we just passed a traffic sign. The speed limit is twenty.”
“Oops.” Giggling, I gently lifted my foot off the gas, and glanced into the rearview mirror. Mrs. Matthews’s curly gray hair barely peeked over the dashboard. All I could see was the steering wheel rotating back and forth as the car rolled down the street at a snail’s pace.
“Are you sure no one’s at the ranch?” Cassie asked.
“Yep. I was just there last week. It was totally empty. Do you want me to turn around? We don’t have to go see it.”
When Cassie’s father died last year, she and her mother had moved to Houston. Her mother wasn’t able to afford to keep the ranch she’d grown up on. It was horrible for Cassie, losing her father the way she did. Deputy Strong was well respected in Koppe and was missed by all. Even though he died a hero’s death, it didn’t take away the pain that lingered on Cassie’s face. I did everything I could to be there for her. Money was tight for both of us, so we were limited to occasional phone call and letters.
“No. I want to see it . . . I guess. I feel close to Dad whenever I’m here.” She gazed out the window, staring sadly into the horizon for a moment before placing a smile on her face. “Hey, I wanted to give your parents a thank you gift for letting me stay over. What should I get them?”
“You don’t have to do that. You’re family.” I gave the Pinto a little gas when the traffic light turned yellow. I may have pressed a little too hard because the car lurched forward and Cassie gasped, clutching the door handle tighter.
“Mandi, the light’s yellow!”
“I know.”
“Shouldn’t you slow down?”
“Uh, no. Yellow means go faster.”
As we sped through the now red light, there was a sudden drop, followed by a clang. Cassie squealed, bumping her head against the roof of the car. “Sorry about that. Damn potholes.”
Cassie stuck her head out the window. “I think you broke the car.”
I glanced at the rearview mirror. There was a large piece of metal sitting in the middle of the street. “Hmm, that’s not good. We’ll pick it up on the way back.”
When we finally arrived at Cassie’s old house, the energy in the car shifted, and she grew quiet. Her breath hitched as she stared at the house. The grass was over grown, and weeds were around the flowerbeds surrounding the house.
“Are you okay?” I asked softly.
“Yeah, I just wasn’t expecting it to look like this.”
She climbed out of the car and walked to the porch, her hand sliding up the rail. Flecks of white paint floated onto the stairs. “It’s so strange.”
“What’s strange?”
“I can feel him...my dad.” Turning, her pretty brown eyes gazed out into the horizon as if searching. “It’s like if I look hard enough, I’ll be able to see his patrol car driving up the road, and he’ll honk, just like he used to.”
“If it hurts too much to be here, maybe we should leave.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that. I mean, it does hurt, but it feels like home here. It’s like he’s here with me. I don’t get that feeling when I’m in Houston.”
I had no idea how she did it. She was so strong. Everyone thought that I was the strong one. Probably because I had a loud mouth and I didn’t hold back what I was thinking, especially when it came to anyone hurting my family or friends.
“Hey.” I gave her a nudge. “My parents were serious about you living with us until you graduate.”
“They’re so sweet. But I can’t do that. You all barely have room and then to add me on top of that?”
She wasn’t kidding. There were five of us squeezed into a two-bedroom house. “They love you, Cassie. We don’t turn away family when family needs us.”
“Yeah, but what about Juan? I hate the thought of taking his room.”
“Oh, please! Juan sleeps on the couch more than he sleeps in his room anyway. Besides, we can’t really call it a bedroom, you know.” Juan’s room doubled as the laundry room. The small room had a cot he used as a bed. He complained about it all the time. I once told him that I’d gladly trade places, but he’d have to sleep in the same room with our baby sister, Selina. That shut him up real fast. I guess he didn’t like the idea of changing her diapers.
“Come on. Say ‘yes.’” I tugged her ponytail playfully.
I could tell by the expression on her face that she wanted to give in. She just needed a little nudging.
“You know,” I glanced at my nails, keeping my voice nonchalant, “I could use some help with Selina and Miguelito. Senior year will be totally hectic with classes and all the college admissions essays I have to write, not to mention applying to every college scholarship I can find. I’m not sure when I’ll find the time to do it all, not if I have to take care of them after school.
“Now, if I had someone to help me,” I coughed out Cassie’s name in my hand, “maybe, just maybe, I’ll get lucky and get a scholarship. But if you feel like Juan has to have his own room, well then, I guess I can understand that. I mean, we’re friends after all, and well, I don’t want to make you feel bad or anything like that.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, if you really need me there.” She bit down on her lip.
“Yes, I do.” My lip twitched. “I really do need you.” It wasn’t a lie. I did need help. But what I really wanted was to have my home fry with me.
“Well, okay. If you really—Hey! You tricked me.”
I busted out laughing. “Cassie, you and the guilt work really well together. Are you sure you didn’t go to Catholic school?”
“You’re just too much, Mandi. What would I do without you?”
“You won’t have to be without me. I’ll be on you like brown on rice until the day we die.”
“Don’t you mean white on rice?”
“Have you met me?” I held out my tanned arms.
She laughed, her eyes dancing. “Come on, let’s go. There’s so much I need to do before I go back to Houston this afternoon.”
“Do you have to leave today?” Entwining my arm with hers, we headed back to the car. “Tricia’s having her birthday party at The Dixie tonight. I heard the DJ her uncle hired is from Austin. There might actually be some descent party music playing in this town. No offense, but all this country music is making my left eye twitch every time I hear it. It’s a serious medical condition.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ve lived here for almost four years. I’ll make a Texan out of you if it’s the last thing I do.”
“No! Somebody save me.” I feigned fright.
We giggled hysterically as we climbed into the car. It felt good to hear her laugh again.
“I wish I could stay, but I really should get back. If I’m going to spend the next year here, I want to spend some time with Mom.”
“Okay, but you’re gonna miss out on my totally rad dance moves. And I’ve heard that Cody might be there,” I added, fighting back a smile. I remembered her reaction when Cody Wilde moved back to Koppe. They’d grown up together as friends, and when Cody moved to Utah to be with his mother, Cassie had been devastated. When he finally returned to Koppe, it was like she had come back to life.
“Really? I thought he wasn’t coming back until next week.” Her face lit up at the mention of Cody’s name.
I arched my eyebrow, and she quickly schooled her face into passivity. Ha! I knew it. She liked Cody. He was totally fine—if you liked that hot cowboy thing he had going on.
“He’s back early. I ran into him in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot early this morning. I swear, every time I see him it seems like he grew an inch.”
“He’s that tall, huh?”
“I wasn’t talking about his height?” I waggled my eyebrows.
“Mandi!”
“Hey, just telling it like I see it. Or at least what from I can tell. I told him you were in town, visiting.”
“You did?” Her voice jumped up an octave. Then she looked down and played with a loose thread on her blouse, lowering her voice. “So what did he say?”
“He said, ‘Oh.’”
She furrowed her brow. “Is that all?”
“Well, when I first spoke with him, he said, ‘Hey.’ He’s Cody. What do you expect? A monologue?”
She sighed. “I see what you mean.”
“Well, I did manage to find out that Tricia invited him to the party. He wasn’t planning to go, but when I told him that you might be there, I saw a look.”
Her brown eyes flicked up to mine. “What look?”
“I don’t know. He tipped that cowboy hat of his back with his thumb and squinted his eyes like he was thinking really hard. Then he said, ‘Oh,’ again. Seriously, Cassie, how did you two ever have conversations?”
“You have to get to know him. He can talk your ear off if you let him.”
“I’d rather he nibble my ear off.”
“Mandi!”
I threw my head back, laughing. “Really, Cassie, come to the party. You know you wanna go.”
“I do. But I really should spend time with Mom, even if it is for only two weeks.”
Shaking my head, I pressed my foot on the gas. The engine wheezed as it tried to come to life.
“I have a feeling that in two weeks, our lives will be way different. We’re going to totally rock our senior year.”