Date: Sat, 16 May 2009 05:58:04 -0400
From: Jonathan Matthews <jonafunu@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Untellable Truth About Jake (Chapters 24-26)

Message/Disclaimer: Well everyone, the muse of creativity has struck and I
am submitting this new update in record time! We are really starting the
first steps towards the climax now, so while no sex in the new chapters, a
whole lot happens. As always please let me know what you think!

If you are under 18 or this is illegal where you are then don't read it!

Jonafunu@hotmail.com

----------------

Chapter Twenty Four

    As the sun broke through the window, my eyes opened dimly to find the
still frame of my beloved still entwined with me beneath the sheets. There
was something calming about his skin against my own. Certainly there was an
exciting portion to having him this close and completely naked, but the way
I felt for Colby was something much deeper than sexual. Even in this
moment, as my fingers found their way to caress the contours of his face,
the thoughts on my mind were no more and no less than absolute love and
appreciation for the tiny cherub before me.

    There was once a time in my life where each touch, each kiss, each
unintentional gesture caused me more stress and anxiety than any singular
experience in my life. I found this moment entirely different, entirely
natural. Laying within the embrace of this child I felt a sense of calm and
peace that I never felt before. With every man I thought I loved and every
night spent lying in a stranger's arms, nothing could compare to the truth
and absolute purity of the love that I felt at that exact moment.

    The concept of shrugging my way away from the bed to grab a cup of
coffee and a cigarette appealed to me, but somehow it just didn't seem
right to waste any moment I had with Colby, just like this. I glanced up a
bit and towards the door, still completely shut. I strained to hear the
slightest sound of life within the living space below me, there was
nothing. Stephanie was probably still asleep and it's not as though it
mattered, I had everything that ever mattered to me at that exact moment.

    As I glanced back at Colby's angelic face, I noticed his eyes flicker
as the oceanic blue caught the rays of sunshine just beginning to warm the
frigid room.

    "Morning..." He whispered, with a slight smile appearing on his face.

    "Morning sweetie."

    Colby clung to me more tightly, burying his head into my chest.

    "I love you."

    I smiled warmly, wrapping my arms around him in turn.

    "I love you too..." I whispered in ecstasy and in truth.

    Just as I became accustomed to the concept of laying here for the
duration of the day, a sudden knock came on the door.

    "Colby! You've got five minutes to get up you've got to get ready for
school!"

    My moment of pleasure had been blown, it was amazing how easy it was to
forget that he was just a boy.

    Colby groaned, rubbing his forehead into my chest.

    "I'll be up in a sec!"

    I smiled and backed away a little, looking at Colby's exhausted eyes
with love and understanding. It had been a few years since I had a Mom
yelling at me to get ready for school, but I remembered how aggravating it
was.

    "Do I have to go?" Colby whined a little, looking more like a nine year
old than he had the entire evening.

    "Gotta listen to Mom." I smiled a little and ruffled his hair with my
left arm.

    He groaned and sat up, I watched his little bum as he dragged towards
his chest of drawers to grab a pair of underwear and a clean t-shirt. He
walked towards the door, only turning briefly enough to smile at me "You
gonna get up so you can walk me to the bus stop?"

    I smiled and nodded. Sleep really held no more promise for me as the
most comfortable part of the moment had left. I laid still just long enough
to hear the shower turn on and managed to will my body off the bed and
towards the stairs.

–

    "Good morning!" Stephanie smiled as she saw me enter the dining room. I
gave the best smile I could, regardless of such a pleasant awakening I
could hardly be called a morning person.

    "Any..." before I could finish my sentence Stephanie had begun pouring
a fresh cup of coffee for me. My slight morning smile turned into a grin.

    "Momma knows what you need." She giggled a little and patted my cheek,
depositing the warm cup into my waiting hand.

    As I sat down at the table and absorbed the smell of breakfast, I
couldn't help but watch Stephanie. She seemed somehow more animated than
she ever had before. What boundless energy she had lost with age had
reawakened, and while I had known her to make breakfast in the morning for
the whole house on more than one occasion, I had never known her to do so
with such glee.

    "Why are you in such a good mood?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee
and closing my eyes slightly as I began to feel my body regain motor
function.

    "I'm not really sure, I guess just having you here and the Christmas
tree and all... it's really starting to feel like my family is complete."
She smiled gently at me, opening a waffle iron and depositing a generous
amount of batter within.

    "I couldn't agree more." I smiled in return, although the reason for my
good mood was a bit more complicated than her own.

    "Are you off today?"

    I nodded, the thought of work hadn't even entered my mind and already
she was trying to ruin that. Mothers, I tell ya!

    "The mechanic hasn't called yet, do you want me to give him a call for
you?"

    My stomach sunk, I had completely forgotten about my car.

    "I can call if you have the number."

    She nodded and handed me the phone.

    "Just hit redial."

    As my finger hovered above the button a feeling of general exhaustion
began to creep over me. I wasn't exactly in the mood to have my good spirit
crushed.

    "I guess all good things must come to an end..." I murmured to no one
in particular.

    As I hit the button and listened to the phone dial, I couldn't help but
hold my breath. I had an attachment to my car, and yet I felt as though her
time had finally come. It was all the same, not everything could last
forever, as desirable as that would be.

    "Hello?" The gruff voice on the other end echoed into my ear.

    "Um, hello. My name is Jake, Stephanie's friend, I believe you have my
car?"

    "Yes, yes, hold on a moment."

    I heard a distant clanking sound in the background and the shifting of
various papers.

    "Pacifica?"

    "Yes..." I replied rather hoarsely, trying to swallow a lump in my
throat that had no desire to go down.

    "The engine block is cracked, fuel line needs replacing, engine coil
overheated... basically we're looking at something well above what the car
is worth. Now if you want I can start on it but I'm going to need at least
three thousand up front."

    I sat still for a moment, absorbing each word as though it were
radiation.

    "I, uh, well..."

    I looked at Stephanie who was watching intently.

    "What options do I have for... sending her off?"

    "Well I have a guy that buys junk cars for two hundred bucks."

    My eyes shut, the eight thousand I payed for the thing three years ago
seemed a distant memory.

    "I guess then that's what we'll have to do..."

    "Hey look man I'm sorry, I'll knock the tow bill down to $200 and we'll
just call it even. How does that sound."

    I nodded before replying with a near silent "alright" and shut the
phone off, placing it on the table before me. I'm not sure if I'll ever
gain the ability to like change.

    "What did he say?" Stephanie asked, placing a freshly cooked waffle in
front of me.

    "She's gone, not worth the trouble..."

    Stephanie tried her best to console me but it was no use, I would never
outgrow my need to hold on to everything around me. I wasn't a fan of
change, this much was certain, but it was an eventuality that I had to
accept. By the time I convinced myself to take another sip of coffee and
entertain the idea of eating my waffle, Colby bounded down the stairs and
into the dining room with as much energy as ever.

    "Waffles!" He exclaimed, grabbing his plate from the counter and
setting himself down in front of me to dig in. I couldn't help but smile,
it was absolutely amazing how immune he was.

    Stephanie scooted next to him and began to dig into her own. I poked
mine with the fork a little before finally cutting a piece off and shoving
it into my mouth.

    "Are you still gonna walk me to the bus stop?" Colby asked, looking up
right before he took another bite.

    I chewed and swallowed. "Sure, I said I would didn't I?"

    He smiled and nodded, returning to his breakfast unfazed.

    Stephanie smiled at me a little before taking another bite and then
returning her gaze directly to mine.

    "You know Marco's Dad has a car lot."

    I blinked a little, I think I remembered hearing that in the past but
the fact had escaped my mind.

    "I guess I'll give him a call in a little bit then."

    She smiled and returned to her food. I suddenly felt a little bit of
relief come over me and I took another bite of my waffle. As soon as I
managed to swallow it, Colby announced his finishing and jumped up from the
table to collect his things.

    I managed to stuff a good deal into my mouth before he ran into the
dining room, messenger bag in tow. "I'm ready!"

    I smiled and stood, wiping my mouth and taking a huge swig of coffee.

    "Let's get going then."

–

    "Its cold!" Colby exclaimed, trying his best to stay warm against the
cold breeze cutting through him.

    I smiled and stifled a laugh, "Well it did snow after all."

    Colby sighed a little, "Why couldn't they just cancel school?"

    I laughed, "Well, It's not THAT bad is it?"

    Colby managed to unwrap his arms from around his chest and squeeze his
hand into mine.

    "I'm sorry about your car."

    I smiled and squeezed his hand a little. "It's fine, all good things
must come to an end."

    We walked a little further with Colby being abnormally silent. I kept
my gaze on him as I observed his eyes carefully surveying his surroundings
so as not to trip.

    "What do you want to do when you get out of school?" I queried, trying
to break the uncomfortable silence between us.

    Colby looked at me for a moment and then back to his feet. "I dunno..."

    I squeezed his hand a little bit. "Is there something wrong?"

    Colby laughed a little and smiled. "Nope! Just thinking."

    "About?" I asked.

    "About not wanting to go to school, about Christmas vacation, about
you. Lots of stuff." He replied without breaking stride.

    "What about me?"

    He giggled a little. "I thought last night was fun."

    I smiled and wrapped my arm around his shoulder. "So did I."

    By the time the sight of the other children came into view, Colby
seemed to become as energetic as usual, bounding through the snow as best
he could. He ran towards them with me following in the distance.

    I took a moment to look over his classmates and a funny sort of thing
occurred to me. My entire life, as a boy lover, I had always looked at boys
in measure of their attractiveness. Now that I stared at them, and mind you
the whole lot of them were quite attractive, I felt nothing but just a
genuine feeling of looking on the mundane, the everyday. The only thing
that I found attractive at that very moment was Colby. I smiled a little,
trying not to feel completely dejected by his desire to join his friends.

    As I stood a few feet behind, watching Colby animatedly discuss
Christmas vacation with the other boys, the distant sound of a school bus
approaching became prevalent and I watched as everyone scooped up their
back packs and lunches and prepared to board.  I looked at Colby one last
time before turning to walk back towards the house.

    "JAKE!" I heard Colby call, I turned suddenly to see him running
towards me. He fell into me, wrapped his arms tightly around me and buried
his face into my stomach.

    "Promise to be here when I get home?"

    I smiled and nodded, "Yep!"

    He grinned at me a very toothy and genuine grin. "I love you."

    I smiled back, "I love you too."

    Colby ran back to his friends and onto the bus. I stood and watched as
he took his seat and waved to me just as the bus began to pull away from
the curve. I smiled and waved back, watching just long enough for the bus
to disappear and began my walk back towards Stephanie's.

Chapter Twenty Five

    By the time I ascended the stairs and opened the front door, Stephanie
came bounding up already dressed for the day.

    "I went ahead and called Marco for you, he said that you can either
stop in by yourself or he can take you tomorrow."

    I smiled and nodded. "I guess I'll wait until tomorrow."

    Stephanie smiled a little, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

    "What's up with you?" I asked, laughing a little.

    "I think we need to get back on your packing."

    I groaned a little, the idea of actual manual labor didn't appeal to me
at all.

    "Really? Today?"

    Stephanie punched me in the chest playfully. "If not now, then when?"

    I shrugged and sighed. "I guess your right, at least let me get a
shower first."

    She smiled and nodded.

    I climbed the stairs towards the bathroom and tried my best to empty my
mind completely. Obviously Colby was okay, and despite my moment of
momentary dejection he still managed to remember to hug me. A million
thoughts began to run through my mind, like how he would react to me during
that moment were he a teenager. I felt a little bit of anxiety rise inside
me as I tried to remove my pajama bottoms without killing myself.

    By the time I removed my shirt and nearly tripped over the toilet, I
decided to just stand still for a moment and collect myself. I stared into
the mirror at my tired face, examining my eyes and my ruffled hair.

    "He's just a kid..." I said to my reflection.

    'And you are an adult, you have no business being with him.' I replied
to myself inside of my head.

    "He loves me, he enjoys everything we do together. Isn't that enough?"
I said to my mind in reply.

    'There is something to be said about age. He's going to outgrow you,
he's going to loose interest. What the hell is a teenager going to want to
do with an old man like you?' My mind spoke again and my eyes became wider
than ever.

    "Colby won't always be nine..." I whispered.

    My hands rose and covered my face completely. I felt the need to
scream, to run, to hide. What exactly had I gotten myself into? Colby loved
me, this much I knew, but truly it couldn't be in the same way. He would
age, he would tire of me, he would go on to greener pastures. Then what of
me? What would I do? Still remain at the coffee shop under the command of
Benjamin and watch Stephanie grow old? Maybe it was time for me to start
looking at colleges after all...

    "NO!" I yelled at the mirror, letting my hands fall to my side.

    "Everything is fine. You're just looking too far into this."

    I smiled a little, trying to reassure myself. Maybe I was going crazy,
but I wasn't about to let it ruin my day. I leaned over to turn on the
shower and climbed in, letting the warm water wash away what my reasoning
was unable to.

–

    "You know when God made queens, I don't think he intended them to ride
the bus." I commented in a condescending manner as we stood under a bus
shelter a few blocks down.

    "You're no better than me." Stephanie replied, sticking her tongue out
at me playfully.

    I rolled my eyes, I knew it was true, but I had avoided public
transportation for as long as was humanly possible. I was a child of the
south, and as such everyone I knew from home had their own car. To take
public transportation in the south was a dangerous feat to say the
least. What with disease, murderers, shady people... I had been told on
more than one occasion that Portland was quite different, I just wasn't
ready to experience it.

    By the time the bus approached and the doors swung open, I felt myself
frozen in place. Stephanie provided a nudge that set me to walking up the
stairs. I deposited the two dollars into the cashier box, turned towards
the other passengers, and walked as quickly as I could to an empty seat to
sit and stare at the floor.

    Stephanie sat next to me, laughing a little, and patted my
shoulder. "You know if you keep looking down like that you'll just be an
easy target for serial killers."

    I shot her the evil eye only causing her to burst into giggles. I was
very grateful that there wasn't a tremendous distance between our two
homes. Only one bus was required, so I wouldn't have to run to another
shady vehicle of doom any time soon. I did my best to stay as calm as
possible, staring out the window and catching sight of where my car had
been the night before. My stomach fell a little for the second time that
day.

    "We've got about five stops to go." Stephanie spoke, patting my hand.

    I nodded, finally sitting back and trying to relax a little. My eyes
shot across the bus looking at the various passengers. They all looked like
completely normal people. A man in a fast food uniform, an old lady with
her grandchild, a pregnant woman with a shopping bag. Maybe I had blown
this whole thing out of proportion?

    By the time we reached my home I found myself a tad bit more
comfortable, and with a quick pull of the above wire to request the next
stop, we both stood together and walked back into the freezing cold.

    "Shit your pants yet?" Stephanie giggled as I playfully hit her aside
her head.

    "Yuck it up there Ms. Comedian."

    As we approached my soon to be former home, I felt a tiny pang of
remembrance about all the times I'd had there. It was the second place I'd
lived in Portland. When I first drove in about a month after my Mother's
funeral, I had stayed with a friend of a friend in Hawthorne and gained
quite an affinity for the neighborhood. Several disastrous jobs later, and
several moments spent thinking that maybe the west coast wasn't the right
place for me, found me in a coffee shop downtown perusing the paper for
anything after having been fired just an hour before.

–

    A tall barista approached me with violent red hair, red lipstick and a
pair of heels on that could kill. "Can I get anything for you?"

    I shrugged, finally looking up from the paper with a look that could
only be described as pure desperation written across my face.

    "I guess a latte would be fine..."

    The waitress stood silently for a moment before laughing a little.

    "Can't find a job?"

    I nodded a little, placing my index finger and thumb to my temples. "So
it would seem..."

    She looked up at the dark ceiling for a moment before returning her
gaze to me.

    "I never said anything about it, but apparently there's a new coffee
shop opening out on 121st thats looking for someone. I know it's not much
but from what I hear the owner is crazy and pays pretty well."

    I removed my hand and looked up at her with a smile on my face. "Thanks
I appreciate the tip."

    She nodded and disappeared behind the counter, leaving me to my
thoughts in the booth. Just as a quick review of the paper revealed nothing
interesting and my general disdain for job hunting struck me, I noticed a
slender Asian woman entering the front door with a violently red top and a
ripped up sign in her hands.

    "Take it! I need a drink!"

    The woman threw the sign on the counter and sat a few tables down from
me, burying her face in her hands and sighing as loudly as she could. The
baristas behind the counter seemed unphased and merely deposited the
remnants of the sign in a trash can behind the counter. I couldn't help but
shake my head a little.

    "These people are crazy..." I spoke as quietly as I could.

    The Asian woman leaned backwards to get a look at me and smiled.

    "Hey, I've never seen you before."

    I blinked a little and looked back down at the paper, hoping some
previously unforeseen opportunity would suddenly appear.

    "Um yeah I'm new in town and all so..." I replied, trying to sound as
undisturbed as possible.

    She stood and walked over, plopping down in the seat in front of me.

    "Hard day?" She asked, taking my hand in hers and looking at me with a
face of genuine concern.

    I looked up at her, trying to hide my surprise as much as possible.

    "Pretty much."

    She smiled and grabbed my hand tightly. "I'm Susan, what's your name?"

    "Jake" I replied.

    "Nice to meet you Jake. What's your problem?" She asked, sitting back
and lighting a cigarette she pulled from her pocket.

    "I don't think you're supposed to do that in here." I commented.

    "What the fuck do I care? It's not like they're going to throw me
out. People on the west coast hate confrontation."

    I laughed a little, shaking my head at the audacity of this strange
woman.

    "Well I just got fired, again, and I was trying to find something. That
woman over there told me there was a coffee shop opening up on 121st."

    Her eyebrows arched with intrigue as she released my hand and took
another draw of her cigarette.

    "Looks like we have the same problem, wanna go check it out together?"

    I shrugged, "I guess so..."

    She took her pack of cigarettes out of her pocket and extended them to
me.

    "Want one?"

    "No thanks, I don't smoke."

    Susan laughed violently. "Why not? Somethings gotta kill you doesn't
it?"

    I smirked a little, taking a cigarette from the pack and stuffing it
into my mouth. She removed a lighter and lit the tip. I inhaled deeply,
taking the first breath of nicotine since I was a kid.  I didn't cough, I
didn't hack, I merely felt a sensation of familiarity fall over me. What
the hell was with this woman?

    "Well look we can't be spending our money all willy nilly on coffee,
we've got a job to get!" She stood up suddenly and grabbed my arm,
extracting me from my seat and dragging me towards the front. I caught
glimpse of the barista behind the counter shaking her head and depositing
my latte into the sink.

–

    "I guess it's not a complete shit hole?" I said, trying to hide my
laughter as much as possible. Susan and I were sitting in my Pacifica in
the driveway of what would one day be our place.

    "You just have to look at it in the right way! I mean yeah, the
shingles are falling off and it could use some paint, but the woman only
wants four hundred a month! That's like two hundred a piece! Plus we're
totally close to work dude." She winked, making a mock valley girl accent
at the end.

    I shrugged a little, turning off the ignition and opened the door. As
we both stepped out and walked towards the porch, we saw a note taped on
the door with an unfamiliar handwriting etched across it.

    Dear Susan.
        I apologize for my absence but I had an issue to take care of.
    Please feel free to show yourself around. The key is beneath the door
mat.
    Please return it when you're done.
    Sincerely,
    Marcy Kipperling

    Susan grinned from ear to ear. "Alright! House party!"

    I laughed a little, bending over and freeing the key from it's
prison. I unlocked the door and swung it open, the smell of stale air hit
both of us only causing Susan to smile all that much more.

    "Something unpretentious! I love it!" She bounded in as though she
owned the place.

    I shook my head again, a habit I had become accustomed to since
befriending her. We had gotten the job at the coffee house and had worked
there for nearly two months now. When Susan originally brought up the idea
of becoming roomies, I was against the idea, but now that she had found
this piece of junk, I was fairly certain my first thoughts on the subject
were the right ones.

    "You've gotta see this backyard! It's great!" Susan called.

    I sighed and stepped in, closing the door behind me and pushing the key
into my pocket. As I walked towards the kitchen and saw Susan standing
there, I noticed what she was looking at. The backyard was fairly large,
and another house off to the side seemed to be uninhabited for the moment.

    "I think it's really great! I'm sold!" Susan exclaimed.

    I looked at her as though she were insane. "We haven't even seen the
bedrooms yet."

    "Don't have to, you can tell everything you need to know about a place
by the kitchen."

    I looked around at the seventies decor, lime green linoleum flooring
and brown refrigerator and tried to contain myself.

    "Are you serious?"

    Susan grumbled and grabbed my hand, placing it on the counter.

    "Do you feel that? The nicks? The crannies? The ware? The tear?
Somebody loved this place."

    I smiled a little, Susan had such a unique way of looking at things.

    "I just don't know..." I said, sighing a little.

    "Oh damn it, I'll pay the deposit and I'll even buy furniture! Please
say yes!"

    I looked at her and smiled, "Sure, why not?"

    Susan hugged me as tightly as she could. I had begun what would be the
beginning of a very different chapter in my life.

–

    "You alright?" Stephanie asked as we approached the porch. I didn't
realize I had been so deep in thought for so long.

    "Yeah just thinking about this old place." I smiled a little, patting a
loose piece of siding by the door that had never been repaired.

    Stephanie smiled in return. "All good things must come to an end, you
said so yourself. Plus change isn't all that bad."

    I nodded. "Guess you're right."

Chapter Twenty Six

    Taking care of the bathroom and my solitary bedroom proved to be fairly
easy. Susan's room was empty except for a bed, and that was going to be
picked up by the charity truck before I moved. Absolutely everything was
packed, and for all intensive purposes I was completely ready to move.

    As we both collapsed on the couch, I looked over at Stephanie who
maintained her general air of delight.

    "Trying to get me moved by Christmas?"

    Stephanie nodded, "I think it would be nice for Susan to see you all
set up and comfortable since she'll be here Wednesday."

    I nodded in return, it would be. As crazy as Susan was, she was
genuinely concerned for my well fare. I knew that it would please her if
she knew someone was taking care of me.

    "What time is it anyway?"

    I glimpsed at my laptop on the side table and opened it slightly.

    "Noon on the dot."

    Stephanie smiled, "Didn't take as long as I thought."

    I nodded. I wasn't entirely sure why she ever doubted her
abilities. She was the most organized and results driven person I had ever
met. Just when I was about to say as much the door bell rang and I was
driven away from my thoughts.

    "Who could that be?"

    I rose from the sofa and walked towards it to gaze out of the peep
hole. On the other side I saw Marco, tapping his foot impatiently and
looking fairly frazzled. I unlocked the door and swung it open, raising an
eyebrow at his appearance.

    "Dude, what's up?" I asked.

    "Hey! Wasn't sure if you were here or not. I managed to get the day off
do you want to go down to the lot?"

    I blinked a little and then just shrugged. "Guess so. What time does
Colby get off the bus?" I turned to look at Stephanie briefly.

    "Oh you've got time, he won't be back until three-thirty."

    I nodded and smiled. I felt a tad dirty, but I guessed I looked alright
for looking at cars. I bid my goodbyes to Stephanie who assured me she'd be
perfectly fine using mass transit and walked outside with Marco, his little
Honda waiting in the driveway. As I climbed in and fastened the seat belt,
Marco slid next to me and smiled a little, putting the car in reverse and
heading down the road.

    "Sorry about your car dude, I'm sure my Dad can come up with something
good for you though."

    I smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate it. It's been a rough night I'll tell
you."

    Marco laughed a little, "Yeah I can't imagine being without my baby."
His hand briefly ran across his dashboard.

    Of course he had no idea what I meant, hell I had absolutely no idea
what I meant.

    "Almost there." Marco commented, turning onto an empty street and
heading further into southeast Portland.

    I nodded, looking at the window at the various businesses as we
passed. I wasn't exactly accustomed to being a passenger and the whole
experience was slightly unnerving. I had to admit though, Marco was a
pretty good driver.

    Marco, as my co-worker and as someone who I admired, was always the
sort of man that I couldn't exactly figure out. When he worked he was
fairly quiet, never once brought up his love life and that was the end of
it. He seemed simple enough, but there was always that aura of something
more. Everyone knew his Dad had money, although the fact he owned a
dealership had escaped my mind entirely.

    As soon as I had managed to retract myself from my thoughts, we were
pulling into a used car dealership and Marco seemed to be pleased with
himself.

    "We're here!"

    I smiled and nodded, opening my door as soon as the car came to a stop
and stepping out. Marco joined me at my side, grabbing my hand and dragging
me towards the business office. I couldn't help but blush a little.

    "Hey Dad!" Marco shouted, waving at a man in his mid-fifties with
graying hair and a cheesy blue suit.

    The man waved back, completely oblivious to the fact that his adult son
was holding my hand and dragging me towards him.

    As soon as we approached him and I looked down on the man who was
significantly shorter than his son, He smiled and held out his hand.

    "Marcus Tetrazelli the Second, pleasure to meet you!"

    I shook his hand and smiled. "Jake Bryant, good to meet you as well."

    "So I understand you need a new car? What are we looking at here,
something luxurious, something big, something fun?"

    I laughed a little, I had a general distrust of automobile dealers and
absolutely no knowledge of the inner workings of a car. I almost felt
secure having Marco there, even if this guy was his father.

    "Whatever two thousand down can get me I suppose. I guess I need
something big so I can fit comfortably."

    I waved my hand up and down, pointing out my obvious height issue.

    Mr. Tetrazelli nodded. "Well that's a little tight around these parts."

    Marco cleared his throat, wrapping his arms around his chest and
tapping his foot.

    "Fine! Fine! Give me a minute to work some magic."

    Marco's Father quickly disappeared into the business office and I
looked at Marco with as much gratitude as I could muster.

    "Thanks I appreciate that."

    Marco winked, his bright green eyes staring back at me. "Anything for
you."

    I couldn't help but really stand there and look at Marco. Seeing him
outside of the uniform made him an entirely different person. His black
hair was playfully styled atop his head, his bright green eyes animated and
examining everything around him with an almost child like curiosity. His
olive like complexion, an obvious inheritance from his Italian
ancestry. For the first time in my life, I noticed exactly how attractive
Marco was. I couldn't help but blush.

    Marco winked and grabbed my hand again, dragging me over to a picnic
table next to the business office and sitting on top of it.

    "So why are you being so nice to me anyway?" I asked, curious as to
what was going on.

    Marco shrugged, "Guess I still feel a little guilty upsetting you about
the whole college thing."

    I smiled a little, "Been over that awhile but I appreciate it. I'm even
thinking about going now, actually."

    My thoughts from earlier that day came dangerously close to flooding
back. What I said wasn't a lie, as much as I liked to avoid the possibility
I knew that I eventually would have to make the leap. Whether I would be
capable of extrapolating myself from Colby or not was another question
entirely.

    "That's great!" Marco announced.

    As soon as Marco was about to speak again, his Father flung the door
open and walked towards us.

    "Alright here's the deal. I've got a 2007 Suburban I can't sell because
of the gas prices. I got it for three grand but I'll just let you have it
for the two k. How's that?"

    My eyes grew fairly large. This was pretty unbelievable. I guess that
having a friend with a Dad that owned a dealership was pretty helpful. I
contained the urge to hug the guy right then and there.

    "Yes! Thank you! That would be wonderful!"

    "Anything for a friend of my boy." He patted Marco's cheek just causing
him to grin fiercely.

    As he disappeared into the office again to draw up the papers, Marco
pointed across the way at the lone black Suburban in the far lot. It
reminded me very much of something you'd find in a presidential
barricade. It was significantly larger than my Pacifica and looked pretty
foreboding. I had no room to complain, an automobile was an automobile and
there were quite a few people that saved up for years to have as much.

    "Don't think you'll ever see a cheap tank of gas again, but what do you
think?" Marco asked with curiosity.

    I smiled at him, placing my eyes off the behemoth and back into his
green eyes. "Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to me."

    "Anytime." Marco smiled and place his hand on my chest. He leaned
upwards, his slender 5'7" frame positioned towards me as he gently kissed
me on the lips. My cheeks became violently red and I began to feel my knees
become weak. Before I had the slightest chance to protest or ask him what
was running through his mind, he was biding me goodbye.

    "Sorry but I have a friend I have to meet. I'll call you later so we
can catch up."

    I was left entirely speechless, the only thing I could do was manage a
strange sound and wave a little. I watched Marco walk towards the Honda and
climb inside. As he drove off, my fingers found their way to my lips,
holding there for just a moment.

    "What the hell?"