"What?" She asked.
"Promise me you will never get into any car, with anyone who's been drinking. Especially not your boyfriend's. Are you still seeing him?"
"Yes I'm still seeing him!" She barked at me. "What does that have to do with anything? And I never get into a car with someone who's been drinking.
You should know that."
"I know Tracy." I said. "And that's what worries me. I don't know if the drinking part is a pre-determined factor in this. I don't know much of anything about the rules. I'm not even sure there ARE any rules."
"Rules to what?" She asked. "Where do you come up with these things Bill? You scare me sometimes."
"It's a long story." I answered. "A very long one. Does your boyfriend drink?"
"What?"
"Does he drink?"
"Yes." She said. "He's a college student. We all drink."
"What kind of car does he drive?" I asked next.
"A Corvette." She answered. This should have made me feel better. But it didn't. "Why are you worried about Darren? What does his car and whether or not he drinks have to do with anything? I didn't die that day Bill. Somehow, some way you knew about that. I don't know how. But it's over now. I'm still alive and nothing is going to happen to me. Nothing!"
"Tracy," I pleaded. "Just promise me you won't ever get in the car with him after he's been drinking. Promise me."
"Yes Bill," She recited. "I promise. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
Actually there was. I wanted to talk about Nina to her, get her feelings on the matter, get advice from her, tell her that she was right and I was wrong. But she didn't seem in the mood for it just then. It would have to wait.
"No Tracy." I answered. "I just want you to be careful. I worry about you."
"I can take care of myself Bill." She said shortly. "I've gotta go."
"Goodbye Tracy." I said. "Thanks for talking to me."
"Goodbye Bill." She answered. A second later there was a click in the earpiece.
I hung up Dad's phone and sat there for a few moments. I could only hope that I'd done some good. Because there was nothing else I could do.
The next day at school I was met first thing in the morning my some of Mike's fabrications and exaggerations. I can't begin to tell you how glad I was to hear them.
"Dude," He said excitedly to me. "Guess what?"
"Hey Mike." I greeted. "Suspension's over?"
"Yeah," He nodded. "But that's not all. I'm back in ROP."
I breathed a silent sigh of thanks to Mrs. Compleigh. "Really?" I asked. "That's cool. How'd that happen?" I was actually sort of curious to see how it had transpired.
"Well, I guess the battalion chief over at the fire department really racked that asshole captain's ass for yelling at me and kicking me out of there. The BC told the counselor that he wanted me back like yesterday." He gave a self-satisfied grin. "At least HE knows what he's got going with me on the department."
"I guess so." I agreed.
"So anyway, they want me to go talk to the BC today and they're going to reassign me to a different station. Station 2 this time. They got a truck and an engine running out of there."
"No shit?" I said, gaining a lot of information from what he was saying despite his embellishments. Station 2, another downtown station, did indeed deploy a truck and an engine. It also was the home, at least in my when, of the battalion chief for that battalion. I figured they had probably decided to move Mike there so that more people, including the boss, could keep an eye on him. He wouldn't be trusted for a while, would in fact face a long, hard road in that endeavor. But at least he was back in.
"Yeah," He strutted. "I hear they're gonna bust that captain back down to engineer for all of this."
"Well," I answered. "That may be so Mike, but if I was you, I'd lay off the buds while I was at the work site. I don't think they'll let you back in if they catch you doing that again. Or even if they THINK you're doing it again."
"Yeah, I know." He said dismissively. "That's what the counselor told me too. I guess I can wait until I get home. So anyway, they tossed out the application for independent study. So I guess I'll hang out for the rest of the year after all."
"Glad it worked out Mike." I told him. "And if you want to keep coming over to have me help with your homework, I'm home the same hours."
"I'll be there." He said.
As I headed to my first class of the day I had a careful smile on my face. At least I'd steered Mike back to where he'd been. The rest would be up to him and if he blew it again I would be forced to concede the inevitability of his loser status. But for now he was back on track. Or back off track if you prefer.
When my alarm clock woke me up the next morning the first sound I heard upon shutting it off was the patter of rain against my window. I sighed as I pondered walking to school in a downpour again. As I listened to the precipitation against the glass I came to a decision on a matter I'd been mulling over for some time.
After showering I went down to breakfast and picked up the business section as usual.
"How are the stocks doing today?" Dad asked from behind the sports page.
"Up a little again." I told him, doing some quick calculations in my head based on some figures I'd added up a few days before. The latex industry was slowly climbing at this point but had yet to do anything dramatic. It would before too much longer went by. But in the meantime I was funneling all of my spare income into those stocks. The added capital plus the gains in the price added up to more than two thousand dollars of available income.
Not a fortune, but not bad either.
I flipped through the business section and found the classified ads. After five minutes of perusal I had a pretty good idea of what I was looking at.
"Dad," I said. "Can you cash out six hundred dollars worth of my stocks today? Three hundred from each company?"
He slid his paper down and looked at me. "What for?" He asked.
"I need to buy a car." I told him. "I refuse to walk to school in the rain anymore."
We talked that matter over for a few minutes, as fathers like to do with their sons. He agreed to cash out the stock but made me promise to take him with me when I went out looking. He would keep me from being screwed he told me. Knowing that I didn't really need his help to keep from getting screwed but also knowing that buying the first car was one of those things that father's lived for, I agreed.
I was very excited about the prospect of going out car shopping on Saturday.
Excited enough to dampen the depression the rain had brought. But my mood was changed in an instant when Mom came into the living room.
Casually, she said to me, "Oh Billy, Anita called last night."
"Anita?" I said as tonelessly as I could manage.
"Yes." She nodded. "She wanted to know if you could swing by after school today and help her change the oil on her car before you go to work. I told her you probably wouldn't mind doing that."
"You did?" I said.
Mom gave me a strange look. "That's okay, isn't it?" She asked. "You're usually able to help her out when she asks."
"Uh…" I stammered, my mind whirring. "Well actually I have a lot of homework to catch up on today."
"Bill, its Friday." She told me. "Can't it wait?"
"No." I shook my head. "It's chemistry. If I don't do it right after school I, uh, forget all of the formulas and stuff."
Mom looked at me for a minute, her mother instinct probably being jigged by my words. But finally she shrugged. "Okay." She said. "But will you try to do it this weekend sometime?"
"I'll uh, see what I can do Mom." I said carefully.
"Thank you Billy." She answered, looking at me with a troubled expression.
Had I really believed that Anita was going to fade away that easily? I guess I had.
That night when I went to bed my testosterone got the better of me. There was only one way to relieve it and manage some sleep. I took myself in hand and began stroking, an action I'd performed thousands upon thousands of times before in my two lives. I thought of Nina as I did it, almost against my will. Never had a fantasy been so vivid, so real to me. It only took a minute or so before my fantasy Nina's job was complete and I was drifting off into a troubled slumber.