Page 5 of Mechanic Next Door
4
Thomas
I lockthe front door of the house, wait thirty seconds, then turn around to walk toward the back door. She’s already half-way to the thicket of trees that form a half-moon around the back our houses when I’m locking up the back door, and I have to jog to catch up toher.
She decided to not put her dress back on over the bathing suit. The waist cuts across the small of her back and the bottoms are a little too small, and the top is tied a little too loosely. She looks sexy as all hell, though, and I decide to hold my comments back, keep them for myself. It’s just the two of us, and if we were anyone else I’d have to tell her not to wear this kind of shit. For now I decide to let her offeasy.
“I have to ask you about something,” she says to me with a turn of herchin.
“I’m an open book,” I say, pushing a branch away as we get to the edge of the trees. I guide her with a hand on the small of her back as I alwaysdo.
“When I first came here, you know how I had to fight to get into that Advanced Placement mathclass?”
“Of course I remember that,” I chuckle. “It was the biggest scandal your high school ever saw. I think the superintendent of the district got your principal into hot water overthat.”
“Shutup!”
She fakes a protest, hitting me with the back of her hand. She hates the idea of getting anyone into trouble. One time she saw a woman at my garage trying to go into the change jar at the front desk to steal enough quarters to buy a soda from the vending machine. She diverted her away from the change and gave her a dollar from her own pocket, thinking if I saw I’d give her the old death-stare. I saw, but I didn’t say anything because I was too busy observing Peach’s small, simple act ofkindness.
“No, you really caused a stink there,” I tease her. “Legend has it that there are academics all over the country using the case of your initial rejection from the AP class as a study in how bureaucracy is used to keep smart girls out of the best mathclasses.”
“You’re smiling, but if you were really my friend, you wouldn’t think this is sofunny.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, throwing my arm around her shoulders. “What do you want to ask meabout?”
“Itwasyou, wasn’tit?”
It was me, but I smile and give her ashrug.
“I don’t know what you mean. I don’t have any pull with the people in thistown.”
“Oh really? So your little visit to the school had nothing to do withit?”
When Peach arrived, she had already taken her SATs. She’d nailed them, too. She received a 750 on the math portion. And she had the transcripts from her high school back in New York and all of the evidence that she should be able to take an Advanced Placement math class. But with all the red tape at the local high school, along with the fact that the class was technically full, the principal wanted her to take a lower-level class. I didn’t think it was a big deal either way. My expertise in all things numerical was attained at community college classes, just a few courses in business, finance and engineering. But Peach was more academically-inclined.
I visited her principal to see if there was anything that could be done. I was old friends with the principal, a very nice but rather strict woman I’d gone to high school with. But with a little explanation of all Peach had been through, she agreed to give her a seat in the class she’dwanted.
I’d told Peach I had run into the principal and was old acquaintances with her, and she immediately demanded to know whether I’d had anything to do with the whole thing being resolved to hersatisfaction.
I denied it because I thought it was cute for her to sweat. Anyway, she could see through my lie because there’s no way for me to deny the truth when I’m around her. She’s so sweet that her eyes act like a truthserum.
“Fine, I admit it,” I exhale. The dock and the lake beyond it come into view and I strip my shirt off over my head and toss it to the ground, my jeans coming off close behind. “But I had to sleep with her to get you into thatclass.”
“Thomas!” she chirps after me as I take off running toward the dock. She catches up to me and I pull her onto my back, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, her legs around my hips so I’m carrying her. We hit the surface of the warm water and it envelopes us, wraps us up. I swim out ahead of her. She pierces the surface and I catch a fast glance at the way her nipples press against her white triangle bikini top. The surface of the water tickles them and I turn to swim away, my cock harder than a rock in myboxers.
“You didn’t really fuck Ms. Weber, did you?” she shouts afterme.
I feel a growl break in my chest at the wordfuck. It’s not like her to talk like this. I shouldn’t be so fast to judge her words, her behavior. I have to keep this little running joke going, though. I feel like it’s the only thing keeping me from locking her legs around my hips and grabbing herass.
“I did,” I tell her. “Had to. You think they let just anyone into thoseclasses?”
She takes a big breath and turns away to swim back to thedock.
“Let’s go back,” she says without turning around. “The water’s toocold.”
I feel my lips pull into a straight line and I swim back to the dock, pulling my jeans and shirt on and shaking my head. By the time I walk up next to her she has her arms around her shoulders and I’m pulling my shirt off to wrap it around her. I shouldn’t have put it on after getting out of the lake. I should have just given it toher.
“Thanks Thomas,” she says softly. “I’ll wash it and give it back to you. Can I get mykeys?”
I fish them out of my pocket and put them in her hand. She walks toward her house and I walk to mine. I wave when I get to my back porch and she does the same, pushing her screen door open. I watch intently but instead of going to the kitchen she goes upstairs. I go inside and throw my keys on the little table by the back door. They clink as they land, but it’s not with the comforting jingle, the sound of getting home. The sound just feels hollow in myears.
