probably going to tell me to get out and walk home. I deserved it.
“Quincy, I already regret what I’m going to say right now.”
Here it comes, I thought. I reached for the door handle in anticipation of getting the boot.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“I’m getting out of the car; you don’t have to say anything. For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry. I have an overactive imagination and sometimes I don’t have a very good censor when it comes to sharing things that I’m thinking.”
“Sometimes? You mean there’s more in there that you haven’t said out loud? You’re nuts, do you know that? Don’t get out of the car, that’s not why I pulled over.”
“Why did you pull over?”
“I must be nuts too. There’s something I want to tell you and I pulled over so that I wouldn’t wreck the car. Quincy, for some strange reason, for which I’m sure I will realize later and want to strangle myself, I am very attracted to you, despite the fact that I think you might be a crazy person.”
“I...” Again, rendered speechless by Alex.
“I’ve been laying it on pretty thick since I met you. I mean, I’m not all that bad am I? Elma thinks I’m O.K., that should count for something shouldn’t it?”
“You’re so much more than not that bad. It’s just that I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to be serious with anyone again.” Tears were welling up in the corners of my eyes.
“Quincy, lighten up. I’m just looking for some friendship. It’s not like I asked you to marry me. I just don’t understand all the resistance you’re putting up. You seem interested in me; I know you’re interested in looking. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you noticing me.” He smiled at me wickedly.
I’d been caught with my hand in the cookie jar as the warm, melty, sinfully decadent double chocolate chip cookie smirked at me from the driver’s seat. I sat there with my mouth hanging open.
“Okay, I’m gonna be honest with you. There was a time not long ago, when a guy who said nice things about me would have had me mesmerized. If he told me I was pretty, I would have dropped everything else and followed him around like an obedient dog as if there was no other point to my existence. I did that for a long time. It was very important for me to be the pretty one. Nobody seemed to disagree with me either.
" I wasted precious years of my life trying to be the perfect pretty daughter, and then girlfriend and then wife. I entered beauty pageants as a teenager, and I won some of them. I had no ambition other than to be pretty so that the prince who came and swept me off of my feet could feel proud to have such a trophy at his side. I almost lost my life because I couldn’t see through the lie of that fairy tale. The handsome prince turned out to be the evil monster. I still don’t know how I managed to escape, but I did, and I will never, ever go back there again.”
Alex seemed to look at me with understanding. “Why don’t we get you home and we can finish talking there?”
“Good idea. Blegh, I didn’t mean for things to turn into a Lifetime channel movie. You’re right, I need to lighten up. Let’s change the subject again. When’s your next date with Elma?”
He laughed. “I don’t know. I think she might be too much woman for me. My butt still hurts where she pinched me.”
As we turned the corner to land on my street, a little red pick up truck sped past.
“Oh shit!” Alex exclaimed.
I turned to look at what had caused him to curse, and gasped. My chest felt like someone was stomping on it and squeezing all of my air out. Orange flames about two feet high licked upward near my front porch. The fire burned from a hydrangea bush I had helped my Grandma to plant. Alex slammed the truck to a stop, jumped out and ran over to the hose. He grabbed it and aimed the sprayer full blast at the
“Quincy, I already regret what I’m going to say right now.”
Here it comes, I thought. I reached for the door handle in anticipation of getting the boot.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“I’m getting out of the car; you don’t have to say anything. For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry. I have an overactive imagination and sometimes I don’t have a very good censor when it comes to sharing things that I’m thinking.”
“Sometimes? You mean there’s more in there that you haven’t said out loud? You’re nuts, do you know that? Don’t get out of the car, that’s not why I pulled over.”
“Why did you pull over?”
“I must be nuts too. There’s something I want to tell you and I pulled over so that I wouldn’t wreck the car. Quincy, for some strange reason, for which I’m sure I will realize later and want to strangle myself, I am very attracted to you, despite the fact that I think you might be a crazy person.”
“I...” Again, rendered speechless by Alex.
“I’ve been laying it on pretty thick since I met you. I mean, I’m not all that bad am I? Elma thinks I’m O.K., that should count for something shouldn’t it?”
“You’re so much more than not that bad. It’s just that I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to be serious with anyone again.” Tears were welling up in the corners of my eyes.
“Quincy, lighten up. I’m just looking for some friendship. It’s not like I asked you to marry me. I just don’t understand all the resistance you’re putting up. You seem interested in me; I know you’re interested in looking. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you noticing me.” He smiled at me wickedly.
I’d been caught with my hand in the cookie jar as the warm, melty, sinfully decadent double chocolate chip cookie smirked at me from the driver’s seat. I sat there with my mouth hanging open.
“Okay, I’m gonna be honest with you. There was a time not long ago, when a guy who said nice things about me would have had me mesmerized. If he told me I was pretty, I would have dropped everything else and followed him around like an obedient dog as if there was no other point to my existence. I did that for a long time. It was very important for me to be the pretty one. Nobody seemed to disagree with me either.
" I wasted precious years of my life trying to be the perfect pretty daughter, and then girlfriend and then wife. I entered beauty pageants as a teenager, and I won some of them. I had no ambition other than to be pretty so that the prince who came and swept me off of my feet could feel proud to have such a trophy at his side. I almost lost my life because I couldn’t see through the lie of that fairy tale. The handsome prince turned out to be the evil monster. I still don’t know how I managed to escape, but I did, and I will never, ever go back there again.”
Alex seemed to look at me with understanding. “Why don’t we get you home and we can finish talking there?”
“Good idea. Blegh, I didn’t mean for things to turn into a Lifetime channel movie. You’re right, I need to lighten up. Let’s change the subject again. When’s your next date with Elma?”
He laughed. “I don’t know. I think she might be too much woman for me. My butt still hurts where she pinched me.”
As we turned the corner to land on my street, a little red pick up truck sped past.
“Oh shit!” Alex exclaimed.
I turned to look at what had caused him to curse, and gasped. My chest felt like someone was stomping on it and squeezing all of my air out. Orange flames about two feet high licked upward near my front porch. The fire burned from a hydrangea bush I had helped my Grandma to plant. Alex slammed the truck to a stop, jumped out and ran over to the hose. He grabbed it and aimed the sprayer full blast at the
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