Some Things Change Pt. 01

A few days in, I was under the car on my back when I heard a car drive up and stop nearby. A voice called over the radio, "So this is where that old jalopy got to."

I climbed out from under the car to see the mayor, Lara's father, resting his hand on Lara's car. "Mayor Hammond, what can I do for you?" I asked, keeping my tone polite but detached.

"Heard you were back in town, and helping Lara," he said. "You don't gotta bother, boy, she ain't worth your trouble."

It made me mad that this pompous ass had thrown out his own daughter and refused to help his grandson. Then he had the nerve to come down to tell me to do the same. "All due respect, sir, I was raised thinking that if you can help someone, you should."

"That may be, boy, but usually that help comes back around. She ain't gonna never be able to help you back." He tried to look like he was helpful, like a wise man. "I'm just giving you warning. She's just gonna be a burden on you."

I really resented him trying to give me advice, and hated him calling me 'boy'. I kept my cool, however, as I asked him, "Is that how you run things? Don't help people unless they help you back? A little quid-pro-quo?"

He smiled his most politician-like smile. It made him look like something between a snake and a pig. "Sometimes that's how things get done around here. That's how the world works."

I could have tried to hold my tongue, but I lost my cool. "What would you know about the world, sir?" I saw him get a little heated at that, but I continued, "Have you been out and seen the world? When was the last time you went overseas?" I asked him that last, knowing he'd probably never left the state, much less gone out of the country.

His friendly demeanor quickly eroded. "Now you listen, boy. You go ahead and waste your time on that car and that girl. See if anything comes of it, but nothing will. And if you do, don't expect no help from me." He turned and stomped back to his car.

----

Bachelor parties aren't really a thing in Gideon. There's no strip clubs or anything like that. Plus, many guys get married young, so they can't even legally drink yet anyway. Steve was that type of guy - at 19, going on 20 soon, he'd only ever had alcohol in private with his buddies, and had never seen a naked woman that wasn't in a magazine or on the internet. Therefore, as his older brother, it was my duty to take him out for some bachelor-style fun. Greg came over and we tossed Steve in the car, and headed for the city.

Stop number one was the liquor store, where I bought good beer and Steve bought his piss-water beer. We also each bought a bottle of fine whiskey that we promised we'd give Steve on his wedding day. We each drank a beer in the parking lot before doing anything else. I insisted that Steve's first beer should not be a Coors Lite.

Stop number two was to the local Hooters restaurant, where we ordered too many wings, then proceeded to get some of the waitresses to sit on Steve's lap. Also, seeing as I was the only single one of the three of us, I tried to get the phone number of a very sexy blonde waitress, but she refused, saying she doesn't date her customers. Oh well.

Greg laughed at me when I returned to the table empty handed. "You like blondes, huh?"

I shrugged. "I like that blonde," I pointed back to the girl.

"Well yeah, but I wondered if it was your type. Amanda said you asked her to that spring dance."

"Yeah, that was a long time ago," I said, "Don't worry about me. Anyway, she's probably still mad at me about the other night."

Greg looked at me, trying to determine if I was serious or not. "She's not mad at you," he said. "She thought you were mad at her."

"I kinda was, at the time." I tried to recall the details of that night. "She was trying to blame me for Lara's predicament."

"Well, she'd say she doesn't, but I think she does," Greg told me. "She won't admit it. I don't know the whole story myself, but based on what I do know, it sounds like Lara went off the deep end on her own. Not because you wouldn't take her to the dance. The way I see it, it was when you just left without telling anyone."

Steve nodded. "I think that's about right. I mean, if Prudence just suddenly disappeared, I'd probably do something rash too."

I thought about that. Lara had been crushing on me pretty hard. I tried to imagine swapping places with her. I might have done the same as her. Being a guy, pregnancy wasn't a potential result for me personally, but I could've knocked up a girl, or got some kind of STD. I came to the conclusion that I had a lot of good luck when I left Gideon, and she'd gotten all the bad luck.

----

Since I was driving, I stopped drinking, but Greg and Steve each had another beer in the parking lot before we drove to our final stop: the strip club. Steve was a hesitant good boy, but I told him we just wanted to see a few nice sets of tits, then we'd leave. He insisted on no lap dances, and we reluctantly agreed.

It was a Saturday night, so the A-squad of girls was working. Every girl in there, even the bartender, was very fine-looking. We sat Steve down in front of the stage, gave him some ones, and told him to just sit and watch busty blonde 'Veronica' (probably not her real name) shake her double-Ds around.

When Veronica finished, the DJ started his intro of the next girl. "Thank you Veronica,

now gents we got another beauty on deck, here's Lily."

Lily was a nice looking brunette, with C-cup breasts tucked into a tight little midriff top. Her little matching shorts were tight too, exposing the bottoms of her cute little ass. Greg and Steve both whistled at her, but I was transfixed. Her hair color and her body type reminded me of Lara. I thought about what she looked like that first day I was back in town, in her little white tank top and tight jeans. I looked at her face. It wasn't Lara, of course, but now I couldn't help picturing Lara in the same outfit, doing the same dance moves, crawling towards me seductively.

Suddenly a buxom blonde entered my field of vision. "You boys having fun?" Veronica asked, now with some minimal clothes on, covering up her fun parts.

"Yes we are," I said, "but my little brother's getting married, and he needs some attention." I pointed at Steve.

"You want to buy him a private dance?" she asked me.

"He's trying to be a good boy, so no thanks, but a little bit of rubbing won't hurt him." I held up a twenty.

She took it, lifted her shirt to reveal the girls once again, and went to him. It was worth every penny of my $20 to see Veronica quickly straddle his lap and put his shocked face between her boobs. I swear Greg almost pissed himself from laughing so hard.

----

I spent the next couple weeks either working on Lara's car or helping Steve get ready for the wedding. This meant occasional trips into town to run errands. Most trips, I'd drive past the old garage, the one the auto store guys were talking about. One trip, I had Steve with me, and we stopped there. "What are we doing here?" he asked.

"Just looking." I peered into the window, not seeing much in the darkness.

"You thinking about opening this place back up?"

"Maybe. But probably not." I was still set on leaving after the summer was over, finding work in the city or elsewhere. But this could be an option if I decided to stay.

Steve wriggled the door handle, and to his surprise, it opened. "Huh. Not locked?"

I shrugged. We both went inside. I looked around. There wasn't much here. If I did open a garage here, I'd have to put money into renovating it. It would need modern carlifts, for one. The ones left behind here haven't been used in decades and would need replaced. I'd also have to replace lights, install computers, and so on.

I told Steve what I'd have to do, and he nodded. "Sounds about right. You'd need money to do all that. Probably some kind of small business loan."

"I bet I could get that. Problem would be getting permission from Gideon town hall."

He looked at me. "You think the mayor would try to stop you?"

I thought about it. "Probably, but not if I could help him somehow." I told Steve about my conversation with Mayor Hammond and his quid-pro-quo philosophy.

Steve suddenly grinned. "I got an idea."

----

Steve helped me put the plan together, on the assumption that I decided to stay in town. He enlisted June and Prudence and swore them to secrecy, as we didn't know who else to trust outside of my family. Even my little sisters might let something slip.

If I opened my own garage, it would increase commerce in the town, and the mayor would help me cut the ribbon at the grand opening. All that was obvious, and wouldn't really impress the mayor. What would help our case would be the implication of buying auto parts from the mayor's brother's gas station. I wouldn't, of course, but I would imply that I could.

June also pointed out that I could teach an auto-shop class for the school, provided I get a certification to teach. That would be another feather in the mayor's cap. I thought it was a good idea, and since I had the time, I enrolled in an online course right away, and June said she'd help.

All of this was still based on the assumption that I would stay long-term. I couldn't commit to that yet. But now that I had a plan, it seemed more feasible.

----

I finished Lara's car two days before the wedding. I knew Lara would be working at the diner, so I drove her car into town and Steve drove behind me. When I went into the diner, I spotted her at a table, talking to customers, so I waited nearby. I tried not to check her out, at first, but when I allowed myself to look, I was attracted to how her waitress dress flattered her figure.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed. As I watched her talk to the two men at the table, one of them slipped his hand under her dress and touched her behind. She slapped his hand away. He tried again a second later, and she shoved him away. "Don't touch me!" she yelled.

These two guys were still grinning, and I couldn't help but storm over as the jerk put his hand out a third time. I grabbed his wrist and twisted it, making him flinch in pain. "The lady said don't touch her," I growled at him. "Either keep your hands to yourself or get out." I released his wrist and waited for them to choose.

Both guys looked at each other and stood up simultaneously. They were good-ol-boys, a couple of country rednecks with no manners. They were both bigger than me, and they saw me as fresh meat. Too bad they didn't know about my military training. The first guy took an obvious swing at me. It was so slow that I dodged it and grabbed his outstretched arm, then turned him around and shoved him back at his buddy.

They stumbled with each other for a minute, then the first guy drew a knife and came back at me. Again, his movements were sluggish, and I was able to grab his knife-hand and slam his arm on the table, making him drop the knife. Then I kneed him in the stomach and twisted his arm, forcing him to his knees on the floor.

His buddy thought about jumping in, but by that time, the rest of the diner was up and moving towards us. He was clearly out numbered. He put his hands up, mumbled an apology to Lara, and quickly made an exit.

I twisted the arm of the first guy. "What's your name?" I yelled at him.

"AH! Roland!" he screamed in pain.

"You gonna ever come back here, Roland?" Another tweak to his arm.

"GAH! No sir!"

"You apologize to the woman."

"I'm sorry ma'am!" he squealed.

I looked at Lara, expecting her to be satisfied with his apology, but she was glaring at me instead. I released the redneck and let him run out the door. The rest of the diner patrons went back to their tables. Steve had seen the ruckus from outside and came in.

Lara hissed at me. "I coulda handled that."

I was stunned. "I'm sorry, I thought I was helping you."

"Sometimes guys paw at me, but I can take care of myself." She straigtened her dress.

"You shouldn't have to deal with no-neck morons like that."

"I don't need some hero to rescue me. I'm fine by myself, thank you very much," she said indignantly.

"Oh! Okay," I said, irked by her attitude. "Next time I see you getting groped by some redneck named Roland, I'll let you be." I tossed her keys on the counter. "Your car's fixed, by the way. Maybe next time it breaks down, I'll let you sit on the side of the road too."

----

Steve and Prudence's wedding was a lovely day all around. They got married in the church, of course, then we had a reception outside on the neighboring lawn. Prudence looked beautiful in her white dress, and Steve had the biggest grin on his face the whole time.

I danced with a few women at the reception, including my mother and sisters, Prudence, and her sister Patience who'd been her maid of honor. I'm sure you can tell by their names that Prudence's parents were very deeply religious people. From what I was told, Prudence was bursting at the seams to go on her honeymoon with my brother. They were going to a hotel in the city tonight, then driving south to spend a week on the beaches of the gulf, south of Houston. I tried to give Steve as much knowledge as I knew to help their first night together go smoothly.

Most of the town was in attendance, as weddings in Gideon normally go. I had noticed earlier that Lara and her son were not there. But then I noticed Amanda Harrison sitting by herself. I walked over to her. "Hi, Amanda. No Greg today?"

"Hi. No, he's out of town. Last minute business." Greg was a salesman. Most of his business kept him in the area, but once a month, he was on the road for a few days, looking for more customers.

"Do you want to dance?" I held out my arm, and she graciously accepted it.

I led her to the center of the lawn where everyone else was dancing. The music would never be risque in a town like this, especially not adjacent to the church. But one of the local teens had set up a computer with a pre-programmed playlist of family-friendly uptempo songs mixed with some slow dances.

"I'm sorry," I told Amanda while we danced, "about how I freaked out a while back. I know you were only trying to protect your friend."

"Yeah," she responded. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to imply anything about you. Still friends?"

"Yes, still friends," I quickly answered. I was glad to count her and Greg as friends in this little town. Other people looked at me funny when I walked around town, knowing that I'd effectively ghosted them for three years, so I was better off with more people looking at me with kinder eyes.

One song ended and was replaced by a slower song, and Amanda put her head on my shoulder. "Some days I wonder if this is what could've been," she admitted. "You know, if you hadn't left." She looked up at me a bit. "You know, if it hadn't been for Lara, I would've said yes. I would've gone to that dance with you."

I nodded. "I know. But it still worked out for you, right? You've got Greg."

"Yeah, I just wish he wasn't gone so much."

We saw Steve and Prudence to their car, wishing them well and cheering them on their way. Then, before the party broke up, I had another dance with Amanda. "Would you give me a ride home, Charlie?" she asked as we finished.

"Sure, no problem," I answered. "I'll just be dropping you off. I have to come right back to help clean up."

----

Lara had just gotten off work, and had convinced her mother to watch Zeke for a few hours. She had been mad at Charlie the rest of Thursday evening, but realized on Friday morning that he wasn't the bad guy, and she was sorry for yelling at him. She quickly changed from her waitress uniform into a nicer dress and her best (and only) heels, hoping to catch the end of the wedding reception, possibly some leftover cake, and possibly even a dance.

As she pulled up outside the church, she realized that she'd already missed the send-off of the happy couple. She spotted June and Frank at a nearby table. "June," Lara asked, "have you seen Charlie? I need to talk to him."

June looked around and spotted her brother dancing with Amanda. "He's over there," she said, and pointed the way.

Lara turned and walked that direction, then stopped and froze in place. She saw Charlie and Amanda dancing closely, talking quietly with each other. Then Lara stood and watches as Charlie and Amanda left the church lawn for his car, and they drove off together.

It was only after they were out of sight that Lara was able to unfreeze. She fled back to her car, as fast as she could in her dress and heels. "Lara," June called, "are you okay?"

Lara didn't respond. She got into her old car, the one Charlie had restored to working order, and drove away. She cried the entire drive back to her trailer.

----

When I returned to the church, I left my jacket in the car and rolled up my shirt sleeves, ready to work. I was intercepted at the entrance by June. "Where were you?" She looked upset, like I was trying to skip out on my chores.

"Giving Amanda a ride home, but I'm back."

June's eyes got wide. "Oh my God. So that's what happened." She pushed me and turned me back to my car. "You need to go find Lara. Right now."

"What? Lara? Why?"

"She was here just a few minutes ago, looking for you, and she must've seen you and Amanda. She probably thought you were 'leaving' with her." She placed special emphasis on the word leaving. It was appropriate not to elaborate, as we were still at the church.

"But... what? Lara knows Amanda and I are just friends."

"That's not what it looked like to her. And you remember the last time Lara thought she lost you," June pointed out. I did remember. Lara went and did something drastic.

"I should go find her."

June pushed me again, "Yes, go. I'll cover for you here."

I ran back to my car and drove to Lara's trailer, hoping she'd be there. I sighed in relief when I spotted her old car out front. I ran up to her door and knocked. "Lara? It's Charlie."

She opened the door and sneered at me. "What the hell do you want?"

"Lara, June said you were looking for me at the church."

"Yeah, and I saw you. You and Amanda. And I thought that slut was faithful to her boyfriend."

"She is," I said. "She and I are just friends. I just gave her a ride home, that's all."

"Bullshit," she yelled. "And to think, I thought I could come down to the wedding and apologize to you. Actually thank you for fixing my car. Then I find you... with her..." She seemed to run out of words. She was shaking, a result of her anger and sadness.

"I promise, nothing is happening between me and Amanda. Nothing is happening with me and anyone else."

Lara studied my face. I studied hers. She seemed to be calming down only a little, but still very wary. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Have I ever lied to you?" I asked. "Am I really the villain in your mind?" It was half bitter about her suspicions, but half empathetic. Her life really had gone to hell shortly after I left town.

Her face had been holding strong until that moment, when it broke into tears. She crouched into a ball on the floor and started sobbing. "Why?" she softly asked.

I tentatively crouched next to her and put my arms around her shoulders. "Why what?"

"Why did you leave? Why didn't you take me to that fucking dance? Why didn't you see I loved you?"

"You loved me?"

Lara looked up into my eyes. "I always loved you. Always you." She tucked her chin back down into her chest. "And you never noticed me. You wanted big boobs Amanda, or some other girl, but not me."

"Lara, I didn't know. You never told me," I said softly. "All you did was blackmail other girls, and demand that I ask you."

"I was a bitch. You hated me. That's why you left?"

"I left because I wanted to get out of this town. But your demands didn't make it easy on me, so I left a little sooner than originally planned. I knew your father would make my life hell if I stayed."