It was a weird question to ask and caught me off guard again, but I knew why she was asking. She could tell just by looking at me how young I was in relation to Law. I was surprised it hadn’t come up earlier.
“Twenty-three.” I was proud of my age, especially with everything I had accomplished.
“Perfect age,” Cary responded and I felt a relief I didn’t know I needed. “Listen, Anya, Law is my only child, so of course I’m going to be protective of him, but looking at you two, I want you to know how supportive of this I am.”
I went to make a comment on how thankful I was that she was saying that, but she continued on, railroading her way through this conversation with every emotion she could muster up.
“He isn’t the most mature thirty-five-year-old, but when you two are together, you can tell where the balance is. You give him a maturity he has never known, and by looking at you, Anya, I know he gives you something too.” Cary brought a hand to her trembling mouth as her eyes started to water. “You have this air about you that makes me think you weren’t the kind of kid who went running around causing trouble. Lawson was, though, and I just know he is going to pull you into his world of craziness, but I also know it will be the best thing for you two.”
It was my turn to get choked up. This was exactly how I had felt. That there was this pull to Law and the spontaneity he had that made me want to let loose and just take the leap.
“I feel it too,” I finally spoke up.
“All right.” Cary pulled her hand away from mine and wiped away tears that hadn’t yet fallen. “Let’s get it together and eat, then shopping!”
I laughed at how enthusiastic she was about this.
My tie with Cary was valuable because I knew the more time I spent with her, when Law came back from his weekend, it would make it that much more special. I knew he would love for me to bond with his mom, and him not to worry about her trying to kick me out of town.
It was all coming together, yeah, two days in, but it was coming together. This was all real now. I wasn’t going back home.
And in all truth, I never wanted to go back to the city.
-----
“Where the fuck am I?” I asked myself.
I looked around the downtown Talladega area. I had grabbed an Uber to bring me down so I could check out the scenery by myself. Yesterday was great with Cary, but I wanted to see more of the town, but I had no idea about where to go or what I was even looking for.
My phone vibrated in my back pocket and when I pulled it out I did a little dance at who was calling.
“Hey, sugar.” Law’s voice filled my ear as I stood on the quiet street corner. “What are you up to today?”
“Just checking out the town.” My voice was strained and I knew he would be able to tell something was wrong.
“Anything good?” I heard some noise behind him after the question. He was probably still in the garage waiting for his practice runs today. He had sent me photos earlier this morning of him sitting around with the guys. He looked so happy and as much as I wanted to be there, I knew I needed to get it together here before I up and changed my life around to traveling with Law.
“Well, trying to find something. A little lost, though.”
“Where are you at?”
“Umm…” I looked around to see a gas station and a Mexican restaurant next to an ice cream parlor. “Somewhere in downtown. I can see an ice cream shop next to a Mexican place.”
“Send me your pin.”
“What?” I was confused by Law’s statement.
“Go into your map on your phone and click your pinned location, then choose the share option and message it to me. I’ll tell you where to go from there.”
I fumbled with my phone and sent what Law had told me to.
“Did you get it?” I asked, unsure of what I was even doing. I wasn’t one for technology and the phone I had, I didn’t even know I could send someone my location like that.
“You’re right in the middle of downtown. I’m going to send you a few locations to try out, see if you like them. All within walking distance, of course.” He laughed. “When I get back home I’ll teach you how to drive the truck.”
It was my turn to laugh at him. I hadn’t even looked at that monster Law called a truck. The thought had never crossed my mind to drive it, since it was his and also since I had never learned to drive. My parents didn’t see it as a priority, always sending me to the subway or calling a cab.
“I don’t think that’s an option.”
