“And I could die of a heart attack in five minutes. Still have to roll this silverware.”
I aimed a knife at his bushy beard like I might stab him for saying it. He was officially my favorite person, next to Tucker. And Gram.
“What could I do?” I spread out another napkin.
“I dunno. Be a nurse. A teacher.”
“Right. Because both of those are a great fit if I forget everything.”
“You said your hands remember things your head forgets, right?”
“Yeah. I learned that the first time I cut an onion.” The knife had moved almost on its own.
“Those were some sweet slices.”
“All right, so what does that get me? Car repair?”
“You could play a musical instrument.”
I had never thought to do that. We didn’t have any atMother’s house out in Wimberley, so I assumed I’d never had lessons.
“What about painting? Can you draw?” Big Harry slid another bin of clean silverware between us. The job never ended.
“No. I tried that. I like taking pictures with my phone, though.” I pulled it out of my pocket to show him shots of downtown, the bar, and the lights over Second Street.
“Those are good. So why not do photography?”
“Tuition? I’m barely getting by already.”
“I tell you what. You sign up at Austin Community College, and I’ll pay for the first semester.”
Huh. I didn’t expect that. “So you’re not as poor as you let on.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
Harry didn’t have a wife. No family. He lived in a trailer behind the building. Even so, he shouldn’t spend his money on me.
“I see those gears turning, Li’l Ava,” he said. “I mean it. Sign up. I’ll pay.”
“You know I’ll have to work fewer hours. You’ll need another part-time server.”
“Missy asked for more hours. She’ll take them.”
I dropped another silverware roll on the stack. “You’ve got it all figured out.”
“Yup.”
I told Tucker about Harry’s offer that night. He said I should go for it. He was having a hard time that evening, so we stayed over at his gram’s. He couldn’t look at screens or really have much light at all, so we lay on his bed in the dark, listening to quiet music while I worked out the details in my mind.
It took some effort to enroll. I had no education paperworkto show I’d ever been to school or learned anything. A friendly lady at ACC combed through everything she could access and said it appeared I stopped attending school in seventh grade, and that my mother stopped filing homeschool exemptions a few years later.
So, I’d have to take some classes in math and English first, then pass the GED. She was able to sign me up for a non-credit photography class, though.
Life sped up. I went to classes and earned my GED. Big Harry paid for two semesters, but then I got a student loan to keep going.
I continued to work at the diner and saw Tucker on his good days. My mother didn’t find me again, and I felt content. Nobody had a perfect life, but this one was about as good as I could expect.
CHAPTER 30
