“So you force me on this thing and I’m expected to, what? Sit there on the beach and watch you?”
My face goes blank like I don’t understand what he’s saying. “I don’t expect you to do anything. You’re a big boy. You can take your bag and your key back and walk inside your house right now, and there’s no way I could stop you.”
There’s a slight flicker of panic in his expression before he looks away. As if he’s scared I really wouldn’t stop him.
I slide into the driver's seat, shut the door, place the van key on the passenger's seat, and wait to see if he’s actually going to climb in next to me. I keep my face forward, both hands on the wheel.
For a long while nothing happens. Then I hear the side door close and I watch as he walks around the front of the van to the opposite side.
I wring my hands back and forth over the steering wheel's leather as he hops in beside me. He doesn’t look at me, or speak, just throws on his seatbelt and glares out the window. There’s no fight for who should be driving, or any of the same kind of animosity he gave me last week when it came to who could and couldn’t drive his precious van. He just accepts his position with a cute little sulk.
I don’t know how a person can be so hard and so breakable all at once, but he manages.
I start the engine and pull away with a smile. Breaking him down might not be anywhere near as hard as I thought it was going to be.
We cruise through the outskirts of Broadrock until there are no signs of civilization in the rearview mirror. I intentionally skip the I-5 turn off and avoid the Pacific Coast Highway as much as possible, preferring to follow the narrower coastal roads. The kinds where it looks like the snow covered trees are trying to reclaim it back on one side and the ocean on the other.
After about half an hour Tek finally opens his mouth. “How much further?” It's cute how hard he's trying to stay angry.
“Over the border.”
“That’s kidnapping.”
“You got in voluntarily.”
“It’s still illegal to detain a person for more than twelve hours.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“Law & Order.”
“Regular, or SVU?”
“SVU.”
“Well it’s a good thing I’m not a cop then.” I put on the blinker and pull over to the side of the road. “There you go.”
Tek looks at me, but doesn’t move.
I undo my seatbelt and kneel in the driver's seat so I can reach over him to open the passenger door. “Go. An Uber won’t cost you that much from here.”
“So instead of kidnapping me you’re gonna steal my van instead?”
“Consider it my Christmas bonus.”
“And if I don’t get out because we’re in the middle of fucking nowhere?”
“Then you need to quit complaining and just pretend to be my friend for two days. I don’t give a fuck if it’s all fake, but you gotta stop this moping. You’re thirty-four, for Christ’s sake. You might be a big important grown up with more to show for your life than I have, but I’m a hell of a lot more mature than you are.”
Tek's mouth does this twitchy thing like he can't decide if he wants to bite me, or bite down on his own tongue. In the end, he just stares out the windscreen, and asks, "Are you even prepared for this?"
"This isn't the first surfing trip I've been on."
"In this weather?"
"I've lived on my own since I was eighteen. I'm not an idiot."
He shrugs like he thinks I might be.
