Noah buckled his good friend into the passenger seat of his rust gold 69 Chevy Impala and shut the door. He stood there for several minutes, looking out onto the street that he had shared with his friend for the last few years. Remembering the first time that Logan came to live on Walnut Street and how they grew closer.
Tammie came up behind him and called his name, “Noah.”
Noah closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he could turn and look at her. “Tammie,” he paused to remind himself that it wasn’t her fault and that he should forgive her. “I am glad that you’re doing alright.” He watched at a corner of her mouth lifted up into a slight smile. “How is Pam doing?”
“She is doing better.” She folded her arms across her chest. “But, she is still upset about what happened.”
Noah looked at seat where Logan now sat. “Logan liked her for a long time he was just too shy to say anything.” He smiled s he looked back at Tammie. “How long did she have a thing for him?”
Tammie laughed, “She had liked him for the past year now, but just like Logan, she was a little too shy to say anything.” Tammie looked past Noah. “So, what will you do now?”
Noah followed her gaze and looked at his friend, sitting in the car. “For tonight, I’ll drive. Tomorrow I don’t know.”
“Want some company?”
Noah shook his head. “Nah, this is something that I must do with Logan. Alone.”
Tammie gave Noah a hug. “If you need anything, call me.”
“Thanks, I just need to see Mrs. Laux and grab something.”
Tammie let go of Noah and started walking to her car. Noah walked into the Logan household. Looking at the living room unsettled him a little. He walked up the stairs and stood at Logan’s door. Logan’s mother was sitting on the bed, looking at an old photo of her and Logan. The photo was taken before they moved to town and Logan never liked talking about it, but it was always there in his room.
“Are you two ready to head out?” she asked when she noticed Noah standing there.
“Just about Mrs. Laux,” he smiled “I just want to grab a CD Logan was working on.”
Logan’s mother turned to stare at him, “Son, how long have you known me? Why do you still call me Mrs. Laux, Call me Beth already.
He let a laugh escape from his mouth, “I’ll try to remember that.”
Beth got up from her son’s bed. “You know that he thought of you as his brother, right?
Noah nodded, “Yeah, I know.” He watched as a tear streamed down her face.
“You’ll always have a home here Noah. It’s something that Logan would have wanted.”
“Thank you Beth.” Noah wrapped his arms around her. It shocked Noah that she only came up to his shoulders, she was always so scary when they did something bad. He ignored her tears that soaked his shirt. He gave her a kiss on the head before letting her go and leaving the room, CD in hand. He paused for a moment at the bottom of the steps, to look at scratch marks on the wall. “This was shortly after you moved in.” he felt each mark. “I shouldn’t have let you see the knife. You had our parents convinced that I made these.” He chuckled at the memory, “they made me mow the lawn for weeks.” He was smiling as he left Logan’s house.
He stood in the driveway, looking at the car that they had rebuilt together. “Well man, it’s time we get moving along.” He turned around to look at Logan’s house for one last time. Beth was in her son’s window, looking off into the distance. Noah got into the car and pulled out of the driveway. “See Logan, this car is more than a rust bucket.” He smiled as he drove on.
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The skeletons of cars were piled high on each side of the path. Most of them, rusted through falling apart, while others were almost brand new. Yet all of them were doomed never to have their tires run across a paved road again. Noah was out here with Logan, searching through this junk for a treasure. Tom had told him earlier that if he wanted a car, all he had to do was pay the scrap fee and he would have it towed it out of there for him.
Logan climbed up onto a pile of old cars, three high, and took out a rolled piece of paper and scanned the visible cars. “Hey Noah, I think that old fuck was lying to you,” he said as he stuffed the paper back into his pocket, “there are no good cars here, just a lot of junk.” He jumped down from a pile of cars, shaking off years of dirt and causing the pile to sway slightly.
Noah looked at Logan, “You know, one of these days, you are going to break your neck doing something stupid like that.” Noah shook his head, “I just wish that I’ll be there so I can laugh my ass off.”
Logan just shrugged. “Well man, as long as I have a good time, then I say “fuck you” to Death. I’ll go smiling all the way down to hell if he comes to take me along.”
They both laughed. “Yeah, but then what?” he look at Logan. “You’ll be stuck in a hole unable to go anywhere. Aren’t you the one who has been bugging me about going along with you to some college?”
“Yeah, because that college would be a good fit for you.”
“Well, I already got a job. As long as I find a girl, I’ll be fine.”
“Noah, we both know that you won’t be fine. You might like it here, but what have you really seen?” Logan waited a moment for Noah to answer, but interrupted him before he could. “You haven’t seen jack shit.”
“Logan, you do know that not everyone is like you, born with gypsy blood running through their veins.” He knew that would get on Logan’s nerves, it was one of the few things that ever could. “And how about that girl you like, what would she do while you are off to college?”
“Shut up. At least I know what I want to do after this year… and anyways, I don’t even know if she knows I exist.” Logan kicked a scrap piece of metal and watched it as it skipped across the path. “You know I won’t give up.”
“I know. But I’ll be fine here. I don’t need to go to a big city on the east coast, with its big college. I am happy with what I have so far.”
“You are only happy because you don’t know what you are missing.” They walked in silence for the next few minutes until they rounded a corner and found the ’69 Chevy Impala.
Noah went up to look at the car. “Isn’t she something?”
Logan’s eyebrows arched, “If you mean a hunk of junk, then yeah it is something.”
“Just you wait, Logan. You’ll want this for yourself once we get it fixed up.” Noah went and opened the door, only to have it fall off the car. “Okay, maybe it is a long shot, but you know what they say about the old stuff.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Logan sighed and mimicked Noah, “They don’t make them like they use to.”
“Glad you see it my way.” Noah looked down at the door. “Now help me put this in the back.”
End of Part 1
