“Your laugh is so sexy. I wish I could make you laugh like that every day,” the words just kind of slipped out before I could stop myself.
“Why, thank you. And you make me laugh all the time,” she put her hand back over mine.
Our food arrived then and thankful for the distraction I started cutting up my smothered chicken.
“You make a lovely couple,” the waitress commented as she placed mom’s food on the table. Stunned mom’s mouth opens and closes, unsure how to respond to her comment. “She’s right mom, look in the window. With your hair and that dress you could easily pass for twenty five…” I chuckled.
“And you look…oh my. When did you get all grown up?” She looked as if about to cry.
“When you weren’t looking,” I teased.
A letter had arrived in the mail on my 16th birthday along with a key. The letter had told me of my inheritance which I received just days ago, a final gift from my adopted grandmother. The key went to a car called “The baby maker”.
“No…you didn’t…tell me you didn’t.” She stammered as we exited the restaurant to find a completely rebuilt pearl black 1967 Shelby Mustang GT fastback, with a pair of handcuffs and baby shoes dangling from the rear view and a big green bow on the hood.
“I found this old car just sitting in a garage collecting dust.” I chuckled.
The original car had been stripped down and bits of it are still down river, but Pops had retained the basics and rebuilt another just like it. It had been his side project for fifteen years, until I took it over to finish it off. The school’s paint and body class just finished its new paint job.
Mom fished a cigarette from her pack and dug in her hand bag for a lighter. Taking my hand from the stick I reached over and popped the glove box. Without looking I found the lighter I had bought for her.
“This brings back memories, your father had a lighter just like this,” she smiled as I handed the silver zippo to her.
“Good ones I hope.” I told her as I drove.
“You’re father, he wasn’t a complete bastard. He did have his moments. We used to have picnics on the hood after school. He’d drive us out to the lake and we’d eat, swim…and other stuff. Of course I was young and in love at the time. I was just a freshman and he was a senior with his entire life planned out. I knew it would never last but that didn’t stop me from dreaming… You look just like him except you have my eyes and your grandfather’s nose.” She sighed.
“Do you miss him?” I wondered.
“No, not one bit baby.” She looked at me with nothing but love and pride in her eyes. “I packed up my bag, hopped in your father’s car and drove him to the bus. I never came out and said “I’m pregnant and it’s yours” but I was starting to show and it was pretty obvious. He knew he was the only man I had been with. I wanted him to stay but not just because I was pregnant…he didn’t even say goodbye just “keep the car” and got on the bus to go join the Navy. I kept on driving until the day I stopped to eat and you decided to come out and play. I still blame Pops and that damn spicy fried chicken of his.” She chuckled.