Diego stared a second longer before he got out of the car and tilted his seat forward.
Omar climbed out. “So are we good?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Diego asked.
“Me and you. Are we buds again?” He folded his arm and stuck out his elbow. “Like the old days?”
Diego rolled his eyes. Then, after a heavy sigh, he did the same thing with his arm and bumped elbows with him. “No promises,” he said. “Just do what I asked you to, all right?”
“No problem.” Omar grinned. “See ya!”
He dropped his board to the ground and glided away, his heart feeling lighter. Anthony’s reputation would be cleared, Mr. Cullen would get his job back, and best of all, he’d done the impossible and made peace with Diego. Maybe they could start hanging out again, assuming the big guy didn’t get locked up for setting Graham’s house on fire. Someone would have to pay for the damage. The police might get bored and move on, but parents didn’t forget so easily. His own sure hadn’t when the garage burned down. Omar slowed and glanced back, wishing he’d thought to warn them about that, but the Trans Am was already gone.
— — —
As Diego loaded supplies into the trunk of his car, he was puzzled by the reluctance he felt. He was only going to be gone for a month, if even that. He couldn’t imagine the police wasting much time or resources on such a petty crime. And hell, usually he wanted nothing more than to put this stupid town in the rearview mirror. School would be out for the summer next week and the auto shop was in capable hands. He’d made the trip to El Paso plenty of times and always liked it there. So why did he feel like unpacking the trunk and putting everything back?
Diego was walking back to the shop for the lanterns he’d bought when a red Ford Bronco with white side panels pulled up to the garage. He recognized it, even before Keisha Hart stepped out. One of the new mechanics was on his way to meet her until Diego waved him away.
“I’ve got this one,” he said.
Keisha smiled. “It’s the customer service that keeps me coming back.”
“We aim to please,” Diego deadpanned. “Wanna go to my office?”
“Yes, but not yet,” Keisha replied. “I actually do have a problem. I keep hearing this weird squeaking noise. Like a loose belt maybe?”
“Pop the hood and start ‘er up,” Diego replied.
He was watching the engine when she joined him at the front of the vehicle.
“It’s your water pump pulley,” he said.
Keisha frowned. “Is that serious?”
“If it stops working, yeah. The engine will overheat. I’ve got a replacement, if you’ve got twenty minutes.”
“Sure!” she said.
He wasn’t surprised when she stayed close to him as he worked. They had done this before. She kept asking questions, but not in a mistrustful way. Keisha knew a thing or two about cars and was curious to learn more. She was a cool chick. He had flirted with her once, about a year ago, and she had instantly shot him down. Diego hadn’t tried since. He could take a hint.
“You’re all set,” he said, wiping his hands on his coveralls.
Keisha listened to the engine purr before closing the hood. “What do I owe you?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said.
Keisha’s eyes darted around. “Are you sure? We could go into your office to arrange payment.”
He nearly snorted. The line sounded like something out of a porno. “Yeah, good idea. We can go over the paperwork or some shit.”
He watched her climb into the Bronco to turn it off. When she got out again, Keisha had a backpack with her. They didn’t say anything to each other until the office door was closed behind them and he had shut the blinds.
Keisha set the backpack on the desk and pulled out a large jar stuffed full of green buds. “This is the last of it,” she said. “Until around September, when I’ll need your help with the harvest again.”
“Yeah, no problem,” he said, taking the jar and turning it over to inspect the contents. “It’ll be a while before I can sell any of this.”
Keisha perched herself on the edge of the desk. “Why’s that?”
“I’m skipping town for a month or so.”
“Oh! Going on vacation?”
“Something like that.”
“Nice. Where to?”
“Idaho,” Diego improvised. He had never been there and probably couldn’t point to the state on a map. All he knew is that it was in the opposite direction of where he was actually going.
“Sounds… fun, I guess?” Keisha said, scrunching up her face before shrugging. “Are you taking Ricky with you?”
Diego felt the same reluctance as before, although it wasn’t a revelation. He didn’t like the idea of being away from Ricky. At all. But there was more to it than that. He just hadn’t figured it out yet.
“Nah. I don’t think his parents trust me enough.”
Keisha smirked. “That must drive him wild.”
“How come?”
“Because forbidden love is the best kind.” Keisha sounded awfully sure of herself. And maybe she had good reason to be. Since they had started this little arrangement, they tended to keep things professional. If that could be said about two teenagers who were growing and selling their own weed. But some of those barriers had eroded as they spent more time together in the theater group. That must have been on Keisha’s mind too, because she brought it up.
“So was this year the beginning of your career on stage?” she asked.
“No idea,” he replied. “I feel like I got suckered into it.”
“But you enjoyed yourself,” she stated rather than asking.
He answered anyway. “Yeah. Maybe not the plays so much…” The people were all right though. He felt the same reluctance about leaving town, which was dumb, because he wouldn’t see any of the theater kids until the end of summer no matter what.
“Well you have more fans than you probably realize,” Keisha said, pushing herself away from the desk. “And you wouldn’t be the only person who is mostly there to socialize.”
Diego crossed his arms over his chest. “Who said anything about that?”
Keisha smiled. “Nobody. Certainly not you.”
He eyed her a moment before walking over to the safe. He took out a short stack of cash that he’d set aside for her. “How come you do this anyway?” he asked. “Your family has that big ass farm. You can’t be hurting for money.”
“And your family has this shop,” she said. “But you still have your reasons, I’m sure.”
“Yeah.”
“So do I,” Keisha said enigmatically. She folded and pocketed the money. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m supposed to pick up Mindy so we can have a sleepover on that ‘big ass’ farm of mine.”
Diego snorted. “Tell her I said...” He thought about it and shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll be sure to let her know,” Keisha replied.
They were leaving the office when he noticed his mom talking to one of the new mechanics. The guy with a face like hot puke on a sizzling sidewalk, so he wasn’t worried. His mom noticed him too. Marti walked over as Keisha got into her SUV.