To Spend a Fortune

The ride to the dingy Mexican restaurant of the main highway is silent. I awkwardly pick at the peeling faux-vinyl in the backseat of Nellie’s mom’s little Jetta. The radio crackles some disco-esque ‘going bowling’ music. An extremely uncomfortable silence has come over all of us. Maybe it’s one of those so-called thoughtful silences, but I still say it’s awkward.
So, we’re all thankful once we get to La Tortilla Bandidos, the charming yet… Well, we’ll just leave it at charming.

So now we’re just looking at our menus, knowing we’ve already decided, but no one wants to break the silence. I’m sweating a little bit and my shirt’s a tad wet. I pick up one of the red cloth napkins from the table and begin fanning myself with it.

“-So, Cam,” Ryan says.

“Ah!” I yelp and accidentally pitch the napkin over my shoulder where it smacks an old Mexican lady who was ineffectively mopping the floor. She gives me a dirty look and shuffles off with her bucket of dirty water. “Oops.”

“So… Cam…” Ry says carefully, taking a sip of Coke, smirking.

“Yes…?” I reply, just as slow.

“What are we gonna do with that card? That’s a lot of money…”

“Well, I don’t know. I bought some cat food—“

“Really, Cam? Really?” Nellie interjects.

“Well, yeah…”

“He bought cat food and what? An iPod? Think bigger, buddy!” Ryan exclaims.

“Shhhh!” I shush him and look around. There’s a server nearby. He’s looking at us. “Eepke it ownde…”

“Pig Latin?” Nellie and Ryan say in unison, raising their eyebrows at me.

“There’s a lot of money on that card, guys. There could be spies after us right now…” I whisper and glance around the room, taking a careful glance at the young Hispanic guy.

“For Christ’s sake, Cam. The dude can barely speak English,” Ryan scoffs.

“You’re racist!” I hiss at him.

“God…” he chuckles, ducking his head.

“Cameron, no one’s listening. Chill out,” Nellie smiles in a slightly condescending yet kind way and puts her hand over mine.

My mouth gapes open and I blush a little. Well, a lot. But that doesn’t really matter right now.

Nellie drums her fingers on my knuckles and then takes back her hand.

I sigh and sink into my chair, taking one last look at the wall where the server used to be standing.

“So, anyways… Cam? You have any ideas of what you’re going to do with your… Kaching?” Ryan asks.

“Kaching…?” I wonder aloud. “Well… I dunno. There’s this mint condition Power of the Force Imperial AT-AT Walker from 1997…”

“Cam…”

“It even comes with an AT-AT commander and driver…”

“Cam.”

“It has these real sound effects from the movie and actual launching laser missiles…”

“O’Connell…”

“Oh! And there’s this real, operating winch for—“

“Shut. Up.”

I look at Ryan, his tongue to his cheek in annoyance.

“You have no idea how nerdy you sound right now.”

“Wh—“

“—No idea. Cam, my man, you’re filthy fricken rich now. What this means is that you can get some serious action. Like, mackin’ on somethin’ reeeeaaal fiiine. If you know what I mean.” He leans conspiratorially towards me.

Nellie rolls her eyes and leans back in her chair.

I raise my eyebrow.

“You like ‘em curvy? Or maybe tall with long, lean legs…”

“You’re a skank,” I say lightly.

“And you sound like you’re gay,” Ryan replies just as mildly, taking another drink of soda.

“Homo,” I retort.

“Gay wad.”

“Homo.”

“Rainbow!”

“Er… Homo?”

“Cameron!” Ryan finally bursts out. “I’m your best friend. Listen to me.” He licks his lips and leans forward into the table. “You gotta live, kid. Have fun, learn something, get laid. The American dream.” He leans back, satisfied.

“I thought it was life, liberty, and the pursuit of—“

“Screw Will Smith!”

“You are so racist,” I mumble.

Nellie smiles.

Ryan rolls his eyes. “What I’m saying is that you live like… Like you don’t care at all about having an adventure. Going out and having fun, getting shitfaced and waking up realizing the hangover was worth it.”

I frown. “I take it you’re experienced with this—“

“Never mind that. Just… Give me something to work with. Something more than your stupid Star Trooper whatever.”

“It’s Star Wars. Star Troopers is a completely different thing.”

“Cam!”

We’re quiet for a while.

I clear my throat. “Fine… Uh… How about… I dunno… Like, a race car?”

“More. C’mon, details. What kind? Is it a blonde or a brunette in the passenger’s seat?”

“Uh… Ferrari. Red. With the number ‘6’ on it. And… In the passenger’s seat is—“ I gulp.

Nellie.

“Guys!” Nellie suddenly bursts out. Ryan and I both look at her and the toppled salt shaker in front of her, alarmed.

“Huh?” I ask dumbly.

Nellie leans into the table much like Ryan did. I feel like we’re conspirators. “We’re thinking about this all wrong. We need to get out of this town. Have a real adventure.” She grins at us, her big brown eyes bright with excitement.

“But… Where would we go?”

We enter a pondering silence.

Then Nellie says, “I’ve always wanted to go to New York.”