Summer With the Bertram Brothers
Chapter 11
When the sun rises, I wake up. Rico tells me afterwards that a man drove by earlier and offered to stop by the next town and send some help and a towing truck. I nod. Outside’s still wet from the yesterday’s rain. I keep the blanket around my shoulders as I exit the car.
Soon, we’re saved and get a ride to the nearest township. I don’t exchange any words with Rico. He did most of the talking to the tow man. Once he walks up to me, he stares at his shoes.
“Tom says his nephew will be here later in the day, possibly tomorrow morning. He’ll be able to fix my car.”
“Who’s Tom?” I ask, forgetting that we’re not on speaking terms.
“The guy—the one who gave us a ride,” Rico explains as he turns and points, “His nephew’s a mechanic. Apparently we’re lucky. He also said we can get a low price room for the night up that street and its walking distance to his garage.”
“Why don’t you fix? Why do we have to wait?” I ask, fussy. Rico rocks his head to the side, looking at me.
“I don’t have the tools,” he shrugs.
“What are we suppose to do in the meantime?”
“Book a room, I guess.”
I turn and glare at Rico, “You mean two rooms...”
He looks sideways and scoffs, “I mean if you can afford your own room, I’m cool with that.”
I glare harder. He knows I don’t have money with me. He walks away from me, prompting me to follow. It’s a hill to climb. There are people enjoying the little sunlight walking about. I see a bunch of retired people sitting in an outdoor restaurant. It looks like a small town.
“I only have twenty dollars for gas,” Rico talks, “So we’ll have to get a room to stay in before it starts raining again.”
“How do you know it’ll rain again?” I ask.
“The TV in the shop was on the weather channel.”
I sigh heavily. This is long and painful. I want to go back home. But then again, I’m glad I am far away from it. I feel like I need an aspirin, though, or some food.
We enter the motel lobby. The lady by the desk greets us. I starve.
“How may I help you two?” she asks, folding papers.
“Well, we need a room for the night, unfortunately I don’t have too much cash,” Rico says. I lean on the wall. Inside’s nice and big for a motel.
“Let me see what I can do,” she replies sympathetically and turns around to a wooden box with hooked keys, “I can give you a room for $90 for the night.”
She slides a key over the desk.
I watch Rico purse his lips, “Fifty.”
“How about 85,” she offers to go lower.
Rico leans more atop the counter and flashes his billion dollar smile and offers to pay $55. I guess it compensated the rebate because the lady decides to give the room up for $60. Once he finishes his transaction, he hands me the key to our room. My belly grumbles wildly.
“I’ll go try getting us something to eat,” he says.
“If you can find a McDonald’s, that would be great,” I add. He nods and leaves. I quickly scoot to the second floor and open the door to the room. One bed, one mini fridge, one table, and a small TV all sit in the tiniest room. My room at home is way bigger than this. The lobby was large and so I thought the rooms would be large, I’m wrong. I groan loudly and shut the door behind me. I sink in the pushy double size bed. The clock on the wall ticks noisily. It’s past 11 am. I manually turn on the TV after failing to find the remote. There are only five different channels and one is in Spanish. I decide to watch the early talk show. I bet no one has noticed me missing. I start to think about Trim. Half an hour later, when it finishes, there’s a knock on the door. I open to find Rico with four full McD’s brown paper bags with another bag with Vietnamese.
“What the heck? Why’d you buy so much?”
“I thought you were hungry,” he grins, shoving a bag to me.
“I’m not a pig,” I reply.
He shrugs and drops the rest on the table.
“Man, this place is small,” he remarks.
“Can’t believe she’d charge so much for it,” I dig and find a fry to munch on.
“Where’s the bathroom?”
I point behind him. I grab a box and eat a burger. Rico comes back and eats with me.
“Sorry about freaking you out last night,” he randomly states. I look up from my food to his eyes and frown.
“You didn’t freak me out,” I say.
“It was just the spur of the moment, I guess,” he continues.
I look down back to my food and mumble, “You can stop talking about it.”
Trim rushes in my mind and guilt takes up the space in my stomach. A large smirk crosses Rico’s face.
“Why? You didn’t like the kiss?”
I don’t lift my head.
“I told you we’re just friends,” I say.
“You kissed me back.”
I shoot him a look, “I’m trying to eat here.”
He grins and leans back in his chair. Once I finish my burger, I throw away the remains.
“Thanks for the lunch. I hope you enjoy sleeping on the floor,” I tell him, while going outside.
The same night, Rico’s Ford get’s fixed and we wasted no time rushing back to L’Acadie. Rico formally drops me home. I couldn’t find any courage to talk to him. I leave him and walk straight inside. Doyle is yelling and Eva’s yelling as well. They pause as I turn the knob.
“Where the fuck were you?!” he attacks me.
“Why are you yelling?” I shout.
“Answer me!”
“I was out, no big!” I say. I notice already I’m picking Rico’s language.
“Out the fuck where? You’re supposed to be here taking care of mom!”
“What? Since when? While you both have a good time I have to keep an eye on mom like she’s a kid? No way!”
Doyle is usually calm and collected. Right now he’s furious and I don’t know why. His sudden attitude change is intimidating, especially when you have Eva behind him, giving you glares.
“You said I shouldn’t worry and have a normal summer. Now, all of a sudden, I have to be a mom watcher?”
“I didn’t tell you to disappear for two whole days!”
“Stop telling me what to do!” I fight back. I stomp pass my siblings and go in my room. Instead of being relieved that I’ve come home safely, they chow off my head.
Soon, we’re saved and get a ride to the nearest township. I don’t exchange any words with Rico. He did most of the talking to the tow man. Once he walks up to me, he stares at his shoes.
“Tom says his nephew will be here later in the day, possibly tomorrow morning. He’ll be able to fix my car.”
“Who’s Tom?” I ask, forgetting that we’re not on speaking terms.
“The guy—the one who gave us a ride,” Rico explains as he turns and points, “His nephew’s a mechanic. Apparently we’re lucky. He also said we can get a low price room for the night up that street and its walking distance to his garage.”
“Why don’t you fix? Why do we have to wait?” I ask, fussy. Rico rocks his head to the side, looking at me.
“I don’t have the tools,” he shrugs.
“What are we suppose to do in the meantime?”
“Book a room, I guess.”
I turn and glare at Rico, “You mean two rooms...”
He looks sideways and scoffs, “I mean if you can afford your own room, I’m cool with that.”
I glare harder. He knows I don’t have money with me. He walks away from me, prompting me to follow. It’s a hill to climb. There are people enjoying the little sunlight walking about. I see a bunch of retired people sitting in an outdoor restaurant. It looks like a small town.
“I only have twenty dollars for gas,” Rico talks, “So we’ll have to get a room to stay in before it starts raining again.”
“How do you know it’ll rain again?” I ask.
“The TV in the shop was on the weather channel.”
I sigh heavily. This is long and painful. I want to go back home. But then again, I’m glad I am far away from it. I feel like I need an aspirin, though, or some food.
We enter the motel lobby. The lady by the desk greets us. I starve.
“How may I help you two?” she asks, folding papers.
“Well, we need a room for the night, unfortunately I don’t have too much cash,” Rico says. I lean on the wall. Inside’s nice and big for a motel.
“Let me see what I can do,” she replies sympathetically and turns around to a wooden box with hooked keys, “I can give you a room for $90 for the night.”
She slides a key over the desk.
I watch Rico purse his lips, “Fifty.”
“How about 85,” she offers to go lower.
Rico leans more atop the counter and flashes his billion dollar smile and offers to pay $55. I guess it compensated the rebate because the lady decides to give the room up for $60. Once he finishes his transaction, he hands me the key to our room. My belly grumbles wildly.
“I’ll go try getting us something to eat,” he says.
“If you can find a McDonald’s, that would be great,” I add. He nods and leaves. I quickly scoot to the second floor and open the door to the room. One bed, one mini fridge, one table, and a small TV all sit in the tiniest room. My room at home is way bigger than this. The lobby was large and so I thought the rooms would be large, I’m wrong. I groan loudly and shut the door behind me. I sink in the pushy double size bed. The clock on the wall ticks noisily. It’s past 11 am. I manually turn on the TV after failing to find the remote. There are only five different channels and one is in Spanish. I decide to watch the early talk show. I bet no one has noticed me missing. I start to think about Trim. Half an hour later, when it finishes, there’s a knock on the door. I open to find Rico with four full McD’s brown paper bags with another bag with Vietnamese.
“What the heck? Why’d you buy so much?”
“I thought you were hungry,” he grins, shoving a bag to me.
“I’m not a pig,” I reply.
He shrugs and drops the rest on the table.
“Man, this place is small,” he remarks.
“Can’t believe she’d charge so much for it,” I dig and find a fry to munch on.
“Where’s the bathroom?”
I point behind him. I grab a box and eat a burger. Rico comes back and eats with me.
“Sorry about freaking you out last night,” he randomly states. I look up from my food to his eyes and frown.
“You didn’t freak me out,” I say.
“It was just the spur of the moment, I guess,” he continues.
I look down back to my food and mumble, “You can stop talking about it.”
Trim rushes in my mind and guilt takes up the space in my stomach. A large smirk crosses Rico’s face.
“Why? You didn’t like the kiss?”
I don’t lift my head.
“I told you we’re just friends,” I say.
“You kissed me back.”
I shoot him a look, “I’m trying to eat here.”
He grins and leans back in his chair. Once I finish my burger, I throw away the remains.
“Thanks for the lunch. I hope you enjoy sleeping on the floor,” I tell him, while going outside.
The same night, Rico’s Ford get’s fixed and we wasted no time rushing back to L’Acadie. Rico formally drops me home. I couldn’t find any courage to talk to him. I leave him and walk straight inside. Doyle is yelling and Eva’s yelling as well. They pause as I turn the knob.
“Where the fuck were you?!” he attacks me.
“Why are you yelling?” I shout.
“Answer me!”
“I was out, no big!” I say. I notice already I’m picking Rico’s language.
“Out the fuck where? You’re supposed to be here taking care of mom!”
“What? Since when? While you both have a good time I have to keep an eye on mom like she’s a kid? No way!”
Doyle is usually calm and collected. Right now he’s furious and I don’t know why. His sudden attitude change is intimidating, especially when you have Eva behind him, giving you glares.
“You said I shouldn’t worry and have a normal summer. Now, all of a sudden, I have to be a mom watcher?”
“I didn’t tell you to disappear for two whole days!”
“Stop telling me what to do!” I fight back. I stomp pass my siblings and go in my room. Instead of being relieved that I’ve come home safely, they chow off my head.