cute.
The dogs were excited and running around like the hall like lunatics, they needed to go out. I grabbed their leashes and took them out into the fields that surrounded my house, their enthusiasm showing in their faces when I let them off. They bounded up the hills and chased each other across the grass until they became exhausted. I called to them and waited,
“Come on.. Oscar, Phoebe, Mitzee, Maizie”, I could see them run towards me, their tongues lashing to the sides of their mouths. I opened the door to the house and let the dogs run ahead of me, Lisha was still asleep. I pushed the door to her room and let the dogs jump all over her bed.
“Alright , I’m getting up, give us a break”, Lisha pulled the covers off her and stood up.
“Please tell me I didn’t drink as much as I think I drank”
“Not that many...” hoping she wouldn't detect the little white lie I had just told her.
“Alice has cooked us breakfast if you go for it, and I have a surprise for you”, we both entered the kitchen and ate the bacon and eggs. When we had both finished, I stood up.
“Come along, follow me, it’s time for your surprise” I opened the front door and stood in the yard.
“Maddie, I’m not even dressed”,
“Well we're not going out, but thought you could catch some fresh air first”
I could hear Lisha moan as she followed me into the yard to ‘grab some fresh air’.
Three days earlier I had travelled to San Fernando to see my baby brother Billy who had a successful Chrysler dealership and I knew he wouldn’t fuck me over.
Driving in mid morning traffic pissed me off, all I could hear was cars and their drivers venting anger at the person in front of them.
The Californian heat was intolerable which didn’t help with the situation of travelling three hours across the great state in a glorified tin can.
Arriving outside Arms Chrysler Dealership, I spotted Billy making a deal with a customer with him driving off the forecourt with a brand new car.
“Billy..”, shouting out of my open window,
“Maddie”, Billy waving at me.
I parked and got out and gave him a hug, which made him hug me twice as hard.
“So what brings you all the way over here then big sis”, he asked as we walked into his office with his plush looking sofa and office chair.
“Well Billy I want to surprise Lisha with a car to say thank you for everything that she’s done”,
“We can sort out a deal on a crossfire, any particular color you wanted for her”
“Gray or black and plenty of chrome”, Billy looked at me and showed me a catalogue with different extras.
“Any extras?”,
“Decent sound system...sat nav maybe?”,
“Coolio sis, follow me and I’ll show you the perfect car for Lisha”.
Moving into the palatial showroom Billy pointed to a Crossfire, with it's soft top and chrome everywhere.
“Fancy a test drive in it sis?”,
“Are you kidding...oh go on then you twisted my arm”, knowing how I drive Billy was trusting me to be gentle with it.
“Sam, would you get the keys for the '12' Crossfire”,
“Sure boss”, a Hispanic man came over with the keys to the car and tossed them to Billy.
“Shall we?”, Billy handed me the keys and I powered up the engine, pulling out onto the street with ease.
With the top down and the music blaring from the stereo I gunned the crossfire across town and onto the freeway with not a care in the world.
“Take it easy Maddie, don't want to end up on the six o'clock news”,
“Chill out Billy, Lisha will love this car!”, knowing her excitement would be uncontrollable.
Chapter Six
An hour later we pulled back into the car lot and turning the engine off and looking at Billy,
“I'll take it Billy, deliver it in three days time, and don't forget the ribbon on the hood”,
“Sure Maddie, anything else?”,
“Yeah a tank of gas would be good and you can knock $50 for being my brother”,
“Really?”,
“Yeah really!”
“Sure