"Are you sure you want to do this?" Cody asked, nervously tugging on his bangs. He dropped his hands into his lap and mentally yelled at himself for not getting his hair cut like he wanted to.
"Of course I'm sure," Tapeworm replied, slowing the car down until it stopped and he put the gear shift into park. "I want to help."
"But are you really sure?" Cody pressed, biting on his lower lip. "I mean, Zack practically shot out of a cannon to stay away from me. Woody freaked out so much I think he needs to be put into a mental hospital, not that he didn't before. And Marcus, well, Marcus doesn't want to get anywhere near me."
"Well, unlike the others, I won't give up on you," Tapeworm replied with a bright smile. "You will get your license by the time I'm done with you."
Cody let out a sigh and smiled. "Thanks Tape. I can do everything fine, it's just the parallel parking I can't really do right."
"By the time I'm done teaching you you'll be a pro. Now what is it about parallel parking that you have trouble with? Knowing how far to back up? Being too close to the curb? What?" Tapeworm asked as he leaned back in his seat, looking at his friend.
Cody turned to face forward, his eyes tracing the practice lines of the commuter lot and stayed quiet. What was he supposed to say? That he gets freaked out thinking about the car crash video he saw before he started getting his permit? That was the reason but Tapeworm couldn't know that. He'd think that Cody was a wimp, which Cody wasn't.
"Um, the first one," Cody replied finally.
"Ok, using this mini can will make it easy," Tapeworm said as he stretched out his arms. "This minivan is roughly the length of a parking space so you'll be able to tell how far back you need to reverse. I'll talk you through it but then you'll try on your own, ok?"
Cody nodded and opened his car door. I can do it. Tapeworm's the patient one, he can teach me. No problem. He took the keys from Tapeworm as he passed him and got into the passenger side door. Cody got into the driver's seat and closed the door, making a face at how far away the seat was to the steering wheel. Tapeworm wasn't taller than Cody by much anymore, only a few inches and Cody was catching up, but still it felt like he was a million light years away from the steering wheel. Cody stuck the keys in the ignition, pausing to think as to why Tapeworm took them out in the first place, but shrugged it off as he buckled himself.
"Ok, adjust the mirrors," Tapeworm spoke so suddenly it caused Cody to jump. Tapeworm laughed a little as Cody slightly adjusted the mirrors. "Adjust the seat and steering wheel?" he asked. Cody nodded and gripped the steering wheel at ten and two. He swallowed and nervously licked his lips. "Ok, put your foot on the break and keep it there as you take off the parking break." Tapeworm waited patiently as Cody did so. "Put the car into drive." Grasping the gear shift, Cody quickly said a prayer and shifted it until the little red arrow pointed at the D sign. Ok, the car's in gear. So far so good. Cody let out slow breath. "Good, now slowly take your foot off the brake and give the car a little gas."
Cody took another deep breath and pressed his foot on the gas pedal. A little too hard. The car zoomed forward. "Not too fast," Tapeworm instructed. Cody slammed his foot on the brake. The car stopped short and he and Tapeworm leaned forward from the force of the stop before slamming back against their seats.
"Sorry," Cody said sheepishly.
Tapeworm rubbed his neck where the seat belt made a red mark. "S'ok. We're still alive. Just don't slam on the break. If you do that on the road there's a better chance it could get you rear-ended."
Cody paled. "Rear-ended?" He repeated.
"Don't start freaking out. Let's do some easy stuff. Turns, signals, parking in parking spaces before you do anything else. Ok?" Tapeworm said, sensing Cody's fear. He offered the younger boy a smile and Cody smiled in return, albeit it was hesitant.
Cody practiced his right and left turns. He practiced backing up. Tapeworm even let him try a few doughnuts before doing anything else. When Cody backed up over a curb his grip tightened on the steering wheel. When he accidentally knocked over a metal trashcan his grip got even harder. So hard Tapeworm could see his fingers shaking. The longer the practice went the more stressed Cody seemed to get until Tapeworm didn't think he'd be able to pry Cody's fingers off of the wheel.
"Why don't we try driving with music?" Tapeworm suggested, reaching to the floor and pulling out a CD player. They were in park but Cody didn't dare remove his hands or his eyes from in front of him. His lips were in a straight line and Cody was staring so hard Tapeworm thought he looked like he was straining on a toilet. Chuckling, Tapeworm put a CD into the car's CD player. A slight twitch formed in the corner of Cody's mouth when the sounds of the Beatles Drive My Car flowed through the speakers. Tapeworm then got out and pulled cones out of the trunk, placing them on the ground in front of the van before getting back in. "Ok, let's try a three point turn."
Cody knew that a three point turn was supposed to be done in, well, three points. However, whenever he tried it always took him six turns minimum to get out of the space. After trying, and failing, four times, he glanced over at Tapeworm, his lip sucked into his mouth. Tapeworm's cheeks were puffed up slightly and his eyes were squinted, his right hand clutching at his knee.
"Just explode all ready! Your quietness is getting to me," Cody finally cried out breaking the silence.
Tapeworm wordlessly pushed open the door, angrily fought with seat belt that was holding in, and slammed the door shut. Cody winced at the sound and watched Tapeworm stalk to the front of the car, stand there for a few minutes, and then start yelling and stomping around and kicking at the cones. Despite Tapeworm's angry antics Cody couldn't help but burst out laughing. And once he started he couldn't stop. Tears fell from his eyes and he slapped at the steering wheel. His stomach ached and he was finding it hard to breath.
He couldn't help but find his predicament funny. He was part of a quickly rising band. He played sold-out shows. People had his face on their walls. But he couldn't drive a car! When Tapeworm got back in the car, slightly red in the face, he looked at his buddy as if he were crazy. "Do you want to try parallel parking, Mr. Giggles?" Tapeworm asked dryly.
"Yeah," Cody replied, wiping at his eyes.
"Ok then." Tapeworm waved his hands, motioning to the cones. "Just drive up next to them, back up, pull forward, and fix the tires."
He's not even going to help! Cody took a deep breath and did as he was told. The first time he backed up too close to the curb and drove onto the sidewalk. The second time he tried he ran over the cones in front of him since he was too far forward.
"Ok, forget it, that's not working." Tapeworm turned to Cody so his blue eyes were burning holes into Cody's head. "Pretend…the cones in front are Zack and the cones in back are Bailey, ok? If you run over them, you kill them." Cody turned a scared and shocked gaze to Tapeworm. At this point Tapeworm didn't care. If it was enough to get Cody to parallel park he'd have to take drastic measures. Bringing his brother and Bailey into it would motivate him to do well…he hoped.
Cody tried parking many times but telling him it was his family was a bad idea on Tapeworm's part. The first time Cody ran over "Lynn" he freaked out, sped in reverse, and ran over "Bailey" which caused him to freak out even more. His hands were shaking and he looked about ready to cry and he kept apologizing for running them over. Tapeworm thought it was so odd that he actually started laughing.
"What're you laughing about?" Cody nearly shrieked. "I just…burned rubber on my momma!"
Tapeworm laughed even harder. "Cody! It's…it's a cone. A rubber cone. You didn't kill it. I was just trying to teach you to put everything into perspective if you don't drive right. That's all I'm trying to do. What was it about the others trying to teach you that made you mess up so much?"
"Well…Zack kept grabbing the steering wheel whenever I did something wrong," Cody replied looking back at the road. "Woody kept trying to hit at an imaginary brake pedal on his side. And Marcus, well, he wasn't really paying attention to me. He was paying attention to some other girls that were trying to learn to drive as well."
"And what am I doing different?" Tapeworm asked.
Cody wracked his brain. "Paying attention?" He guessed.
"Exactly. Not that the others weren't but they couldn't see your problem but I can."
"Ok. What is it?"
"You're afraid of failing which is making you fail," Tapeworm replied. Cody sat back as the word dawned on him. "You're used to everything you do turn to gold and people eat it up. This is the one thing you can't do and you beat yourself up about it. Cody, everyone has trouble driving.'
"Not you. You got your permit and license on the first try," Cody protested.
"Yeah, but I dented our garage door, knocked down our mailbox, and ran into a pole while I was practicing," Tapeworm replied. "What helped me get them was that I wouldn't let failure be an option. Instead of being afraid of it I fought it head on. You have to do the same thing." Tapeworm noticed that a newborn spark was in Cody's eyes and his knuckles weren't white anymore. "Want to try one more time?"
"Hell yeah," Cody replied. He half expected Tapeworm to tell him what to do just one more time but Tapeworm stayed quiet and looked out the window. Cody closed his eyes briefly and let out a slow breath. Putting the car back into drive he pulled forward next to the cones. Sticking his tongue out between his lips he backed up towards the curb, stopped, and pulled the car forward. He backed up again to straighten the wheels and closed his eyes, waiting for the bump of running over a cone but it didn't come. He slowly opened his eyes and looked out his window. Then he looked at his car door mirror and then turned to look out the rearview mirror. He looked at Tapeworm who was beaming at him as if he won the Pulitzer Prize or something.
"What?" Cody asked in confusion.
"You parked, dummy!" Tapeworm replied, slapping him on the arm.
"I did?" Tapeworm nodded. "Really?" Tapeworm nodded again. Cody unbuckled himself and jumped out of the car, running around it as if he were a dog chasing his own tail. Then he jumped back into the car. "I did! I did it!" He cheered before high fiving Tapeworm. Then he suddenly grinned evilly. "Wait until we get back and I can rub it into their faces."
Tapeworm suddenly shot his hand out and grabbed Cody's wrist. "I'm driving back. You're not ready for the highway and I'm not in the mood to be taken back home in a hearse."
"Ok, just be careful, poles are known to jump into the road," Cody said with a smirk.
"Shut up," Tapeworm laughed.