After unloading what little luggage I had into Charlie's cruiser, I got in the passenger's seat. I would have rather sat in the driver's seat and slept to avoid too much conversation with Charlie, but I didn't want to look like a criminal in the back seat. I strapped in and just looked ahead of me, staring into the cold, grey space ahead of me as Charlie drove on in silence.
As depressingly cold and remote as this place was, I had to admit it was beautiful. Everything was green: the branches of trees hanging with a canopy of it, filtering what little light came through the clouds in green, their trunks covered in moss and the ground covered in ferns and grass. It was a strange beauty: it was eerie, desolate, dark. Beyond the roads, the scene stretched over the mountains, mysterious and wild like it was from a Gothic style novel. I remembered my trip to the airport in Arizona: rolling the window down, feeling the warm sunshine on my face, the wind running through my hair. I suddenly wondered, if I rolled the windows down here, how bitterly cold the air was, especially without the warmth of the sun.
"So, how is Arizona?"
It hurt to remember Arizona right now. Instead of going into detail, I brushed it aside, saying,
"It's fine. Mom says hi."
"Well, good of her. Tell her I said hi."
"Sure."
The silence carried on for a few moments. I simply continued to stare out the window into the wild forest landscape that went by, stretching out on either side of the road.
"By the way," Charlie said, cheerfully, "I have a little surprise for you back home." He smiled at me.
I perked up; that was a piece of good news. Maybe this would be a good day.
"Oh," I sounded excited, "How big a surprise?"
"Let's just say it's a truck load," he smiled at his own joke. "And I got her for a pretty good deal, too."
A few weeks ago, I'd told Charlie that I'd needed a car so that I didn't have to walk in the cold and rain to school. He offered to drive me, but I'd just gotten my driver's license. Besides, I was the new kid. I do not want to be taken back and forth from school in a cruiser. Besides, nothing slows down traffic like a police car.
Now, apparently, he'd not only gotten me a car, but a truck. I pretended to not already figure out what the surprise was, but seeing as I was still excited, it wasn't difficult. Despite myself, I was excited. I did get a truck.
"Where did you get the 'surprise' from?" I asked Charlie, trying to get more information on exactly the type of truck I was getting.
"Well," Charlie looked sheepish, "I got this from a friend."
"Oh, yeah? Is this friend anyone I know?"
"Remember Billy? We used to go fishing with him down at La Push. Well...it was kind of a homecoming gift for you from us, Janey." He smiled. "And I have a feeling you're really going to like it."
"Oh, I guess we'll see."
We continued staring out the windows in silence on the way to Charlie's home. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother only awhile after they were married.
Charlie smiled at me. "Wanna go see your homecoming gift before you get unpacked?" He gestured, and lo behold- there, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my homecoming present- an old truck. a faded red color, with big fenders and a bulbous cab. Despite how old it looked, I loved it. I could see myself in this truck.
"What do you think?" Charlie said, somewhat embarrased .
"Wow, dad, this is awesome! Thanks!" I was so glad I had something to drive to school in.
The bedroom that faces out over the front yard was the room I'd stayed in whenever I came to visit Charlie. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellow lace curtains around the window, the rocking chair from my baby days- these were all a part of my summers with Charlie. The only changes made in this room were switching the crib for a bed as I grew, and adding a desk before I moved in. My brand new desk now held a second-hand computer and a phone line for the modem stapled on the floor to the nearest phone jack, so that my mom could call me.
Charlie has left me alone for awhile so that I could unpack and get settled. I sat on the bed, exhausted, and stared out the window into the ever-grey sky.