Okay, I have seriously been dying to write this chapter - Seriously! I hope it makes you laugh...we need some humour now that the drama is behind them!
"Mom! Mom!" Charlie came running into the house after school that afternoon at such a speed I thought the floors would collapse under her. Her face was incredibly lit up and she was beaming like I'd never seen before.
"What? What's going on?" I asked as I looked up from my crossword and pushed my reading glasses down my nose slightly.
I gasped when she slammed the learner's permit down on the table in front of me excitedly and pointed at it over and over again.
"Look!"
"Oh…I can see…" I drew in a sharp breath and stared at it again, wondering if by any chance she'd made it up, faked it…anything that took away the belief that my daughter was now a training driver. "But…Charlie…I thought Principal Leeman wasn't going to allow you to take Driver's Ed until next semester?"
"Well…seeing as though I have been doing a lot better in my studies, he decided to let me…" Charlie replied happily.
"Tell me that you didn't pay him Charlie?" I asked quickly.
Charlie started to laugh.
"No mom, I just dazzled him with my charm!" she said. "And I have been working really hard…I promise!"
I smiled at her and patted her arm gently.
"I am really proud of you honey…I just don't know how your dad is going to react…" I told her.
My ears prickled at the sound of Riley and Mia entering the house in such a fuss as bags and books hit the floor with thuds and their little feet came into the kitchen quickly.
"Hi mom!" Mia said happily as she threw her arms around me.
"Hey babe," I answered happily. I looked up at Riley as he gawked at Charlie's learner permit. "Hey buddy,"
"Hey mom…" he picked it up. "Oh tell me it's not true?"
Charlie nodded excitedly.
"Yep! So true squirt! In another few months, I will be a licensed driver!" she told him.
Riley threw his head down onto the bench top and groaned heavily.
"Why?" he cried throwing his arms up in the air.
I shook my head.
"But mom, Charlie can't drive!" Mia cried.
I looked at her and smiled.
"Dad and I have to teach her to drive," I answered.
"But mom…you hate being in the car with dad, how will you teach an inexperienced driver?" Riley asked.
"What's with the big words?" I asked him.
"Learned it today," Riley replied.
I chuckled slightly.
"Well seeing as though you are all excited…how about we take you for a drive?" I suggested to Charlie.
"Um…what about us…the unaccompanied minors?" Riley questioned.
"Seriously, mate…the big words again…?" I cried.
"It was an English lesson on antonyms…" Riley shrugged slightly.
"I'm sure you and Mia will be fine for ten minutes while I take Charlie down onto the road…" I told him.
"Riley can't babysit me!" Mia exclaimed.
"Mia, I am sure you and Riley can handle yourselves for ten minutes!" I told her with all amounts of confidence, I was only going to be two minutes down the road.
She nodded.
"I'm going to watch cable…" Riley sighed as he grabbed a cookie and headed for the lounge room.
"I'm going to finish my homework," Mia told me as she headed upstairs.
I turned to Charlie and smiled.
"Come on, we'll take the BMW seeing as though dad took the jeep," I said.
"But the BMW is a stick shift!" Charlie cried.
"There is no better way to learn, Charlie." I told her.
She groaned and grabbed the keys from my hand.
"Come on, let's go…" I said nervously.
Charlie climbed into the car outside and sat still for a second.
"Okay, check your mirrors…" I told her. "Now…put one foot on the brake and another on the clutch…"
"How am I supposed to accelerate?" Charlie cried.
"Swap between your brake and accelerator peddle," I answered.
She nodded hesitantly.
"Take off your hand brake…" I told her. "And now pull your clutch back a little bit…and give a little on the accelerator…"
As she took her foot off the brake peddle, she pushed hard down on the accelerator and with a loud roar the car rolled back quickly in large rocks as it resisted the clutch peddle.
"No!" I yelled.
"What?" Charlie yelled back. "I just did what you told me to!"
The car continued to roll.
"Brake!" I screeched as I pulled on the hand brake and took in sharp inward and shallow breaths.
I looked up at the house to see Riley and Mia looking out the long glass windows killing themselves with laughter. I pointed at them furiously and looked back at Charlie who had now gone white as a ghost.
"Okay…" I breathed out a heavy sigh.
Charlie gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared straight ahead.
"Let's try that again…" I said softly. "Now, release the hand brake with your foot on the brake peddle…as you take your foot off the brake; pull your clutch back slightly…" I listened to the engine of the car react with Charlie's driving. "And accelerate…just a little…"
Yet again she revved the car engine as high as it would go and the car sped forward in grunts.
"Stop!" I yelled as I reefed the hand brake on as quickly as I could.
Charlie slammed her hands down onto the steering wheel and cursed in what appeared to be French.
"Well Charlie, I am glad those French classes are paying off!" I sighed heavily.
I looked back at the house to see Mia and Riley still laughing; when they saw my furious look, however, they quickly jumped back behind the curtains.
"Maybe your dad will be better at this…" I sighed.
That night at dinner, Charlie sat poking her food, still clearly scarred from the afternoon's driving.
"I think I am just not a good teacher…" I concluded.
"Mmm…" Charlie replied. "Or maybe I am the world's worst learner driver…"
I laughed and recalled the first time I learned to drive; explaining it to Charlie, I gained a smile from the beautiful face that I was so used to seeing.
"And my dad…well he took me into a parking lot after hours where there were only a few cars…he said that I wouldn't be able to hit one…" I chuckled. "As I parallel parked…three spaces away from any car…I side swiped a Mercedes…"
Charlie burst out laughing.
"What did he say?" she asked.
"Yeah, let's say that we spent a fortune on the Seattle East Driving School…" I smiled at her as I leaned down to kiss her forehead. "You're not the only person who struggled to learn to drive…"
Charlie smiled at me and started eating.
"Yeah…but she's definitely the first person to hit a garbage bin when trying to drive forward!" Riley said.
"Riley James!" I warned.
"It wasn't a garbage bin…it was a compost disposer!" Charlie shot back. "I still don't see why we have one anyway mom!"
"Because your father is a man of the wild…" I sighed shaking my head.
"Hello…?" came Derek's voice from the front door.
"Speak of the devil," I said with a smile.
Derek walked in with a big smile.
"Hey!" I smiled.
"Dad!" Mia and Riley said happily.
"Dad!" Charlie jumped up and ran over to the bench and shoved her learner's permit in his face quickly.
"Whoa…" Derek took it and stared at it intently. "Is this real?"
"As the knocked over compost disposer," I replied.
"Uh-oh…"
"I know…"
"That's great sweetie…" Derek tried to smile sincerely at Charlie who was beaming with excitement.
"So…driving tomorrow?" she asked him hopefully.
I looked at Derek with wide eyes.
"Uh…maybe your mom will take you honey," Derek said quickly.
"Yeah…been there done that…code white for me, code brown for her!" Charlie answered flippantly.
I looked at him and shrugged.
"Yeah, I am a slightly nervous passenger," I sighed.
Derek looked back at his daughter's gleaming and hopeful eyes.
"Okay," he sighed in defeat.
Charlie threw her arms around him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed happily. "I've gotta go and call Jess!"
"Don't tie up the phone tonight Charlie! Aunty Iz tried to ring last night to check something with me and she couldn't get through!"
"Okay!" Charlie called back as she bounded up the stairs.
I looked at Derek and shook my head.
"So…how bad was it?" he asked.
"Oh you have no idea…" I sighed.
--
The next day Derek had driven Charlie to a secluded area of Seattle's back streets. He was climbing out of the car when he looked around the road to ensure there was no way she would hit anyone or anything…
"Okay…" he said as he drew in a nervous breath. "Now…pull your clutch back slightly…you can hear it in the car see…?"
Charlie nodded.
"Now just ease onto your accelerator…" Derek instructed. "Easy…that's it…"
The beautiful black BMW began coasting down the road.
"I did it!" Charlie exclaimed.
"That's it…beautiful…now slow down…Charlie, slow down…" Derek started to panic when her response didn't coordinate with her driving. "Charlie! Slow down!"
"I'm braking dad!" Charlie yelled.
"Whoa…whoa…turn left here…left…" he directed quickly with anxiety crossing his usually calm voice.
"Left…left…" Charlie couldn't remember left and right and needless to say she began to turn right.
"No! The other left! The other left!" Derek yelled.
Charlie spun the wheel quickly and took her feet away from the peddles, letting the car whip around the corner and nearly turn on two wheels.
"Whoa!" Derek shouted. "Brake Charlie!"
With two feet, Charlie slammed her feet on the brake and let her and Derek fly as far forward as the seatbelt would allow them.
Derek breathed heavily and stared straight ahead, wondering if it was possible for his feet to have blown through the floor and hit the ground.
"Dad…" Charlie said quietly.
"Yeah…?" Derek's voice was almost a squeak.
"Is it too late to get a driving instructor?"
Hope you all enjoyed it, hope it made you laugh!!
Reviews!
Amy.