My Heart's in Alabama

20 - Matt

The next hour is torture. I anxiously wait for a metallic blue BMW. That's what my dad told me to look for. A metallic blue BMW. I peek out the window, check the clock, wait a bit, and peek back out the window again. It's weird. I feel a sense or a feeling of when I was a kid looking out the window waiting for my mom to come back home. Only this time it's different. Before there was hope, but it was a hope that was wrapped in dread. Now, it's a different kind of hope. Excited hope. A hope that I know will turn into something real.

One thing I've learned through all this, is hope isn't meant to be a forever kind of thing. There has to be an end, a light at the end of the tunnel, something on the other side of the mountain. You can only hope for so long. Because hope without an ending is just hopelessness.

There are a few moments, a couple pangs here and there as I wait that fear that she won't show up. But this time I know it's real. I feel it in my bones. That and the fact that Drew texts me her updated ETA about every 5 minutes.

Finally, I see her pull up. I don't think much before grabbing my bag and rushing downstairs. I don't bother to tell my mom I'm leaving. It's not like she ever did.

I run out the door, but stop dead in my tracks when I see her. I don't know what it is, but I kind of get blown away. I don't know what I expected, but she's like..I don't know. She's something else.

"Hi, you must be Matt," she says with a warm, but somewhat nervous and self-conscious smile. "I'm Chloe."

"Yeah, uh," I say, my words getting caught in my throat. "Nice to meet you."

After all that time anxiously waiting for this woman to arrive, now that she's here I suddenly kind of get weirded out by the whole situation. I'm a complete stranger to her. Why is she doing this? And oh man, I'm really gonna be in the car with her for the next 6 hours. What the hell are we gonna talk about?

I can tell she's kind of weirded out by it too, but she's a trooper and stays as polite and kind as possible. I do my best to return the favor. "Nice to meet you, too. I've heard a lot about you."

"Uh," I say. "You too, I guess."

There's a slight awkward silence between the two of us. She's quick to jump in and break it.

"Do you want to put your stuff in the back?"

I nod my head and move to the trunk. It's then that I realize how freaking nice her car is. All she had to do was press a button and the thing opened by itself. Definitely a hell of a lot different than the solid five minutes it takes to rip open Teddy's rusty truck bed.

But, that's not even the craziest part. The trunk glides open, and wouldn't you know it, there's a shiny new driver, solid matte black with the tiniest sliver of metallic maroon lining the edges, sitting there with a ribbon tied around it. I know it's not hers. It's short. Too short for an adult. I squint my eyes closer to get a better look. Holy shit, it's engraved with my brother's name.

"What's that?"

"Oh," she says, suddenly getting self-conscious again. "That's for Drew. I got it for his birthday."

I knew exactly what it was, obviously, but again, I'm left completely stunned by this woman.

"Looks expensive."

I know I shouldn't have said it out loud, but I couldn't help myself. Her face contorts with worry and she clenches her teeth.

"You think it's too much?"

"No, no," I say, quickly correcting myself. "He's, uh..he's gonna love it."

"I hope so. He's a good kid. He deserves it."