chemistry. | SWEET PEA [1]

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE next morning, Becca was startled by a loud knock at her door. She'd been up for a while, a pencil shoved behind her ear as she was working out what could possibly be wrong with Sweet Pea's motorcycle. While she had learned a lot when working for her father, it was mostly about cars. Not a lot of motorcycles came through Mantle's Automotives, for the simple fact that Rick Mantle didn't want to attract the attention of the Southside Serpents looking to buy bikes. Still, she'd worked on a couple before, but never the type that Sweet Pea had. She didn't know how much help she was really going to be.

She waited for one of her parents to get the door or even Reggie, but no one did, and the knocking only grew louder and more urgent.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" She shouted to whoever it was.

Becca swung open the door, ready to give the person a piece of her mind, but she was stunned when she opened it to Archie.

"Archie? What are you doing here?" She asked curiously.

The red-haired boy only ever came by their house to practice with Reggie or to come to one of his parties.

"Hey Becca, is your dad home?" He asked quickly, ignoring her question.

"Uh no, he's out at the car dealership. Why?" She tilted her head slightly, wondering why he would be looking for her father of all people.

Archie seemed to be frustrated at her news and he sighed heavily.

"I don't have time to go all the way over there, but Mr. Lodge sent me over here to give your dad this package," He held out a brown box, "Do you think maybe you could run it over to your dad's? I've got a whole bunch of stuff I need to pick up."

Becca was curious now about the package and she took it from him swiftly.

"Sure, I'll bring it by to him later," Becca promised, and Archie gave her a hurried nod before sprinting to his bike he'd thrown haphazardly on their driveway.

Now thoroughly confused, she shut the door slowly and sat the box on the kitchen counter. Becca studied the package, looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary. She hadn't forgotten about her and Betty investigating what was up with her father, but she didn't want to call her right now just to find out there were only car parts or business documents in it. However, when she picked it up and shook it slightly, it was nearly empty. As if there was nothing in the box save one thing. Just as she was about to take the plunge and open it though, Reggie burst through the kitchen.

"God why don't we have normal breakfast foods like pancakes and shit," He complained, looking through their fridge of fruits and veggies.

"Probably because mom would make us eat grass if that was socially acceptable," Becca crossed her arms at him and trying to look nonchalant.

"What's with the package?" He asked, pointing to the box.

"I don't know. Archie came by and said it was for dad from Mr. Lodge. I was going to take it by later-"

"No, I'll do it," Reggie interrupted her, picking up her one piece of evidence, "I have a car anyway, how the hell were you going to get there?"

"Well I was going to ask you if I could borrow your car," She shot back, "Kevin and I were going to study today at his house."

"So, get him to pick you up," He replied defensively, "And in the meantime I'll run this over to dad."

Becca wanted so badly to find an excuse for him to not deliver that package, so she could see what was inside, but in the end, she watched him leave silently. The only reason he was doing that was to get on her father's good side, and Becca just couldn't see why he wanted to in the first place. Her father had been nothing but cruel to her brother and now all of the sudden it was like he was his own personal servant.