In Another Life

2. A Meeting with Destiny

After cleaning up from supper the Keith family headed over to meet the new neighbors. There was the mom, Beth, the dad, Wendell, and that boy. Beth introduced the speed demon from earlier, "And this is Jeff. He just turned 14. He will be in 9th grade this year. I guess he will be in junior high with you, Amlyne." "Can I go? I want to ride my bike," the boy whined. His mom told him that was fine. Millie chimed in, "Amlyne likes to bike too. Doncha honey? Go get your bike and show young Jeff around." Amlyne could have died right there. Amlyne replied, "Ok, I will be right back." Jeff hopped on his bike and hollered after her, "Hey, wait for me.?

Amlyne grabbed her blue cruiser bike. It was scratched and dented from many wrecks. She still had scratches on her knees from the last wreck. "Well, come on," she urged the boy. They took off down the drive way, past his house, and around the block. The came to some woods that the kids played in. Amlyne asked if he wanted to see the trail and the creek. He said sure. She jumped the ditch and flew down the path. He tried to keep up on his dirt bike, but she was too fast. Finally, she came to a stop by a creek. She parked the bike and went over to a big bolder and climbed on top. Jeff just stood there with his mouth gaping open. "Whatcha waiting on? You chicken? Come on up," she told him. 

Jeff dropped his bike. He struggled to get on top of the bolder but he made it. "Wow," he said "That was awesome." They sat down and talked. "So," she asked, "Where are you from?" "Vermont," he replied. Amlyne didn't even know where that was except it was up north. He said they moved because of his mom's job as a telephone operator changed to the office in South Carolina. His dad was going to be working with a road construction crew. "Amlyne," he teased, "What kind of name is that?" Amlyne explained it was a combination of her mother's middle name Lynne and her grandmother's name, Amelia. "Well, it's stupid," he said. "I am gonna just call you Amy Lynn. That sounds more normal." Amlyne very sternly replied, "That is NOT my name." "Well it is now...," Jeff jumped off the rock grabbed his bike and headed back up the path, as he yelled back "Come on Amy Lynn, burgers are burning."

Amlyne grabbed her bike and pushed it back up the trail. She rode back to the house in a huff. What an ass, she thought. As she sat there on the floor of the porch, Jeff came crashing back in, knocking over boxes and everything in his way. Amlyne just sat there and laughed. What a moron, she thought. Jeff got up, headed to the grill, and grabbed two burgers. He went inside and laughed as he walked past. The adults were busy making small talk all about the neighborhood, schools, and town. 

Jeff cracked the door and whispered, "psst, Amy Lynn, come ere. I wanna show you something." Amlyne rolled her eyes. Millie told her to be nice and go make friends. Carlee jumped up to go as well, but Jeff closed the door in her face, "Not you, shrimp." He lead Amlyne in to the first room in the hallway. "This is my room," he said proudly. There was worn out dresser and a bed frame with a saggy mattress, covered with faded sheets. And what was that on the bed? It wasn't a comforter. It had a zipper. It was a.. sleeping bag.  "You have a sleeping bag on your bed?" she asked. He explained that that is what he had used for years and wasn't going to change it now. The walls were bare. He pulled out a poster. "I am gonna put this up as soon as I get some tacks." It was a man in a loin cloth with long curly hair. "Who or what is that?" she asked. He was shocked. "You don't know who Ted Nugent is? He is the greatest rocker there is. I have his album here somewhere." Jeff thumbed through a stack of records and pulled out one with the same picture. He turned on the record player and cranked the volume all  the way up. The heavy sound of "Wango Tango" blared from the little speakers. "What kind of music  do you like?" he asked. She was embarrassed to say. It was nowhere near as heavy as this, so she just said she like a lot of different stuff. 

They headed out to the den. They found a show on the TV and started watching. Jeff jumped up and grabbed 2 Pepsi's from the refrigerator. He started on his burger and popped open the soda. He gave the other one to Amlyne.  "So," she began, "Why are you only in 9th grade?" He spoke with his mouth full of burger, "Flunked out. Parents say I don't try. I hate school. No one helps me. I just want to work on cars." He reached back and grabbed a magazine. "Here is what I want to do." Amlyne flipped through the magazine. It was full of souped up muscle cars. She oohed and ahhhed as he told her in detail about every one. Amlyne had never seen anyone as passionate as Jeff about cars.  

When darkness finally fell, the Keith's headed home. Amlyne was intrigued by this annoying boy. But like all boys, she figured he would find his own friends and she would be left behind, or would she?