Narrow Paths

Chapter Nineteen

After the wedding, Darcy dropped me off at my house. My father's cruiser wasn't in the driveway, but I saw my mom's car in the garage. Darcy sped off back toward her house, which surprised me. I'd expected her to head to the cabin without me.

I went inside and hung my tuxedo back up in my closet. I could hear the television in the kitchen. I made an impulse decision to swallow my pride and reconcile with my mother. I didn't want her to dislike me any more because of Darcy.

I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table with her. She turned down the volume of the television and turned toward me.

"What?"

"Well, Mom, I want you to know that I love you."

"If you want something -"

"I don't want anything. Well, I do, but it's kinda weird. I want you to stop being so mad at me for who my friends are."

She sighed. "I'm just afraid she's a bad influence on you."

"She has influenced me, I'll admit that. But, I'd argue that it's been for good. She hasn't pushed me to do drugs or smoke or anything stupid like that. She's pushed me to be myself."

"Well," she sighed again, "I suppose if you think she's a good person for you to be around, then I won't say anything more about it."

"Thank you. I'm just trying to learn about people and make new friends, you know? Ed and Germ are the only real friends I've had since fourth grade, and Darcy is a great addition to the list."

She laughed and reached over to pat my hand. "You're welcome, Carter."

"So, what's for dinner?"

"I'm not sure," she said.

"How about I invited the guys over for the night and we go up to Union City and get Chinese food?"

"That sounds amazing," she admitted, "and you deserve to spend time with them. How much money do you need?"

"Uhm, about forty bucks?"

"I'll give you a fifty, just in case."

She took her purse off the counter and rummaged through it until she found her wallet. She pulled out a fifty dollar bill and handed it to me.

"I'll be back within an hour or so."

I headed to my room and straightened up a bit while I called Jeremy. He and Ed were excited about the prospect of coming over, but he sobered when he remembered that Ed was grounded.

"Ask your grandmother anyway. Make sure she knows that I'm picking you up, then we're going to Union City, and then we're coming back and staying the night."

He agreed and there was a silence on the other end of the line. A few seconds later, I heard him yell in victory.

"That's awesome, she agreed! When are you going to be here?"

"As soon as my truck gets me there."

Within fifteen minutes, Ed, Jeremy, and I were headed toward Union City. Jeremy, sitting in shotgun, turned the radio up on our favorite alternative rock station.

"How do you drown a blonde?" Jeremy asked.

"Glue a mirror to the bottom of a pool," I replied.

"Hey, you finally got one!"

We laughed and rolled the windows down. It was a hot, windy summer afternoon. The sun was high in the sky. The sky itself was bright blue, like a bird.