Chance Encounters

Tailgates and sunsets

After paying we went to his buddy’s house. The gravel road bit underneath my truck tires. “When did you learn to fight like that?” Mark asked. I shrugged slowing down at a stop sign. “I grew up in the country,it’s either fight or you don’t survive.” Mark looked at me,putting his left hand on my shifting hand. The sun was glaring in my eyes, I don’t know why he liked me so much,there wasn’t much to me. Nudging the shifter into neutral I cruised into a driveway. Mark’s hand was still sitting firmly on my hand. “This is the place you took me the night of homecoming.” I noted. He smiled and nodded, “Yeah it sure is,I want you to meet my buddy Bill, I’m sure he’ll like you.” I gripped the steering wheel out of nervousness. “I hope so.” He smiled, “Bill is a good guy,plus he will love the truck even though he’s a Buick guy.”

I shut the tuck off and hopped out. I could have kicked myself for not dressing better,my uniform was still on,stains and all. Mark hopped out and walked around to a screen door. “You can follow me.” He said, so I did. He opened the door to a little room,it had all sorts of car posters and pictures. A guy with sandy colored hair poked his head around the corner“What’s up Mark? Oh,whos this young lady?” He asked, I turned my body to face him. “I’m Skye, nice to meet you sir.” Bill laughed and paused. “You wrench?” He asked me,eyeing my uniform. I nodded, “Yup, I sure do, I work for an agricultural mechanic shop.” Bill smiled, “Interesting, Mark, you might have found another friend.” Mark’s face flushed red, “Bill what are you working on?” His face lit up,”Let’s take a walk on out to the barn and I’ll show y’all.” We walked up the gravel road that led to his barn. Woods were surrounding us,and it reminded me how much I missed my home. I looked around in awe. “I didn’t know a place down here existed.” Bill smiled, “Yup,just a little hobby farm,I’ve got some goats and chickens. Plus it gives me space for all my projects.”

Bill opened up the pole barn door revealing a 68' buick skylark gs. “This is the ‘shark’, it has an upgraded clutch,new brake system and a totally rebuilt transmission. I'm going to take it to miland.Or at least I hope to anyway.” I stood in awe, it was a bad ass car. The pearl white gleamed in the shop lights. Bill looked at my truck from the barn door. “So what is the deal with that thing? Did ya do work to it?” I nodded and Mark laughed. “Bill the first time meeting her she was bench pressing a new trans in the thing.” Bill nodded, “What year is it?” I answered, “A 57’ style side F-350. I added two extra leaf springs so I can haul more in it. It was the closest thing to a dump truck my mom would allow me to get. I eventually want to get a 56’ Golden Hawk to tune up and race it,but work takes up the majority of my time nowadays.” Billy smiled, “Sounds like you’ve got a plan. The paint looks decent too,who painted it?” My face turning red, “I did,but I didn’t really do any Bondo or sanding to it.” Bill nodded. Continuing his tour for us, I looked around in awe, the painting and body work tools were amazing to look at. Obviously he took pride in his work and it shows.

It was almost sunset, as Billy walked into his house. “Wife is cooking tonight and I don’t want to miss it. It was nice meeting you young lady, drive safe you two.”

Mark and I took that as our que to leave. The road hummed underneath my tires as I drove us both to the barn where we hung out with Larry.One hand on the wheel and the other was on the shifter, Mark put his hand over mine. “What are ya thinking about over there?” He asked, looking directly at me. “Just,why bother with me? Look at all the pretty ones you pull and yet you are hanging around me.” He smirked, “Maybe it's because we have things in common, or maybe it's because I want to.” My face flushed red. I pulled into the path we made to the barn. Stopping and shutting the truck off I looked at Mark. “What do ya say to a bit of beer,joints and watching the sunset together?” Mark smiled. “Sure that sounds great.” I turned the key and my truck engine shuttered as it turned off. We got out,I reached underneath the seat and pulled out a six pack of Rolling Rock. Carrying it to the back of my truck I opened my tailgate. “Here sit.” I motioned for Mark to join me as I hopped up on the unfolded tailgate. Taking the blunt end of my lighter I popped open the beer passing it to Mark and opening one for myself. We sat for a few minutes enjoying each other’s company.

The sun made a stunning pink and red glow as it started to go down. The crisp fall air and the smell of freshly cut hay filled my nose,it was almost as nice as being at home. Mark looked at me swigging his beer. “So what did your father do before he got drafted?” He asked. I looked over at him. The blue in his eyes shining against the colors of the sky. “He used to be a logger and trapper, we lived on the reservation, but because my mother is able to take care of me I was forced to move down here.” His eyes shifted back to the sunset. I lit up a joint and took a big drag off of it. I sighed before I broke the silence, “My mother and I don’t really get along,she thinks that I should be college bound and settle down with someone. I don’t want that,there’s so much more than that.” Mark took the joint from my hand and hit it. “I know the feeling,plus it’s more fun to live life without someone telling you how to live it.” Mark moved closer to me, we were on beer number two at this point. His hand brushing against mine as he looked into my eyes. “Mind if I?” He asked. I shook my head, in fact I wanted another kiss from him. His hand tilted my chin up to look at him,his ocean eyes burning with passion as he leaned in to kiss me. My heart fluttered as I felt his lips lock on to mine,his tongue gently pushing into my mouth. Leaning into it further I traced the movements of him and copied what he was doing. He pulled away. I wanted to be in that moment forever. Wrapping his arm around me I leaned into his chest. My ears were able to hear the steady rhythm of his heart.

The stars came out and were shining brightly. Much easier to see where I lived,but I would take what I could get, at least the city lights weren’t taking away from them. “Stay there I’ll be right back.” I hopped off the tailgate and went inside my truck. Reaching underneath the seat I grabbed the blanket and brought it back to the tailgate. Mark looked at me like I was crazy. I sat back down finishing my beer as I unfolded it and threw it over us. “I got cold,but I wanted to look at the stars with you some more.” Mark smiled, “I’m ok with that.” I leaned into his chest and pointed out different constellations. After an hour or so we packed it up and started the treck home.

We stopped at a gas station, picking up some gas and some snacks, hoping to soak up some of the beer and joints. I grabbed a Mtn Dew for me and a Coke for him. I didn't feel like going home quite yet, but unfortunately we couldn’t go camping because well tomorrow was monday. Passing a joint back and forth was becoming a ritual,it was quite nice to relax and smoke a little. The cab of my truck filled with smoke as I cracked the window. We were in the parking lot of the little gas station.“Damn, do you grow this?” He asked and I nodded, “Yeah i grow it in my closet, my family doesnt know and honestly it saves me the money.” He wrapped his arm around me, kissing my cheek. “You look exhausted.” He said, I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I kind of am. Sorry I'm not the perfect one, and all I like to do is wrench on cars…” He pulled me closer, “Suits me just fine, I don’t need someone up my ass 24/7 and I know you don’t either.” I shrugged, “It's different when you hang around, it feels like you actually enjoy my company and it's quite nice. Being away from the res and all my family it's an adjustment,but I’m making it work.” I sleepily smiled, “When we do decide to go back, would you mind driving? I can feel my eyes starting to close on their own.” He chuckled, “Not a problem, you can rest your head on my lap and stretch out if you would like.”

We got out and swapped seats. Mark looked nervously as he sat in the driver’s seat. “I’m going to be honest,I’ve never driven a truck like this before.” I sleepily smiled. “It’s ok,there’s only three gears,plus there’s hardly any traffic, just look above the hood and stay inside the lines.” He pressed the clutch down and shifted it into reverse. Unbuttoning my coveralls I laid on his lap, reaching for the blanket I threw it over me. “Sorry,if this is uncomfortable for you, I don’t have heat in my truck,it’s on the to do list.” He put his arm over my shoulders resting it on me so he could access the shifter. “It’s ok,you are perfect laying right there.” I smiled, his scent filled my nose and I relaxed a little bit.

The ride back home was a little slow,but Mark seemed to gain the hang of it. My truck tires hummed as he was driving. He must of seen my eight track sitting in the player because I heard the faint sound of Creedence Clearwater Revival playing. It was nice and I didn’t want the moment to end. He pulled into a little parking lot with a Kmart in it. “Hey Skye,are you asleep?” My eyes flashed open,”I’m awake,what’s up?” I asked sitting up. He looked at me. “We are about ten minutes from home just wanted to make sure you are awake enough to get in your house.” I rubbed my eyes and yawned, “Yeah I’ll be alright,sorry for making you drive.” He shook his head, “It isn’t a big deal,your truck drives like butter you did an amazing job with fixing it up.” I smiled and pecked him on the cheek. “Thank you,I put a lot of time into it.” I sat up and watched him continue to drive. For someone who’s never driven anything other than a car he did well. Taking the turn into our neighborhood I knew that the night we shared together was almost over.