The Rain Began to Fall (17 page)

“So, did you see
the beast?” Kyle asked Mindy as they walked up, recovering enough from the
heartbreaking moment, at least on the surface, to sound jovial.

“Yes, I did!” she
answered.  “It sounded tough! I bet it will fly, huh?” Leigh watched her
staring admiringly at Rob. She was obviously smitten with him.

“You
ain’t
seen
nothin
’ yet,”
Kyle responded, managing a weak smile. But he couldn’t continue the charade any
longer. His heart was wrenching, crumbling into pieces, and he couldn’t get far
enough away from Leigh at that moment.

“You ready to go?”
he asked, turning his attention to Rob.

“Now?” he
responded. “Are you kidding? We just got here!”

“I’m not kidding,”
he responded firmly. “I
need
to
go
.” Mindy had been too excited
to notice Leigh sitting somberly and staring off, and when she finally looked
closely at her, she knew something had happened. Rob caught on to the
situation, and although the last thing he wanted to do was leave right then, he
gave in.

“Can I give you a
call?” he asked Mindy.

“Yes! Please do!” she
responded. He took his cell phone out of his pocket, and Mindy grabbed it from
him, typing her number into the phone’s memory, just to make sure he got it
right. As she did this, Rob addressed Leigh.

“It was nice
meeting you.”

“Good to meet you
too, Rob,” she answered, turning to face him. “Come in Monday, and we’ll get
you started, okay?”

“I’ll be there,”
he replied.” And thanks.” Mindy saved her number in Rob’s phone and handed back
over to him.

“There!”

“I’ll call you
later this evening, okay?” he asked.

“I look forward to
it!” she replied, blushing and beaming.

Kyle paused and
looked once more at Leigh, but she kept her eyes down, refusing to acknowledge
him.

“Have a nice life,
Leigh,” he said bitterly, and walked away quickly, Rob on his heels.

As they
disappeared, Leigh sat quietly, staring at nothing and thinking about what she
had just done. She’d hated to treat him that way, but she knew in her heart of
hearts that she had done the right thing. She couldn’t have continued
confidently toward her wedding day if she would have allowed him back in her
life. Though she had not heard from him in the past couple of weeks, she had
been sure he would try to contact her sooner or later. It happened by chance
today, and now there was closure. Now she was sure he wouldn’t be back. It
would be just she and Gene from here on, and they could roll smoothly along
with their plans.

Mindy reached
across the table and took Leigh’s hands, offering her support without a word.
Leigh looked at her friend, with a tear in her eye, and smiled weakly. She had
chosen her wedding dress today. Yes, she had finally chosen, and at the same
time, she had chosen her life.

Monday rolled
around, and Rob went to
Falstead
to fill out an
application. After his interview with the plant manager, he was hired on the
spot, and was scheduled to start work the next day. At 9:00 am on Tuesday, he
sat in Leigh’s office as she took him through orientation. She was cordial and
nice enough throughout the process; but she was strictly
business
,
making no reference to Saturday’s events, Mindy, Kyle or anything. Kyle had
talked to him freely over the course of Saturday evening, and had told him the
story of his and Leigh’s relationship to that point.

As she continued
to drone on and drily lay out the employment package, he understood her
reluctance to display any sort of warmness or familiarity, given the
awkwardness of the situation. He thanked her courteously when she was done, and
he left to begin work.

Kyle greeted him
when he entered the plant.

“Welcome to the
jungle, man!” he hollered over the noise, coming over from his area long enough
to shake his hand. With the aid and instruction of the supervisor, Rob learned
and fell in line quickly. His work station wasn’t far from Kyle’s, and he could
easily hear Wade and Billy’s loud mouths, bragging about how badly Kyle would
lose on Friday night. The race had generated a lot of interest, and Rob heard
more than one person commenting on it over the course of the day. Most of the
opinions favored Wade. Kyle was the new kid on the block, and they wanted to
see Wade put him in his place.

There were a few
cute girls working in the plant, but Rob wasn’t interested. His mind was
continuously on Mindy; he had called her every night since Saturday, and she
was so easy to talk to, so beautiful, so everything. He knew, privately, that
he had fallen in love with her. He was happier all the time that he had made
the move to Charlotte, North Carolina.

On Thursday of
that week, Leigh sat in her office alone during lunch. When she finished the
sandwich she had brought from home, she stood and walked over to the window to
look out over the grounds. She spotted Kyle by one of the elms, in conversation
with Rob. She watched his familiar mannerisms; the way he leaned back against
the tree, propping his foot up, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. And
although she was too far away to see them, she could imagine his beautiful
eyes. Things had gotten better this week in her mind, as she worked on her
wedding plans daily and spent her evenings with Gene; but now, looking down at
him, she felt a tug in her heart.

But as soon as she
did, she spun around and quickly left the window, grabbing the picture of she
and Gene off her desk. She stared at it, concentrating on it, remembering the
Seattle vacation and all the fun they had. Then she knocked over the pen cup,
spilling the contents as she reached desperately for another picture on her
desk, this one of her father.
Oh daddy I miss you
!
she
thought sadly as she stared at the photo, the memories flowing through her
mind. She closed her eyes, pressing the picture frame to her chest.

Outside, at that
moment, during a break in conversation with Rob, Kyle looked wistfully up at
her office window. Inside, Leigh sat with her face in her hands, tears
streaming freely down her cheeks.

The electric blue
Nova came roaring down Anderson Lane, sounding every bit like the racing
machine it would have to be on this Friday night. There was a certain red head
that lived on this street, and the driver intended to pick her up and bandage
his wounded heart with her as best he could.

Kyle had grown
increasingly reckless since the scene between he and Leigh at the mall, finding
it difficult to deal with the fool he had been; the knowledge that he was out
of the picture, would never have the love of his life had grown into a
monstrous, screaming demon of merciless repetition.

It was 10:45 pm,
and he was to meet Wade and the boys on Summerville Road at 11:00 pm. He was
ready to race, and he knew his Nova was. He and Rob had installed the tuned
header on Wednesday, and the increase in power was noticeable.

He reached over to
the passenger seat where a six pack of beer sat. He pulled a cold bottle out of
the brown paper bag and twisted off the top, tossing it over his shoulder into
the backseat. He began fishing in the sack for the pack of
Luckys
he had purchased. The cigarettes were hiding from him. He flipped on the
overhead light and looked over, pulling down the top of the sack for a better
view. He rummaged more, around the sides of the beer carton.
Nothing.

“Damn,” he
muttered. He was now glancing in snatches, feeling around. He glanced back at
the road. Steady as she goes. Cool.
Where are they
?  He then
flipped the sack on its side, shook it, and saw the cigarette pack fall out on
the seat.
Alright
.
Then he heard his right tire
hit gravel, and a loud thump as his right front fender took out someone’s
garbage can that had been sitting near the road for pick up. The can went
sailing as he jerked the Nova back on the pavement. He checked his rearview
mirror and saw garbage lying all over the road.

“Whoops!” He
slammed on the brakes, turned around, and went back to the scene of the crime.
No one had come outside, so he picked up the garbage, put it back in the can,
and returned it to its proper place. It was a plastic can, and he could see no
damage to it, so he hurriedly jumped back in his car and went on his way.

He now tore the
wrapper off the cigarettes, pulled one out of the pack with his teeth, and lit
it with a match he struck on his fingernail. He turned fast into Lisa’s
driveway, and a moment later she came bouncing down the steps, wearing a pair
of tight denim shorts and a tank top. She opened the door on the passenger side
and climbed in.

“Hi, Kyle!” she
exclaimed with a bubbly smile as she closed the door. She looked in the sack he
had moved from the seat to the console to make room for her. “Ooh, you’ve got
some beer! Can if I have one of those?”

“Help
yourself
,” he responded, then threw it hard into reverse.
The tires squealed loudly.

“Are you ready?”
she asked, turning sideways in the seat to face him as he tore out onto the
main road.

“I was born ready,
babe,” he replied with a slight, steely grin. Staring straight ahead, he geared
up and stomped the pedal, the engine screaming in response.

They were off to
the races.

The night was warm
and the skies were clear as Kyle pulled onto Summerville road. There were many
more cars and people on hand than he had seen the first time around. He idled
along, finally spotting Rob’s
Chevelle
. Mindy was
with him, and they were leaning against the hood of his car. Wade’s Impala was
close by, the bottle green exterior freshly waxed and shining under the
streetlights, and Kyle’s Nova was sparkling as well. He saw several people
beginning to point at him, and many turning their thumbs down. He ignored them,
and pulled up to Rob, throwing it in park. He climbed out, and Lisa, who had
jumped out enthusiastically before the wheels had even stopped rolling, ran
around and practically slammed into his side, locking her arm in his.

“Hey man!” Rob
exclaimed, smacking him on the shoulder. “You ready to blow this guy away?”

“Absolutely!” he
responded, turning up the bottle of beer he held in his hand.

“You shouldn’t do
that, you know,” Rob said seriously, frowning and pointing at his beer, then
producing his own and turning it up. They both laughed, almost spraying each
other.

“This is a wild
crowd, man,” Rob said. “Sort of reminds me of
Boonesville
.
I feel right at home!”

“I knew you
would,” he replied, now turning his attention to Mindy.

“So how are you
doing, Ms. Whitlow?” he asked. Rob had filled him in all week about how
famously they were getting along, and he felt a natural moment of envy and
bitterness now, seeing them together. But he recognized and squelched the
unfair thought immediately. He was truly happy for both of them. Mindy had
turned a critical eye on Lisa, and was now observing her choice of clothes… or
lack thereof.

If this girl’s
not a little slut
... she thought.

“Hello Kyle,” she
responded smiling. “Who’s your friend?” Her pleasant smile transformed into a
smirk as she turned her attention to Lisa. Lisa promptly returned the sneer,
looking Mindy up and down.

“I’m Lisa,” she
responded curtly. “I’m Kyle’s date!” She giggled and locked both arms around
his waist, smiling up at him admiringly. She then looked back at Mindy and
raised her eyebrows contemptuously. Mindy felt like throwing up.

At that point,
Wade and Billy approached, flanked by a number of guys Kyle recognized from
Falstead
,
and the rest of the crowd on hand.

“
It’s
show time, man!” he hollered, jabbing his finger
dangerously close to Kyle’s chest.

“Right on!” Billy
chimed in. Kyle ignored Billy the moron and looked Wade dead in the eyes.

“I’m ready pal,”
he said, displaying the cocky grin Wade hated so much.
“How
about you?”
  Wade stared back at him, thinking he might just knock that
grin off of his face after he won. Not that he would be smiling after he beat
him, but he might just make sure it was gone.

“I
ain’t
never
been more ready than I am to beat you,” Wade responded through his teeth,
seething and staring hard at Kyle. Someone was in his car, and they revved the
powerful engine.

“Hear that?” Wade
asked, cupping his right hand to his ear. “That’s taps for you, man.” He
pointed and jabbed his finger very close to Kyle’s face as he said this.
Everybody behind Wade laughed.
Touch me just once tough guy
, Kyle
thought menacingly.
Give me a reason
. But his outward expression of cool
confidence remained unchanged.

“How about a
little bet then?” Kyle asked. Lisa was hugged up so tight to him she could be a
second skin, and behind her, Mindy was edging closer to regurgitating. Rob
smiled. He knew what was coming.

“
Whattaya
got in mind?” Wade asked, chuckling. “It’s your
money to lose!” He looked around at the guys and they all laughed.

“Yeah, it’s your
money to lose, dude!” Billy echoed.

“Shut up,” Kyle
demanded through clenched teeth, looking sternly at Billy. Billy narrowed his
eyes at Kyle and tried to come up with a quick response. But quick, in any
respect, was a tall order for the dimwit, and after further reflection, he
decided wisely to do as he was told. Kyle turned back to Wade.