Most of these trailers are set up the same way, some are wider or longer than others, but it’s all the same basic layout. Abe’s is in better condition than ours, since it’s newer and he and hisfather aren’t pieces of shit. Just so happens that his father was injured at work, was denied compensation for it, and now he’s on disability and they can’t afford much. Abe works, but it’s expensive as fuck to live out here. They probably should have moved further away from the city and they’d be better off.
“Spill,” Abe says as soon as I step over the threshold.
“Wow, thanks for the warm welcome.”
“Oh, fuck you.”
The door is closed, and he drops onto the couch. Across from him, a small flat screen TV sits on an entertainment center, some reality show playing on low volume.
Abe is fancy enough to have cableandinternet.
I drop onto the couch beside him. Abe sniffs, then leans close.
“Ugh, you smell like cigarettes.”
“Yeah, the witch is in.”
“I’m so sorry,” he says, sounding like he means it. “But how about you tell me what’s going on with that fancy car out there.” I stare at him. “We can do it now, or you can take me for a ride in it.” He sidles up next to me, batting his lashes.
I shove him off and laugh. “A ride would be nice.”
“Fuck yes!” He hops to his feet and runs out the door.
We get into the car, and I navigate out of the park, turning down the road and just driving. Not having anywhere to go and no need to get back any time soon.
I’ve never felt so free.
Me and my friend, in a car that could take us anywhere. It’s tempting to just go, but I have my sisters anchoring me here. Maybe one day…
Abe messes with the radio, finding a station that’s playing pop music. Of course he knows the song and puts it a little too loud to sing along.
I’m so out of the loop of music and movies and TVs because we don’t have cable or electricity half the time for even a radio to work. Just the pile of DVDs that we watch over and over again. Chrissy has almost all the lines memorized.
After driving for a while, I finally get into the story, telling him as much as I can without breaking what was in the NDA. It was very specific about the language to use and how to present what I’m doing. There’s no way I can hide being gone for eight to ten hours a day, so there has to be a cover story about my job.
Abe isn’t happy with the little information he gets, wanting more, as he always does, but eventually he gives in and accepts it.
“You wanna come over for pizza?” I ask.
“You know I do.”
We stop at a pizza place in town. I order two larges, an order of fries, and a two-liter of soda. We take it back to my place, and we squeeze into the bedroom and eat like we’ve never had pizza before. I can’t remember the last time the trailer was filled with this much joy.
Chapter Ten
Harmon
Monday mornings are the worst and today is worse than usual.
I’m running late for a meeting, thanks to an accident that couldn’t get cleared fast enough. I’d watched as the drivers—who were alert—got stretchered away, but then everyone else sat around talking to each other and staring at the ground instead of towing the wrecks away to let the rest of us pass through and get to where we need to go.
I feel the tension in the room when I step into it, knowing it’s not only from what I’m dealing with but from me being late. It never happens and puts me in a foul mood. Everyone feels it.
Peter, my head of design, hands me a folder when I reach the table. I open it and flip through the photographs of Ferroix’s newest model—an exact replica ofournewest model.
Same dial structure, same layout, some damn shade of blue—a crisp and sleek grey blue.
It’s clear what happened here.