Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado

Author:Crystal Maldonado [Maldonado, Crystal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2021-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Brian and his mom are supposed to show up at my house at 5 p.m. At 4:30, I start looking out the window every few minutes to see if they’re outside. I selfishly hope fixing my car won’t take too long because I don’t want my mom to come home while Brian and his mom are here. She’s not a fan of unexpected visitors. And I’m not really a fan of her right now, so yeah.

Brian’s car pulls into the driveway at exactly 5 p.m., which I appreciate, because I couldn’t have handled any more time obsessively looking out the window. Plus, 5 p.m. should leave us enough time to get this done before the sun goes down. (At least I hope.)

I meet them outside. “Hi, Brian. Hi, Mrs. Park.”

“You don’t have to call me Mrs. Park,” she says. “Maura is just fine.”

I nod and smile. Before they arrived, I texted Brian to ask what I should call her, and he told me she’d prefer Maura over Mrs. Park, but I didn’t want to seem presumptuous. (Technically, she and her wife are both Mrs. Park, which I think is pretty lovely and sweet.) I just struggle to call adults by their first names. I still call Amelia’s parents Mr. and Mrs. Jones and it’s been literal years.

“Okay, Maura. Thank you both for coming. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. Do you have the battery?” Brian asks.

“Yes! Let me grab it,” I say.

“I’ll help,” he offers, following me as I walk toward the garage. I let us inside and go to grab the battery, but Brian’s quicker.

“I can carry it,” I say.

“I know. But do you want to?” He holds it out toward me. I wrinkle my nose in response. “Thought so.”

We walk back to where Maura is standing beside my car, sleeves rolled up and hair pulled back. A toolbox is open at her feet and I can see that it’s meticulously organized.

“Charlie, would you mind popping the hood of your car for me?” she asks.

“Yes! I’m super good at that now.” I grab the lever that pops the hood, then see Maura motioning for me to come to the front of the car.

“Come here, dear,” she says. “I’ll show you how to get it open from here. Just in case you ever need to.”

I join Brian and his mom at the front of my car. She explains that you need to stick your hand under the hood, palm up, and feel around for a latch to pull to fully release the hood. Once the hood is open, she shows me how to prop it up and lays an oil-stained towel over the front of the car.

“To protect it from battery acid that could drip,” she explains.

Then Maura bends over the front of the car, talking about things like negative vs. positive ground, bolts and wrenches, and I’m trying to listen but I feel like it’s all going over my head. I’m nodding but secretly thinking, Oh, God, what? Brian’s watching intently but silently, too, so at least that makes me feel a little bit better.

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