Jasmine by Bene Jennifer & Starrett Shane

Author:Bene, Jennifer & Starrett, Shane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Mason

The trip from Amarillo to Stockdale is two hours. Carmen — Rodriguez has me calling her that before we’ve left the city limits — lists off the towns, and it’s like a slice of rural Americana. “Bushland to Vega and then we’ll turn north to Tacosa, past Boys Ranch, up through Channing, Hartley, Dalhart, and then Stockdale.”

The A/C whooshes softly, and we talk while she drives. The more she speaks, the more I realize what a wasted asset she is, which is so fucking typical of the agency, and the government in general.

“Where are you from, originally?” I ask, because the slight twang on some of her words has caught my ear.

She grins. “My voice doesn’t give me away?”

“Well… you do have a certain lilt. But, hell, I’m from California. That could mean anything.”

“Ha!” Her laughter is bright, genuine. “Well, now you’ve stumbled onto another reason why Whitmann sent me with you.” She flashes me a grin. “I’m a native Texan. Born and raised.”

“Really?” I cock my head, smiling inwardly because I was right.

“Yep. I was born in Dumas. Lived in Cactus for a time, and then up in Stratford when my daddy got hired on by the windfarm people.” She glances out the window at the flat, tan country slipping by the gray ribbon we’re on. “Where we’re going is my country. Mi gente. My people.” She shoots me another look. “Pareces un gringo, pero eres de California. ¿Hablas la lengua materna?”

I grin back at her. “Not a fucking clue. Umm… uno cerveza, por favor. Alto!”

She laughs again, and it is a joy to hear.

“Yeah, you’re a gringo.” Carmen gives me a shit-eating grin, and I can’t help but return the same.

“So, you know this country?”

“I do.”

“Anything worthwhile you want to fill me in about it?”

Her face goes serious, and for a moment she’s lost in thought. “There are three things you need to keep in mind about people in West Texas. Folks here are very private, and they believe in two things: God and football. And on any given day, not necessarily in that order.”

“Isn’t that a bit of a cliché?” I ask, my mouth quirked into a half-smile.

She looks over at me soberly. “Not where we’re going, Mason.” Her eyes turn back to the freeway, her expression never changing. “You’ll see.”

We continue, passing pick-up trucks and semis with tarp-topped trailers. I look over at Carmen, and she’s lost in thought. “So, you grew up here.”

“Yep.”

“Must have been hard. You don’t seem the football or God type.”

She shoots me a quick glance, her mouth a slash of dismay. “While I’ll agree with you about the God part, you disappoint me, Mason.”

“Why’s that?”

“Pretty sexist thing to say.” She’s got her eyes back on the road, lips thin. “Thinking I might not enjoy football.”

I nod. She’s right. I give a slight shrug. “Fair enough. Mea culpa.”

“I never played, mind you, because girls don’t play football in Texas. Least when I was growing up. But I loved the game. Loved watching it with my dad.

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