Never Doubt Me: Judge Me Not #2(13)

“Good thinking.” I lean over and kiss Kay’s cheek.

She smiles and passes the radio up to Will, who is standing in the bed of the truck, taking in the parked-up lot. “Sure is busy here tonight,” he comments.

“True that,” Cassie says as she jumps up to stand next to him. She starts unfolding one of three big blankets we packed for the evening.

I remind Will about the radio. He crouches down, sets the radio up, then gets to work on tuning in the correct station. “There,” he says after a few seconds, “all set.”

Cassie is still messing with laying out the blankets, so I say to Will, “Hey, you want to come with me to the concession stand, grab some popcorn and drinks?”

“Yeah, sure.” Will hops down from the bed of the truck.

Kay shoots me a knowing glance. She knows what I’m up to. I’m trying to give her time alone with Cassie so they’ll have a chance to talk, bond, whatever.

Cassie offers Kay a hand when she notices her trying, unsuccessfully I might add, to climb up into the bed of the truck without flashing everyone. Her dress is kind of short, so let’s just say it’s kind of an amusing challenge.

When Kay and Cassie start giggling, I nudge Will and say, “Looks like our girls are getting along great.”

“Yeah,” Will says, sounding pleased. “It’s cool they like each other. Cassie mentioned that Kay’s easy to talk with. She thinks she’s really nice.” He play-punches my arm and adds, “So, how’d you land a classy chick like that, anyway?”

I call him a dick, and we pretend to spar as we start down to the squat cinder block building with the old-fashioned “concession stand” sign. We spend a minute or two just acting like typical guys, but when we knock it off, I tell him the story of how I met Kay.

After I give him an abbreviated version of events, I say, “It’s kind of crazy, but we more or less found love in the parking lot.”

“Sounds like the title to a bad country song, dude,” Will jokes.

“Yeah, it does,” I agree, laughing.

After a beat, Will says in a more serious tone, “So you, like, literally ran into her?”

“She ran into me,” I clarify.

“Lucky you,” he says.

“You got that right, bro,” I reply.

Right before we reach the concession stand, Will slows to a stop. He lowers his gaze, and I turn to him. “What’s up?”

Kicking at the gravel, he quietly says, “I was just wondering if you have to go back to work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“That sucks,” Will says. “Tomorrow’s going to be boring out at the house without you around. I mean…Cassie will be there, yeah, but I’ve been having a good time hanging with you.”

I’m flattered and touched by my brother’s words. Shit, he actually wants to spend more time with me.

Suddenly, I have an idea. “Why don’t you come to work with me? Father Maridale has been on my ass lately to get started on a mural over at the school. But I keep coming up with a major blank on what to paint.”

Will’s interest is piqued; I see it in his expression.

“Whatever I paint,” I continue, “it has to be something kid-oriented. Anyway, you’re good with cartoon characters. You know I think your comic book is amazing, right?”

Will nods once, his cheeks reddening. He has nothing to be embarrassed about, though. He’s been working on creating a comic book line, and from what he’s showed me thus far, it’s incredible.

“So, come with me tomorrow,” I say, “help me come up with something for the mural.”

Will’s green eyes brighten. “You mean, like, paint with you?”

“Yeah, why not?”

Little bro nods slowly, like he’s really thinking this thing through. “Yeah,” he says at last, “I’m down with that.”

“Cool,” I reply.

My brother has art in his blood like I do, even if his artwork is different. I have the ability to sketch anything, just as it is, whereas Will’s best with distorting stuff, turning people and things into caricatures and cartoons, like the characters in his futuristic and war-torn Las Vegas comic book. The hero in his story is a badass character named Champion. Kay swears up and down that this Champion dude is a comic book version of me. I don’t know about that, but I do know if Will actually based his hero on me, I am humbled. It’s been a long f*cking time since Will has viewed me as any sort of a good guy.

When we return to the truck, popcorn and sodas in hand, the movie is just starting. Kay whispers something to me quickly, before the four of us make ourselves comfortable on the blankets in the back of the truck.

The opening scene is an action-packed, testosterone-fueled car chase, complete with explosions. Needless to say, Will and I are pretty much engrossed within minutes. Kay and Cassie, on the other hand, are…not.

“Ugh, this is such a guy’s movie,” Cassie mumbles to Kay when yet another building blows up onscreen. At least ten have been flattened in the first forty minutes.

“They don’t know what’s good, do they, bro?” Will yells over to me.

Kay and Cassie, seated between us, simultaneously turn to Will and snap, “Shut up.”

Everyone chuckles, and a short while later, I overhear Kay whispering to Cassie, “At least the guy playing the lead is hot.”