Page 60 of Kiss Kiss Bang
When she finally walked out of her building that night she was in tight jeans and a cute top with an even cuter scarf, black Chucks, and her hair in a high pony tail. “Looking good, Liv girl.” He kissed her cheek. “Missed you. Where’ve you been?”
She felt the heat in her cheeks. They’d kissed and touched a lot during the last year and he’d always been around. But they’d never gone any further and he’d never given her the impression that they were anything more than friends. “Just school and stuff. How about you?”
“Just hanging out with friends. Same ol’ same ol’.” Friends. She didn’t want to know which friends, because she was fairly certain they were the kinds of friends he shouldn’t be with.
But in a place like Brownsville, he was the closest thing she had to family. To someone she trusted. To someone good. So she let it go and decided just to enjoy the evening—celebrate her grades.
Hopping in the old Honda Civic, he drove them to a park inside a gated community in a better part of town, to the same playground they’d been going to since they were little. She already knew the drill—he linked his hands together, she put one foot inside, and he lifted her up so she could hop over the fence. He, on the other hand, pulled up and deftly jumped over using his strength. She tried not to stare but it was hard when he looked so good doing it.
He took her hand in his and led her to the green platform that had used to be a little clubhouse. Now the roof had broken off and the night sky was above them. They lay down side by side in silence for a little while.
“What’s been going on with you?” he asked.
“Nothing much. You?”
“I have to tell you something but I don’t want you to judge me.”
Shit. That wasn’t ever a good thing. “What is it?”
“I’m dropping out. I got a job at the Lenny’s Auto and I’m taking it.”
She sat up. “No, Connor. Don’t. You’re so smart, and—”
He guided her back down and turned his body so he was partly over her. “Don’t. Please. I already made up my mind. School’s not gonna do anything for me. I can’t turn down this job. He’s going to pay so I can get my certificate and—”
“That wasn’t the plan, Con.”
“I know, Liv. But we were kids and those dreams . . . they were naïve. I need a job. I need to eat. I need to help Ma.”
“Connor, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re almost done. We only have a few months left.”
“It’s done, baby. I’m finished.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips. “But you’re going to stick with it. You’re going to live that dream for us.”
Her mind reeled. She wasn’t dumb. She knew that no matter how much she loved Connor, he’d always be an anchor weighing her down. Eventually she’d sink along with him.
“Maybe when you graduate college and start making money, I can get my GED and try for something bigger.”
“Maybe,” she said woefully.
“No. Not maybe. Yes. Say yes. I don’t leave you behind and you don’t leave me behind.”
“Connor, you know I won’t leave you behind. Not ever. You’re my family.”
He lay down and pulled out a cigarette. They both looked up to the sky, lost in their thoughts, the smell of smoke evaporating in the windy night.
“Love you, Liv girl.”
“Love you too, Con.”
* * *
A month later . . .
“Babe, we have to go!” Connor yelled from outside her window.
For the last month, Connor had worked round the clock and they’d barely seen each other between school and his job, but today he’d asked her to go out with him somewhere nice. She’d dressed up a little, wearing her nicest top with her jeans. She was hoping he’d take her to the movies—it had been years since she’d gone to a movie.
She ran out of the house excitedly, and he caught her by the waist in one arm, blew out a puff of smoke, and then tossed the cigarette to the grass and kissed her deeply. She was head over heels for him.
