Memory in a Bottle

Jace

'First. Second. Third. Fourth. Fifth. And reverse.' She got them all correct, and I know she doesn't think so.

'That's right. You ready to start driving?' I ask. She looks back up at me and smiles.

'Yes!' I smile and get out. She gets out and enters the driver side.

'So, you want to put your foot on the clutch and then turn the car on.' She does and the car turns on. 'Now you want to put your foot on the gas pedal and press it lightly as well as the clutch.' She looks down at her footing and presses the gas as well as the clutch. She shifts into first gear then second, third, fourth and fifth gear. She doesn't look away from her feet and the stick. 'Delilah, look up at the road. Don't look down at your feet or else you'll crash. You have to trust yourself to shift to the correct gear.' Her face turns red as she bites her lip. She looks up and looks at the road. She continues going through the motions of shifting easily till we hit the end of the road.

'I did it!' She shouts happily. Her smile and happiness are contagious, and I find myself smiling.

'Yes, you did! I am proud of you! I am so proud of you Lilah!'

The memory fades as she squeals out of pure joy. That was the best day that ever happened to me. That day was the last day she was happy like that for four years. Shortly after that day she disappeared, and my mind kept playing that memory everyday hoping that she would come home again. I sigh, close the garage door and walk inside. Dexter is sitting on the couch waiting for me. When he hears me, he gets up and walks over.

"I didn't know where the guest bedroom was, so I just waited here for you to be done with whatever you needed to do." He whispers. "Oh, and I checked on Delilah. She's assed out." He shakes his head. "She just fell asleep on top of the covers, so I grabbed the blanket and put it on her. She thought I was you. She told me that she loves you." He chuckles quietly.

"Why didn't you come and get me? I would've shown where it is. You didn't have to wait for me." He scratches the back of his neck.

"Well, I figured that whatever you had to do was important and that you didn't want to be disturbed so I waited. No biggie." He simply replies.

"Oh.... well, okay. The room is over here." I walk upstairs and walk past Mom's room and mine and Delilah's room. We enter and I remember Mom painted this room purplish blue for Delilah as her own room just in case if Delilah wanted her own space. Except Delilah loves my room and never wanted to be away from me. "Sorry about the color. Mom figured that this could be a backup room for Delilah just in case she wants space." Dexter snickers.

"Space? From you?" He snorts. "She's attached to your hip, man. She isn't going to leave you for space. But thank you, go take a shower. You reek with sweat and cars." I smile.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." I say closing the door behind me. I head to the bathroom and start the water. I take my clothes off and step into the bathtub. The feeling of the water hitting my sore muscles make me groan. The water feels so good. I massage my sore muscles and wash my body.

After what feels like one hour I get out and head to my bedroom. I get dressed in my pajamas and lay in bed. Shortly after I lay down Delilah moves her body to where she's laying halfway on top of me. I snicker quietly. She must've missed me. Soon her breathing and soft snores lull me to sleep.

I wake up to the smell of bacon and the sun in my eyes. I roll over and look at Delilah. I move her hair out of her face and caress her cheek. She opens her eyes and looks at me and I smile.

"Good Morning, Beautiful." I say quietly and she smiles back.

"Morning."

"How'd you sleep?"

"Wonderful. You?"

"Amazing." She laughs softly. "Me and Dexter fixed your car." Her eyes widen.

"Really?" She asks and I nod. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" She tackles me and kisses my face. I laugh.

"Come on. Let's go get us some breakfast."

"Okay." She gets up and heads to the door and I follow closely behind. We enter the kitchen and see Mom and Dexter cooking breakfast.

"There's the Birthday Girl! Happy Birthday, Sis!" Dexter says sneaking a piece of bacon to her.

"Happy Birthday, Delilah." Mom tells her giving her a big hug. Delilah turns to me raising an eyebrow.

"It's my Birthday already?" Delilah asks confused. Dexter chuckles.

"How can you forget your birthday?!" He asks in disbelief. Delilah blushes and I wrap my arms around her and lean to her ear.

"Happy Birthday, Love." I feel her shiver as my breath dances along her cheek. She looks up at me and I kiss her passionately. As quickly as I started it, I pull away. "Later." I whisper in her ear. Her eyes meet mine and she blushes even more. I caress her cheek and tuck her hair behind her ear.

"MY EYES!" Dexter shouts. "I NEED EYE BLEACH! TOO MUCH ROMANCE! AHHH!" Delilah smiles and winks. I'm in for some trouble with the way she's looking at me.

"If it's too much for you then look away, Dex. Besides I didn't forget my birthday I was just joking." She says. I know she's lying because her nose twitches. No one else in the room notices or knows she's lying. Dexter laughs.

"Breakfast. Dexter, honey, can you set the table?" Ma asks. Now here's where things are going to get tricky. I need to get over to the beach early so I can reserve the spot.

"Hey, ma? Can I take some with me to go? The gift for Delilah is ready and I need to go pick it up." I lie smoothly.

"Yeah, let me serve everyone and you can get whatever is left."

"Alright. I'll be right back. I'm going to go get dressed." I get up and head to the bedroom. I get dressed write the notes and grab the ring from Ma's room. By the time I get to the kitchen M has my breakfast in a little container. "Thank you, Ma." I kiss Delilah's forehead and kiss Ma goodbye.

"Drive safe." Delilah says.

"I will." I look at Dexter and give him a cue to come with.

"Hey, uh... do you mind if I come with. We can take your car." He asks.

"Sure." I reply. Once me and Dex leave the house I stop outside my car. As much as I'd like to take my car with me to the beach I can't. "Get in your car and follow me." I tell him getting in my car. I pull out and head to mom's work. I'll leave my car there and then I'll get in Dex's car and he can drop me off at the beach,

We arrive at ma's work and I lock my car up. I jump in Dexter's car and he speeds off to the beach.

"Here." I say handing him three cards. "Yours is the red one. Mom's the blue one and your dad's the green one. Drop me off at the beach. You go back to the house and pick Mom up and have her drop you off at McDonald's. Tell her to pick up your guy's Dad and drop him off at the house so he can use Ma's car to go to Evergreen Park. Make sure you tell Mom to go to the Library's café. Okay?"

"Okay." He replies.

"Remember and make sure you spread the message. Do not say a word at what is going on to Delilah. Leave her in the dark."

"Got it." He says. "I got a text this morning from Satrina."

"Shit, what does she want?"

"She wants to meet up. I told her that I was busy, and she sent me three words and then ghosted me."

"What?"

"She said, 'I'll find you'" He sighs. "I know she will. She's like a damn Hound Dog."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's me she wants. She won't interfere with anything I promise." He pulls into the beaches parking lot and stops.

"Okay. I trust you. Let me know how it goes." I say getting out of the car. "See you later!"