Happily Ever After

Chapter Fourteen: Jamie Garcia

             Margie and I sit in my old jeep liberty from 2002. A green pine sol air freshener hangs on the rearview mirror as a little reminder of how broke I am. Definitely not where I would have pictured myself 10 years ago, but hey at least now I have a car, right? Progress!

            Oscar walks towards my car and Margie and I point to the left side. He climbs in the back seat. 

             I unbuckle and lean back. "Just shove the bag to the side or throw them on the floor." 

             I try to pick up a few of the bags and move them while Oscar kicks some to the side. He shuts the door and climbs in. "Why are there so many bags?" 

            "Testing fabrics for prototypes. I already have your niece's measurements and Margie's niece so they can test some stuff out," I explain as I lean back forward and buckle again. 

             "Ooh, I wanna see!" He says. 

            "Buckle up first. I'm not going to jail for you." 

           "They won't know unless you get pulled over," Oscar shrugs. 

           "Which will probably happen saying as she's driving," Margie says, holding onto her seatbelt. 

            "Hey, I'm not that bad at driving," I mumble. 

            "Your bumper tells another story," she smiles. 

              Oscar doesn't even need to reply to that because his seatbelt buckling is enough of a reply. 

              "Well, at least we'll all go down together," I smile.

              Oscar shuffles through a few of the bags and pulls out a red velvety material. "Ooh, this is nice!" 

             "Ooh, I love that," Margie says. Oscar passes the fabric along to Margie. "Even if we don't use this can I pay you to make a shirt out of this or something?" 

              "I'll make something but you're not paying," I explain. 

              She smiles. "Thank you but I'll be sneaking money in your glasses compartment or something. Keep your eyes out." 

              "I'll sneak it back." 

              "This one's kinda ugly," Oscar mumbles, pulling out a burnt orange fabric. 

              "I think it looks pretty. It just depends on how it's cut," Margie shrugs, holding out her hand to feel it. Oscar lets her and then folds it back up and puts it back. 

              "Okay, we can look at the rest later. First, we need ground rules for tonight," Oscar starts. "We're all, or at least most of us need to leave the bar tonight with someone." 

               "Oscar we can't just get with someone because we can," I say, looking back at him in the rearview. 

               "But some of us will probably luck out, they just need to give it a shot," Oscar says, locking eyes with me. Margie is oblivious and looking out the window as she fidgets with her hoop earring and I'm so incredibly grateful for that. 

             "Maybe we'll realize we're not ready yet, and that's okay," I say back. 

              He shakes his head. "Depends on the situation but there are some I would definitely not consider as an exclusion for the rule." 

             Margie looks back over to us so Oscar and I break eye contact. "Tonight is supposed to be fun. Forget the rules. Just don't throw up in the car. That was a pain in high school."