Free Finding Me by Michelle Knight, Michelle Burford Page B

forty years old. His pot belly spilled out over the top of his black jeans. He wore a checkered, long-sleeved flannel shirt with a couple of grease stains on it, as if he’d been working on a car. His shirtsleeves were rolled up to his elbows. How can he walk around with flannel on in the summer? I wondered. He looked Mexican to me, but I knew from talking to Emily that he was from Puerto Rico. He caught me staring, and when I shifted my gaze, he smiled at me again. As ratty as he was, he seemed like a decent enough guy.
    He shoved his change into his back pocket and stepped toward me in his work boots. “I’m a little turned around myself today,” he said, chuckling. “Do you happen to know where there’s a Key Bank?”
    I did. “It’s over there,” I said, pointing. “Just take a right.”
    He nodded. “But first I’ll help you find your address,” he said. “Want me to give you a ride?”
    “Yes,” I heard myself say, but then something told me that I should probably check in with my friend to let her know I’d be accepting a ride from her father. “Um, can we call Emily first and let her know?” I asked.
    When he leaned in toward me, I caught a whiff of him: he smelled like transmission fluid. “Emily’s in school right now. I don’t want to bother her,” he said. I paused. “Well, I guess you could give me a ride,” I said. “Thanks.”
    As we walked out the front door together, he took me by the upper arm. His grip seemed a little too tight. But not even a second later he loosened it.
    “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Ariel said, laughing a little. “I was holding your arm too tight, wasn’t I?” I laughed nervously and nodded, then straightened the upper sleeve on my tee. “Sometimes I don’t know my own strength,” he said. “Forgive me.”
    In that moment something seemed off, but once he apologized, I excused his strong grip as an innocent mistake. Plus, I trusted him much more than I would have trusted a complete stranger. After all, he was my friend’s dad, not to mention an angel who was sent to get me to my appointment. Side by side, we walked through the other cars until he spotted his orange-ish Chevy four-door in the far corner of the lot. He came around to the passenger side and helped me in.
    The inside of his truck looked as grubby as he did. Big Mac wrappers were scattered all over the floor. A couple of old Chinese food containers were wedged in a corner near the carpeted footrest on my side. The knobs to open the two front windows were both missing. “Wow, you must live in this place,” I said, my eyes darting about.
    He laughed. “I know, it’s kinda messy. I’m such a bachelor.”
    He slid the key into the ignition and started the car. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, he jerked the steering wheel hard and we began spinning. “Woo-hoo!” he said. Frozen, I clutched the side of the seat. “Oh, calm down,” he said when he noticed the worried look on my face. “I’m just having a little fun. I like to do that with my kids sometimes.”
    I giggled a little. I knew from Emily that her dad was a bit silly, like when he talked to her in a hillbilly voice. I sat back in my seat and tried to relax as we pulled out of the lot.
    As we rode along and chatted, I told him about Joey, about how this appointment was so important because I wanted to get him back. “I miss him so much,” I said. Ariel nodded sympathetically. Right then, even though I couldn’t see the streets very well without my glasses, I noticed we didn’t seem to be heading back downtown, where my appointment was.
    “Where are we going?” I asked.
    “Oh, I just need to stop by my house for a minute and pick up some stuff,” he said. “Emily should be home soon—school just got out. I can give her some money, and maybe you two can go to the mall together later on. But don’t worry. First I’ll take you to your appointment.”
    I looked over at him. “Okay,” I said, “but I really can’t stay that