Free All You Get Is Me by Yvonne Prinz

wanted to do something special. When I left the farm, Miguel was scrubbing the outdoor shower and Steve was working on the outhouse. I think we all want things to be nice for Tomás, although it’s hard to imagine that it would make any difference to him, considering what he’s been through. So far I haven’t found a vase and I’ve pretty much given up hope. I’m not even convinced that flowers are the way to go. They might seem a little funereal at this point.
    A shopping cart is parked next to Forest, piled high with microwave popcorn and bags of Doritos and soda. Maybe he is a little fuzzy on the whole concept of grocery shopping after all.
    “So. Are you still enjoying country life?”
    “Sure. I guess.”
    I look at the magazine he’s reading. “Hey, did you read that piece on the Monsters of Folk?”
    “Yeah. I’m just reading it now. Do you like them?”
    “I do. I love Bright Eyes.” I click on my MP3 player and hold one of the earbuds up to his right ear. It plays “The First Day of My Life.” He grins.
    “I love that song.” He looks at me and I feel slightly elevated. I mean, what are the chances that I would just then be listening to a song by a band that contains two members of a band that he was reading about? It smacks of serendipity.
    “Yeah, me too.” I smile at him.
    Forest looks at his cart and returns the magazine to the rack. “I’m pretty much finished here. Do you wanna go somewhere or maybe go for a drive?”
    “You have a car?”
    “I wouldn’t call it a car. But it’ll do the job.”
    “I’m on my bike.”
    “We can throw it in the back. The trunk is very spacious; I’m contemplating moving in.”
    “Okay.” I try not to think about how many of my dad’s rules I’m violating. Not the least of which is I’m not supposed to get in a car with anyone under twenty-one. The prospect of knowing Forest better makes me feel reckless. If he asked me the right way, I’d probably run away with him right now.
    Things get a little awkward at the checkout. Rita, the cashier, rings me up and I know that she knows just about everything about everyone in a one-hundred-mile radius. Small talk is unavoidable.
    “So, I hear you’ve got Tomás coming to work at your place.”
    “Yup.” I glance at Forest. He’s perusing the gum.
    “That’s nice. I met him once. Sylvia was always in here picking up groceries with that sweet baby, Rosa. Nice family. Really awful what happened.”
    I nod. Forest’s eyes shift over to me but he looks away quickly, pretending not to hear.
    I get my change and say good-bye to Rita. If she knows who Forest is, she’s not letting on and he’s certainly not offering. Outside, I stand next to my bike, putting my groceries in my backpack. I look up to see Brody Burk driving by slowly in his massive black truck. He watches me with an expression on his face that is obviously meant to unsettle me. His idiot twin sons are in the cab with him. His pit bull rides in the back, chained to the truck bed. He watches me in his side mirror and when I’m out of his sight he punches the gas, making the pit bull lose its footing. It yelps as the choke chain around its neck tightens. The hair on the back of my neck stands up.
    Forest appears a minute later. He points to a rusted-out Ford, parked at the curb.
    “Well?” He grins.
    “This is your car?”
    “Nah, it’s my stepdad’s. It’s the only car he’ll let me drive. I’ve only had my license for two months.”
    I cringe. Two months?
    We wrestle my bike into the trunk. I pull open the whiny passenger door and get in next to him on the cracked vinyl seat. It smells like dust and motor oil. He throws his bag of groceries in the backseat and puts the key in the ignition, turns it, and pumps the gas. The engine finally roars to life. He pats the dash.
    “She purrs like a kitten,” he says over the roar of the engine.
    “Do you think we’ll make it?” I ask nervously.
    “Sure, this baby has years left on