Chapter 2: What You Already Paid For
Ray walked down the porch steps slowly, like he already knew this was going to be hard for him no matter what happened next.
My father was still holding the keys out.
I took them.
Then I held them out to Ray.
"I want you to have it," I said.
The yard went completely quiet.
My father's smile didn't disappear right away.
It took a second, like his face hadn't caught up to what his ears just heard.
"What are you doing," he said.
Not a question.
A warning.
"You need a car more than I do," I told Ray.
"Yours has been breaking down for two years.
You never said a word about it."
Ray shook his head.
"I can't take that."
"You drove me to every single game in that thing.
You sat in that kitchen with me until eleven at night.
You opened a college account when you had nothing left at the end of the month." I looked at him.
"You already paid for it."
My father stepped forward.
"That car is a gift from me to my son—"
"And I'm giving it to my dad."
The word landed like I meant it to.
Ray looked at me for a long moment.
His jaw was tight.
His eyes were wet.
My father said something after that.
I don't remember what it was.
I wasn't listening anymore.
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May you like
What Ray said next — and what my father did before he left — is the part nobody expected.
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