One Second After [13]
They arrived to the bottom of the hill and Old 70 was empty except for a couple of abandoned cars by the side of the road. But out on the interstate there was indeed a "bunch of cars" as Jennifer had described it. Vehicles on the shoulders, some stalled right in the lanes. Not a traffic jam though, just as if everyone had shut their engines off at the same time and drifted to a stop. Nearly all the passengers were out, some looking over towards them as the Edsel pulled out onto 70 and headed towards town, driving parallel to the interstate.
"There's Elizabeth!" Jennifer cried, pointing down the road.
Sure enough, it was her, walking with that damn Johnson kid, his arm around her waist... not actually her waist but down lower, nearly resting on her backside. At the sight of the approaching Edsel, Ben quickly jerked his hand away. Jen pulled over to the side of the road and John got out.
"Where in hell have you two been?" John shouted.
"Hey, Dad, isn't this weird?" Elizabeth said with a smile, pointing towards the interstate.
She already had on her best con artist smile. Her head was tilted slightly, a bit of an "ah, Daddy, chill out," look in her blue eyes, playing every angle. She was, of course, a sixteen-year-old spitting image of her mother and she knew that would melt him. At this moment it also was triggering one helluva protective surge.
He turned his gaze on Ben. The boy had been a member of the scout troop that John had helped out as an assistant scoutmaster for several years. From that angle, Ben was a good kid, smart, made it to Life before dropping out because by ninth grade scouting wasn't cool anymore. A nice kid, his dad a member of the Roundtable.
But at this moment, Ben was a young man who had damn near been resting his hand on John's daughter's butt and lord knows where else over the last four hours.
"Mr. Matherson, it's my fault, sir," Ben said, stepping forward slightly. "Elizabeth and I went into the mall in Asheville after school; we wanted to get something special for Jennifer."
"Whatya get me?" Jennifer asked excitedly.
"We left it in the car," Elizabeth replied. "Dad, it was weird; the car just died a couple of miles west of town, near our church. It was weird, so we've been walking home."
John glared coldly at Ben and the boy returned his gaze, not lowering his eyes.
The kid was OK, John realized, didn't lower his gaze or try to act like a wiseass. He knew he had been seen and was willing to face an angry father. Elizabeth and Ben had been friends when in middle school, both were in the band together, and now, well, now it was obvious over the last several months he had turned into "something different."
It was just that as John gazed at Ben he remembered how he thought at seventeen and what the prime motivator in life was. Jen was looking over at John with just a touch of a sly grin.
"Ben, how's your grandpa?"
"Fine, ma'am. We was out fishing together on Saturday on Flat Creek and you should have seen the brookie he reeled in, sixteen inches. Made his day."
Jen laughed.
"I remember going fishing with him on that same creek. He'd always bait my hook," and she shuddered. "Lord, how I hated doing that. Tell him I said hi."
"Yes, ma'am, I will."
"You need a ride home?" John asked, finally relenting.
"No, sir. It isn't far," and he nodded to the other side of the interstate. "I can cross right over from here."
"All right then, Ben, your folks are most likely worried; get home now."
"Yes, sir, sorry, sir. Hey, shortie, Happy Birthday."
"Thanks, Ben." Like most kid sisters, she had a bit of a crush on her big sister's boyfriend. And Ben, being a smart kid but also, John grudgingly realized, a good kid, had a liking for Jennifer.
"Night, Elizabeth."
There was an awkward moment, the two of them gazing at each other. She blushed slightly. Ben turned away, walked over to the fence bordering the interstate, and in seconds had scrambled up and over it.
John watched him cross. Several people standing around their cars went up