Helen drives Tim to his new apartment
“How was your day?” Tim asked, once they had finished loading his car and were driving down Holly Street, hoping the question would reveal the status of her relationship with Todd. He knew that, at the very least, he was still around because he had been in the shower when he got to Holly Street.
“Oh, it was okay, I guess,” Helen replied. “Todd was being pissy all day.”
“Because Dave Stone called?”
“Yes!” Helen said, so vituperatively Tim was afraid she might be angry at him, but her tone softened and she said, “Sorry. I have a splitting headache.”
Helen slowed down, since they had reached Redwood. She peered out over the steering wheel as she waited for a gap in the traffic on Redwood Street. Tim looked with her, back and forth.
“So just because I talked to Dave for ten minutes, Todd decided he had to be an asshole to me,” Helen said, pulled into the street, but then stopped suddenly since a bus was coming from the right. As much as Tim wanted to learn more, he felt compelled to assist Helen by looking to the left, sure that a massive truck was going to be barreling downhill at them. Mercifully, though, the street was empty, and once the bus passed, Helen was able to complete the left turn and follow the bus uphill.
“Just because of one call?” Tim said, attempting as much incredulous astonishment into his tone as possible.
“Yeah…” Helen said, as she braked hard. “And we were talking about next week.”
“What’s happening next–Helen!” Tim cut himself off, as he felt the car slip backwards down the hill. The car behind them honked twice.
“Sorry, sorry. My foot was itching.”
Tim looked behind them, but fortunately the car behind them had been well back. He caught a glimpse of the driver; an older man with a moustache, who had his arms up and was shaking them with exasperation.
“I might go visit Alta Lara and have dinner with Dave,” Helen said. She turned and looked at him hopefully. “Do you want to come?”
“I do need to go there to get my car,” Tim said. “But I already told my dad and Shek I’m going tomorrow. Do you want to go then?”
“Can’t–have to work,” Helen said. She turned the corners of her lips down as she shifted into third gear.
“Well, there you go. You’ll just have to hang out with Dave Stone on your own,” Tim said. “Except that Todd...”
“He’s lame. I can hang out with my ex-boyfriend if I want.”
“Nothing’s going to happen, of course.”
“Of course,” Helen said, in such a bland tone that Tim knew she was leaving the option open. “Todd’s so possessive. If he weren’t so possessive I probably wouldn’t want to cheat on him so much.” She sighed loudly. “I should… do something. The whole situation is so tiresome”.
“Are you guys going to...?” Tim asked. He felt queasy with excitement and anxiety.
“Break up?” Helen finished his question for him. The question hung in the balance as Helen stopped the Volvo halfway up the steep slope. Helen set her handbrake with a rusty squeak.
“No,” she said to him as the light turned green. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. He drives me crazy, but I still think we can work out,” Helen said. She stepped on the gas, let out the clutch, and released the handbrake. After a scary moment of shuddering and slipping backwards, the Volvo lurched forwards, up and through the intersection.
“I just have to figure out how to figure out how to make him do what I want him to,” Helen said as she tailgated a white Toyota pickup. “It’s hard when it’s long-distance, and there’s so much pressure when he’s here, that everything has to be so great. What if I don’t feel like being great? What if I feel like crap? I miss him being around, and that makes me be a bitch to him when he’s here.”
Which made no sense to Tim. He also knew that he had no idea how to convince Helen that the reason she was a bitch to him was because he was a dick, not because there was too much pressure on them when he visited, without causing a rift between them. He could work out the flaws in Helen’s logic like an algebraic equation, but if Helen believed what she did, Tim couldn’t force her to see otherwise. His palms itched, and he tightened his grip on the door handle.
“I’m here. We can hang out... with no pressure. ”
“Of course. That’s why we’re friends.” She glanced to her right and gave him a quick smile, which caused the car to veer and nearly side swipe a parked car.
Once he started putting pressure on her to be more than that, their friendship would suffer. It might even end, and then he would go back to being alone, or being completely dependant on Shek for a social life. He could not let that happen. She was the one who had opened the door for him. No one had even changed his life as much as she had–not even Shek. He could not lose her. Find someone new, he told himself. It was the only way out–to keep his connection to Helen but also quite the raging desire within him for sex as well as love.
Tim thought of April, the teenage girl from the movie theater. She was young, but for the first time, Tim imagined something happening between them. When he had seen her earlier that day, seeing her like it was the first time, he had only thought how he attractive she was, and it had surprised him, because he thought that if she was so attractive, he would have realized it the first time he saw her. It had not occurred to him to desire her. But why not? She was younger, but that added a certain spice. It would be a bold leap for him, and perhaps, it made sense, that as inexperienced as he was, that he should be with someone more on his level. The women his own age, they knew too much; they would laugh at him if they knew the truth.
Tim almost mentioned April to Helen, to see if Helen thought she was too young. He was eager to let her know that he was making progress, hoping it might please her since she had been quiet these past few minutes, and in Tim’s experience quiet between people could only mean trouble. However, he saw his street approaching his street, and instead Tim told her to turn right and pointed to the house, which was half a block from Church.
“Oh, it was okay, I guess,” Helen replied. “Todd was being pissy all day.”
“Because Dave Stone called?”
“Yes!” Helen said, so vituperatively Tim was afraid she might be angry at him, but her tone softened and she said, “Sorry. I have a splitting headache.”
Helen slowed down, since they had reached Redwood. She peered out over the steering wheel as she waited for a gap in the traffic on Redwood Street. Tim looked with her, back and forth.
“So just because I talked to Dave for ten minutes, Todd decided he had to be an asshole to me,” Helen said, pulled into the street, but then stopped suddenly since a bus was coming from the right. As much as Tim wanted to learn more, he felt compelled to assist Helen by looking to the left, sure that a massive truck was going to be barreling downhill at them. Mercifully, though, the street was empty, and once the bus passed, Helen was able to complete the left turn and follow the bus uphill.
“Just because of one call?” Tim said, attempting as much incredulous astonishment into his tone as possible.
“Yeah…” Helen said, as she braked hard. “And we were talking about next week.”
“What’s happening next–Helen!” Tim cut himself off, as he felt the car slip backwards down the hill. The car behind them honked twice.
“Sorry, sorry. My foot was itching.”
Tim looked behind them, but fortunately the car behind them had been well back. He caught a glimpse of the driver; an older man with a moustache, who had his arms up and was shaking them with exasperation.
“I might go visit Alta Lara and have dinner with Dave,” Helen said. She turned and looked at him hopefully. “Do you want to come?”
“I do need to go there to get my car,” Tim said. “But I already told my dad and Shek I’m going tomorrow. Do you want to go then?”
“Can’t–have to work,” Helen said. She turned the corners of her lips down as she shifted into third gear.
“Well, there you go. You’ll just have to hang out with Dave Stone on your own,” Tim said. “Except that Todd...”
“He’s lame. I can hang out with my ex-boyfriend if I want.”
“Nothing’s going to happen, of course.”
“Of course,” Helen said, in such a bland tone that Tim knew she was leaving the option open. “Todd’s so possessive. If he weren’t so possessive I probably wouldn’t want to cheat on him so much.” She sighed loudly. “I should… do something. The whole situation is so tiresome”.
“Are you guys going to...?” Tim asked. He felt queasy with excitement and anxiety.
“Break up?” Helen finished his question for him. The question hung in the balance as Helen stopped the Volvo halfway up the steep slope. Helen set her handbrake with a rusty squeak.
“No,” she said to him as the light turned green. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. He drives me crazy, but I still think we can work out,” Helen said. She stepped on the gas, let out the clutch, and released the handbrake. After a scary moment of shuddering and slipping backwards, the Volvo lurched forwards, up and through the intersection.
“I just have to figure out how to figure out how to make him do what I want him to,” Helen said as she tailgated a white Toyota pickup. “It’s hard when it’s long-distance, and there’s so much pressure when he’s here, that everything has to be so great. What if I don’t feel like being great? What if I feel like crap? I miss him being around, and that makes me be a bitch to him when he’s here.”
Which made no sense to Tim. He also knew that he had no idea how to convince Helen that the reason she was a bitch to him was because he was a dick, not because there was too much pressure on them when he visited, without causing a rift between them. He could work out the flaws in Helen’s logic like an algebraic equation, but if Helen believed what she did, Tim couldn’t force her to see otherwise. His palms itched, and he tightened his grip on the door handle.
“I’m here. We can hang out... with no pressure. ”
“Of course. That’s why we’re friends.” She glanced to her right and gave him a quick smile, which caused the car to veer and nearly side swipe a parked car.
Once he started putting pressure on her to be more than that, their friendship would suffer. It might even end, and then he would go back to being alone, or being completely dependant on Shek for a social life. He could not let that happen. She was the one who had opened the door for him. No one had even changed his life as much as she had–not even Shek. He could not lose her. Find someone new, he told himself. It was the only way out–to keep his connection to Helen but also quite the raging desire within him for sex as well as love.
Tim thought of April, the teenage girl from the movie theater. She was young, but for the first time, Tim imagined something happening between them. When he had seen her earlier that day, seeing her like it was the first time, he had only thought how he attractive she was, and it had surprised him, because he thought that if she was so attractive, he would have realized it the first time he saw her. It had not occurred to him to desire her. But why not? She was younger, but that added a certain spice. It would be a bold leap for him, and perhaps, it made sense, that as inexperienced as he was, that he should be with someone more on his level. The women his own age, they knew too much; they would laugh at him if they knew the truth.
Tim almost mentioned April to Helen, to see if Helen thought she was too young. He was eager to let her know that he was making progress, hoping it might please her since she had been quiet these past few minutes, and in Tim’s experience quiet between people could only mean trouble. However, he saw his street approaching his street, and instead Tim told her to turn right and pointed to the house, which was half a block from Church.
Works
Recent Writing
- 1989 A Novel: Tim shows Helen his new apartment, and realizes he has no bed
- 1989 A Novel: Helen drives Tim to his new apartment
- 1989 A Novel: Tim walks back to Holly Street
- 1989 A Novel: Tim and Caleb go to get coffee
- 1989 A Novel: Tim overhears a mysterious conversation between his co-workers