“Are you running from the cops or something?” Kara said eyes widening body suddenly stiff.
“No, No.” Nick reached out a hand to touch her shoulder laughing at the serious look in her emerald eyes. “Not those kind of cops and robbers. I meant the game cops and robbers like you play when you are a kid.” He noticed her body relax at the quick realization that he wasn’t some crazy serial killer on the loose.
“I loved playing cops and robbers when I was a little girl.” She said lying back in the rough grass. “I always had to be the robber though because my older sister wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Nick laid down beside her their heads touching.
“Older siblings can be a pain huh?” He said.
“You’re an older sibling aren’t you?” She knocked her elbow into his arm. “I can tell because you’re a big pain.” Their dialog flowed like old friends, simple and sarcastic.
“If it makes you feel any better I always had to be the robber too.” Nick raised his arms up pointing his fingers at the clouds in the sky, thinking that one looked an awful lot like A.J. falling off of the stage.
“You know what the funniest thing was?” Kara raised her arms too tracing her fingertips around the outline of a cloud that reminded her of a rabbit. “ I didn’t even mind being the robber when my sister and I played because being the robber meant that I would get to throw a punch at her at some point in the game and I knew she couldn’t tattle on me.”
“Did you throw a lot of punches when you and your sister played?” Nick spotted a cloud that reminded him of a wave.
“You bet! Hey, if you can’t throw punches in cops and robbers then where can you throw a punch. Besides she punched me enough when we weren’t playing so I had to get her back somehow.”
“What was your favorite game when you were little?” Nick was enjoying being the one asking the questions for once. He had spent the better part of his life answering so many questions about himself favorite color, favorite movie, favorite t.v. show, favorite actress…..the list went on and on that he had gotten to the point where he didn’t have to have a real favorite anything anymore. The magazines took care of all of it for him.
“Hmmmmm….. I think I liked playing make believe the best. Just me and my imagination.” Pulling her eyes slowly across the sky she wondered if maybe that was what she had been doing for the last five months? Playing some sort of game of make believe that she hoped would take her away from the grief and sadness of losing her parents?
“You never cry.”
“I cry.”
“No you don’t Kara, you’re a cold bitch.”
Kara and Allie sat across from each other in the lobby of the funeral home waiting for the mourners to arrive. It had been six long days since the news of their parent’s death, six days that seemed like six years.
“What do you want me to do Allie? Do you want me to break down sobbing, would that make you feel better?”
“You act like they aren’t even dead Kara. You act like they are going to come walking through that door any minute shouting surprise. This isn’t one of your stupid games of make believe. Mom and Dad are dead………….”
“Kara, I wish I would have known you when we were kids.” It was a spontaneous statement that spilled sweetly from Nick’s mouth into the summer air. They both turned to look at each other their foreheads lightly brushing as Kara cupped Nick’s face gently in her hands and sighed.
“But Nick, you don’t even know me now.” Her voice sounded sad when she said the words making Nick feel tongue tied and awkward by the shared intimate moment.
God, he so sucked at being intimate. Every girl he had ever been really close to had told him so. When the moment called for warm embraces and declarations of love Nick resorted to noogies and knock knock jokes. When the girl longed for roses and lingerie he showed up with a six pack of beer and nachos from Taco Bell.
It wasn’t like he screwed up on purpose, nobody in their right mind enjoyed getting beaned in the head by a flying beer can or having nachos smeared in their face by a girl screaming “YOU SUCK CARTER” on the way out of their life. But that was just the way things always seemed to go for him. He wanted to be different, he wanted things in his life to be different but there never seemed to be enough time to change things.
They stayed that way, his face in her hands, foreheads touching for a brief moment before Nick slowly rolled away.
“Listen Kara,” He began, “I’m really sorry but I can’t get involved with anybody, it just wouldn’t be fair.” She pushed herself up to a sitting positiong amusement tugging at her features until she couldn’t hide it anymore and she burst out in laughter.
“What the hell are you talking about Nick?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?” She mimicked him.
“Nick, I think you’re a nice guy and all but just because I slept with Roy doesn’t mean I sleep with every guy I see!”
“No I….well I guess….I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about.” Suddenly Nick was laughing too as he slapped his palm into his forehead.
“You know what let’s pretend I didn’t say that okay. Let’s rewind that part.”
“Okay.” She lay back in the grass looking up at the sky patting the ground for him to lie beside her.
“But Nick,” she tried to keep from laughing as he laid down. “You don’t even know me now.”
“You’re right, I don’t know you Kara. So what do you say we spend the day changing that.” He replied propping himself up on one elbow his hand fisting in his hair. “We’ll spend the day getting to know each other. We’ll spend the day becoming friends”
“Okay.” Her mouth turned up into a warm smile. “You got yourself a deal.” She stood up wiping her hands on her shorts.
“So what are you doing the rest of the afternoon Nick?”
“I dunno. I thought that maybe I’d drive into town, check things out. Maybe get some lunch before hitting the road again.”
“Wrong.” Kara extended her hands to Nick dragging him to his feet.
“Wrong?”
“Yes wrong. You are going to get me out of hot water with my family for hanging out with you and taking such a long break You’re going to help us out selling at the fruit stand.” Turning she marched back across the field in the direction of the blue pickup truck they had pinched the apples from, Nick tripping on her heels like a little puppy.
“You’re making a huge mistake.” He said as she walked to the back of the truck, plucking an apron from a box with a huge grin. “I don’t know anything about selling fruit. Besides now that I’ve tasted fruit and know what I’ve been missing all of these years I’ll probably eat more then I can sell.” Walking back to him, ignoring his lame excuses, she tied the apron around his waist and stood back to admire him.
“Perfect!” Grabbing his hand she pulled him through the flap in the back of the tent.
“Okay, okay, wait.” Nick tugged her backwards bumping her off of his chest as he rested a hand on her shoulder.
“What?”
“If I do this for you then what’s in it for me?” He said looking out into the sea of patient and impatient customers waiting for their turn to order.
Kara noticed Allie staring at them as she loaded some apples into a brown paper bag. Kara could tell she was wondering who the hell this tall blonde stranger dressed in an apron standing in their Grandparents fruit stand was and Kara could have cared less.
“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” She replied smiling at the disgusted look that Allie now had on her face.
“Allie, Grandma, Grandpa.” Kara raised her voice over the din of the crowd. “This is my new pal Nick and he’s going to be helping us at The Market today.”
* * *
Nick quickly came to the conclusion that he was a born salesman as he spent the afternoon hocking fruit in the blistering hot summer sun.
“I feel like freaking Donald Trump here!” He shouted over his shoulder to Kara as he packed up another crate of grapefruit for a customer who had originally only come to the stand for a few pears. But after some smooth talking and a flash of his smile was instead leaving with two crates of grapefruit and a whole sack of pears.
“They like you.” Kara said, enjoying Nick’s enthusiasm. “You’re a natural for sure.”
“And you’re beautiful.” Nick called back taking another customers order for a bag of oranges.
“What?” Kara stopped loading her crate and stared at him wide eyed.
“I said you’re beautiful.” He tossed a few more oranges in the bag before wiping the perspiration from his forehead.
Kara’s Grandmother stood off to the side chatting with a longtime customer, glancing back at Nick with a smile.
Allie stood beside Nick plucking up three oranges for her customer.
“And you’re not so bad yourself Allie.” He said waggling his eyebrows at her as Kara stood behind him trying to keep from laughing.
“Eat shit.” Allie hissed shoving him out of her way as she grabbed for another orange. “You make me want to puke.”
“If I only had a dime for every girl that told me that.” He returned as Allie heaved out a disgusted sigh and walked back across the tent.
“Oh my God that was too classic.” Kara came up alongside Nick pushing her face into his arm to disguise he laughter. He hooked an arm around her pressing his nose into her hair.
“Did you see her face? Man I thought she was going to spit on me!” Kara’s Grandmother broke away from her friend and walked over to the two kids.
“Okay you two, you’ve had enough fun at Allie’s expense. Let’s get selling, and if you two can behave for the next three hours I promise you a home cooked dinner you’ll never forget.”
“Deal.” Nick shoved Kara away from him visions of food dancing in his head as he smiled brightly at her Grandma. “You make me a home cooked meal and I’ll sell fruit for you for the rest of my life!”