“Liam colored his cat wrong, and he won't listen,” the kid told her.
I saw Liam straining his head to see what he was saying. Then, he scoffed. “I can color my cat however I please. He's my cat, Julie,” he replied, mimicking his voice to sound like a child.
Julie was biting her lip to keep from laughing. I was staring at her without feeling embarrassed. I could have stared at her without any problems as long as she could sit there and remain Julie.
“You know, if you dye your cat, he can be that color,” she told the kid, but I could see the fury on his face.
“That's wrong, Ms. Julie. He did it wrong,” he said.
“Just because you've never seen a pink cat doesn't mean there isn't one out there. I haven't seen God, but I know he's there,” she told him, trying to smile.
I watched the kid stand up, and walk away. Whether he was angry at her not agreeing with him, or it was deeper, I wouldn't know. I knew I had been where he had, when it came to my relationship with God.
I hadn't kept much of one until I met Julie. After that, with the books she had started giving me to read, and just being around her, I had found myself praying more, and feeling different.
Julie looked to us. She had a sad smile. “I have to go talk to him. Were you going to the arcade with us?” she asked me, standing up.
I nodded. “Liam convinced me,” I told her.
“Convinced? If saying Julie's name is convincing then I guess I did a good job,” Liam replied.
I blushed, and I saw Julie grinning. She looked directly at me, and I felt the heat travel my neck as she said, “Happy to oblige.”
She turned and went after the kid, and I turned to glare at Liam. “You are such a douche-bag,” I told him.
Liam laughed.
♥
I called and let Ava know that Liam and Julie would bring me home later. She didn't care, which was both weird and nice. As long as I was home at a reasonable time, she didn't care where I was.
Mostly because she liked Julie. She really liked Julie.
We climbed into Liam's car, which was nice, but Liam had made it his own. The headliner was covered with the same golden eagle he had on the front on the black Trans Am. The seats were covered with the same image, only with flames behind it.
“Don't worry, Falon. These seats won't catch on fire,” he turned around to tell me.
I'm guessing I should have gotten mad at a joke like that. Or at least insulted. But it was Liam. I couldn't get mad at Liam because most of the junk he said was funny.
“No, but that hair of yours might if you don't shut up,” I told him, and he laughed as he turned around again.
Julie sat in the passenger seat, and buckled her seat belt, but she was turned to her side to see Liam and little ole' me in the backseat. She looked out of place in the car of fire, but she was smiling.
“I always feel like I've been transported to the eighties when I get in here. Wait till you hear his mix tape,” she said to me.
Liam obviously hadn't seen what she said as he started the car, and the radio blasted Wild Thing into my ears. I'm talking about Tone Loc's hip hop fully pounding inside my ear drums.
“Why does he even have a mix tape? He's deaf!” I yelled to her.
Julie laughed as she turned down the music. Liam could tell, and he turned to her.
“Why did you touch my radio? You don't mess with a deaf man's radio,” he said.
She smiled and nodded towards me. “Falon wants to know why you have a radio if you can't hear,” she asked him.
Liam looked into the rear view mirror to see me and then looked back to the road. “I can feel my music. That's why I got the bass turned up so loud, so I can feel the vibrations,” he told me.
“And Tone Loc happens to be your vibration of choice?” I asked when he looked in the rear view mirror again.
“Of course! You can't find better vibrations.”
Julie was already laughing, and I started to. This was what happiness was. Julie had explained, and I felt like I was finally beginning to understand.
Time flies quickly, and you have to hold on with dear life to the things that make it go faster because that's what happiness is. True happiness came from the things that you held onto so tightly that you thought your fingers would rot off before you ever let go.
I was finding happiness with her. True happiness, and I found myself unwilling to let go.
♥
Our town arcade was descent sized. It held more old school games than the newer ones, so mostly, it was older kids like Liam and Julie and me that came. We were more intrigued by the Mario's and Pac Man's, and Centipedes than a younger kid who wanted Need For Speed and Halo.
I hadn't been inside. Ever. When I was younger, I didn't have any reason to go. I had my own games, and at that age, an arcade was lame. Afterward, I tried not to go anywhere.
I was nervous, but mostly, it was because of Julie. She could bring me to knocking knees with just her smile. I was hooked to her, and being around her both thrilled and scared me.
Going out in public with her scared me more than she did. The eyes of people as we passed them,
