Sister Carroll was already shivering as she placed a bag of salt on the ground by her feet. With a small shovel in hand, she began taking spade-fulls from it to sprinkle on the church’s front walk, but only a few minutes passed before a shouting voice caught her ear.
“Stam.”
Stam, trailed by David, shambled toward the street out front.
“Stam, what’s the matter?” he asked for the tenth time. “I told you—I’m sorry.”
She said nothing as she started toward an idling car waiting nearby. She had nearly made it to the door when Sister Carroll intercepted the pair.
“Stam,” Sister Carroll called as she reached out to catch her. “What are you doing here? What’s the matter?”
Stam glanced at Sister Carroll’s hand, then to her face. “Let go.”
Sister Carroll was hesitant, but did accede to the demand. Stam immediately turned away and continued to the car.
“Stam,” Sister Carroll began. “Will you talk to me, please?”
“No.”
Sister Carroll turned to David and folded her arms. “David?” she asked expectantly.
Stam grasped hold of the passenger door handle and opened it, revealing Aurelio in the driver’s seat. She winced with pain as she climbed in beside him and slammed the door.
“What’s going on?” Aurelio asked, alarmed. “Are you okay?”
“Just drive, please,” Stam instructed, putting her hand to her forehead.
The car started moving. A bewildered and angry Sister Carroll could do little but watch as the vehicle pulled away and disappear down the street into the darkness.
“What was all that about?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Stam replied. It was avoidant, even by her standards.
“Are you okay?” He couldn’t get a clear look at her, but simply by the urgency of her earlier phone call summoning him, he knew that something was wrong.
“I’ll be fine,” Stam answered with her face still hidden by her own hand. “Thank you for coming. You didn’t have to.”
He shrugged. “I was just sitting at home watching movies,” he answered. “I was trying out the DVD player Ash got me.”
Stam said nothing in response.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, worried.
“I don’t feel well,” she answered, revealing a pained expression on her face as she moved her hand to her midsection.
“You can put the seat back, if you want.”
Stam made a sound of acknowledgment as her hand felt for the lever. The seat dipped back, taking her with it; she stared upward, taking long breaths as she attempted to calm herself.
There was silence between the two. Stam was fixated on the ceiling of the car; one hand rested somewhere between her chest and stomach and the other slowly loosened its rigid grip on the seat as she tried to recover. Aurelio continued to periodically check on her, but said nothing until red and blue lights began to flash in the rear-view mirror.
“Oh, what the hell?” he moaned, pulling over and coming to a slow stop. He reached over Stam’s legs and into the glove box, digging through a few pieces of paper until he found what he needed. Stam was uninterested in the event, and remained focused on herself. Aurelio glanced at her one more time before rolling his window open and waiting patiently.
“Come on…” he grumbled to himself. “I know my stupid headlight is out—can’t get it fixed on a Friday evening. Jeez….”
There was a sudden light shining in from the passenger’s side, coupled with a swift rapping on the window which caught him by surprise. He leaned over Stam and fiddled with the handle on the door, lowering the glass.
“Uh, hi.” Aurelio tried to sound as friendly as possible, closing his eyes at the harsh brightness of a flashlight.
“License, registration, and insurance?” the stocky police officer requested.
“Uh, yeah. Here you go.” He handed the stack of papers to the officer, who noticed Stam as he took the items. He shined the bright light down on her; she moved a hand to cover her eyes as the officer looked her over and then gave a quick scan to the cluttered backseat.
“You know you’ve got a headlight out. You look like a Cyclops comin’ down the road in the snow there.”
“I know.” Aurelio let his voice stress excessive remorse. “It just went out today… I couldn’t ge—”
“How do you pronounce this?” the officer cut him off. “Arell-yo?”
“Aurelio.”
“Mm,” the officer responded. “Where are you both going so late?”
“Just picking her up from church,” Aurelio replied.
“Yeah? Which church?”
“Saint Elia’s.”
“Mm-hmm.” The Officer seemed to accept it, but then took another look at Stam. “You all right?”
Stam said nothing.
“She got sick,” Aurelio answered for her. “I was taking her home”
“You two related?”
“No, sir,” he responded. “Just a family friend.”
“Hmm….” He thought it over. “All right, sit tight.”
“Sure, sure.” Aurelio nodded. The officer headed back to his cruiser and Aurelio watched until he was certain the officer was inside. “Man, I’m sorry, Stam, I’ve never been pulled over before.”
“How long does this take?” Stam murmured.
“I dunno. Not long, I don’t think,” he grumbled. “Man, this would happen now.”
Stam shifted, wincing more. “It’s okay.”
Aurelio sighed as they waited several more minutes. Snowflakes drifted into the car and a light coating was forming on the inside of the door before the officer re-approached and handed a small piece of yellow paper to him. “I’m not giving you a ticket for the light, but I’ve got to give you something for not having all front seat passengers wearing seatbelts.” He motioned to Stam. “She’s gotta buckle up.”
Stam’s eyes narrowed as best as she could at the Officer’s request. She shifted slightly. “I’ll be fine.”
“No, no, he’s right. I just didn’t even realize….” Aurelio insisted. “You gotta put it on, Stam.”
“Buckle up for safety, there,” the officer repeated.
Stam glanced to Aurelio, seeing the urging look on his face, and then struggled to reach her seatbelt. “This isn’t necessary.” She pulled it across herself.
“Hey now,” the officer was put off by her words. “What if you two were in an accident?”
Stam almost replied with a simple answer, but caught herself, responding instead with a half hearted, “Oh,” as she clicked the buckle into the latch.
The Officer continued to eye the two of them with suspicion, and then asked, “Two of you got anything illegal in here?”
“What?” Aurelio asked, baffled as to what he meant.
“You know, like pot?”
“Oh, no,” Aurelio replied, understanding. “No, sir.”
“All right, well, you need to get that light fixed or you’re just gonna get pulled over again.”
“Yes, sir, thanks.” Aurelio nodded.
“Drive safe—be careful in this weather.”
“Yes, sir.”
The officer walked away from the window and Aurelio rolled it up. With it closed, he grumbled, looking at the ticket, and then murmured some string of curse words under his breath in Spanish before taking note of Stam again.
“I’m sorry about this, Stam. Let’s get you home.”
Carefully, he pulled back into the street and continued driving. The officer’s cruiser trailed behind him, awkwardly, making every second more uncomfortable. They made two turns before finally parting ways, and Aurelio let out an annoyed sigh. “This is just not a good day.”
“I’m sorry,” Stam replied.
“Oh, no, it’s not your fault.” He quickly glanced at her. “It’s just Ashley being so upset earlier, and you getting sick, and then this….”
“Ashley didn’t mean to yell at you,” Stam pointed out, struggling to get comfortable with the belt now across her.
“Yeah, I know. I just feel bad he’s so stressed out.”
“I do too,” Stam replied, giving up and sitting up straight. She pulled the lever and returned the seat to its upright position.
Aurelio looked at her again as they waited at a light. “Are you feeling any better?”
“A little, yes,” Stam lied, but she was at least suppressing her reactions to her feeling more successfully.
“You just got a nausea thing?”
“I don’t know,” Stam replied.
Aurelio wasn’t satisfied by the answer, but he let it go. As they resumed moving, he turned to watch the road again. “Who was that kid with you?”
Stam said nothing.
“At the school,” he clarified.
“David.”
“Mm,” he nodded, expecting as much. “What was he doing there?”
“His father is the deacon. He’s been there a lot lately.”
“Is everything okay between you two?”
“Ashley was right about him,” she replied. “Not that I didn’t believe it.”
“So he tried something?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him ‘no?’”
“His desires remained the same.”
“Well,” Aurelio mused, “I guess he likes you—can’t say I blame him.” He smirked at Stam, who had turned to look out the window. He continued, more seriously, “If he’s really bothering you, you should talk to that lady, Sister Carroll.”
Stam was quiet, until, struggling to speak through her pain, she replied, “I suppose sometimes I’m curious about what it would be like to….”
Aurelio raised his eyebrow, worried by what she might say next.
“… Live life that way,” she finished.
“Huh?” He was unsure what Stam meant.
She remained quiet—it wasn’t clear whether she was simply too ill to go on, or if her explanation still required more consideration, but after a moment, she continued. “To be satisfied by something so simple. To be content just because you have someone—anyone—in bed with you. To have such a narrow desire.”
“Don’t say that,” Aurelio scoffed. “I mean, he might be a normal jerk and just like you because you’re cute, but there’s a lot to like about you, specifically.”
“That’s what he said,” Stam replied. “He talked about my personality, the way I speak, my eyes….”
“Yeah, okay, that sounds pretty fake to me,” Aurelio agreed. “But it’s still true, I mean, you are really different from most girls, and your eyes are awesome.”
Stam was quiet. She continued to simply stare out the window until Aurelio picked things up again.
“When I first met you, last year, when you came into the store,” Aurelio reminisced, “and you were buying fruit and nuts for Sydney—Ashley had him on his shoulder and he was showing him every single brand, letting him pick which one he wanted, and you were wearing that huge overcoat even though it was the middle of the summer.” He chuckled. “The three of you were such a trio.”
“Hmm,” Stam responded, idly.
“But when we started talking, I knew there was something really cool and special about you. I dunno—I think what I want to say is, any guy would be really lucky to get to hang out with you, or go to a dance with you, or whatever.”
She had no reply.
“So if this kid screwed it up by only being interested in one thing, well, that’s his loss,” Aurelio said, harshly, seeming appalled by the very idea. “It actually really makes me mad somebody could do that to a girl as sweet and nice as you. It’s so messed up.”
“It’s okay,” she responded. “I’m not upset about it.”
“I am.” He laughed a little, only partially hiding his genuine irritation toward the subject at hand.
She smiled, however subtly, but it was enough that Aurelio noticed. He smiled as well. “Are you feeling any better?”
Stam raised a hand to her forehead, letting it fall as she dropped back against the seat once more.
“No.”
* * *
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