Chapter 4

"Mum..." I hesitated when I saw her working on her laptop. Maybe she wouldn't mind all too much since she looked busy. "Hmm?" She answered distractedly. "Can I borrow your car?" I tried asking casually. "No." "But why?" I tried hard not to whine. "You know why. If you need some form of transportation, you can use a bicycle." She said still staring at the screen of the laptop. "That'd be great if I actually had one," I mumbled. "Well then you'll have to walk or ask for a ride from that boy next door." "Please Mum. I swear that I will take good care of it." "You said the same thing last time and the exact opposite happened." "But I will this time. If I don't then you can cut off my allowance." She stared at me as if chewing on the idea. Seconds later, she got the keys from the counter and just as I was about to take the keys from her she pulled her hand back and gave me a warning look. "You better take care of the car and mostly yourself," she said then placed the keys in my open hand. "I will and you won't regret it," I said then gave her a quick hug and rushed out of the house. "I better not!" I put the key in ignition, pulled out of the driveway and drove off to a store that I had noticed when we were moving here. I pulled up in front of the store and got out of the car. I went straight to where the frozen goods were kept and took two buckets of ice cream, one lime and the other vanilla. I went to another isle where snacks were found. After taking some potatoe crisps and a few variety of biscuits I realised that I forgot to take a basket. I sighed and looked around, I probably looked like an idiot as I held onto the food awkwardly. I was about to walk over to a counter that didn't have a long queue getting a few looks from some people when I saw Owen. I couldn't help but walk over to him. "Hey Owen," I said with a smile on my face. "What do you want?" he said after letting out a loud frustrated sigh. "Just saying hi to my neighbour," he continued to ignore me. "Hey uhm...do you think that I could maybe use your basket?" I asked all too carefully. The guy was like a landmine, you could never be too careful. "No," he said stoically. "But you're not even using it," I stated looking at the empty basket that was by his feet. "That's because I just got here," he pointed out. "Fine. I don't need it anyway," I said and made to walk to the counter but it, like every other counter, now had a long queue. "Just my luck." "Indeed," I heard Owen say as I walked over to the queue. Jerk. It took longer than I would have liked for me to finally have my things punched. The girl at the counter was so slow that I came to the conclusion that she was probably new at the job. I left the store and walked towards my Mum's car proudly because I hadn't destroyed her car or damaged it in the least. My victory was short lived when I saw that the car headlights were on. I quickly walked over to the car and opened the door but when I put the keys in ignition, the car didn't start. I pulled out the key and then placed it back in but it still didn't start, only made a wierd noise like before. "Nonononono!" I cried out. I looked up and thanked God when I saw Owen walk out of the store. I got out of the car and rushed over to him, blocking his way. He stopped to stare at me then at the car. "Only you would leave the headlights on in the middle of the afternoon," he said almost boredly. "How did you know that the headlights were on?" I asked a bit skeptical. "Because I know how to use my eyes," he stated calmly which only infuriated me. "Why didn't you tell me anything earlier?" I asked exasperatedly to which he only shrugged. I stared at the boy who stood in front of me for a while trying to figure him out. I failed. So instead I took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself then let it out slowly. "Can you at least help me fix the car. I promised Mum I'd take good care of it." "And look where that got you." "Please," I pleaded with him. "Fortunately, I don't have a car with me." "You mean unfortunately," I corrected him. "No. Fortunately," with that said, he walked away. I stood there mouth agape in disbelief and watched his retrieving form till it became a little blob. Mum was going to kill me. I tried re-starting the car to no avail, "Ugh. Why me?" I got out of the car and set by the edge of the pavement waiting for some signs of a miracle. Maybe Owen would have a change of heart. Forty minutes had passed by and I came to the conclusion that maybe there wouldn't be any change of heart on Owen's part. I got up from the edge of the pavement, trying to come up with an idea. Maybe I could push the car home? I looked at the SUV and quickly diminished the idea. I heard someone call my name and when I turned around I saw the familiar face of the first boy I met when we moved. "Hey Abel," I greeted him. He came to a full stop in front of me. "Hey. What are you doing here? Alone?" he questioned. "I don't really want to be here but the car won't start," I said pointing at the car. "Do you know what the problem seems to be?" He asked as he looked at the car over my shoulder. "Uh...yeah. I kind of left the headlights on for some minutes and the car won't start," I explained. "Oh. Your battery is probaly dead. Can I?" He asked pointing at the car. "Yeah," I moved out of the way and he lifted the hood of the car and started checking Lord knows what. "Can you try to start the car?" I got in and there was no change, it gave out a wierd sound like before. "Yeah. That confirms it," he closed the hood, "You're going to have to jump start it. Lemme get my car," he said and walked over to his car, got in and parked next to my mum's. He cut the engine and got some red and black capables from the trunk. "Can you put the car in park," and I did just that. He took the red cable and attached it to my battery and his and then connected the black to his battery and the metal strut. He started his engine and let it run for some minutes. "Ok. Try to start your engine and if it starts don't turn it off," he instructed me after removing the cables. "Ok," I inserted the key in ingition and the car started. I grinned so hard my cheeks hurt. "Its working!" I shrieked with excitement. "Thank you so much." "Hey don't mention it. It really wasn't a big deal." he waved off dismissively. "Can I have your line?" he asked, "You know just in case you have a problem with your car next time. That way you can just call me instead of you know...waiting around." He further explained. "Uh sure," I felt my self blush before checking my pockets for my phone but them realised that I had actually left my phone back home. "I don't have my phone with me right now and unfortunately I also don't know my number by heart but I can take yours then give you a call once I get home." I took a paper and a pen from the car and wrote down his number. "I should get going now, it was really nice seeing you again." "Same here," I smiled at him. I got into the car and a frown over took my face when I noticed that my ice cream had melted but then I realised a worse fate awaited me back home.