CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR Van
“Give me your keys,” Chip said, flashing me a look that said he wanted to leave Evan right where he was.
“They’re in the Mercedes,” Evan snapped. “And don’t get grease on the leather seats, chump.” Evan turned to me. “Is he going to get my interior dirty?”
“I’m standing right here, asshole. I can hear you,” Chip snarled.
I hurried down the embankment to assist Chip. “Where are you going, Vance?” Evan asked, pointing toward the idling tow truck. “Let’s get in his warm truck. He can do what I’m paying him to do.”
“I’m going to help him.”
“Are you insane? We’ll get your vehicle next, and then we can figure out how to get out of this hellhole and back to civilization.”
Chip walked up the incline and stood in front of Evan. “What is your problem?” he demanded. “Because you’re two seconds away from me leaving your ass for the second and final time.”
Evan exchanged glances with me, and in his I’m better than everyone else approach, took a step closer to Chip. “I’m not sure where your lack of respect comes from, country boy, but I’ll surely have your job by the end of this night. You can take that to the bank.”
“Seriously?” Chip replied, inching closer to Evan. “Would you like your ass kicked? Because you can take that to the bank.”
“Go ahead. I’ll sue you so badly you’ll be begging for pennies.”
I stepped between them, moving my hands behind my back, trying to find Chip’s. Chip grabbed my hand and stepped beside me. Evan’s eyes moved to our interlocked hands and then to mine. He looked mortified.
His surprised appearance quickly turned nasty. “No fucking way!” he stated. “With him?”
I held Chip back, possibly for the final time. Even I was at my wits’ end with Evan’s behavior. “What are you doing here?” I asked him.
He glared at Chip before returning his eyes to me. “I came to get you,” he answered. “John mentioned you were stranded in his hometown, or some shit like that.”
“I was,” I confirmed. “Initially,” I added. “And John is in Missile now, too.”
“Whatever,” he dismissed. “John can stay here for all I care. But you’re too good for Montana. I mean, really, Vance, what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking,” I began, barely maintaining my anger. “That, for one, I was a free man. And two, I was heading to Denver in search of a job. After dumping me, had you spoken to me in the past year, you would’ve known what was going on in my life.”
In his typical maybe you should read the room before speaking behavior, he revealed some truth. “I was barely hanging onto a new relationship.”
“Got it!” I confirmed. “So, of course, why be kind to the ex who lived next door? And yet, here you are.”
“I made a mistake, for god’s sake,” he protested. “We’ll get counseling, or some shit. You can try harder.”
I practically spit bullets. “I can try harder?”
“Sure,” he agreed. “I might have made a mistake or two, but you needed to get your head out of the clouds. And now, I figure you’ve grown from the experience of our being separated.”
Chip stood silently. I couldn’t tell if he still wanted to kill Evan or if he felt sorry for him. Chip turned to me as if to ask permission to share his opinion. I nodded slightly.
“Listen here, buddy,” Chip began. “You’re correct. Van has grown from his experiences.”
Evan raised his hands in disbelief. “Who is this guy?” he asked, glancing between Chip and me.
“You’ve known Vance for how long—all of two weeks?
” he continued, addressing Chip again. “You seriously think Vance has grown to want the likes of you? I was with him for three years before that. Vance knows he’s better off with me back in Seattle. ”
Chip touched his upper lip, pausing and carefully choosing his next words. “Let me understand you correctly,” he began. “You dumped Van. Replaced him with John, my partner at the time. You fucked that one up, too, and now you’re calling the last year without Van a separation?”
Evan was stuck on the John part. “Excuse me? My John was your John?” he asked, his mouth disjointed from the shock. “John Thomas?”
“That’s the one,” Chip announced. “I wouldn’t refer to John as your John any longer, but yeah, I was with John since we were fifteen.”
“Jesus H. Christ,” Evan muttered. “Twilight Zone much?”
I’d heard enough from Evan. His ridiculous road trip to locate me and then drag me back to Seattle after our so-called separation was absurd. Chip deserved me to be respectful of his feelings by not rehashing my history with Evan.
“Listen up, Evan. Chip and I will pull your car out of the ditch, and then, if it’s working properly, you’ll be free to leave. We won’t even charge you for the service. Consider the kindness a Christmas gift,” I said.
“You’re not seriously considering staying here with that. With… him? Really, Vance?”
“That is exactly my plan,” I replied. “If he’ll have me.”
Evan appeared completely confused. The idea that I wasn’t overjoyed he’d driven here to get me back found him completely out of sorts. I’m sure the feeling was new to him. Evan didn’t lose at anything. I’d never said no to him, that was for sure.
“Look at him,” he urged. “This guy is a hick. And this state? Montana? What will a silly boy like you do in an uptight, redneck place like Montana? And don’t get me started on the fact that you’ve known him for two weeks—or two seconds, both about the same amount of time.
You don’t know him, Vance. Get real while I’m still willing to take you back. ”
Chip exhaled strongly, his fists balled at his sides. I placed my hand on his shoulder and stepped toward Evan. “I’ve got this, Chip.”
“And his name is Chip?” Evan quipped. “What the fuck?”
“Shut the fuck up, Evan!” I snapped, my tone and language shocking even myself. Evan’s eyes saucered while Chip inhaled sharply, equally stunned by my outburst.
“What did you say?” Evan seethed. “You have the nerve to speak to me like that?”
I fought to level my voice. “People change, Evan. They grow. They evolve. Their eyes are opened. And then they gain new experience,” I began, moving within an inch of his face.
“My experience with you was an education on who I don’t need in my life.
You called me a dreamer. You just now told me to get my head out of the clouds.
That and so much more of your bile poisoned me for years. But no longer.”
“Don’t waste your breath,” Chip muttered.
“I’m not done yet,” I disagreed, locking eyes with a very uncomfortable ex.
“And yeah. I’ve known this man for two weeks.
But in those two weeks, he’s shown me more respect, more kindness, more acceptance, and as a result, more love, than you did in three years.
I have zero interest in returning to the kind of partnership offered by you, Evan. Zero!”
Evan wasn’t convinced. “He’s got no class, Vance. I know you. You want the fine shit I offer. With me, you get class and a future full of only the best,” Evan declared, seeming to add a pleading tone to his words.
“I guess experience changed what I thought I wanted,” I disagreed.
“I want to be loved for who I am. And I want to love someone who sees me as an equal.” I backed up and reached for Chip’s hand.
“Two weeks or two decades, I’m choosing me this time.
And I’m hoping with all my might Chip here feels the same. ”
Chip didn’t need to verbalize for Evan’s benefit. He squeezed my hand and headed back down the slope to Evan’s car.
“You and him won’t last,” Evan hissed. I ignored his warning by not responding. “Whatever. I can do better than you anyway.”
“You’d be lucky if you end up doing exactly that,” I rebutted. I motioned toward his car. “We’ll get your car back on the road. And then you can be on your way.”
“You’re passing on this?” he asked, touching himself like he was god’s gift.
“I am.”
With that, I walked down the incline to assist the man I hoped had heard the reasons I chose him.
I also hoped Chip understood I was committed to growing with him, no matter our location.
And if that life, and our future were in Missile, I’d be fortunate to spend it with a man who had demonstrated how to encourage and support a man like me. A dreamer.
Chip and I had a vehicle to tow. Arguably, one we hadn’t seen coming. There’d likely be hundreds more tows in our future, but none as eye-opening as tonight’s. I’d be there for all of them in a little town called Missile, working at a business named Missile Tow.
Some people may think I dwell in the clouds, or that I listen to voices no one else hears. They could be right. I have no problem living with that reputation.
And perhaps Evan was right. Two weeks is an awfully short time to think you love someone. But I choose me, and I choose to listen. To listen to messages. And to listen to my heart. Because I believe the universe knows when we need a gentle push.
Merry Christmas to me.
THE END