Loving Charley (15 page)

“What’s that?” Georgia
questions.

“I don’t know,” I say
within a sob.

She approaches me and takes the note.
“Do you want me to read it?”

“No, I’m just
scared.”

Georgia guides me into my
room and closes the door. “Char, I don’t know much about love, but
I do know this. He. Loves. You. That’s all you need to think about.
Whatever is in this letter is going to confirm that.”

Using my sleeve to wipe
away the tears, I answer her, “I hope so.”

“I know so,” she says with
a mischievous grin. This makes me smile because whatever is going
on here she knows as well, even if she tried to act clueless a
minute ago.

“I’ll leave you alone a
minute,” she says as she hands the note back to me and then goes to
her room.

After grabbing a tissue, I
unfold the paper and begin to read the words from my soul
mate.

To my
Char-coal,

I know by now you are
probably a crying and slobbering mess, and I’m sorry to have made
you cry, but those are all the tears you will ever shed over me.
This letter is about firsts. I didn’t know how to tell you what I
really feel about everything going on, so I thought I’d try
this.

For starters, you are
everything that matters to me. Without you in my life, I serve no
purpose. You give me a reason to wake up each morning. Knowing that
you are my future is what gets me through the day and through all
this mess that’s going on now.

I promised you that I
would come out on top, and I know that I will. When the judge sees
the evidence, my record, and that what I did was to protect you, I
know they will be on our side. I know I won’t get off completely,
but the moment that I can walk out as a free man is the day that I
will never leave your side.

Until that day, I want you
to live life to the fullest, enjoy the Kluft girls, keep Joe
straight, kick ass in the pool, and let your light shine to
everyone you meet. You are a one-in-a-million girl, and I can’t
believe that you are mine from now until eternity. I love you,
Charley Anne Rice, and when this is over, I’m never letting you
go.

Now, quit sulking, smile
that heart-warming smile, and have fun because that’s what college
is about. I’ll see you in two weeks.

Love always and forever
and ever,

Your Cash Money

Smiling that heart-warming
smile is exactly what I do. Glancing in the mirror, I look like a
semi hit me, but I don’t care. I open the door only to be greeted
by the Kluft girls with open arms.

“‘
Bout damn time. We got
shit to do and take names,” Tori says smartly.

“Whatcha mean?”

“We are about to have one hell of a
time for the next two weeks because I have a feeling when this is
over, Cash isn’t going to let you outta his sight.”

“Sounds like fun to me!” I
say excitedly.

“So, have you heard of
Gravity Hill?” Tori questions.

“Um, no. Please tell me it’s not some
ride at the local county fair?”

With an eye roll, Tori
fills me in. “Gravity Hill is this hill in the middle of freakin’
nowhere. People say that if you put baby powder on your bumper and
turn off your car when you get to the bottom, there will be
fingerprints left in the powder.”

“What? Is that not just
from what falls off the back of the car?”

“Hell, I don’t know, but it
sounds like something fun to me. So, are you in?”

“Why not. Who has baby
powder?” I ask.

We all look at each other
and then Caroline speaks up. “I do.”

“Why in this world would you have baby
powder in your dorm room?” Anna smarts at her.

“Y’all, this Southern
Belle’s feet cannot sweat! I glisten, remember!” Caroline says in a
sweet Southern drawl.

“Only Caroline.”

Trying to get us back on
track, I ask, “Do we have to do this at dark, midnight, or before
sunrise?”

“Midnight,” Tori states
confidently. “Tonight, girls. It’s on. We are living it up for the
next two weeks. Everyone game?”

“Hell to tha yeah!” Hayden
yells, and we mimic her.

After that decision is
made, I check to see if Cash has made it home yet. Instead of
texting him, I call.

He answers before the
first ring is complete in song. “
Go ahead
and call me, call me, call me. You don’t have to worry ‘bout it
baby,” he sings the words to his ringtone.

“No, I don’t have to worry
about it because I’ve got my heart-warming smile and a man that
loves me for eternity.”

“You read the letter,
huh?”

“I did.”

“You freaked out, though,
didn’t you?” I pause, and that is all Cash needs to know that he
was right. “I know you too well. You know that, right?”

“I probably wouldn’t have
if Joe would have given it to me straight, but it was almost like
he was unsure of when to give it to me.”

“That’s probably because I told him to
feel when he thought the moment was right.”

“Oh, well, just so you
know. Georgia had it written all over her face that she knew
something, but that has to be the sweetest thing I have ever read
in my life. I promise to live life to the fullest for these two
weeks, and then it’s you and me against whatever is thrown at
us.”

“Damn right.”

“Are you home
yet?”

“Just about. I’m hittin’ the Grassy
Pond stoplights now.”

“Hey, Cash
Money.”

“Yeah.”

“I love you. I know those
are three little words, but there aren’t any words that can come
close to how I feel about you.

“I understand completely. I
pray every night and thank God that He brought you into my life
when we were kids.”

“You’re makin’ us sound so
old.” I giggle.

“You know what I mean,
Char-coal.”

“I do, and this serious thing you have
going for you is way past sexy.”

“Well, you keep those
thoughts to yourself until we’re together, and then you can tell me
in person.”

“I like that plan, but that sure is
gonna be hard.”

We make small talk as Cash
drives to his farm, and I fill him in on tonight’s event. He
doesn’t believe me, and frankly, I think it’s a crock of shit as
well. Regardless, I’m up for something adventurous.

As Cash pulls into his
driveway, we say our goodbyes, yet again. He makes me promise to
let him know about Gravity Hill later tonight. Hanging up the phone
is hard, but I know that each time we disconnect, I’m one time
closer to forever.

Chapter 22

As midnight approaches, we are all decked out
like we are going on a robbery, not going to check out a crazy
legend that has been told from generation to generation. We pile
into Tori’s Explorer. For some reason, the Love Machine is out of
commission tonight, or maybe it’s because this is Tori’s crazy
idea.

“So, do we have a clue what
we are supposed to do?” Anna asks.

“From what I understand, we
put the car at the top of the hill, and then one of us puts the
baby powder on the bumper, and we just roll,” Tori
states.

“Aight, so I’m not trying
to be the party pooper, but there has to be more to it than that,”
I say.

Tori continues, “Someone
said something about you roll up, and if the spirits feel the need
to move you, they will. That’s all people have said.”

Uncertain of how to
respond, I leave it at that as we make our way up the two-lane
highway, making a few turns and crossing the county
lines.

Tori begins to get excited
when she sees random spray paint on signs, and we all figure it out
when we notice the lines sprayed on the road of where to start. To
me, this feels like snipe hunting. If you know what that is, you
know we’re about to get made to look like fools.

As we reach the top of the hill, Tori
does a three-point turn and puts the car in park. She then looks
around to see who wants to get out and put the baby powder on the
bumper.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” I say,
because to be honest, I want to see what it looks like before this
crazy train is over.

“I wanna see, too,”
Georgia says and follows me, and then everyone is out of the car.
Once the powder is in place, we pile back inside. We say a little
prayer, and Tori puts it in neutral. The car picks up speed, but
not once does she touch the brake or steering wheel.
How in the world have we not run off the road
yet?
The car reduces speed as we go back
up the next hill, and it begins to slide back to the valley between
the two hills, stopping dead center.

Looking around at each
other, we know that we are the laughing stock of Southern, but then
it happens. The car begins to climb the hill. My eyes dart to
Georgia, Caroline, Anna, and up front to Tori. She is as white as a
sheet, and we all are speechless.

Once we reach the peak,
the car stops, and Tori throws it in park and jumps out. I don’t
know if I want to get out of the safety of this car, but I’m
supposed to live on the edge for two weeks, so here it goes.
Throwing the door open, I hurry to the back to see what Tori
sees.
Holy shit!
Sure enough, there are two sets of handprints in the baby
powder. All the powder is still in place.

“Never in a million years,
Tori.”

“I’m having the same
thought. You got your phone, Char? Take a pic.”

“I do, and thanks to the
flash, we have evidence for when everyone calls
bullshit.”

As we make our way back to
the car, everyone is dying to know what happened. When I show them
the picture, they have to see for themselves, and we talk a mile a
minute the entire drive back.

Once we get back to campus,
the stoop has several stragglers drinking a few cold ones on a
Sunday night. We stop and chat for a couple of minutes before
returning to our rooms. I text Cash the picture, and of course, he
calls me for the details. He also doesn’t hang up until he hears me
asleep on my end.

From Monday through
Thursday, we aren’t too adventurous due to class, but that’s not to
say we don’t drink vodka in our Kool-Aid before class on an
unusually warm afternoon. It makes for interesting note taking. At
night, we make up our own fun whether it’s sliding in our socks
down the hall or karaoke from the stoop, and when Georgia does get
that call from Tucker, we are the most annoying friends possible.
Needless to say, she still scored herself a date, and that is going
to be a date she’s not going to forget if the Kluft girls have
anything to do with it.

“Hey, Georgia. Where’s he
takin’ you?” I ask her as she finishes the touches on her makeup
with a lip pop.

“I think we’re going to see
some new action movie or something and out to eat. Why? What are
y’all gonna do?”

“I think we’re just going
to hang out at the stoop tonight.”

Georgia places her hands on
her hips. “Char, you do know that’s not being adventurous,
right?”

“You know as well as I do
that you never know what’s going to happen there,” I reply with the
same body language.

“True.”

About that time, there’s a
light knock on her door, and we see Tucker standing there. He isn’t
tall, but definitely not short by any means. He’s got a body to die
for. I figured that out before break at Hank’s, and if he’s taking
out Georgia, that means he must really like her. The question is,
will he still like her when they get back tonight?

As they leave, we give them
all kinds of hell. The funny thing is, as Georgia gets embarrassed,
Tucker dishes it right back out at us. I think I like him
already.

After Georgia is out of
sight, Hayden clasps her hands together and rubs them quickly. I
can see the wheels turning. “So, y’all up for a good prank?” she
questions.

“She’s gonna kill us, ya
know,” I say. “But, I’m totally in. Whatcha got in
mind?”

“I’m thinking fifty-two
card pickup, but in dorm room way,” Hayden says.

As confusion covers our
faces, Hayden gives us a big huff before she explains what we are
going to do when we break into Georgia’s room, which isn’t hard
since she leaves it unlocked all the time. We proceed to turn
everything she owns backwards. I do mean everything— dresser,
refrigerator, microwave, lamp, and then we take it to the next
level.

“Hummm, what can we use?” Caroline
thinks out loud.

“Y’all! Check out these lights!” I say
as I hold up two circle lights that you press on and
off.

“I’ve got an idea. Let’s
lay this futon out,” Anna says. She goes to Georgia’s underwear
drawer and pulls out the skimpiest pair of panties and matching
bra. She takes them to the bed, sets them in the middle, along with
placing the lights within the bra cups, and turns them on. We all
burst out laughing. “Hey Tori, you got your stash?”