In the parking lot of a convenience store on Front St, the main drag in the Carolina coastal town where he was vacationing, Les slid the first, then the second case of beer onto the tailgate of his pickup next to his bike. After just three days of body surfing, biking, and tanning on the beach eating ice cream, he'd already gone through his first case, and needed serious back up. He and his girlfriend had rented a little cottage several blocks back from the beach where it was cheaper, reserving it six months ago, but now that he was here it wasn't quite as fun as he'd expected.
Just three weeks ago his now ex girlfriend left him, and didn't really even say why. Things hadn't been great between them, but they hadn't been that bad, either. But if she thought he was going to give back her half of the rent they had to put down on this place, she was crazy. So he'd packed up his stuff, threw it in the truck, and drove the ten hours it took to get here by himself. But a vacation by oneself, even in a cool beach town like this, is still a little boring. More beer always helped that.
He hopped in the cab, turned up the radio, and hit reverse, only to here a little shriek and a tiny thump from behind the truck. "Shit," he thought, "Just what I need to make the week that much better, run over someone in a parking lot!" He jumped out and ran back to see what had happened.
At the back of the truck was a very young looking Afro-American girl, probably in early high school, lifting a small scooter up off the pavement. She didn't seem to be harmed, although there was nasty scratch on her elbow, and both the mirrors of the scooter were in pieces on the ground.
"Holy crap, are you alright?" he began apologizing, "I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you back there. Let me help you."
"I'm ok, don't worry," the girl said nervously, looking around apparently more embarrassed than hurt. "It was kinda my fault, I really wasn't watching. Shit! This thing is trashed! Fuck!" She was checking out the scooter, seeing how bad it was. Besides the mirrors, it didn't seem to be harmed, since she hadn't been going very fast as she pulled in to park it.
"Is it just the mirrors?" Les asked, unable to see any other damage either. "And your elbow?" She looked at her arm for the first time and winced.
"Yeah I think so, I guess I should clean this up, huh." Les was already pulling a First Aid kit from under the front seat, and had an antiseptic wipe in hand almost instantaneously. "Wow, aren't you Mr. Prepared!" He dabbed the abrasion lightly, flicking bits of dirt loose as she winced some more, over his continued apologies. "It's alright, really. Thanks. I'm just pissed about the mirrors. I can't ride it like this, and plus my folks will never let me ride it again if they find out. I'm kinda screwed."
Les looked at the scooter, then her, noticing for that first time that she was pretty cute for a girl her age. Tall and athletic with straight black hair in short braided pigtails and barrettes. She had on a bright pink bikini top and matching beach skirt, which jumped out radiantly from her smooth mocha skin. Then he realized he recognized her from the Frosty Creem where he'd been getting his ice cream every day, but didn't say anything about it. Instead he offered a solution to her problem.
"Isn't the place that sells these just down the road here? We can go get new mirrors. I'll pay for'em, it's the least I can do."
Her face brightened, "Really? Seriously, you'd do that? Awesome, thanks!"
They loaded the scooter on its side into the truck, then climbed in to drive over to the place. Still concerned about the insurance risk of what just happened and that he'd still have to contact her parents, he asked on the way, "How old are you?"
"Eighteen," she said. Les couldn't believe it. He would have be money she was only fifteen, and he stared at her disbelievingly. "What?" she said in response to his look. "How old are you?"
"Twenty five," he said with a slightly sarcastic laugh, expecting the same incredulity from her. He was actually 32, but she didn't even bat an eye.
"Oh," she said, meeting his silent stare. "What?? You don't believe me?" She pulled a tiny wallet from her hip and from it produced her drivers license. "Here," she said handing it to him. "I get it all the time. Everyone thinks I look younger than I really am. I hate it."
Sure enough, she was eighteen. He did the math twice in his head to be sure, then looked at the card one more time, noticing the local address.
"I'm probably going to have to tell your parents anyway, you know. I think it's kinda the law."
"Oh, no, no, no! No way! They find out and I never ride a scooter again. F that. If the mirrors get fixed then I'm all set, I can explain my elbow and the scratches, but they'd freak out if they knew I got hit by a truck, even though I hit you first. Please don't make me tell them."
He thought about it for a second as they pulled in. No real harm done, and she did in fact hit him. "Alright, deal. Let's go get'em fixed."
A guy from the shop wheeled the bike inside while they sat on the tailgate and chatted, starting with introductions. "I'm Sheila, by the way," she said, extending her hand.
"Les," he said, shaking it. "You do look pretty young, but sorry for not believing you."
"Don't worry about it, I get it all the time." She glanced over her shoulder into the truck bed. "Two cases of beer, huh. Having a party?"