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Ever since that night Kim locked eyes with Delilah and let the fairytale romance take over, he’d been worried sick he might not be able to keep her away long enough or send her home in time to keep from raising Etienne’s suspicions.
“I told Miss Connie to play along,” Delilah assured him one evening as he stood preoccupied underneath a dripping oil pan. “Told her that if Daddy called and asked where I was, that I volunteered to help stay back and sweep the floors.”
“Is that right,” he grunted, spraying down the drain and wiping it off. Delilah reached up and hung her arms over his shoulders, nosing into his dark, curly hair.
“She’s got a pretty good idea how much I love you, Kimmy.” The can of carburetor cleaner hit the concrete floor with a loud, bright clash. “Gets you every time, dunnit?” She kissed his rosy cheek.
“You’re not all worried about your father finding you with me? He hates me…. Ages my father,” Kim bent and picked up the can of cleaner and set it on the toolbox behind him. “Your whole family is my enemy, Lilah. The whole lot of them.”
“I know, Kimmy,” she said, her voice now matching his less affectionate tone. Her arms moved to his upper back as he finished up cleaning up the mess he’d made draining the car. “But I’ve waited long enough for you. I can’t stand to be apart from you.” Kim gritted his teeth - those words hurt to hear each time she spoke them, as if he was waiting for them to come true. He turned to face her, smoothing the wrinkles on his blue coveralls.
“You stay longer and longer each day,” he argued gently. “I understand you. Really, I do.” Her bony hands reached for the top button, impulsively, like she couldn’t stop them. “But you’re gonna get caught.” An uncharacteristically serious look crossed her face.
“I can’t exactly go back, now,” she said defiantly. “Besides, what’s anyone gonna do after I turn 18?” Kim sighed, understanding completely.
“I wish I could tell you,” he said, resting his hand on the lift. “Look what becoming a legal adult has done for me since August.” Delilah took her hands back to herself, pointing an increasingly shameful expression towards the floor. “What?”
“You could still change that.”
“I know.”
“You could run with me.”
“I know.”
“It wouldn’t take much.”
“I know that, too.”
“I know how to do it.”
“Don’t think I haven’t considered it myself.”
“You sound like it’s not such a bad idea, Kimmy.”
Kim’s gaze wandered the expanse of the cluttered auto shop, the sight of it immediately killing his growing wanderlust. It returned back to the hopeful girl in front of him.
“And what about all of this?” He queried, his voice only loud enough for Delilah to hear.
“The Good Lord would sort it…” she cocked her head, examining him carefully. A smile slowly crept up her dimpled cheeks, matching his silent decision making. “You’re making that face you make when… when…”
“When you have a horrible idea you want me to go along with?” He butted in, reluctant. He wiped his hands off on the greasy blue rag in his pocket. “You’re full of them.”
“You don’t have enough of them, Kimmy,” she said. “It’s why you’re still stuck in this shop… in this town full of rednecks.”
“And where do you suppose we go, huh?” He asked, his tone shifting into genuine curiosity. “If we do this, per your idea, it better be good.” He shut the red lid to the box, locking it shut. “And we better have a good way to hide. I won’t be arrested for child abduction if you plan on doing this before the end of the month.”
“I don’t know… I was thinking maybe California or something…” she sheepishly admitted. “Arizona, I don’t know.” Kim scoffed playfully.
“Talk about destroying ourselves, you hippie,” he chuckled. “Not a thing for us there.”
“Bullshit,” she interjected. “Y’got that guitar. You’re such a bastard, you’d make a fine actor, I think.” She followed him into the house, tousling his sweaty hair. “I can dance… maybe even make up some crazy religion and bank offa that.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” he said. “I’m all for bad decisions but I don’t want to sell my soul.”
“I’m kidding,” she told him, locking the door behind her. “I would never expect you to do something like that.” She spun him around, her hands firm on his waist. “But I am certainly not going back to Canada with you. You couldn’t get me to if y’dragged me by my hair.”
“You really thought I’d wanna go back there?” He squeaked, pained at just the thought. “I’m pretty sure Maurice is still alive.”
“Exactly. That’s out of the question.”
Kim dropped the keys into the drawer by the door with some routine contempt. He shoved the cheap wood closed and abandoned his coveralls on the floor, comfortable in the thinning white shirt underneath.
“I like your California idea.”
“That was quick… You’re alright with destroying yourself?” His blue eyes held defeat - or something like it.
“It’s gotta be more fun than this. I’ll never have to look my father in his evil face again.”
“Run with me, baby. Run from your problems with me…” she encouraged, resting her head against his chest. “I’d like to see what happens.” Kim’s smile was languid, yet defiant. Curious.
“Be ready by your birthday.”
An evening of quiet planning, huddled under heavy blankets quietly died off with the pair, who lay asleep, tangled amongst each other. Bright high beams flickered through the shut blinds, interrupting the lovers’ peaceful sleeping. Kim sat up abruptly, stirred by the disturbance.
“Lilah,” he rasped, shaking her by the shoulder. She groaned and affectionately locked her arm around his. “Delilah, baby, wake up. Someone’s here.” She heeded his gentle warning and scrambled awake.
“Dad,” she choked, leaping out of bed. She landed barefoot with a comical slap against the tile, throwing her clothes on carelessly. Kim stood straight up - a frantic, erratic motion as he fell back to the floor and rifled under his bed for something.
“Kimmy, no, don’t touch that gun,” Delilah begged, attempting to pull him up from the ground. He batted her away and managed to snag the long gun, immediately facing her apologetically, blue eyes wide with panic. “Kim, you ought not point that gun at him,” she worried shakily, her eyes deadpan and laser-focused. She took the skinny muzzle in her hand and pointed it down, away from the lit window. “He’s a lawman, baby, he’ll have you put away faster’n you’d think, and for a damn eternity, just like your-,” she stopped herself.
Kim cocked the gun. “Just like my what?” He spat through his teeth. He shoved his hand through the blinds and gave a good stare at the truck in his driveway. “It’ll happen anyway, Delilah, I’d dead for even thinking of you.”
“You think shootin’ my dad is gonna make it any better?” She begged. “Please, put it down.”
“And what’s all this about leaving our problems behind?” He shot back, pulling the gun away from her reach. “You wanna leave with me? How’re we gonna get out of this? Right here, right now. How do you plan on leaving this?” Another fistful of plastic blinds were torn away. “He’s getting closer. The hell are we gonna do?”
“Kim, you’re gonna put that gun down and listen to me, that’s what’s gonna happen-,” she grunted, lunging for the rifle. “Let go and listen to me. It’s gonna be okay, y’aint gonna shoot no one.” His grip softened and she pulled it from him, letting it land with a heft thud on the floor. “Calm the hell down.” She brushed stray curls from his face.
“You’re gonna put your shirt back on and you’re gonna run as soon as y’hear that front door jangle. You go out the back and I…” Delilah sighed and swallowed, glancing back at the violated window. “And I’m not gonna see your pretty face until not a damn soul can stop us from being together.” Kim shook his head in disbelief.
“Where do I go? You want me to just… run away? What about-“
“I told you, Kim, the Good Lord’ll sort it. Go somewhere safe. Go somewhere and kick someone’s ass, I don’t care. Just go somewhere and be happy until I find you again.”
“What if you… what if you find someone new?” Delilah’s eyebrows scrunched.
“I ought to slap you for saying that. I’m not about to die because I thought you was just a good time.” Kim’s eyes darted back and forth, searching for a last resort to save him from this predicament.
“I don’t wanna be away from you.”
“Sometimes we gotta do things we don’t wanna. You should know that by now. You’re the worst example of it I know.” She was interrupted by an angry pounding on the front door. Both of their heads snapped in the direction of the sound.
“He got the overhead door open awful fast,” Kim noticed. Delilah choked back an uncomfortable laugh and pulled him into one last kiss.
“Go,” she breathed, breaking away from him.
“I love you.” He spoke - the last thing she’d hear from him for twenty years.