Deborah’s mother walked in. “Do you want decaf or regular coffee?” She looked at Deborah. “Oh, you’re up. Don’t just stand there. Say hello to your grandpa and grandma.”
“Hello,” Deborah said. She sat in the chair next to the couch where they were sitting. She folded her hands in her lap and tried to make polite conversation. It was more of Alison’s friends and family to fool. She longed for college to start so she could be herself and stop pretending to be Alison except in name only.
“What time do we need to be at your graduation ceremony?” asked Grandpa.
“It starts at 5:30, so I would get there by five,” said Deborah. “I think I have to be there even earlier for rehearsal.” She dreaded the rehearsal because Julia had texted last night that there truce was over and it was fair game to tease her again. Deborah had opted out of signing up to go to the party after the graduation ceremony because she knew Julia would resume the teasing.
“Tell Grandma and Grandpa where you will be going for college,” her mother said.
“WSU,” said Deborah. “I’m majoring in double E.”
“I thought you were going into teaching,” said Grandma. “That’s what you told me when you visited during spring break.”
According to her grades, Alison was really too smart to be a teacher and Deborah did not care for teaching. Not that she wanted to knock teaching. Deborah had the benefit of two years in electrical engineering before she gave up school due to money issues. Oh course she chose engineering. “I just changed my mind,” Deborah answered. “I know it will take a lot more math classes, but I did well in math.”
“What ever you do, Alison,” said her Grandmother, “you will do well.”
“Thank you.”
“Breakfast is ready,” said Deborah’s mother. Her mother outdid herself with bacon, omelets, and pancakes. Deborah smiled as she took her place at the table. She sat between her grandparents and enjoyed her dinner.
When dinner ended her mother cleared the table and her father stood by the back door. “Since Alison is graduating she is almost all grown up,” her father said. “I love you Alison and I got you a gift to start out your adult life. Come on. It’s in the garage.”
He led her, her mother, and her grandparents to the garage and opened the garage door. Inside was a black car. It was exactly like James’ car, but it looked a lot nicer. The paint was shiny black, not scarred and rust trimmed like the ride she rode to prom. “It’s a 1984 Ford Crown Victoria Police. It was the nicest one.” Her father put his hand on the hood. “There is not a spot of rust on this one.” He opened the hood and Deborah gazed at the engine that looked like it barely fit in the car. “A 5.8 liter engine and a Variable Venturi carburetor.” The car was well taken care of. Deborah opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat. She looked into the back seat, expecting to see the metal barrier dividing front and back seats, but it wasn’t there. In fact, she couldn’t tell from the inside that it had even been a cop car.
She stood up and gave her dad a hug. “Thank you.”
“Now it uses quite a bit of gas,” he said, “but it has power.”
“I love it,” said Deborah.
“And I love you and want you to be safe.” He walked around to the passenger side and sat down. “Let’s go test this out. Get in.”
“Yes sir.” She sat back down in the driver’s seat and her dad handed her the keys.
“We’ll be back in about an hour,” he said to her mother and grandparents.