Alyssa's Bonds 2

The car ride back to my house was quiet. Alyssa kept her hand in mine, which was busy tracing the folds in her knuckles and the wrinkles of her skin. She'd be tickled by my simple musings ever so often and let loose a soft giggle.

	"Hey, Ollie. What was it you said that one time? About... oh, goddamn... about me and you?" Alyssa asked. I knew what she was talking about, but I decided to play coy with her. I decided to on a simple whim, but it was cute nonetheless. At least, I hoped.

	"Dunno, Lyss." I said, my eyes lighting up. It was funny to me that she had remembered something I off-handedly said about the way we loved one another. It was cute, too, that she had even bothered to care about it at all.

	"That's a shame. I'll remember it someday, I think." She says, slowing the car down to take a turn. I kept her hand in my lap, playing with it and ever so softly tickling her. I knew these hands. I'd felt every callous and every edge of her nails all over my body before. How then did they always manage to surprise me? How did Alyssa's quiet musings over me when we were alone still give me chills down my spine? I kissed her hands over and over again.

	"I love you Lyss. I love you more than I think you understand." I said, keeping her hand close to my chest. She nodded and smirked again.

	"I know. You tell me every night before I go to bed." She says, pushing her hand further up to touch my face. She grabbed my chin and shook my head from side to side. I laughed, smiling at Alyssa. She made a face at me and laughed back, turning her eyes back to the road. She slowed down to stop at a red light, leaning over the console to kiss me again. We turned onto my street silently, grabbing my hoodie from the backseat.

	"Isn't that one mine?" Alyssa asked.

	"And?" I replied with a nod. Alyssa just laughed at me, telling me I could keep it. She stopped in front of my house and leaned into me, whispering something in my ear.

	"Tonight was fun. Did you see how they were looking at you, all covered in my lipstick? You blushed, didn't you?" She asked, nibbling the lobe. I nodded as I swallowed. God, how weird our relationship was. Alyssa Molitor was one of a line of mechanics that had never left this city. Reliable, priced fair, and fast, the Molitor family got into the business of cars early, around the forties from what she'd told me. If Alyssa's father was a whiz with cars and machinery in general, Alyssa was among the gods of it. She told me once that her father gave her the frame to a mini-bike as a birthday present. Within a couple of months, she had it in working condition again, a small two-stroke motor powering the all-aluminum construction and rubber wheels. Her father was nice, but her brother scared me. He was huge, tall, and strong. He was captain of the football team when we were still in high school, and everyone knew it. If you didn't, he'd let you know.

	My family didn't own a business, didn't have a specific profession we were good at, but I was tangentially related to Marie Curie. Which was nice. Honestly, that's what I hope to do or become. Perhaps a scientist of some kind. I... struggle with careers for myself. I snapped out of my three-second train of thought when Alyssa grabbed my butt as I stood out of her car.

	"Alyssa! Don't do that!" I said, blushing. It felt nice, sure, but it made me a little uncomfortable. I leaned into the window of her car and kissed her one last time, unlocking the door to the apartment I lived in. I walked in the darkness to my bedroom and pulled off my pants, falling to sleep swaddled in Alyssa's old cotton sweatshirt from her very brief stint as a cheerleader. It smelled like her, brushless motors and floral shampoo that she washed her hair with. It smelled like heaven, honestly.

	The next morning was just more of the same routine for me. A shower, a walk to work, and I entered into the family-owned pizza place I worked at. As working went, this was one of the best places in the city. You made pizzas or other American-Italian food or worked the counter where all kinds would show up. None were rude, as long as you made sure you got their order right. Then the freak came out. That's why I always went in early to start cooking. Once you started, you didn't stop. Spinning dough, laying out the sauce. We opened at nine, but I made a point to start prepping at eight in the morning. It was a good plan, all things considered. I've only had it happen once that I didn't finish mixing the blends of cheeses we used for pizza before the first customer walked in.

	Work for me was uneventful. It was the same things I had cooked so much already, I phased out and only listened to other people when they were telling me orders. I didn't busy myself with drama in my own workplace. After work, I took off my apron and walked to the Molitor Motors building. Her father smiled at me when he saw me coming, the old fellow reaching out to shake my hand.

	"'Lyssa told me that she had a good night last night, I'm glad 'ja got out with her." He said, grinning from ear to ear. I looked past him and saw Alyssa's brother loitering on the storefront, smoking a cigarette. He had a leather jacket on over his overalls and ratty shirt. God, he was intimidating, and I'm glad I hadn't emotionally hurt Alyssa enough for him to put a price on my head. I followed her father back into the building, waving to Alyssa's brother as I walked past him. He smiled at me and blew smoke up.

	"Lyss couldn't shut up about the party you both went to last night. She said she 'liked it loads'. She's inside, if you're here to talk to her, Ollie. Probably underneath that hunk-a-junk '63." He laughed, and I nodded.

	"Pet project of hers, from what she's told me. Said she's had to replace the whole engine." I replied.

	"And she oughta! The fucker was a four-cylinder engine. She wants a muscle car, not something what goes from point a to point b quietly." He responded and laughed again. I stepped back inside, and Mr. Molitor took point behind the counter. It wasn't just a mechanics shop, but a parts store too. I walked into the employees only door, spotting the canvas sneakers that could only belong to one person. She was beneath the old '63 she had bought a year ago for five thousand dollars of her own money. Alyssa had been repairing the thing since, channeling the energy she always seemed to have after she wasn't technically working anymore into it's fixing. It was curious to me that it was off the hydraulic lift today, and only on a jack. I shrugged and approached her, kicking her foot with my own. She exclaimed, rolling out from underneath it to see me again. She stood up and hugged me close, cheek-to-grease-stained-cheek. The car was coming together. I had seen the thing go into the shop one day, the floor rusted out, the paint chipping. It hadn't left since.

	"Ollie! How was work?" She asked, and I rolled my eyes.

	"Standard. Pizzas and shit, you know the deal." I replied. She was always enthusiastic about how I had been, which was nice.

	"Oh, we had a good day today. Eight oil changes, air filter changes, and a spark plug fix. Cracked  brake line that's staying overnight so my brother can work on it, and then I got to work on Sally." She said, tapping the exterior of her car with a wrench," 'N she's almost finished, too."

	"What with you working on it for two years I expect it to be." I replied, voicing my respect for her ability.

	"I've been trying, Ollie. Yo, I got something else to show you today." She said, grabbing my hand and leading me through the shop. Stopping in front of a bright pink boat of a car, the windshield and interior ripped out. Its doors were welded shut, crossbars over every 'window' other than the driver's side. I knew what this was, having seen them before.

	"You're entering the demolition derby this year, aren't you?" I asked her, looking excitedly at her. I saw her smile, eyes lighting up with a fever.

	"I'd have Sally finished if it wasn't for this thing, you know that? Been working on it for a year to get it tech ready." She said, shaking her head," At least... I'd have Sally finished without paint."

	Alyssa looked forlorn. I decided to ask her in private later about it. I thought I knew what it was, something about her mother and the heart problems she had. I brushed one of her braids back behind her ear, kissing her cheek.

	"Don't look like that. It'll be nice to watch you have some fun runnin' into other cars." I told her quietly.

	"She's gonna look that way when she talks about being behind on that car. She don't even know how she wants it painted but needs it paint ready tomorrow." I heard her brother say from behind us. I jumped and froze, turning on my heel.

	"Dude, what are you!? A vampire or fucking something?" I asked out loud, actually scared. I didn't expect to have a creeper watching me get intimate with his sister.

	"Fucking something. Namely, your mom." He replied with a laugh," It's good you come after hours. Otherwise 'Lyssa wouldn't get any work done. And that ain't good for business, lover-boy."

	I rolled my eyes at his joke. Apparently, his sense of humor was stuck in high school. What-ever.

	"I would too! After kicking Ollie out for his safety!" Alyssa responded, mad. She apparently didn't like the implications that I was a distraction to her work ethic, which was otherwise spotless. She stepped between her brother and me.

	"Karl, you don't get to decide for me about Ollie! Just 'cause you're a year older than me don't mean you get to tell me how I live my life with the man I love!" Alyssa said, flamed now. I shrunk back behind her, hoping Karl didn't see me scared of her anger. It was scary because anytime she was angry, she'd be extra rough to let me know.

	"Oh, someone's getting big, ain't she?" He asked rhetorically, tousling the messy top of her hastily braided hair. Alyssa kept her intense expression and pissy look, angry that Karl managed to belittle her when she was attempting to intimidate him. Basically, she was being the stereotypical little sister. She sighed and walked past him, releasing my hand. Elliot gestured to the hood of the pink car and sat down, patting the space next to him.

	"Now that I gotcha alone, time I told you something." He said as I followed his example and sat down on the hood of the car. His rough face looked me in the eyes, set jaw and scowling brow intimidating as the rest of him.

	"Don't hurt Alyssa. 'Less she asks. Don't fuck around with other girls, either. You might think that she's scary when she gets mad, but I'm always scary, Ollie. Can I call you Ollie?" He asked. I shook my head.

	"No, only Alyssa, my grandma and my mom call me Ollie." I replied.

	"Oh, she's got a pet name for you, huh, Oliver?" He asked and laughed, doubling over. He got serious immediately afterward, though.

	"Y'know, Oliver, couple months ago she started talking. Talking about you. Talking 'bout how nice you made her feel. And how you supported her n' her jobbies. Then a couple 'a weeks back, she talked about you in a little more intimate detail. She told me 'bout her first time. Not directly, mind you, just talking about the act. Lyssa's had boys 'round here before you, and she decided to have you first. So apparently, you're good to her. And I ain't asking you to change how good you are to her. I just want you to stay good to her, feel? So stay good to her, and don't hurt 'er. Because the old man's just as mean as me." He said, leaving it up to interpretation what mean meant. We both jumped when we heard a car start, the engine turning over and purring loudly. Karl shook his head, Alyssa's shouts rising above the din of the motor.

	"Oh! She's a killin' machine!" She shouted, excited that her car could run. I smiled for her, excited that she could finally see the fruit of her labor. I knew her mind was already busy with thoughts of paint jobs for it, and she deserved a good paint job, anyway. She slapped the roof of the car with excitement, hopping out of the window after turning it off.

	"Hell yeah! Sally's almost done, innit she, Lyss?" Karl asked his sister.

	"Gotta get painted and all that! But mostly, yeah!" Alyssa responded, beaming from ear to ear with a grin. The blonde streak in her otherwise brownish-reddish hair caught the light, the strands intermingling with the muted, darker color of her hair. Sometimes I forgot what made me love her, but one look always reminded me. Always told me what was up again. I hopped off the hood of the derby car as Alyssa rushed over to me and picked me up, hoisting me in another of her bone-crushing hugs. She was so tall. So strong, too. A woman I could really love.

	"Hell yeah!" I said, lifted off my feet by my girlfriend. She kissed the top of my forehead, I blushed.

	The rest of my time at the shop was uneventful. A couple hours of conversation later and Alyssa was packing a bag to spend the night at my place. She threw the bag into the back of her car and drove away to my house. She entered my apartment and sat down on the couch, turning on the TV and cuddling me close to watch some cheesy B-Movie with me. She kept herself behind me and put her hand up my shirt, kissing and giving my neck hickeys.

	"I love you, Alyssa." I said, and she nodded behind me.

	"I love you too, Ollie." She responded.