A bit more than a drabble...

[lmondegreen.livejournal.com]

It takes her a while to figure out just what they're doing, just sitting in the car in the driveway, lights off. Not even the radio on. Just Ray and him. She leans a little further out the window to take a closer look, wishing for the hundredth time that the little table was still there, that it hadn't gotten broken the last time Pop... The shadows in the car move together again, then through two open windows she hears a whispered, "Are you nuts? We can't do that here!"

The car doors finally open and Ray gets out, and he gets out and walks away. Ray stands there for a long time, just looking at their old car. Pop keeps promising they'll get a new one, soon. Maybe a Buick.

A few minutes later she's back in her bed, pretending to be asleep as she hears him pass down the hall. She thinks about what she saw, and what Pop would do to Ray if he knew what was going on. Ray says he's almost twenty, he can do whatever he wants. He never says that when Pop's around, though.

Frannie can't really understand it, anyway, what Ray sees in him. She's always liked Irene, but Frankie's just a jerk.

Comments

[beledibabe.livejournal.com]

Like Frannie, it took me a while to figure out what they were doing. Love the way the story gradually unfolded, that we were so inside Frannie's head, sharing her curiosity, the little tangents, and the reference to maybe getting a Buick.

The last, greatest revelation rocks! You handled it so well.

Re:

[lmondegreen.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm not sure exacly how much of an age difference there is between the two, but I'm sure Frannie saw quite a bit, growing up with Ray...