Stolen

“For God’s sake Dallas,” Nick exclaimed, “It’s not that big of a deal!”

“Not that big of a deal?” challenged quick-tempered Dallas, “Someone stole my car. How is that not a big deal?”

“Me and you both know that thing was just a hunk of junk. Whoever took it last night probably already ditched it by now. We’ll find it.”

“Hunk of junk?” Dallas sputtered, his face red with anger, “That car was a classic.”

“Ahh, classic-schamssic. It’s only a car. Just relax.”

“You need to shut your mouth before I make you shut your mouth,” Dallas fumed, his dark brown eyes shining with anger.

“Okay, man,” Nick replied, not letting Dallas ruin his easy-going nature, “Shutting up now.”

Nick turned and walked out of Dallas’s room, leaving Dallas alone. Dallas began pacing his room, thinking of what he could do to get his car back. He couldn’t understand why Nick was taking this so lightly. Nick knew how important that Chevelle was to him. He ran his hand through his thick black hair and fell heavily onto the bed.

He reclined onto his back and looked around his room, trying to conjure up an idea of what to do. His eyes skimmed over the numerous car posters that were plastered to his walls until they fell upon the poster of the Chevelle. Dallas closed his eyes and pulled his black bedspread over his head.

Not knowing what else to do, Dallas left his room and went down the lushly carpeted stairs at the end of the hall, and into the kitchen. Despite his current anger and panic, Dallas couldn’t help but notice his growling stomach when he breathed in the scent of blueberry muffins and coffee.

The sunlight hitting the light yellow walls of the kitchen filled the room with a warm, soft glow. The black-and-white tiled floor felt cool beneath his bare feet. Unable to ignore his growling stomach long enough to call his father, Dallas snatched up a warm blueberry muffin.

As he was trying to enjoy his muffin as best he could, Dallas heard footsteps coming up the porch stairs. There was a light rapping on the door, and Dallas rose to his feet to open it. He was greeted by his girlfriend, Stacey, who was grinning at him, blue eyes dancing.

“Hey hun! Happy birthday!” Stacey said and wrapped her arms around Dallas’s muscular frame.

         “Hey. I take it you didn’t hear about my car?”

         “What do you mean?”

         “I woke up this morning and it was gone. It looks like someone stole it last night,” Dallas sighed; his anger was slowly starting to fade away, leaving him feeling defeated.

         “What? Are you sure Nick or someone didn’t just borrow it?” asked Stacey.

         “I’m sure no one did. Mom’s out in the barn, all the boys are gone to summer camp except me and Nick. Nick was here when I woke up, so he couldn’t have taken it,” Dallas explained.

         Stacey followed Dallas to the kitchen table and sat next to him, holding his hand. Her eyes were worried and thoughtful. She used her free hand to run it through her tangle of blond hair. They sat in silence for a few moments, and didn’t stir until they heard the back door slam shut.

         “Do I smell muffin?” Nick’s voice was heard down the hall.

         “You sure do!” Stacey, who always tried to make everyone feel better, replied with fake cheerfulness.

         They could hear the chains and straps on Nick’s Goth-style jeans jangling as he approached the kitchen. When he entered, the sunlight glinted off of his eyebrow piercing, casting an odd pattern onto the ceiling.

         “Dallas, I think you need to go out to the barn,” Nick remarked, “There’s something out there that you gotta see.”

         “I don’t feel like going out to the barn, Nick. I have a car to look for, remember?”

         “I know, I know. But you really should go out to the barn first.”

         “C’mon Dallas. Let’s just go. At the very least, it’ll shut Nick up,” said Stacey.

         Dallas eyed both of them warily before agreeing. Nick, who was obviously overjoyed, gave his brother a thump on the back before practically skipping out of the room. Dallas shook his head, and went through the living room, and into the adjacent mud room to put on his barn boots. Stacey waited for him outside with Nick.

         The trio walked down the gravel path, the gravel crunching rhythmically under their feet. Nick and Stacey were both quiet, but the tension and excitement in the air was palpable. When they had almost reached the large red horse barn, Nick bolted ahead to open the barn’s main sliding door.

         As he opened it, hay dust fluttered and twirled in the air before settling over a large covered object in the middle of the cement barn aisle. Curious, Dallas started to walk a little fast in order to get a better view of the mysterious covered thing.

         “Pull back the tarp, bro!” Nick said and pushed Dallas eagerly towards the object.

         Dallas grasped the rough blue tarp and gave it a quick, hard tug. The tarp slid off with ease to reveal his 1969 Chevelle. He gasped in disbelief as his eyes hungrily took in all of the details of his car. It had been repainted, cherry red with thick black racing stripes. The entire interior of the car had been redone with black leather upholstery. Dallas couldn’t believe his eyes.

         “Happy birthday!” Stacey whispered into Dallas’s ear.

         “What? How did this happen?” asked Dallas.

         “Well, you know how Mom sent you to bed early last night? Once you were in your room, mom and dad and I got this thing up on a car trailer and hauled it to Jim’s Body Shop. They spent the entire night working on it. Dad isn’t here because I think he’s still sleeping at Jim’s! They wanted this car to be a surprise. Once they were finished, Mom and I loaded it back up and hid it in the barn while you were still asleep. I covered it with the tarp a few minutes before I came inside to get you,” Nick explained.

         “I don’t even know what to say. Thanks?”

         “You’re welcome, man,” Nick said and put his arm around his older brother, “Happy birthday.”