go to the kitchen and grab a glass. I fill it with ice and lemonade, then refill my own glass and head back outside and over to Walter's house.
"Ring, ring," I say, loud enough for Tyler to hear so I don't startle him again.
He slowly lifts his head out from under the hood of the car and turns around. I'm expecting him to smile when he sees the two lemonades in my hand, but instead he glares at me.
"What do you want?"
"I came to give you this." I offer him the glass. "It's hot in here. I thought you could use a drink."
"I already have a drink." He motions to the workbench where there's a large plastic cup filled with water.
"But this is lemonade. Made from scratch just this morning."
"No, thanks." He turns back to the car.
I walk over to him. "What's wrong?"
"I need to get a lot done today so if you could please leave, I'd appreciate it." His tone is cold, angry, his jaw tight.
"Are you mad about this morning? Because I promise you, my grandma didn't mean what she said. When she gets angry, she lashes out sometimes and says things she shouldn't."
"You brought her over here," he says, picking up his screwdriver. "I heard you calling her over."
"I was hoping to end this feud she has with Walter. I thought if I was there as a buffer, maybe she'd be nice."
"And how'd that work out for you?" he says sarcastically.
"Yeah, it didn't go well, but I tried. For the record, you weren't exactly nice either. Telling her to go away like that? You could've been nicer about it."
"So I have to be nice and she doesn't? Sorry, I don't work that way. And I'm not letting some old biddy treat my grandfather that way."
He has a point but I still think he could've handled things better this morning. Grams could've too.
"Could we just forget what happened and go back to being friends?"
He lets out a laugh. "So now we're friends? After knowing each other for less than a day? Thanks, but I don't need any more friends. I'm good."
I stare at him. "You know what? Grams was right. You're an ass."
When I turn to leave I see Walter coming in the garage. "Faith, I didn't realize you were here."
"I was just leaving." I fake a smile, not wanting him to know his grandson and I were fighting.
"Tyler said you're going to graduate school at the local college."
I walk up to Walter. "Yes. I'm studying English. I plan to teach."
"At a college?"
"Probably high school, although I'd consider teaching at a college if I had the opportunity."
"Waste of money," I hear Tyler mutter.
I look back at him. "What was that?"
"Tyler!" Walter scolds.
"Got it, Pops. I'll keep quiet."
I turn back to Walter. "I need to go, but have a nice day."
When I'm back on my porch, I look over and see Walter going into his house. The music in the garage rises in volume until it's even louder than when I arrived yesterday. I really wanted to believe Grams was wrong about Tyler, but maybe she wasn't. Maybe he really is some troublemaker who isn't worth my time.
Ten minutes later I'm still sitting on my porch, wondering what Tyler meant with his 'waste of money' comment. Did he mean college or my major? Why do I even care? Now I understand why Grams was getting so riled up about Walter. There's something about the Hooster men that gets under your skin and you can't seem to let it go.
Against my better judgment I storm back over to Walter's house and go in the garage, standing right next to Tyler.
"Hey!" I yell above the music.
His head jerks up, hitting the hood of the car. This time I don't feel bad about it. Okay, maybe I feel bad but it's his own stupid fault for jerking his head up like that.
"Fuck!" He rubs the back of his head. "What the hell? Can't you wear a bell or something?"
"You'd be able to hear people coming if you didn't have your music so loud."
I go over to the radio and turn it off.
"Hey! Turn it back on!"
"Not until you tell me what you meant."
He walks over to his workbench. "I have no freakin' clue what you're talking about."
"The comment you made when I was talking to Walter about school. What did you mean when you said it's a waste of money?"