"It's good to see you, Bells," he said, smiling as he automatically
caught and steadied me. "You haven't changed much. How's Renée?"

"Mom's fine. It's good to see you, too, Dad." I wasn't allowed to call
him Charlie to his face.

I had only a few bags. Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for
Washington. My mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter
wardrobe, but it was still scanty. It all fit easily into the trunk of
the cruiser.

"I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced when we were
strapped in.

"What kind of car?" I was suspicious of the way he said "good car for
you" as opposed to just "good car."

"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."

"Where did you find it?"

"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" La Push is the tiny Indian
reservation on the coast.

"No."

"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.

That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking
painful, unnecessary things from my memory.

"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond, "so
he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."

"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this
was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask.

"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine — it's only a few years
old, really."

I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up
that easily. "When did he buy it?"

"He bought it in 1984, I think."

"Did he buy it new?"

"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties — or late fifties at
the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.

"Ch — Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to
fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic…"

"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that
anymore."

The thing, I thought to myself… it had possibilities — as a nickname, at
the very least.

"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise
on.

"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift."
Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.

Wow. Free.

"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."

"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the
road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his
emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So I was looking straight
ahead as I responded.

   初见（2）

    "见到你很高兴，贝尔，"他不假思索地伸手稳住了我，笑着说，"你变化不大嘛。蕾妮好吗？"

    "妈妈还好。见到你我也很高兴，爸爸。"他们不让我当着他的面直呼其名，叫他查理。

    我只有几个袋子。我在亚利桑那州穿的衣服，对于华盛顿州来说大都太不挡雨了。我和妈妈已经把我们的钱凑起来，给我新添了冬天穿的衣服了，但还是没多少。巡逻车的后备箱轻轻松松就全装下了。

    "我弄到了一辆适合你开的好车，真的很便宜，"我们系好安全带后，他说。

    "什么样的车？"他放着简简单单的"好车"不说，偏说"适合你开的好车"，这让我起了疑心。

    "噢，实际上是一辆卡车，一辆雪佛兰。"

    "在哪儿弄的？"

    "你记不记得住在拉普什的比利·布莱克？"拉普什是太平洋岸边的一个很小的印第安人保留区。

    "不记得了。"

    "以前夏天他常常跟我们一块儿去钓鱼，"查理提示道。

    难怪我不记得了。不让痛苦、多余的东西进入我的记忆，是我的拿手好戏。

    "现在他坐轮椅了，"见我没反应，查理继续说道，"所以开不了车了，他主动提出来要便宜卖给我。"

    "哪年的车？"从他脸上表情的变化，我看得出这是个他不希望我问的问题。

    "哦，比利已经在发动机上下了大力气了——才几年的车，真的。"

    我希望他别太小瞧我了，以为我这么轻易就可以打发："他什么时候买的？"

    "1984年买的，我想是。"

    "他是买的新车吗？"

    "哦，不是新车。我想是65年以前的新车——最早也是55年以后的，"他不好意思地承认道。

    "查——爸爸，车我可真是一窍不通哟。要是出了什么毛病，我自己可不会修，请人修吧，我又请不起。……"

    "真的，贝拉，那家伙棒着呢。现在再也没人能生产这样的车了。"

    那家伙，我思忖道……可能有好几种意思——最起码，也是个绰号。

    "多便宜算便宜啊？"说到底，这才是我不能妥协的地方。

    "噢，宝贝，可以说我已经给你买下了。作为欢迎你回家的礼物。"查理满怀希望地从眼角偷偷瞥了我一眼。

    哈,免费.

    "您不必这样破费的，爸爸。我本打算自己买一辆的。"

    "我不介意。我想让你在这儿过得高兴。"说这话的时候，他两眼盯着前面的路。查理不习惯大声表达自己的感情。在这点上，我完全继承了他。所以我回话的时候，也是两眼盯着正前方。