Read Online Greener Pastures - A Sensual Interracial BWWM Romance Short Story from Steam Books by Steam Books, Stacey Allure - Free Book Online

 

    “Alright, now if you can please do a turnabout at the next street.”
    Trina’s brow furrowed at the driving instructor’s request.  A turnabout?  What the fuck was a turnabout?
    “Um, sure,” Trina told him.
    Her hands momentarily left the ten-and-two position they held on the steering wheel in order to make the turn.  She put on her right turn signal, whose  click-click-click seemed to only underscore the awkwardness of the driving test, not distract from it, and the signal and its corresponding clicks ran continually as Trina made her maneuver: she slowly spun the wheel to the right and turned slightly into the perpendicular side street, but then immediately—but as smoothly as she could—turned the wheel the opposite direction in order to get the car facing back the way they had come, using the extra space of the perpendicular road to perform the long turn smoothly.  There were U-turns, but this was an O-turn.
    Voila!  A turnabout.
    Right?
    The driving instructor chuckled.  He was a jolly middle-aged white guy with glasses and a closely trimmed beard wearing a sweater vest over a long-sleeve collared shirt.  He was obviously a friendly guy and Trina could tell he was doing his best to make sure he sounded like he was ‘laughing with’ instead of ‘laughing at’ her, but his chuckles still crushed her nonetheless.
    Trina smiled awkwardly.  “So what’s a roundabout?”
    The instructor was still smiling and Trina couldn’t tell if it was out of politeness or if he was still amused by her maneuver.  “A turnabout,” he explained, “is a turn where you back into the side street and then turn to the left to turn around.”
    “Oh!” Trina let out.  “Well, I could give it a try.”
    The instructor shook his head.  “That’s something I think you’ll need some practice with first.”  He made a gesture to the windshield.  “If you could turn right here and bring us back to the parking lot…”
    “Alright…” Trina said in a tone that couldn’t mask her disappointment.
    She brought her car to the parking lot and when she parked she wound up stalling the engine.
    “Shit!” Trina exclaimed, and immediately caught herself.  “I mean—excuse me.”
    Trina was good at driving a stick shift—she had a certain pride in it, in fact, since she knew not all young people could drive manuals—and the fact that she stalled the car embarrassed her.  Knowing she had flunked the test had stressed her out and caused her to get sloppy.
    The instructor, jolly guy he was, was still smiling as he unhooked his seat belt and got out of the car.  Trina, though, just sat there for a moment, her head resting in her left arm, whose elbow was likewise resting on the side of the door.
    Damn.
    Trina sighed and then got out of the car.
    Uncle Marvin got up from the bench he was waiting at and approached Trina and the instructor, and Trina could see the look on Marvin’s face fade from optimism to disappointment very gradually.
    “What’s the story?” Marvin asked.
    “Well, she’s definitely getting there.  She needs to practice the turnabout but I say in due time she’ll pass this test with flying colors.”  The instructor shifted his glance to Trina, “I’ll be looking forward to your next visit, young lady.”
    The instructor tore off the score sheet from his clipboard and handed it to Trina, who didn’t even give it a good look.  She just held it in her hand as she crossed her arms and tried not to look at either the instructor or Uncle Marvin in the eyes.
    “Thank you,” Marvin told the instructor.
    “You folks have a good day now,” the instructor said back, and off he went.
    Trina and Uncle Marvin just stood there in the parking lot for a second.  Trina still had her arms crossed and she was looking away at nothing in particular while Marvin had a stern expression—Trina could tell even without looking at him directly—while he had his hands on his hips.
    Finally Marvin said,