Nav had never actually spoken to Matty, but he knew who he was. He'd seen Fiona with him, all giddy and silly. Nav wasn't sure he really saw the attraction. Matty was just a skinny dude who might have been channeling Billy the Kid for all he knew.
Still, Matty was always the subject of his Great Aunt Mildred. Nav had gotten an earful from her every time he came over to fix something in her vintage trailer.
"I don't think he'll ever find a job," she'd said. The old woman had grabbed Nav's attention with her assortment of ganja gummies that she kept. Perhaps that's why Matty visited her so much. Of course, Nav listened and tried to forget. However, she'd mentioned more than once that he was manic depressive.
"Oh, he has his good days and his bad days," she'd warned Nav weeks ago that Fiona should stay away from him. "Sometimes, he forgets to take his medication."
Nav suspected now that might have been why Matty was acting so differently. Although Matty looked like a lost boy.
When he found him at the truck stop, Matty was eyeing T-shirts that might have been old truck drivers' forgotten birthday gifts.
"I know you!" Matty looked up at Nav and pointed at him as if he was excited to see him.
"You do?" Nav looked at him as if he wasn't sure.
That's when Matty started in about the trailer park. Before long, he was telling Nav about his troubles with Fiona over coffee.
"I don't know what's going on with her," Matty sighed heavily as if he might be coming down from this frenzy in his eyes that kept scanning about in search of her.
Nav slowly told him that she'd called her friend Dakota. "Where were you guys going?"
"I don't know," Matty shrugged as if he didn't remember.
"Oh."
"You know, an adventure, I guess." He grinned, but then looked at Matty suspiciously, "Did I do anything weird?"
"Weird?" Nav winced. "I guess she was scared."
Matty didn't say anything. He looked lost in thought, perhaps as he looked away.
"Let's just go back home. Maybe you shouldn't be driving. The girls can drive your car back, but first let's eat." Nav wanted to be the friend Matty needed, even if he wasn't sure what Matty's next move would be. At least, he did give Nav the keys to his car.
