Vanished

New Car

15 years earlier, Las Vegas, Nevada.

"Holy shit, dad!" My brother yelled as soon as our dad stepped inside the townhouse we lived in on the outskirts of town. He'd barely put the keys down on the table before Alex snatched them up and held them in his hands like they were made of gold. Or maybe something even more valuable than that.

Our dad chuckled.

"Is that really our new car, dad?" He asked, his eyes round like bowling balls. "Can I sit in? Please dad."

"Sure, son. Go ahead. Go check it out."

The squeal my brother let out would have mortified him in any other scenario, since he always tried so hard to be like a big kid, and almost teenager, but in this case he didn't even notice.

"Come on, bro," my brother shouted and flung the front door open.

I struggled to get my shoes on, eager to follow my brother outside to see what all the commotion was about. All I'd heard was that we got a new car. And that was good because the old Camry my dad had was falling apart. The back bumper was literally held up with zip ties.

I'd expected that he got a bit of a newer model, but still some kind of used car. Maybe a Ford or a Chevy. I hadn't expected a brand new shiny Mercedes.

"Holy fuck," my brother shouted as he danced around it like some crazy mental patient.

"What the hell!" I exclaimed. The car was beautiful and very, very expensive looking. It was not the kind of car people had in our neighborhood. The only people that drove those types of cars around here were usually rich tourists who'd gotten lost on the way to some casino.

"I know, right." My brother grinned as he slipped into the driver seat. "It's so awesome."

"I can't believe it."

"Roy and Chris are going to be so jealous when I tell them about this." My brother's grin stretched from one ear to the other and I couldn't help but to smile along with him. My friends wouldn't believe it either.

"Start it up son," our dad said from the front steps.

"Get out! Really, dad? I can?"

"Yeah. Just be careful. Don't touch the pedals or anything."

"I won't."

I wanted to start it up too and pretend that it was my car, but instead of arguing I opened the passenger side door and after smooting my hand over the buttery soft leather, I slid in and turned on the stereo.

"Wow," I sighed. The sound was amazing. Better than anything we had in the house. Better than anything any of my friends had too.

"What's going on out here?" Our mom asked from the front door where she'd appeared with an apron tied around her waist and a wooden spoon in her hand. Her mouth fell open when she noticed us in the car. She looked back and forth between the car and my dad several times before she said anything. Finally she focused on him.

"Who's car is that, George?" She asked and pointed the spoon towards the sleek Mercedes Benz.

Our father puffed out his chest all full of pride and said, "that's our new car."

"That's not funny," she huffed, and with her hands on her hips she turned back to the car. "Whose is it?"

"It's ours," he repeated."I just bought it."

She shook her head from side to side and pointed that wooden spoon at the car. "Boys, get out the car," she yelled. "We don't want to get it dirty."

"Come on, mom," my brother whined, "we're just sitting in it."

"Well, turn it off."

I lowered the stereo, and after a disappointed sigh my brother turned off the car.

"It's okay, really," our dad said. "We'll take it for a ride later."

"AWESOME," my brother shouted and was again back to his happy self.

"George, you can't mean that the promotion you got is paying that much more..." she huffed and gestured widely with the spoon towards the car, "that we can afford that!"

"It was a substantial raise, Rose, but I'm also getting tips, and Rodney has me working on this side gig with him."

"What side gig is that?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"It's just working a couple of nights a week in the high rollers room. The money those people spend, Rose..." he sighed, "it's just ridiculous."

My mom's expression softened and she calmed down. "Are you sure we can afford it, George? It looks awfully expensive."

He smiled proudly.

"It is, but yes, we can."

And that was the beginning of the end...