The Fix-It Man

by Donald Wells

  “Have you ever…”

  “No, but I know you have, and I will, whenever you want me to… I’ll sleep with you.”

  I sat her up and turned her around towards me until her eyes were gazing into mine.

  “No pressure, okay? Whenever you’re ready, I love you baby, sex isn’t gonna make that any truer.”

  She beamed at me. “You love me?”

  “Hell yeah,” I said, and kissed her.

  From our right came a shrill voice. “Felicia, what the fuck!”

  Felicia flew off of me as if she had been catapulted.

  Walking towards us was her sister Mona, walking beside Mona were three guys that had burnout written all over them, the shortest of the three was smoking a joint, while the other two passed a can of beer back and forth.

  “What were you two gonna do, fuck right here on the bench?”

  “Don’t be so crude Mona.” Felicia said. “We were only kissing.”

  Mona stood before me. “I thought I told you to stay away from my sister, Muscleman.”

  “Actually, you offered to sleep with me yourself.”

  Felicia grabbed my arm. “She did? When?”

  “It was a while ago; she stopped by the shop and introduced herself.”

  Felicia jabbed a finger at her sister. “He’s my boyfriend. Stay away from him and mind your own business.”

  Mona smiled. “Maybe I’ll make him my business.”

  One of the burnouts behind her spoke then, the biggest of the three.

  “You want us to teach him a lesson Mona?”

  Mona’s smile grew wicked. She grabbed Felicia by the arms and pulled her clear of the bench.

  “Kick his fuckin’ ass Dillon.”

  The little one came at me first, the one with the joint. I shot up off the bench and caught him hard under the chin with an elbow, his lights went out and he staggered back into the other two, they simply stepped aside and let him fall to the ground.

  Now the big one came at me, the one Mona had called Dillon.

  He was nearly as tall as me but a good twenty pounds lighter. He sent a couple of swooping lefts my way that I easily ducked and then I hit him with a right uppercut that closed his eyes. I watched him fall, then felt a hard blow to my left kidney, it staggered me and I turned to face the third guy. I could tell this one had boxed before, as had I. We circled each other for a few seconds, before he tried a combination on me that I easily blocked. He had solid skills, but slow hands. I let him land a couple of punches on my stomach and then I sent three quick jabs into his face. His hands fell to his sides and then he joined his friends, sprawled in the grass.

  Felicia struggled free of her sister’s grip and ran over to me.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine… they weren’t—” Someone was running up hard on my right. I turned to face them, and as I raised my fist, I realized it was Bill Healy. He must have been in the park running, he wore a pair of black cotton shorts and a blue tank top, his dark hair was damp with sweat. He looked at the three lying on the ground and then at me. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have said it was pride I saw in his eyes.

  “Fighting again, huh Johnny?”

  “They came at me Bill.”

  He nodded. “I saw most of it. I was jogging on the other side of the lake when it started.”

  He bent over and checked on the three burnouts. The bigger ones were coming around, but the little one was still out.

  Bill stood and stared at Mona, a sad look of disappointment on his face.

  “This looks like your work.”

  Mona spread her arms in innocence. “I didn’t do anything! When the fighting started, I just grabbed my little sister to get her out of the way.”

  He looked at me. “Do you want to press charges on these three?”

  “No, hell it was just a little scuffle, they won’t try it again.”

  Bill smirked. “No, I bet they won’t.”

  The little one on the ground moaned and sat up suddenly.

  “What the fuck happened?”

  Bill leaned down and spoke to him. “You and your buddies got your asses kicked, that’s what happened; now get up and get out of here before I arrest you.”

  The three staggered away, amid muttered curses.

  Mona followed after them. When she was twenty feet away, she turned around and stared at Felicia.

  “I’m gonna tell daddy all about your boyfriend.”

  Felicia paled. “No, please? You know what he’s like.”

  The smile returned to Mona’s face.

  “Oh, honey it’s for your own good, and daddy’s gonna love him, you know he likes it when they fight back.”

  And then she swiveled around and walked out of the park.

  7

  After the fracas in the park, Felicia and I went on to the movies, but to this day I couldn’t tell you what the film was about. We spent most of our time whispering and kissing in a corner of the top row.

  My hands were all over her, but her bra stayed fastened and I mostly explored above the waist. She was still a virgin and the last thing I wanted to do was pressure her.

  And God, how I wanted her, the intensity of my desire startled me. I had been with more than a few girls, but I had never ached for any of them the way I now ached for Felicia. I guess it was because she was special. I loved her, and I had never been in love before.

  After the movie, we went back to the shop and upstairs to the apartment. I ordered a pizza, and after we ate, we sat on the sofa to watch TV. Again, we started kissing, but this time I weakened and slid a hand inside her bra to cup her left breast.

  I whispered in her ear. “You’ve never seen my room, have you?”

  She whispered back at me, in a voice hoarser than my own.

  “What about your grandfather?”

  “He’s at a convention in Atlantic City; he won’t be back until Monday afternoon.”

  “Johnny…”

  “Yes baby?”

  “Show me your room.”

  I rose off the sofa, still holding her in my arms. As I turned toward my bedroom, the downstairs’ buzzer rang.

  “Fuck!”

  Felicia jumped out of my arms. “What if it’s my father?”

  I shrugged. “I guess I’ll have to face him sometime.”

  As we walked down the stairs to answer the door, Felicia patted her hair back in place and tucked in her blouse. I put an eye to the peephole and saw Bill staring back.

  I looked over at Felicia; her face was white with fear.

  “It’s okay, it’s just Bill.”

  I opened the door and he smiled at us.

  “Hi Johnny, Felicia, mind if I come in?”

  I exhaled nosily. “As long as you’re here, come on in.”

  He hesitated in the doorway, as he read my face.

  “I’m interrupting something, aren’t I? I’m sorry, I’ll call you later.”

  Felicia reached out and took his hand.

  “Don’t leave. Johnny’s just being rude. We were only watching TV and… I should be getting home.”

  I stared at her. “What do mean you’re going home? What about…?”

  She gave me a quick peck on the lips. “We can watch TV tomorrow night, say around seven? I’ll even make dinner.”

  I grinned. “Tomorrow night?”

  “Tomorrow night, for sure,” She said. She then walked out the door while sending us a little wave. “Goodnight Johnny, Captain Healy,”

  I sent her on her way with a smile and then closed the door.

  Bill was grinning. “She’s really turned into a beautiful girl.”

  “What’s so damn important?”

  “She said she’ll see you tomorrow… for TV?”

  I told him, “Shut up.” and led the way up the staircase.

  We sat on the sofa, and a moment later, Bill lifted a cheek and plucked something off the cushion. It was a rainbow colored barrette in the shape of a butterfly, one of F
elicia’s. It must have fallen off while we were petting.

  Bill held it up and smiled.

  “Is this yours or your grandfather’s?”

  I snatched it from him. “Give me that. By the way, your timing stinks.”

  His face lost all humor, as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a set of photos.

  “Maybe my timing was perfect.”

  He laid the pictures on the coffee table and I could see that they were mug shots, 4” x 6”, full-face and profile, and not of a pretty face.

  “That’s Dominic Delgado,” Bill said.

  I picked up the full-face shot and stared at it. The man was in his late thirties, a broad, swarthy face with a bulbous nose and mean narrow eyes set wide above reddened, pockmarked cheeks. I tossed the photo back on the table.

  “Thank God Felicia got her looks from her mom.”

  Bill jabbed a finger at the pictures. “If you see him coming, run the other way. I know you’re a strong kid and I know you can box, but this man will hurt you like you’ve never been hurt before.”

  I stood up. “I won’t run. I can’t. I’m gonna have to face Felicia’s father sooner or later.”

  “There is a way around that.”

  “How?”

  “Don’t see her anymore.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Listen, she’s a sweet girl and a stunner, but there’s a world full of girls who—”

  “I… I love her Bill. As far as I’m concerned she’s the only girl.”

  He fell back against the sofa in despair. A moment later, he looked up at me, smiling.

  “You really love her?”

  “Yeah, I think maybe I always have.”

  “And does she love you?”

  I opened my mouth to say yes, and then hesitated.

  “She’s never said it, has she?”

  I plopped down on the sofa. “I know she loves me.”

  This time Bill stood up, after pacing a bit, he spoke.

  “Johnny… Felicia, her and Mona, they’re damaged kids. That house they grew up in was toxic. They grew up watching their father smack their mother around on a regular basis.”

  “She’s told me about that.”

  “During my rookie year, my partner and I responded to a domestic disturbance call. It was Delgado. When we arrived on the scene I saw that four squad cars were already there. I asked my partner why so many cops had responded and he told me it was because the last time they had been there it took six of them to put the cuffs on Delgado.

  “When I went into the house, Delgado was already cuffed and lying on his stomach on the living room floor. Huddled in a corner of the room with the kids was his wife, Elizabeth. She was a beautiful woman, but not that night. One of her eyes was bloodied and swollen tight, she had a tooth missing in the front and her bottom lip was nearly torn off. In her left arm she hugged Mona and in her right was Felicia. I’d say Felicia was maybe two-years-old then. As horrible as Elizabeth looked, the most frightening thing she did that night was speak. From where he laid on the floor, Delgado kept telling his wife how sorry he was and that he loved her.

  “Over and over again he said ‘I love you Lizzy, I love you Lizzy,’ and as we were carting him away, through that torn lip and battered face, Elizabeth Delgado wheezed out the words, ‘I love you too Dom.’ That’s the definition of love that Felicia grew up with.”

  I stood and offered Bill my hand. “Thanks for telling me that story. I think I needed to know that about her.”

  “But you still won’t give up Felicia?”

  “No, and I’m going to teach her a new definition of love.”

  “Do me a favor, if you ever do tangle with Delgado…”

  “Yeah?”

  He gripped my hand tighter, as his eyes burned into mine.

  “Beat the living shit out of him.”

  8

  The next day was Sunday, and with the threat of Delgado in the air, Bill stuck to me like a pimple. We were in bay number 1, putting a timing chain in an ‘89 Coupe De Ville when I heard a car speed into the lot. I scrambled out from beneath the engine and watched as Mona jumped out of the back of a new Lincoln Town Car. She walked toward me pointing.

  “That’s him daddy, the muscleman in the overalls.”

  Dominic Delgado opened the driver’s door and removed his bulk from the car. He was a big one all right, at least six foot six and two forty, with only his beer gut preventing him from being all muscle.

  I heard Bill curse behind me, and then watched Felicia emerge from the rear of the car. I sent her an encouraging smile and saw only dread reflected in her face. At that moment, all I wanted to do was hold her.

  Delgado pointed at me. “This the kid Mona?”

  “That’s him daddy, but he’s no kid, he’s already out of high school, I guess he just likes ‘em young.”

  Delgado smiled, as he looked me over. “He’s a big one, good; I haven’t had a workout in a while.” Then he spotted Bill and the smile left his face. “What are you doin’ here Captain?”

  “What’s the problem Delgado?”

  “This dude here has been fuckin’ my youngest, she’s only fourteen.”

  Felicia spoke then, in a hesitant voice, barely above a whisper.

  “I’m sixteen daddy, and we haven’t been… doing what you said.”

  Delgado turned and screamed at her.

  “Shut the fuck up!”

  I walked up to him and stood a foot apart. He reeked of whiskey, cigars and ignorance.

  “I know you’re her father, but don’t ever shout at her again.”

  He looked me up and down. “You really think you’re hot shit don’t you?” His hands closed into fists, but then he glanced back at Bill and unclenched them. “This kid’s a friend of yours, ain’t he?”

  “Almost like a son,” Bill said.

  Delgado took a step toward me; he leaned in and spoke in a whisper.

  “Your cop buddy ain’t always gonna be around. The next time I see you I’m gonna beat you bloody.”

  “Or vice versa,” I said.

  That sent him into peals of laughter that ended in a hacking cough, when he was done; he shook his head at me.

  “Oh kid, I can’t fuckin’ wait. Hey, Healy you better tell this boy ‘bout me. Kid I am the fuckingest badass this town’s ever knew, nobody’s ever kicked my ass and let me tell you, some shitkicker grease monkey like yourself ain’t likely to be the first.”

  He swaggered back to his car and climbed behind the wheel, as Felicia got in the backseat with her sister. It broke my heart to watch her drive away with him.

  Bill walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “I know you’ve never seen him fight, but what do you think?”

  “I think if Felicia and I ever marry, family get-togethers are going to be hell.”

  “I’m serious; do you think you could beat him?”

  I turned and stared at him. “You almost sound like you want me to fight him.”

  He hung his head and sighed.

  “It’s going to happen. Neither one of you will back down and I can’t always be by your side.”

  I waited until he raised his head again, and our eyes met.

  “I can beat him Bill. I swear I won’t ever start it, but as God is my witness, I’ll finish it. I’ll beat him and I’ll beat him good, for Felicia.”

  “The course of true love never did run smooth.”

  “That’s from Shakespeare, right?”

  “Yeah, it’s a line from A midsummer night’s dream.”

  I cocked my head. “I don’t know; this feels more like Romeo and Juliet to me.”

  Bill got a sick look on his face.

  “I always hated the way that one ended.”

  * * *

  When seven o’clock came and went I was sure Felicia was standing me up, but at 7:22 the bell rang. I went downstairs and opened the door to find her smiling at me. She was wearing a new blue dress and looking
like an angel.

  I smiled back at her while opening my arms, and watched in dismay as her face crumbled and she fell against me, sobbing. I helped her up the stairs and we settled on the sofa with my arms about her. Moments later, her crying lessened. I gave her a soft kiss on the lips and asked what was wrong.

  “Everything’s wrong, my whole damn life is wrong.”

  “If this is about your father—”

  She exploded off the sofa, angrier than I’d ever seen her.

  “Everything’s about my father! First, he comes here today and threatens you and then when we get back home, he and Mona start screaming at each other. She was teasing him, asking why he was scared of Captain Healy and she knows daddy hates him.”

  “Why does your father hate Bill?”

  “He tried to help my mom once. When I was about seven, he took us to a women’s shelter.”

  “But your mom went back to your father.”

  Felicia wiped away fresh tears.

  “Yes. She kept saying how much she loved my father and how he doesn’t mean to hit her but that sometimes he just can’t help it and… oh the hell with it.”

  “Baby… you do know that what your parents shared wasn’t love, right?”

  “You’re wrong. My mom loved him. She knew what he was but she loved him anyway. Her parents even disowned her when they married.”

  “Disowned her? People still do that?”

  She shrugged. “They did back then.”

  “How did you get out of the house, did you have to sneak out?”

  She gave a humorless laugh as she sat on the sofa again.

  “Mona and I don’t have to sneak out. My father’s almost never home and when he is, he’s usually asleep. You saw him, he doesn’t even know how old I am, hell I’m not even sure he knows my name, whenever he talks about me, he calls me, ‘his youngest.”

  “How long can you stay?”

  “There’s no rush, daddy went to Philly and Mona’s off God knows where. Oh, and I’m sorry but I couldn’t cook dinner, the power’s off, daddy must have forgotten to pay the electric bill again.”

  I took her hand. “Are you hungry? We could go over to the diner.”

  “I’m not hungry. I just want to be alone with you.”

  She kissed me and I held her close and breathed her in. She smelled like life, like joy, like forever.