by Ana Newfolk
“I will,” I cut him off, “Of course I’ll go with you, I’m honored you asked.”
Joel’s shoulders sagged with relief, and I took that moment to do what I’d wanted to do since this afternoon, I pulled him into my arms and held him tight. Nothing in my life had ever felt so right.
Chapter Seven
Joel
David agreeing to come with me to the sanctuary lifted a weight off my shoulders I didn’t realize I was carrying, so when I went back to my apartment last night all I felt was excitement about our road trip.
I hoped we could get some news on Ladybug from my grandparents so I’d decided to surprise them by bringing them breakfast. Not surprisingly David was at the café when I arrived to buy some pastries, what was surprising was that he said he’d finished for the day and would love to join me.
“Looks like I’m not the only one who’s excited to hear about Ladybug.” I smiled and he blushed as he packed some pastries in a box.
“Guilty as charged. Wouldn’t it be awesome if your granddad knew where it is?
When we got to my grandparents we made a big fuss of making breakfast for them. We made coffee and served the fresh bread I bought and the pastries.
“Oh isn’t this a treat!” my great grandmother said rubbing her hands together.
“It is indeed. What do you want?” I laughed at my grandmother’s question. I still remembered the event we affectionately called “The Great Big Toast Burnout of 96”, when David and I decided that if we were nice to them and made them breakfast they would take us to the fairground and let us go on all the rides.
It had worked then and we were hoping it would work now, although there would be no burnt toast this time.
As soon as we were all sitting around the table we went straight to the point. We told them how we found we had matching keys, and Pedro told us they were for his uncle’s car and how our moms got her.
“Granddad, I don’t remember the car when I was little. Was it sold?”
Before my granddad could answer, my grandmother interjected. And when Violeta Pereira had something to say, you listen. So we did.
“No. No. No. Nem pensar, you can’t even think about it. That thing is a death trap. It was old then and it’s old now. Oh my poor heart. I aged every time our baby girls went anywhere in that rust bucket. I’m not going to have my heart in my hands every day again. No way. Manuel, even God won’t help you if you have any part in this.”
“Grandma. Breathe.” I got up and put my arms around her and gave her a big kiss on her cheek, “What do you mean? Do you have the car?”
My granddad cleared his throat granting him a deathly glare from my grandmother. My great grandmother, who’d been silent up to this point simply said, “Let boys be boys Violeta.”
“Follow me,” Grandad got up and walked toward the kitchen door that leads to the back of the property. David and I looked at each other but didn’t dare move without permission. We looked at my grandma who was looking down, shaking her head and muttering, “these boys are going to be the death of me.”
We both dragged our chairs back like a bunch of excited kids and ran outside to meet my granddad.
I knew my grandparents had a garage that my granddad used as a workshop, but I’d never paid any attention to what it contained since all of my time had been spent with David playing outside in the garden.
We helped my granddad open the double doors. The rusty stiffness of the hinges was an indication these doors weren’t used very much anymore, if at all.
Inside there were tools hanging from hooks on the walls, shelves with mason jars full of nails, screws, and other small parts I didn’t recognize.
“Come on boys, help me get these boxes out of the way, my back isn’t what is used to be.”
I hadn’t even noticed behind a wall of stacked boxes there was something covered by a very dusty tarpaulin. It was taking up the majority of the space I’d originally thought were just boxes.
Both David and I moved to help get the boxes out of the way being careful with the dust. Some had layers of dust so thick we had to put them outside. I made a mental note to offer to help granddad sort through this and giving them a clean. Maybe he could start using the workshop again if the space was cleared up.
“Joel, can you go to the other side of this tarp and help me fold it up?” Granddad asked once all the boxes were out of the way.
We worked carefully and in tandem. With each fold of the heavy-duty fabric, from the rear to the front, years of dust fell to the floor. I was too focused on making sure the dust wouldn’t go everywhere to assess properly what I was trying to uncover.
As the final folds showed what was underneath I heard David let out a whistle. We both stood back and stared at the red Citroen. We both shouted “Ladybug!” and high-fived each other.
We were all sporting the same ear-to-ear grin.
“How do you know her name?” Granddad asked.
“Pedro told us yesterday. We were looking through our moms’ travel journal and he recognized it. Then he mentioned the car and that they called her Ladybug.” David said.
“Ah Pedro, he’s a good man. Always looked out for the girls - even though they were all the same age. When they came home and told me Pedro had given them the car I had to drop everything on the spot. They were so excited. Wonderful man.”
“Granddad, do you think it still works?”
“Well, I don’t know, but we can ask Chico to come and have a look at her. He’s a very good mechanic, you know? Maybe he can get her to run again after all these years. Shall we start by getting her out into the yard?”
David and I went around each side of the car. We both looked at each other and smiled before we each took our key and unlocked the doors on either side at the same time.
This felt like a monumental event. It was likely that our moms were the last ones to be inside the car and now we were hoping to do the same.
“Good job, boys, now where did I put that gasoline can? I know I have some here for emergencies.” Granddad found the jerry-can, which was almost full and then helped us get the car in neutral so we could push it outside.
Once the car was outside we all did a walk around her. We found the ladybug sticker right where Pedro said it was, on the left by the trunk handle.
“This is so cool, don’t you think? I hope she works.” David said clapping my back.
“Yeah, me too. I’ll give Chico a call now and see if he’s free. He gave me his number at the airport.”
Chico arrived not thirty minutes later wearing his greasy overalls.
“Chico, my man, you look like a proper mechanic today.” I teased.
“What can I say Joel, I scrub up well. The Mrs. makes sure of it any time I’m not working. So what have we got here?” he looked at the car and his face was that of the cat that got the cream.
“Wow guys, this is a classic!” Chico went around the car with my granddad and checked everything. Chico put some oil in, checked all the fluids and then added gasoline from the can. Then he brought out a battery charger from his truck and jump-started Ladybug into life with a shot of oil smoke from the back.
David and I high-fived again. We were like two teenagers.
“Well, she seems to work but I’d like to take her to the garage for a check-up. Need to make sure she won’t break down on you.” He hitched Ladybug to his tow-truck and David gave him his copy of the key.
“I should have it ready for you tomorrow afternoon. You might want to give her a good wash when you get her back to get the dust off and bring back her shine.” Chico then turned to David, “You know the usual payment method.” He went back to his tow truck rubbing his hands together.
“Payment method?” I asked.
“Custard tarts.”
Chico seemed to be in good shape so I was sure David was the only customer that got invoiced in custard tarts. I laughed at the thought and David looked at me as I was waving Chico goodbye.
“W
hat? I was just imagining you getting an invoice for custard tarts from your mechanic. It’s funny.”
“You’ll be surprised how much I can get in exchange for custard tarts.” He winked and I choked.
We helped Granddad get the dusty boxes back in the workshop and then decided to spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach by Pedro’s.
Pedro couldn’t believe we still had the car and made us promise to take him for a ride so he could remember the old days when our moms were still around.
I couldn’t think of a better thing to do for our moms’ friend.
Chapter Eight
David
I couldn’t remember the last time I spent an afternoon at the beach doing absolutely nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. We’d done some more planning for our trip and then talked about some of our favorite places.
I told Joel about the waterfalls in the Gerês National Park. I’d been with Isaac and Alexandre a few years ago. The landscape in the North of Portugal is absolutely stunning. I wanted to go back but hadn’t had a holiday in such a long time I’d forgotten about it.
Joel told me about his favorite places in New York. There was a particular bookstore he couldn’t get enough of. Maybe one day I’d have a chance to visit New York and Joel would show me all these places.
I was thinking about our afternoon yesterday when a text from Joel came through.
>JOEL: “Ladybug is back!!! She’s good to drive. Do you want to help me give her a wash?”
>DAVID: “Hell yeah. I’ll be there in 20.”
I’d already been in the process of leaving the café for the day so hugged Aunt Teresa goodbye and left. I stopped by my apartment to change into shorts and a t-shirt before I joined Joel at his grandparents’ house.
The first thing I saw when I walked around the house towards the back was Ladybug standing proud, ready for her next adventure. I hadn’t noticed yesterday how the wheels still had mud stuck on, probably from a trip to the countryside on a rainy day. I wondered what stories that mud could tell.
I couldn’t wait to see the real red color of the car and the silver of the wheel trim shining through. It didn’t look like there was any damage to the car so hopefully it wouldn’t be difficult restoring it to her former self.
I saw Joel behind the car, kneeling next to a set of buckets, sponges, car detergent and a garden hose with a nozzle sprayer. He was wearing cargo shorts and a tight t-shirt that showed his slim torso perfectly.
“Hey.” I called
“Oh hey David, I got all the stuff we need ready. My grandparents went out but they’ll be back in a couple of hours so we can all have a snack together once we finished polishing Ladybug here.”
“Sounds great. Where do we start?”
Joel got up and took his shoes and socks off. I guess there was no point in them getting all wet so I followed suit.
We started by cleaning the interior of the car. I got all the mats on the pavement, brushed them with detergent and a brush, rinsed them with the hose and put them up to dry, while Joel vacuumed the interior of the car and then polished the dashboard.
While the mats were drying we closed the doors again so we could get rid of the first layer of dirt using the high pressure setting on the nozzle.
I stood back while Joel was doing that and took the opportunity to admire him. He was relaxed and happy. It looked like he hadn’t done anything to his hair other than run his hands through it this morning and it looked so good on him.
As he went around the car with the hose I noticed he actually had quite defined muscles. Yes, he had a flat tummy and was the typical tall, slim guy, but he told me he liked to run and I could see that in the definition of his long legs.
I realized I was just staring at him so I moved to fill the buckets with water before he noticed I’d been perving. There was another hose nearby so I used it to add some detergent to the buckets and fill them up.
“We can see the color already with just that layer of dust gone.” Joel said proud of his efforts.
“Yeah, Ladybug is going to be a stunner.”
We each started at one end of the car with a bucket and soapy sponge, working through all the curves to make sure they were clean.
The mid afternoon sun was scorching and I really wanted to take my t-shirt off to cool down but I felt self-conscious doing it. I didn’t know why, after all we’d been at the beach yesterday and we’d both been in shorts, but somehow in this situation it felt different.
“Fuck, it’s hot, isn’t it?” he said.
“Yeah, let’s get this done so we can cool down in the shade.”
We’d soaped our way towards the same spot and found ourselves side by side. I could feel the heat radiating from his body, and suddenly I felt like I was combusting from the inside out.
“I bet my half is better than yours,” Joel teased.
“No way, with those skinny arms? I bet I’ll have to redo your half,” there was nothing skinny about Joel’s arms. They weren’t as muscular as mine but they were defined and suited his shape perfectly. And why was I bringing his attention to me paying attention to his arms?
A wet sponge landed on my face with a splat.
“What the--“
“How skinny do you think they are now, jackass?”
The sponge fell to the floor and I had water dripping from my face on to my t-shirt, “okay, okay, I deserved that,” I chuckled.
I grabbed the big hose to wash the car down and turned the sprayer on. I didn’t realize the setting on the nozzle had changed because one moment I was pressing on the handle to release the water, and the next I was struggling to contain the water flow as it went in Joel’s direction.
“Fuck!” he shouted.
“There’s something wrong with it,” I shouted back in a panic thinking I’d broken Joel’s granddad’s hose, “it won’t turn off, it’s stuck!”
Joel came over and took the hose from my hands. He managed to fix it and turn it off but not before he managed to soak himself further.
“Fuck you Lima, you’re going down.”
Up until that point I’d been fairly dry but Joel’s revenge was served in the form of hose down. I ran to the other side of the car but the sprayer had a long reach. Despite my best efforts I was getting wetter by the second.
I saw the smaller hose I’d used for the buckets and decided to retaliate. I pinched the ends of the hose to add pressure and create the same effect as a sprayer and pointed it over the car to the other side, hoping it would hit Joel. I heard his scream and congratulated myself for hitting my mark.
“This is war Peterson!” I declared.
“Fine by me.” He threw a wet sponge I felt flying past my head.
“Hey! My face is my best asset!” I crouched and went around the car so catch him but he predicted my move.
“No it’s not, it’s your ass.” He said as he used a wet towel to whip me in the butt.
I lost balance as I was trying to defend myself and tried to grab hold of Joel. We both fell on the grass by the car in a fit of giggles. We were drenched from head to toe.
The water had definitely been a great help to cool me down but I wasn’t sure for how long. Joel positioned himself so he was lying on the grass next to me shoulder to shoulder. He looked at the blue cloudless sky and then turned to look at me.
His blue eyes were so much lighter in the sunshine and shiny from the beads of water on his eyelashes. His full lips stretched into a small smile followed by a grin.
He whispered, “David, it’s raining.”
Drops of water fell on us like a rainstorm, cold against the warmth of the sun above us. I hadn’t realized that Joel was still holding the hose with the sprayer when he fell down. He’d simply pointed the sprayer up and made it rain on us.
We smiled until we were both laughing out loud. When we were kids we loved playing with water, although it had always been me who started it by whispering, “Joel, it’s raining.”
Of course
we’d been scolded by Joel’s grandparents each time and sent home with burning ears. Afterwards we always agreed that the scolding had been worth it for the fun we had.
We still had a car to finish up so we got up off the grass and got back to work. In the midst of our hose wars we actually managed to get Ladybug hosed down too.
I picked up some clean clothes to dry out the bodywork of the car but when I turned around Joel had discarded his cargo shorts and t-shirt. What the fuck? He was standing in front of me in his tight black boxer shorts.
“What are you doing?” I asked in a pitch the dog next door heard.
“My clothes are wet.” He shrugged.
“Fuck.” I muttered as I ran my hand through my face. I was going to need a lot more cold water to keep my lust at bay.
And if things couldn’t get any worse, Joel’s grandparents turned up. I saw them in the corner of my eye and willed them away with the power of my thoughts, but when I looked they were still there. In height order. From left to right, great-grandma, grandma, granddad.
I instantly jumped in front of Joel to cover him up, which earned me a giggle from behind me, and a grin from Vovó Deolinda. I turned around and told Joel to put some freaking clothes on.
“No.” he challenged.
“Your grandparents are looking at you in your underwear!” I clenched my fists on my sides.
“You’re the only one looking at me in my underwear.”
I turned around and saw that all three grandparents had retreated inside and now it was just me and a nearly naked Joel standing in front of each other, mere inches apart.
“Fuck it, I said.” I took my t-shirt and shorts off and turned around. I heard a sharp intake of breath. Yeah, two can play this game.
After our moment we carried on cleaning the car and by the time we were finished our clothes were dry. I could say I kept my eyes to myself all the time we’d been waxing and polishing Ladybug, but I’d be lying.