by Rosa Sophia
Being a technician meant hard work, but Orion loved it. He was studying for his first ASE test, which he would take in just a few weeks. Although he hadn’t attended school for it, he’d learned from the best mechanics, and now, he was studying electrical with a passion he’d never had in high school.
“I think she’s almost ready to go,” Zane said, stepping around the car. The well-lit garage gave them plenty of room to work. Zane’s father was often passing used tools to his son, so they didn’t have the best equipment—but it got the job done.
Orion nodded appraisingly at the old beast, which needed a paint job. Its faded blue coloring, coupled with some of the rust around the edges, showed its age, but it was a trouper. The great big bird on the hood, stretched out over the shaker, was the original. Somewhere deep inside, the car was alive, and Orion knew he could wake it up. They could get it started with a lot of patience, and it had taken them months.
Now, at last, both Orion and Zane were fairly certain they had a running car on their hands. After a lot of engine work, tinkering with the transmission, and many long hours of dedication, the car would soon be on the road.
“What should we call it?” Zane crossed his arms over his barrel chest.
“Hmm. Not sure.” Orion grinned, a sudden urge to create mischief overtaking him. “Put the hood down. Lemme try to turn the engine over.”
“All right, let me just check a few things first.” Zane grabbed a clean oil rag and wiped off his hands before peeking under the hood to make sure everything looked right. “Okay.”
He put the hood down while Orion climbed into the driver’s seat. Then he leaned against the open window, shaking his head. “What the hell makes you think you can drive ’er first?”
“Get in.” Orion rolled his eyes, making a show of being annoyed.
Once his buddy was in the car, and they were both comfortable on the original dark interior—which was torn and in need of replacement—Orion pushed the key into the ignition.
“Here goes nothin’.” He shoved down on the clutch, putting the car into first gear.
“You realize this beast ain’t got no power steering, right?”
Orion tilted his head to the side, making it clear he didn’t care. Then he turned the key, and the engine grumbled to life like an old man waking up from a sound sleep. It reverberated through his body, sending sparks of pain into his nerves, which he forced himself to ignore. “Shit, listen to this baby purr!”
Putting his strength into it, he piloted the car out of the garage. The sounds of the engine shook him inside and out. The seat beneath him trembled with the force of it.
Zane’s dad was working in the shop, too preoccupied to notice them at first. Orion got a glimpse of Pete Johnson glaring at them, his hands on his hips, as the Trans Am pulled out onto Main Street where the crash had happened only a day before.
If he’d been thinking straight, he would’ve listened to Zane, who was saying something about the registration, the dates on the plate.
Behind the wheel of this car, there was no way he could listen to reason. He’d been seduced by the feel of it, by the gears changing as he handled the stick-shift, by the way the engine grumbled and roared like a dragon.
Even in the midst of this pleasure, pain entered his mind—crawling along the nerves of his face as if seeking an exit. He ignored it again.
“I know what we oughta call this baby,” he shouted over the growling of the beast. “Terror. The fuckin’ Clearwater Terror, that’s what this is!”
And with that, he hit the gas and shot down Main Street going upwards of seventy miles per hour while Zane shrieked in the seat beside him and lights flashed in the rearview mirror.
“Goddamn it,” he shouted. “Cops!”
He threw his head back as he pulled over, gripping the steering wheel hard in order to aim the car off the road and along the curb. Sheriff Ryder swaggered up to the driver’s side window, shaking his head as he pulled out his ticket book.
The engine stalled, and Orion slammed the palm of his hand against the steering wheel, something close to fury coursing through his veins.
8
Chapter Eight
“What was that?” Tammy murmured to herself, leaning up from her seat and peeking out the window. She didn’t see anything, just Main Street, and a few cars passing by.
A moment before, there’d been a terrific roaring, the sound of an engine increasing in power. Tires screeching. It was that engine that got her, the resonance invoking something primordial within her. She couldn’t explain what it was, but her excitement piqued as she looked out the window, hoping to see something—anything.
But there was nothing there, just Clearwater on a normal Saturday. She knew she was missing something, wished she could see farther down the road.
Slumping back into her seat, she sighed and returned to her studying.
But in the back of her mind, the sound of that engine resounded. The vibration of it made her tremble with anticipation. Something inside her had changed; something about that vicious roar had invoked a different part of her.
A part of her that sought power. Control over her surroundings, over the shambles that was her life.
She began to believe she would have so much power—so much control—if she were behind the wheel of the beast that had driven by.
Leaning back, she began to fantasize, envisioning sparkling chrome and engines.
She thought of the sounds she’d heard coming from Pete’s Service Station. She wanted to see all that for herself. In that moment, she decided she’d check it out.
She wasn’t sure why, but she wanted to see inside that garage. Know what it was like. She wanted to learn, to experience.
And there was no better way to do it than first-hand.
* * *
Tammy had finished putting away the books she’d read when Clara found her in the non-fiction section.
“I hope you put those away correctly,” Clara said, raising her head and looking down at her cousin, smirking.
“Of course I have.” Tammy stuck out her tongue. “I know the Dewey decimal system.”
“Good.” Clara grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the front entrance. “Because I would hate for my new coworkers to think my cousin is mis-filing books in the library.”
“Your…your new coworkers?” Tammy beamed. “You got the job?”
“Of course I did!” As they walked out of the library, Clara giggled. “Okay, so I was really, really worried. But you were right. I did just fine. I start on Monday, after school, but I’ll probably get a lot of weekend hours. At least until I graduate high school in a couple months.”
“And you want to keep working here?” she asked as they headed back toward home, crossing Main Street.
“Yeah! You know, I’m really excited about it.” Clara paused, as if gathering her thoughts. “I’m even thinking about going to school to study library science.”
“Really? Wow. My cousin, the librarian. Has a nice ring to it!”
“It does,” Clara agreed with a chuckle. “I can’t wait to tell Gaven.”
Back at home, they ordered pizza to celebrate, then sat on the couch and watched a movie until the food arrived.
“So, did you get enough studying in?” Clara asked as she grabbed her third piece of pizza.
“Yeah, but…”
“But what?”
“While I was sitting in the study room, I heard this engine. It was so loud. It roared past the library, but by the time I looked out the window, it was already gone.”
“What about it?” Clara tucked herself against the couch cushions, munching on her pizza.
“I don’t know. I loved it.” She turned and looked at her cousin, taking a moment to mute the television. “You don’t understand. It was like…like all of a sudden, in that moment, everything made sense. I could see myself behind the wheel of that car, whatever it was, and I wanted it so bad I felt like I was about to burst out of my skin.
Clara, I think I want to work in a garage.”
Clara stopped chewing. She stared at Tammy for a moment as if deep in thought, then set her plate on the coffee table. “Wow. Really?”
“Really. I want to learn how to work on cars. You seem…like you don’t believe it or something.”
“No, it’s not that. I mean, it hasn’t been that long since you got away from home. It hasn’t been long for either of us, but for you…I guess I’m just seeing the real you. What you can become, what you might become. And it’s amazing. Startling, really. We were so confined in that house, all we could do was read, and learn, and hide from him. Now that we’re out, I guess I’m just starting to see you change.”
“I’m sorry,” Tammy said.
“What? No, no, I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” Clara shuffled across the couch, wrapping her arms around Tammy. “You’re changing in a good way, believe me. I think you’re finding yourself, the real you. And if the real you is a mechanic…” She pulled away, peering at Tammy with a soft smile on her face. “Then go for it. Be a mechanic. Be whatever you want. Your choices are endless.”
Content, Tammy leaned back, then un-muted the television. The girls watched movies until late at night. She drifted to sleep with the sounds of engines reverberating in her mind, shaking her to her core.
She would be a mechanic, all right. And she’d do the best she could.
9
Chapter Nine
Tammy returned to her favorite spot at Clearwater Park on Monday morning and sat by the lake. Lost in thought, she barely noticed her cell phone ringing. Her parents had given it to her when she’d left, and her mother had begged her to keep in touch. So, she knew without looking that it was Mom. No one other than her parents had the number, except Clara, and she was in school right now.
“Hi, Mom. How are you?” Sunlight played off the water, making it glimmer. The last few days had been beautiful, despite the chill in the air that promised cooler weather.
“Hello, dear,” her mother, Nan, intoned. She sounded exhausted.
“Mom, you okay?”
“Well, I’m fine. Your father’s not.”
The phrase evoked no emotion in Tammy, who was emotionally disconnected from her father. He was nothing more than a dark shadow in her mind, a whisper in her memory promising pain. But, like the dutiful daughter she was, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“You know how he gets tired a lot, the way he was the day you left. Well, he’s been getting dizzy more and more lately. They’re doing some tests, not sure what it is. But the doctors are saying it isn’t dizziness, it’s vertigo, and they don’t know what’s causing it.” Nan sighed, and the sound of clanking dishes came across the line. She was almost always in the kitchen. “Oh, Tammy. Things with your father…they’ve not always been pleasant. But he’s my husband. And all this running back and forth to doctors…oh, dear. I meant to just tell you what was going on, I didn’t mean to vent about it.”
“It’s okay, Mom, you can talk to me.” Tammy balled her fist in her lap. You can talk to me, but I’m not sure how well I can sympathize.
“Oh, my. I have to go. Sounds like your father’s up. Tammy, one day, you and I need to talk.” Her voice broke, and she sounded as if she were crying.
“Mom?”
“I have to go.” Her voice was hoarse, edged with heavy sorrow, before the line went dead.
Tammy glanced at the screen of her phone which read call ended. She shoved the phone into the pocket of her jacket and rose to her feet, ready to walk home.
First, she had another destination in mind—Pete’s Service Station. Maybe they’d let her peek into the garage if she was lucky. She didn’t expect to be taken seriously since she was a girl.
I won’t know until I give it a shot.
Her own confidence in attempting it surprised her.
* * *
It was nearing lunch time when she approached the garage. All three bay doors were open, with a few cars parked out front. The lot extended to the side, where more cars sat.
Shouting emanated from inside the garage, over the squeal of air tools. Men laughed. As she neared the second open bay, she recognized one of the mechanics. She gasped, then quickly turned to leave. Too late. He’d spotted her.
“Tammy, right? You’re the girl from the coffee shop.”
She froze, her back to him.
“Um.” She turned slowly, heat rushing to her cheeks. “Hi.”
Orion walked up to her, an oil rag in his hand. He wore a blue work shirt that sported the shop’s name, Pete’s Service Station. All she could do was stare at his t-shirt. She couldn’t bring herself to look up into his eyes.
“What’s a pretty girl like you doin’ wandering around a garage?”
He tilted his head, a perpetual serious expression painted across his face, which made him appear much older than he really was. Tammy had asked her cousin, and Clara had told her with a suspicious grin that Orion was nineteen. As usual, Clara knew more than she let on. Tammy’s curiosity about him only increased, and she wasn’t sure why. She certainly wouldn’t admit that to Clara.
He stepped closer. “You shy?” he asked, smirking.
“Uh, yeah.”
“So, you didn’t answer my question. What’re you doin’ hangin’ around the garage?” He nodded to the open bays behind him, where another young man was hard at work.
Tammy dug deep and tried to find her courage. Talking to anyone was difficult for her, but talking to a man was something she was frightened of. “I want to learn…about…what you do.”
“What do you mean?” He held up a hand, stilling her for a moment, then called over his shoulder, “Be right there, Danny.”
The guy who looked to be in his mid-twenties waved a greasy hand and replied, “Yup.”
Orion turned back to her. “Are you sayin’ you’re interested in cars?”
“Yeah. Yes.” She straightened herself, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “Yes, definitely. I want to be a mechanic.”
She realized she’d never spoken with such certainty before, and it frightened her.
“Really?” He stuffed the oil rag into the back pocket of his baggy black work pants. There was an amused glint in his eye, and she began to think he was about to make fun of her.
“I knew it, I just…” She started to turn away, but he grabbed her arm gently.
“Knew what?”
“You think it’s stupid. I didn’t know you were here, okay?” The wind tossed her hair across her face, and she didn’t bother to push it away. It hid her from the world, from situations like this. It was her shield. “I knew you’d think it’s stupid that a girl wants to be a mechanic.”
“No, no, I don’t. I toured the nearest automotive tech school a while back. There were a bunch of chicks there. Why do you think that?”
“The look…the look on your face.” She shook her head, finally tugging some of her hair away from her eyes.
“Oh. I’m sorry.” He paused as if thinking it over. “I think what you saw was…interest. It’s nice to meet a girl who’s into cars.”
“Interest?”
“Yeah. Hey, listen…want me to talk to the boss man, Mr. Johnson, and see if he’ll let you watch us work for a bit? I mean, if you’d be interested…”
“Sure.” Her excitement piqued as the scent of the garage reached her, and she knew she would’ve given anything to sit there and take everything in. “Yes, that would be great!”
He chuckled. “Come on in. I’ll introduce you.”
She followed him into the garage, practically bouncing in her sneakers. She took in work benches, tools, and all manner of things she knew nothing about.
But she wanted to know, more than anything. And she wanted to get her hands dirty. The very idea made her feel as if she’d come home. Her parents’ house wasn’t home; it hadn’t been for years.
This garage, with all its scents and noises. This was home. In that instant, nothing had ev
er been more true.
10
Chapter Ten
During the lunch hour, the majority of Clearwater citizens knew they could drop off cars at Pete’s Service Station, but they’d have to wait before the guys started work. They took thirty minutes for lunch on busy days, but for the most part, they relaxed between twelve and one.
Today felt strange for Orion, because Tammy was there. He went to the back and grabbed his lunch from the fridge, then sat down in the small rest area off the main garage to eat.
Tammy plopped down in a tattered armchair in the corner. All the furniture was secondhand, but comfortable. The ancient wood table with its many scratch marks served as a convenient place to munch on sandwiches and snacks.
“Where’s your boss? Pete, I mean,” Tammy asked.
“He usually eats in his office, or he goes back to his house.” Orion opened his lunch bag and tugged out a turkey sandwich, then a bag of chips and an apple.
He eyed Tammy, who appeared unnerved as Danny walked in, grabbed a bottle of water, and walked out again without a word. He usually went out for lunch, and today, Orion was happy about that. It meant he could be alone with Tammy. “You have any lunch?”
She shook her head. “Nah. I’m not really hungry, but I’ll eat when I go home.”
“Okay.” He took a bite of his sandwich, then washed it down with some water. “What do you think so far?”
“I love it here.” Her smile lit up her blue eyes.
Orion watched her intently. “You might change your mind if you have to go against an ornery customer,” he warned.