The Gears In My Mind Are Turning Like Dancers - Chapter 1 {TAI...Cobra}
“Hey,” Gabe walked into Pete’s Auto Body, ready to retrieve his car. It had been a long day, he had walked almost a mile to get here, and he was tired, hot and frustrated. “Pete, she ready?” Gabe stood behind the old, turquoise Cadillac convertible that he had brought into the shop two days ago.
“Which one’s you?” A mechanic slid out from underneath a white Volvo, set his wrench down and stood up, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand and Gabe did a double take. This was NOT Pete. Pete was short, slightly stocky with short hair and several tattoos. This man was tall and ridiculously slender. His generic mechanical jumpsuit was folded over revealing his body from his hips up. He sported a white wife beater tank top and several slightly ratty bracelets. His shoulder length brown hair was unkempt, but kept off of his face by an old black bandanna tied around his forehead. He had a smudge of black mechanical grease across his left cheek and he was wiping his hands with a rag, showing off long, slender fingers.
“Oh, wow.” Gabe shifted, slightly taken aback by how opposite this ink-free young man, 21 at most, was from Pete. It wasn’t that Pete was old, but he had a good ten years on this kid. “You’re not Pete.”
“Sorry,” the young man apologized. “I could get him for you.”
“In a minute maybe,” Gabe shrugged. “Forgive me, it’s just that I’ve known Pete for a long time and I’ve never once known him to hire anybody.”
“Huh,” the young man shrugged. “I walked in yesterday, told him that I was good with cars and really needed money for school; he practically hired me on the spot.”
“Interesting,” Gabe nodded. “What’s your name?”
“Oh, William, I would offer to shake your hand, but I’ve been underneath these beauties all day.”
“I understand,” Gabe chuckled slightly at the intended innuendos of William’s statement. “How old are you, William?”
“20, almost 21, I uh, skipped 2nd grade.”
“Impressive,” Gabe smiled and William laughed.
“Yeah, I mean HOT DAMN! I missed all of that great ‘the quick brown fox jumped over the sleeping dog,’ action!”
“Lazy dog,” Gabe corrected.
“Well there you have it! I guess I shouldn’t have skipped the second grade.” The young mechanic chuckled. “So which one’s yours?”
“This one,” Gabe gestured towards his Cadillac.
“Oh, she’s gorgeous,” William nodded, walking over the car.
“Thank you, her name’s Laura.” Gabe patted the car gently.
“Isn’t that kind of demonically ironic?” William asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Uh…” Gabe frowned in confusion. “Not that I know of, why?”
“You know, Tell Laura I Love Her?” The look on Gabe’s face showed no less confusion than before William had spoken, so after a short pause, he continued. “It’s a song about a race car driver. The driver crashes and his dying request is that someone tell his girlfriend Laura that he loves her,” William shrugged. “It just seems like kind of an ironic name for a car, then again it’s not my place to judge the naming of your vehicle, I just fix it.”
“Interesting,” Gabe smiled. “You know, you’re quite the character.”
“Just a music guy,” William shrugged the comment off.
“Still interesting if you ask me.” Gabe turned to the side. “Is Pete in his office?”
“Do Boy Scouts tie knots?”
“What?” Gabe let out a short laugh. “You really are strange.”
“Guess so,” William smiled before dropping almost effortlessly to the mechanic dolly, picking up the wrench and sliding back under the Volvo that he had been working on. Gabe shook his head, caught slightly off guard by the odd encounter with the young mechanic and turned, heading towards Pete’s office.
“Hey.” Pete stood up from his desk as Gabe entered. “You here for Laura?”
“Apparently Laura is a demonically ironic name for a car,” Gabe informed Pete.
“Ah,” Pete nodded, smiling. “I see you’ve met William.”
“Yeah,” Gabe nodded. “He’s -”
“A genius,” Pete finished. “I’ve never seen anybody fix a car like him - he’s been here a day and he’s done more work in less time than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
“Is it accurate?” Gabe asked, his tone displaying blatant skepticism.
“Oh yeah.” Pete nodded. “He’s probably better than I am, to be honest, at least at the actual automobile mechanic stuff.”
“Wow.” Gabe looked impressed. “I have to say, I was definitely surprised - have you ever had an employee before?”
“Nope.” Pete shook his head. “This kid wandered in and pretty much asked for a job despite my lack of HELP WANTED signs. I decided that I would just give him a quick test and then tell him that he wasn’t really what I was looking for, but he fixed a pretty fucked up brake line in record timing, it was impressive work, so I asked him to do a few more things and I really just couldn’t turn him away.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to have someone else in the shop?” Gabe asked, looking Pete directly in the eye.
“Yeah.” Pete nodded. “I’m sure of it, I mean with all of the new customers I’ve been getting backed up on the easier work and he’s only part time during the week - he’s in all day Saturday and Sunday, but he has classes and stuff.”
“What’s he studying?” Gabe asked, mildly interested.
“Law, of all things.” Pete chuckled.
“Nice.” Gabe smiled. “So, Laura’s good to go?”
“She should have everything you need.” Pete nodded. “Have you ever considered an upgrade? I mean Laura’s great, but she’s getting a little old for this.”
“I’m going to drive Laura until she blows up,” Gabe joked.
“Hopefully not with you in her,” Pete added with a laugh.
“Hopefully.” Gabe nodded, agreeing with Pete and joining his laughter.
“Do me a favor?” Pete grinned. “Try not to lose a bumper any time soon, explaining to William why he has to replace it AGAIN would be annoying.”
“So he doesn’t know then?”
“Of course not.” Pete shook his head.
“And if he figures it out?” Gabe asked, biting his lip, slightly nervous.
“He won’t!” Pete rolled his eyes. “You’re being paranoid, he’s a kid, he won’t piece anything together.”
“You said he was a genius.”
“Not the same kind of genius as you, Gabe.” Pete shook his head. “He’s no detective, he’s a mechanic.”
“And a lawyer,” Gabe countered.
“Not yet he isn’t.” Pete grinned. “For now, he’s fine, trust me.”
“I guess I have to.” Gabe sighed. “Just hand over my baby.”
“Here.” Pete handed Gabe his keys and a folder.
“Peace out.” Gabe grinned, heading out of the office to get his car. “And don’t worry, no more bumper accidents…for now.”