Timing Part 1

Chapter 202

Timing

Part 1

Thursday would have been a great day, but after last nights advents, it was just another day where everything seemed to happen. We had a group meeting as we had a quick pancake breakfast inside an empty house. We couldn’t trust anyone other than our closes friends here in Santaquin, but even those were questionable after last night. It was just one lousy day before my mermaid friends would be leaving for home. And we barely had a pot to piss in. 

I called Dad first as we decided it would be best that their parents came and got them because we couldn’t risk putting them in danger. Even mine was questionable, but Dad was right we needed to make sure they got out; the rest of us would be fine with extra protection. There was no point in going to Heber until the shed was built to unload the trucks, and besides they had all the help they needed to do it. Without us driving all the up there; when we could do it all on Saturday.

We gathered around the table and made a new plan. The Earls would be completely out of the home by Saturday morning. My mermaid friends would be picked up around noon. Greg and his brother’s and sisters would stay with me while their parents went to Heber and worked out a floor plan for their new house, seen to registration of each of their kids and the basic things that would need to be done. Even my mother seemed to like the plan, but my father on the hand refused it; because meant I would have the entire house to myself because my mother would be in school during the day.

He didn’t trust me, he didn’t trust my friends. My mother had to make a choice and that was either give up going to school and be home or we would have to go back home. He didn’t care if it was for three days or even one day he made it clear that wasn’t going to happen. So my mother was left with the decision and she worked it out that Monday and Tuesday she could miss school, and Wednesday I could stay with one of my friends, or stay at the Cranny’s house until she came home from school. Greg and them would be staying at a friends house here in Santaquin until Friday.

Again the plan was simple as we quickly went over what was left to do to the house which wasn’t much other then unhook the appliances and re-hook them up in each of the person’s homes that Bishop Earl and his wife were donating them too. Yet the first thing on my list was the wrecking yard and going down to Tischner and having him put on 4 brand new tires, but I didn’t want to leave until my mermaid friends left so we worked on our list of things in the home until their parents arrived.

I hate goodbyes but it really wasn’t a forever goodbye because Mom and Dad promised me that I would see them again next summer at the nudist colony, but it still hurt to see them go as they disappeared from sight as I watched them go down the road, with a promise that I would write to them often. 

I wasn’t ashamed of crying as I wiped the tears from my eyes. It was better this way. I told myself, it was just one day early, but to me, every single minute counted. Bishop Earl placed his arms around my shoulder and squeezed me to him. He said. “Let’s us boys go have some fun,” and got into my car and we headed down to the wrecking yard. The place looked deserted seeing nothing but miles and miles of broken down cars some of them piled up and smashed some them missing parts and some of them still whole.

I was introduced to a whole brand new world as the boss of the wrecking yard met me covered from head to toe in grease as he whipped his hands on his overalls and shook my hand. I wanted to bathe after that, as I noticed that some of that grime had stuck to my hands. I had never worked on a car in my entire life. I really never had the passion for it. I didn’t read car magazines or anything, well except building models which I hadn’t done since I was 12, but that was as far as it came to getting acquainted with cars. His name was Bud Watkins.

He was an average guy with brown mossy hair that hung down into his eyes and graying around the edges, short but not as short as my father somewhere about 5-5 or so, brown eyes, strong chin curved into a block and chiseled slightly at the corners with a brown hairy mustache He had boy my age whose name was Bruce and was friends with Greg and a daughter who was had just turned 17 named Maxine or Max. They too worked at the wrecking yard both had brown hair and blue eyes and just as dirty as their father as he introduced them both to me and Eli.

I was a little shocked to find a girl working on cars because I had never met one in person before. Mr. Earl introduced me as Eric Rothwell and said I was interested in getting my hands dirty; introducing my new car. Having Maxine pop the hood and her brother stood looking over the engine. Like me they saw potential and said I got my self a good deal for what I paid for it; that my Nova was a workhorse and very reliable if I took really good care of her.

Greg quickly listed the things I needed even though Max and her brother Bruce had already taken note of most of them and a few things we didn’t think of. Not only was the radio shot the speakers too were broken and I need new shocks or would be needing them soon. I would also need a new lifting kit and a new muffler other things that would make my baby run like cherry.

Everything they listed seemed big and expensive, but instead, I got it all for less than hundred bucks and they threw in a brand new slightly used carpet and a set of stocked rims for free that would just need a good cleaning and little elbow grease or some chrome paint and awesome looking steering wheel. Within two hours I had everything I would need to get my Super Nova looking good. Including a radio that was the bomb with a cassette player and brand new set of speakers that had never been used; expect a little dented here and there but could be straightened with little work, using a vice.

I would have to buy a few things at Checker Auto, like brakes, front and back, several cans of paint to paint the plastic of the interior and the dashboard where it has been faded over the years and the shocks. I even was given a toolbox with everything I would need to get started with, and a pair of coveralls that I could wear just for working on the car.

With everything in the back of Nova having to lay down the seat to fit everything in we went back to Earl’s house and unloaded it. Leaving the rims inside the car so the new tires could be attached to them and us boys changed into car overalls. We made our way back into town and pulled up to Tischner. He smiled when he saw us and we shook hands. He said. “Back so soon.”

Bishop Earl said. “Yep, but I have a favor to ask.”

He said. “O’” and he said. “I think we can arrange that,” As Bishop Earl stated that we 3 boys would like to do most of the work ourselves.

He quickly inspected the rims for the tires stating they were good and had one of his boys show us how to use the equipment. Bishop Earl left us there and said he be back with the parts, but Tischner said he give us a discount on the same parts considering we were the ones doing the labor. Which included the same warranty we would get a Checker Auto on their lifetime guarantee parts and the parts he didn’t have he would send one his boys over to get them since he was going for a part run anyway. He already had Bishop Earls Credit card on file and we were put right to work. Learning how easy it was or how hard it was to change brakes on a car.

The front disk brakes where the easiest compared to the back brakes with so many moving parts compared to the front ones; I was told the back brakes would never have to be replaced ever again, in fact, they are normally only changed out twice during a cars lifetime. This would be the second time for this car, and I was glad because I cursed several new swearwords. The front was easy, as Eli and I each did one front and one back and the same for the tires.

Because we were 16 we could help with the muffler and tail section piping, but we weren’t allowed to do any of the welding. I cringed seeing the old exhaust pipes fall to the ground corroded with rust and in places, it was paper thin that if you touched it would fall in creating a hole. It dented easily as they tossed it into the garbage can as they welded new shiny silver pipe from the engine all the way down to the new muffler that had seen better days.

I was told that I needed a new oil pan and in the future, I would be repairing the transmission lines spotting a small leak where for now we just patched it, because the lines are expensive. But when it becomes a problem I will have to either put out the dough for it or if I wanted to, there was an old mechanic trick that I could use using a joint connection with rubber tubing and only replacing the damaged section. It was damaged because the car rode too close to the ground. It was why I needed to buy a lift kit which I would have to order from the manufacturer. I coughed when I heard the price that was about 80 dollars.

Bishop Earl sprung for the new muffler for all my hard work he was getting out of me. Tischner threw in the oil pan for free, since he told me that they had gone over the car with a fine tooth comb, he even gave me a discount on the muffler. Or should I say Bishop Earl a discount on the muffler since he was paying for it? After it was all said and done I forked out another 60 bucks out of my wallet which meant I needed to stop at the bank to get so more money so I could pay Becky, and buy a few more things for the car that seemed tied to my wallet.

Man, I was going to give my mother a stern talking to about keeping my car up and running, while she’s driving it next week back and forth to and from school and while I wasn’t here to use it.

After the repairs were complete the car could stop on a dime and it rode smooth as silk with new tires and it was quiet as a mouse with the new muffler. We stopped at Stringum for the paint, and wire for the speakers, but he didn’t have the kind of paint I needed for the rims nor the plastic sheeting I would need for the new carpet and the interior walls. I was putting in. So we headed to Payson and ended up in Provo finding a collision repair store that had everything I needed, and it didn’t cost me an arm and a leg, because they bought things at wholesale price. I even picked up the lift kit for a fraction of the price instead of 80 I got it for 30 dollars.

I made a note to come back, seeing several things that caught my eye that would make my baby look good, like more chrome for the engine, and paint that they used to paint engines with to make them look like new. I even bought engine cleaner and hand cleaner so I could get the car grit off our hands without too much scrubbing. I cringed seeing how dirty they were. I knew if adoptive Mom saw them she would give me a tongue lashing if I came to the table looking like a grease monkey. I even picked up some washing detergent so I could wash my car clothes with.

All and all it was a pretty big day. Even more so when we got back and tore my baby apart ripping out the seats and the interior and painting it so it could sit overnight inside the garage to dry overnight, tossing the old carpet and the lining underneath into the dumpsters as we three boys with the help of Bishop Earl put in the new lining in the car not only the floor but the walls as we installed the radio and speakers. Taped the window and the clear plastic over the doors and spray painted the dashboard to the new color I had chosen to match the carpet and the new seats I would be putting in, in the morning.

It was nearly 5 pm as we closed up shop, it hurt seeing my baby lying in pieces in the garage and seeing her nothing more then an empty shell, but I knew she would be looking good once we put her back together again.

After a nice hamburger dinner, my mother came back with Jennie. I smiled when I took her out to the garage when she asked where my car was. She gasped seeing her all torn to pieces as I listed everything we had done to her today. It drove the point home that the car was mine and I was loaning it to her. She asked how much I had spent on the upgrades and I said enough. Knowing it was none of her business, and Bishop Earl told me not even tell her how much I spent. Just tell her that repairs were being done or had been to ensure my baby would run without a problem, We 3 boys and Bishop Earl would be spending the night here to keep watch over the house, while everyone went home to my mother’s house.

My mother was shocked when she walked into the house finding it completely emptied as we explained what had happened last night in more detail seeing the broken windows covered over with cardboard and why the strong police presence and why my mermaid friends had gone home a day early.

She still wasn’t happy about the idea of Bishop Earl and his family moving so quickly to Heber, even faster then the date we had change three times. Yet there was very little she could do about it. It was what it was. My father was very unhappy seeing me and the Earls as they made themselves right at home. My sister and my father asked about my car and Mom said it being updated is going look fantastic once I put it back together again.

I watched my father and sister eyebrows raise and he said “Yea right, it better be worth the money we paid for it. Bishop Earl said. "funny I thought Eric was the one that paid for it out of his own pocket including the repairs he is making, whereas you haven’t spent a single dime on it as of yet.”

My father growled. “I never asked him to buy us a car, nor did I ask him to make any repairs. He did so all on his own.”

Bishop Earl growled back. “That’s because Jim the car is his, not yours. He is only loaning it to you until you can get one on your own until he has his license and has graduated from high school as agreed.”

He said. “I wasn’t the one who agreed to it.”

Bishop said. “No, but your wife was considering she’ll be the one driving it, not you, and certainly not Susan or anyone else without his permission…” My father growled and mumbled something under his breath, but was nothing we could understand so we dropped it, for now anyway.

My mother told him he could stay down at the church house if he didn’t like it, but he refused as he had done his best to find out who the next Bishop was going to be, and still had no idea, and Becky demand her money as I fished it out of my wallet and gave it to her as she grabbed so quickly out of my hands, while Susan glared at me.

I didn’t say a word about it. I just made sure the girls were comfortable in my room. Before us boys left the house with Bishop Earl in his car. We had promised the people that we would help install the appliance that Earls was donating to those families that needed them before we turned in for the night.

Bishop Earl asked my father if he would like to help considering he was a fairly good plumber and the items we were installing needed to be plumbed, but he refused. We knew he would, but Bishop Earl wanted him to know we could use the help, that he would be helping someone in need and give him the opportunity. Yet my father is a cruel man and only believes in helping himself not others. The fact the church is helping him and the people he had refused to help were helping him.

He refused to do any kind of services to say thank you. He said. “I can’t wait until you are gone; you were the worst Bishop I have ever known, always getting into my business where you don’t belong.”

Bishop Earl smiled and said. “Glad to hear I made a difference in your life Jim, that you will remember me.”  My father shut the door in his face. Yelled at my mother that she should have said no and demand to know where his dinner was.