Country Living

Well s**t (Brandon)

I wake up to the sound of my phone buzzing. I look at the clock. It's a little past six in the morning. There’s only one person who would call this early, Grandpa. s**t that means he talked to Rose. 

I answer the phone “Hello”.

“What the hell were you thinking? Having s*x with a high schooler when you should be taking care of the business. Not only that but you didn’t tell me in the first place. Chalking it up to some project and also lying to Rose doesn’t impress me at all.”

Great, this is worse than what I thought. There must be something else going on between them, but first to get through this ass chewing. “I wasn’t thinking and she looked like she should be twenty not barely eighteen. I didn’t tell you because I knew that you would blow up like this. I figured that I would have some extra time to come up with a better excuse. Also, when I had told Rose the lie because I didn’t think that she would be as close to you as she is.”

I can almost feel his anger radiating through the phone. “Rose is like a daughter to me and you better remember that. I expect you to tell her and your customers the truth at all times. She deals with little liars all day; she doesn’t need you or anyone else to lie to her.” He hangs up.

What a wonderful way to start my day. I get up and head to the kitchen. I live in a small apartment upstairs above the shop. It makes it very convenient in order to get to work on time and if there are any problems that arise during the night I am there.

I make myself some breakfast and start thinking about Rose. I did not figure that she would call my grandpa last night. I thought she would give me some more time or a second chance but apparently it doesn’t happen with her. 

After breakfast I head down stairs and start working on customers' vehicles. I had finished my assessment on Rose’s car. It is totaled. The frame is bent enough to where if I were to straighten it out the cost would exceed the price of the car. It is not something that Rose is going to want to hear but it is what it is and she’ll be able to get a newer car.

I go  through my day as I would normally. The other mechanics show up and we go over the schedule for the day with the receptionist,Kayla, and we get started on the days project.

 The insurance person shows up at one in the afternoon. I take him to my office and show him the pictures of the damage to the frame and an estimate of the work that needs to be done. He agrees with me that the car should be totaled and he is going to call Rose and tell her the news. Thank God, I really didn’t want to be the one to tell her and have her be upset with me even more so than what she is. 

I continue with my day, nothing else out of the ordinary. We get cars in and diagnosed, fixed, and give oil changes. Rob, the lead mechanic and is a few years older than I, leaves a little early to go pick up his daughter from pre-school at three. It’s so cute how he cares for his daughter. He’s always taking pride in her accomplishments and squiggly drawings. 

I go out to the shop to finish up Rob’s projects for the day when I hear a car door shut outside. I wait to hear Kayla’s voice over the intercom to see who’s come in to get their car but instead I feel a small hand on my lower back. I turned around to find Jessie smiling like I didn’t find her age out yesterday. 

“What do you want Jessie?” I ask, a little annoyed at her presence. 

She just stood there smiling. She takes her hand and places it on my chest and lightly rubs it up and down. “I was just wondering if we could pick up where we left off yesterday”?

I take her hand and look her in the eyes. “No we cannot. You are still in high school. The age gap between us is huge. And it was a one time thing it’s never going to happen again.”

She looks at me. I can see the hurt in her eyes, but she turns around and walks out the door. 

Thank goodness I didn’t want to upset her but there is no way she and I could continue. I had made it very clear in the beginning that there was never going to be more than that one time. And that one time got me into a lot of trouble. 

It’s almost quitting time. All of the customers have come and picked up their vehicles. I tell everyone that they can go home a little early today. 

Kayla looks at me questionably. “Are you sure you can man the phone or are you going to be busy for that?”

“I’m going to go to my office and go through the filing cabinets to see if there is anything in there that I should be aware of.”

Kayla grabs her coat and says “If you have any questions about the papers give Miss Rose a call. She is the one that kept Jeff’s paperwork in order.”

Wish I would’ve known that earlier. “Will do. Thank you.”

I go to my office and start going through the filing cabinet when I hear a car pull up. I see Brad getting out of his police car with Rose getting out of the front seat as well. She’s wearing a maroon floral dress that goes down to her knees, with tan boots that cover her calves. I quickly look at Brad and try to think about something to say. 

I greet Brad at the door. Rose trails in after him.

“How are you doing Brad?”

He smiles “Good. I see you’ve met my sister.”

Sister? When we first Met in Chicago he never said anything about having a sister. But then when you’re a cop you try to keep your family safe by not talking about them. 

“Yes we met yesterday. Her car does not look salvageable at a reasonable price.” I turned to Rose,  “I'm sorry to have to be the bearer of that bad news.“ 

She does not seem to faze by this information, probably because the insurance agent had already . She looks at me with almost laughter in her eyes. 

Brad says to Rose “Good luck. Give me a call when you’re ready to go home.” and he heads towards the door. I went after him. There were questions that I needed answered and he was the one who could answer them.

“Brad, when were you going to tell me about your sister?”

He turns around slowly. “As you can see she’s one that needs to be experienced not told about. Am I right? And besides I didn’t want you thinking anything s****l towards her. You were going through women like tic tac."

"Well what about when I got into town?" Did he really think that bad of me?

"You were starting to go through women here. I didn't need to add my baby sister to your tally." He turns to leave and hollers "It's easier to just let her do her own thing and only give advice when she asks for it otherwise you're going to get an earful.