Chance Encounters

My new life

It was only homeroom and I was already getting stared at, which was no surprise to me, being alone suited me just fine. I guess people weren’t used to seeing a girl in flannel and jeans. I didn’t care,all I had to do was graduate and I could go back to my home. The teacher handed out our schedules and told us to come here every day before the first period class. I was sitting in the back and I could here the two girls in front of me whispering. “I’d like to be with Mark,May is so lucky. The other girl whispered back, “Maybe you can try and get with him, make him choose you.” God it was gross to hear. The females down here only care about looks and boys and it shows. Looking out the window I wallowed in my thoughts. Hopefully my father was doing alright in the jungle.

Shop class rolled around and I was all ears, except for one small distraction. The neighbor boy was in my class. His scruffy dirty blonde hair hung around his face, and bright blue eyes glistened. His smile,everything about him made me want him. Except I refused to be like those females that only cared about boys. The shop teacher handed out a syllabus containing the course. “Look guys if you feel inclined to work on your own projects that’s fine,I’m sure most of you have the ability to wrench already.” Excitement ran through me,a lift was much better to work with than the driveway. The tour of the shop was bland as all he showed us was the lifts and where the tools were. We ended the first day with a short safety video.

It was lunch time and hence my time to leave. I cruised through to thirty mile road. Nothing besides farms and dirt roads the thing I loved. I rolled my window down and the smell of fresh cut hay filled my nose. I slammed it into third gear and tore up a stretch of dirt. I was redlining, and the only thing stopping me was the new trans wasn't worn in yet.

Up ahead I noticed an old farm equipment shop. Maybe it's my chance. I applied for seven different shops around the new house and got turned away every single time. Most likely because I am a female and even though I can wrench and hold my own with most of the guys, not having any real shop back me up was a downfall. Pulling in with my truck and an attitude to match I walked inside. The tiny shop had brand new blades hanging on the wall,along with a couple new John Deere tractors and some Husqvarna chainsaws on the wall. There was a small door that had a clear window with what appeared to be a work area. Behind a small oak desk a man popped his head up from behind a Ford tractor book.

“Hello youngin, how can I help you today?” I smiled and mustered up all my courage I had. “Hello,sir I was wondering if you needed a mechanic around? I know I'm not a guy,but I do know some things and would be willing to learn.” My face turned bright red not realising that he was laughing. Looking me up and down he smiled “How nice it must be to be young, I could always use another mechanic around, and you say you know somethings, how about you come in tomorrow and show me what you know. Come back around the same time tomorrow, What's your name?” I smiled, “Im Skye.” He responded, “I'm Frank.” We shook hands. We got into a conversation about how I was from the U.P. “I just recently moved here and stumbled across your shop.” Frank nodded and explained how he started his shop after being a farmer. It was clear that he knew what he was doing.

Not wanting to go back home I filled up my truck,took my old trans to the scrap yard and then garbage picked a couple leaf blowers, more than likely all they needed was a spark plug or a carb. The drive took me all the way to Chesterfield, and that's when a new love opened up for me, boats. Boats are something I grew up on, I loved to fish and duck hunt. I also knew boats have engines,and with that comes the need for a mechanic. In order for anyone to take me seriously I needed my foot in the door with a shop first, and Frank was my best bet. I thought about all the bigger boats like freighters and decided that my goal was to become a shipwright on Lake Superior.

I pulled into the driveway and saw Olds 442 hanging around outside. He smiled, “I never did catch your name.” My face heated up, “It's-- Skye.” He told me his was Mark. “My buddy Larry lives two houses down from ya.” I nodded, “That's cool.” I said in response not quite sure what else to lead with. “Hop in and the three of us will go hang out.” Hesitantly I parked my truck making sure that my mom had enough space to park. “That's a nice lookin truck, did you do any work besides the trans?” I nodded and explained to him that I did the paint as well as all suspension parts. An argument was occurring at his buddy’s house. “I aint getting in the middle of whatever is going on between Larry and his dad.” He backed out of his driveway, “Why don't you come up front since Larry isn’t here. I climbed over the middle counsel and sat next to him. “Sorry, I'm not used to hanging out with people.” He laughed, “Wait, are you serious?” I nodded. “I spent the majority of my time training dogs, wrenching and fishing. Never really had any ambition to make friends, but I'm down here and my aunts and mom are trying to force me to go out and do things.” He looked me in the eyes, “It's nothing to be sorry about, I think it's really amazing that you do what you want when you want.” My face turned red.

He drove out past the dirt road I tore up. It looked like a gravel pit, we were overlooking it as the day turned to dusk. “Should have brought my fishin pole.” I chuckled, he grabbed my hand. “You don't happen to have a joint?” I pulled one out of my pocket and sparked it up. He smiled, “Ya know I think it’s awesome a girl knows how to wrench.” I looked at him,his eyes gleaming off the moon light. “Never looked at it like that I guess.” He smiled, taking my hand and kissing the back of it. My face flushed with all sorts of color.

I wasn’t long for the world as I laid across the bench seats with my head on his lap. “You don’t mind do you?” I asked not wanting to overstep any boundaries. A huff of air came out his mouth, “Of course I don’t.” With the confirmation of him I fell asleep. A slight shaking motion woke me up. “s**t, what time is it?” I groggily mumbled. “It's 2;30am,” Mark whispered. I sat up, it was the best hour nap I've ever taken. “Uh sorry for passing out like that.” He smiled, “Glad you feel comfortable enough around me to do that.” His face had some pink to it. “Goodnight Mark, I’ll see you in shop class tomorrow.” He paused, “Yup I sure will.” I gave him a peck on the cheek before I got out of his car.

Later that morning it was a nightmare to get up. I made some tea, put it in a thermos and left. No protest was heard from my truck as I fired it to life. “Just three hours of bullshit then I start my first real wrenching job.” Saying out loud for just my truck and I. I turned on the news radio on my way to school hoping for any news on the Vietnamese conflict going on. Most of it was the same as always,Charlie is out maneuvering our boys and they are having a hard time finding where they are hiding.