Chance Encounters

Tried and true

Mark and Jason were having a conversation about modifying a car. I was nervously watching the clock waiting for Larry. More and more teams were finishing,sitting down and talking with their instructors. I seen Larry walking out and I let a sigh slip out. He caught a glimpse of Mark and came walking our way. “That wasn’t that bad,just extremely time consuming.” He said plopping down next to Jason. We were at a lunch table,off in the corner of the room. Jason looked at us three, “As long as you beat Saint Claire Shores,we are good. I’m proud of all three of you.” Jason said glancing around the room. It was almost as though he was waiting for someone. With another twenty minutes of waiting ahead I began to daydream.

Breaking my string of concentration was the head of the Skills board. His voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “This is the moment of truth.” I sucked in a gasp of air,all of the work up until today was either going to pay off or it was in vein. “In third we have the Janette Hornets.” The team stood up collecting what was essentially a participation ribbon. They took a picture and left the stage. “In second place we have the Anchor Bay Tars.” They came up and took their picture,getting a red ribbon. “Now it was a close call,and we had to mull over the decision,but in first place is…” he opened the envelope making it all the more nerve racking. “The first place goes to the Mallow Mustangs.” The room fell silent. Larry,Mark and I went up to the stage Jason in tow. My heart was racing and everything sounded echoed and muffled. We walked up the stairs, throwing on our sun glasses before our pictures were taken. He handed us a blue ribbon,a plaque and a few technical school books. “Congratulations!” He said shaking our hands. We nodded,not much to say when you are shell shocked.

After the victory over regionals,we followed Jason to meet up at Will’s shop. We walked into his shop,two cars were on the hoist along with various break system parts from Mark’s training. Larry sat down and I followed his lead taking the next open creeper. Jim and Frank walked in both wearing big grins on their faces. Before anyone could celebrate or even acknowledge the fact we took regionals,Jason spoke. “Alright,states is two weeks away. Not only will you be competing for best in the state,you will be competing against other mechanics who won regionals.” I took it in,lighting the singular joint that was in my shirt pocket. “Now for states you guys will have to practice on real broken things,because that’s what it’s like in the next step.” I passed the joint to Larry who looked concerned. Jason continued, “You three are switching up coaches. Mark,you work with Frank,Skye you get to work with Jim and Larry you work with Will. I will continue to mentor you three in class.” I nodded, my trip to UNOH just got a lot more interesting.

We hung around discussing the tests in detail. “On the last question what did you guys have to draw?” I asked. Mark answered first, “I had to draw the part that connects the whole break system. I drew the calipers and showed the break lines connecting to the caliper.” Larry shrugged, “Mine took so damn long to draw because it asked me about a specific wire and I had to draw the circuit on and off.” Mark joked, “Good thing you’ve been drawing with your father.” Larry chuckled, “I don’t even want to know what you had to draw.” I looked at Mark, “Unlike you,mine took the same amount as Larry. I had to draw the entire suspension system.” I sighed and leaned back. States was going to be another hurdle, yet it was oddly exciting. I hugged Mark and Larry, before getting back to Frank’s house.

I walked into the door,Frank welcomed me to sit. I took the wooden chair next to the fireplace. “Congratulations Kidd, you’ve made it to states.” I smiled,petting Cam as Splash laid like a big baby across Frank’s lap. The grey day didn’t match the mood of everyone else. “Starting tomorrow I’ll be working with Jim, and Mark will be working with you.” Frank nodded, “Yeah,it’ll be good for you Kidd. Just remember to learn what you can. The only way to get better is to do it.” I got up,Cam followed me to my room. There wasn’t many work orders to do. Most were done and just awaiting pick up. Larry had to help his father out with some drafting projects and Mark not only had work at his record shop,but had to help his stepfather clean out the gutters. I opened up the oak door, my room had framed concert tickets,cassettes,and shirts hanging up. I opened my newest item to my collection. My guitar from CCR and the Grateful Dead. Without plugging it in I strummed a song.

I played four songs before I gave it up and put it back in its case. The phone rang. Picking it up, “Plow and field,mechanic skye speaking.” Larry responded, “Hey Skye, the ole man wants your opinion about some thing on a prototype.” Holding the phone with my ear I began to roll a joint. Larry replied, “He said you can smoke,and show him your woodsman I told him about it.” I sighed, “If Splash can come it’s a deal.” I heard some mumbling on the other end. “Pops says it’s cool.” I grunted, “Be there in 45.” I called Splash over to me. Frank was tending to the goats and I wrote him a note telling him I’d be back. Splash hopped into my truck as we cruised down the gravel road. I was alone in my thoughts when I decided to make a turn into town. It was downtown Utica. A few bars were there along with a tattoo shop,and a record store.I parked in the rear telling Splash to stay,which he did. He stretched out across the bench seat. I avoided the holes in the pavement as the fresh rain had them full of water. Not bothering to change from earlier I had my father’s coat on over my Skills shirt.

I opened the door to the little shop. Being greeted by the girl working there. Her shirt was an Elvis one. I said my hellos and went looking around the store. I was thumbing through the new releases bin when Mark came around the corner. “Hey baby!” He said smiling. I smiled back, “Figured I’d stop on in before I go see Larry.” Mark’s face dropped. “Damn,I hate that I can’t come.” I pecked him on the cheek. “Don’t worry babe,we will all be together right now it’s competition time.” He sat the box he was holding down giving me a hug. “We will be together soon,don’t forget you are working with Frank so I’m sure I’ll be seeing you.” He nodded, “Sounds like a plan.” We exchanged our goodbyes.

The weirdest feeling was showing up three houses down from my mother. I felt the compelling want to see her and say hi,but I continued on driving. It wasn’t worth the hassle to talk to her. I pulled in behind Larry’s GTO, his father was driving a nice clean Bellaire. I let Splash out who heeled next to me as I went up to the door. I rang the doorbell and waited. Larry answered the door and took me out to the garage. A workbench lined each wall for different things. One held guns and one held electrical. The one his father was at,happened to be the drafting table. It held three blueprints to the suspension of a Chevy truck. “Congrats kid on making it to states.” He said looking up at me. I smiled, “Thank you sir.” His red hair hung clean cut around his ears. His green eyes scanning the blueprints. “I need your opinion as a truck driver and suspension mechanic.” I walked up to him,Splash sat and let Larry pet him. “What do you think of that?” He asked pointing to a prototype truck bed. I shrugged, “It won’t work.” He looked up at me as if I said something I shouldn’t have. “What? Why not?” He asked opening up a sharpie and a note book. I took in the shape of the frame and how the leaf springs would be attached. I took a pencil and sketched out the suspension on my truck and how i modified it to make it handle a heavy load smoother. “I welded these leaf springs like this and it’s able to handle a heavy load. Crossed like that the bolt holding it together would break.” Larry’s dad nodded and jotted what looked like chicken scratch on paper. “Thank ya kid.” He said,then he turned and grabbed some drawings of beds. “Sketch your dream truck bed.” He said. I took the pencil in my hand and began to sketch. Lighting a joint and sketching some more until I came up with a decent bed. 8ft long heavy duty liner in it and a step on the side for easier access to the bed. Larry’s dad took my drawing. “I’ll keep this in mind for the meeting next week.” I nodded and thanked him for thinking so highly in my skills to ask me to design something. Larry led me out back to a shed. It was a shooting range,Tom walked out back with us. “Enough car talk show me that wonderful woodsmen you have.”

I pulled up my coat revealing my shoulder holsters. One side had my Colt Woodsman and on the other side had a Luger,a WWII souvenir grandfather Lenny gave me. It was from his Belgian days. Tom practically drooled as I pulled both out. “I have the holster for the Lugar,but I figured this would be cooler.” I loaded a clip and let him shoot it. Then he seen what made my woodsmen so cool. He looked over the wooden grip to see the USMC logo on it. “Not many of these left from the wwi days.” He noted. I explained how it was from my great uncle who gave it to me on my 10th birthday. “I’ve been getting guns and knives as gifts for as long as I remember. So,I’ve been lucky there.” I smiled Tom handed me back my guns,I placed them in my holsters. I said my thanks to Tom and called Splash from the yard into my truck. Happy to have been able to help.

Driving through the neighborhood I caught Mark doing the gutters. I pulled into his driveway. “Want some help with that?” I asked as he was on the ladder. “Sure that would be nice.” I parked and made Splash stay in the truck. “Get down im going to climb on the roof.” Mark got down allowing me to climb up. Once I got on the roof I dug my hand in the gutters,removing the clogs and letting Mark get the twigs. “Thought your dad was going to do this with you.” Mark shrugged, “He’s not like Frank or your father. I’m not his so he doesn’t want me. He would rather spend time with Matt over me.” I sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that.” I walked over and looked at him, “It’s going to be worth it in the end. For now,I’ve got you.” He smiled looking up at me. Truth of the matter is that I have no idea what I’m in for.