6. Chapter 5
Richard
I walked in the side door from the garage so I could kick off my greasy shoes in the mudroom of mom’s house. Since dad died, she made this place over and did it how she wanted to for years.
I gotta say, it’s nice to come home and feel at home.
Across into the kitchen Ma held onto the counter, crying. I ran over and pulled her into my arms. “What is it? Who made you cry? Who do I need to kill?”
“Cooper.” She shuddered out and dread filled me.
“Oh, god. He’s not …”
“Oh, no.” She pulled back and laughed. “He’s not dead. He’s home . Rich, he’s home for good.”
I squeezed ma tight, then let her go so she could breathe before grabbing a cup of coffee and taking a seat at the table. I couldn’t help but smile.
“My baby brother is home.”
“We need to feast tonight!” She did a little dance.
Laughing, I knew that was coming. Ma loved to cook and would find any reason to try out new recipes and make a feast. My brothers were laughing as they came into the kitchen.
Ma was making a list of groceries, and my youngest brother, Cooper, stood in the doorway looking at me. Even though he’s the youngest, he was the tallest of all three of us at six-four. I was the shortest, six foot even.
“Oh, good, you’re here. Saves me a phone call.” Jeremy sat down next to me. “Ma tasked me with calling to let you know the prodigal son returned and she wants to kill the fatted calf to celebrate. So, you needed to come home so you can go to the store.”
I scoffed. “Yeah. I’m sure she said I have to go to the store.”
Jeremy smiled. “You’re the oldest. The wisest. Mom trusts you.”
Everyone laughed as ma spoke, “Shush now.”
“About time you came home.” I nodded towards Cooper.
“Eh, thought I’d see the world on Uncle Sam’s dime.” He shrugged.
“Ma said you’re home for good.”
“That’s the plan.”
I watched him get a cup of coffee before sitting across from me. Ma could probably host the unit he was part of for dinner and still have room.
Memories of our childhood flooded back of us and all our friends around the table, playing games and eating.
“You still know anything about cars?” I lifted my cup at him.
“Duh, like I would ever forget that.”
“You got plans to work, or you thinkin’ ‘bout being a bum?’ I asked before taking a drink of my coffee.
“There’s a new garage on the scene. Word is they do good work, and stay busy.” Jeremy tossed out. “I hear they might have an opening.”
“Eh, thought I’d give the porn industry a go. Maybe some escorting. Swing my dick at some pretty ladies. Collect a paycheck.”
“Cooper Lee!” Mom snapped him with a towel. “You’ll collect more than a paycheck.”
Laughing, he asked, “Who owns the new garage?”
“Well, that’s the thing, runt.” I looked over at Jeremy before looking back at Coop. “We do.”
“Shut up.” He looked at us both. “For real?”
Jeremy tossed a balled-up napkin at him. “See, we were thinking maybe you might wanna be a grease monkey.”
Smiling at us, he asked. “How the hell did you pull that off?”
“Pop did something kind for us. He made sure Ma was set for life and he left us three hooligans some seed money.” Jeremy gave him this big, toothy grin.
“Yours is in the bank, runt.” Ma said as she sat down with us, taking his hand. “You can do what you want with it.”
“Couple things.” He leaned back in his chair. “First. Stop calling me runt. I’m the tallest one here.” He smiled, took a drink of coffee, then continued. “Second, I’d love to.”
“Good. That’s settled.” Ma smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. “Richard has an apartment above the garage. Jeremy still lives here. I’m hoping you’ll stay home for a bit too.”
“How could I not?” He laughed.
“Now that that’s settled, we should have Olivia join us for dinner tonight.” Ma took her hand and wiped tears away. “One of you wanna call the shop and tell her what time to be here?”
He looked at us, confused. “What shop?”
Jeremy gave a shrug. “She’s the desk monkey at our shop, so she tags along with us on nights William works since it’s the norm from when we were kids.”
“Like, you guys mind her being around.” He blew out a breath.
We both shook our heads.
“We asked her not to tell you, thinking it would be a nice surprise. And of course, we don’t mind, Shorty. She was always up our collective asses to learn about cars and hang out. She’s one of us.” I smiled.
“She mentioned a new job in one of her letters, but she didn’t tell me it was with you assholes.”
“Ma, remember, she’s got rehearsal today.” Jeremy looked across and Cooper, taking a long drink of coffee.
Scoffing, I stood and reached into my pocket. “Yeah. I got twenty that says he bails.” I slapped a Jackson on the table.
Nodding, Jeremy reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty and tossed it on the table. “I’ll take that bet. The guy seems like a pansy, but I don’t think he’d be dumb enough to let go of our Libby.”
“Why on earth would you say that?” Mom handed me the list for the store.
“Ma, you’ve met him. He’s a prick.” Shaking my head, I put my cup in the sink. “She’s different around him. Not as lively. Her hair hasn’t changed colors in the last 4 years she’s dated him. She gave up her sixty-five Mustang that we all worked on because he didn’t like it and felt she needed a car that wasn’t as fast.”
“Are you telling me she’s not driving Ophelia?” Cooper’s jaw dropped.
“Nope.” Jeremy popped the p and joined in the head shaking. “Now she’s driving a nineteen eighty-one piss colored Malibu. It looks like she borrowed her grandma’s car.”
“Shit, that’s not cool. You know even Gran wouldn’t drive that P.O.S.” I piped in.
“That’s still not nice. I’ve only met him a couple times, and he seemed polite.” Mom refilled her cup, then Coop’s, before sitting back down. “You know, Coop, you could probably pop into the rehearsal.”
“Ma! Seriously?” I looked at her as though a second head grew from her shoulder.
Is she fucking with Coop?
“What?” Shrugging innocently, a sly smile crossed her lips. “I was just thinking maybe Coop would want to see her before tomorrow.”
Damn, that was smooth. She just threw down the gauntlet.
“Eh, I think I’ll just hang at home tonight and be your date for the wedding tomorrow.” He shrugged easily, but the look on his face said another story.
Everyone stayed quiet for a minute before I looked at Jeremy. “C’mon, loser. Let’s go hit up the store and shut the shop down right.”
“We’ll see ya’ll soon.” We both headed out.
I left my work shirt open as I jogged down the stairs from my apartment to my shop. It took some work and an inheritance to make my dream a reality, but I finally became my own boss.
It’s been six months since Cooper came home and joined us. I loved working with my brothers and being one of the bosses. Working with Olivia seemed to be a challenge for Coop, but a good one.
The lights were on in the office, and I saw Olivia filing some invoices.
“Morning.” I rumbled out, and she turned with a smile on her face.
“Good morning, boss.” Motioning to the counter with her head. “There’s an envelope with vouchers inside for you to take to the shelter.”
“How?” I felt my eyebrow raise.
“Dude. I’m the manager, I manage the shop. That includes payroll, taxes and the like. You weren’t as sneaky as you thought.”
“I take it from my share.” I walked over to where the coffeepot sat and poured a cup.
“And mine.” She closed the drawer. “Helping out the women at the shelter is empowering. I understand why you do it and I want to help too.”
“I swear Coop’ll get his head outta his ass.” I smiled at her. “You know how he feels.”
“No. What I know is your brother keeps breaking my heart.” She snapped and sighed. “And here comes the meathead now.”
“I guess I’ll move out to the garage.”
Hitting a button, I opened up one of the large bay doors as Jeremy pulled his car inside. My brothers opened their doors, sliding out, and Cooper stretched.
“Coffee already made?”
“Yeah, but you might want to get your own. Olivia might poison it if you ask her for a cup.” I chuckled, and Jeremy walked over.
“You’re happy today.” He tilted his head. “Why?”
Cooper chuffed a laugh, and I shook my head.
“You both suck.” I walked over to my personal workbench and got ready for the day.
Working with my brothers was nice most of the time, but sometimes they reminded me why I was convinced they were like hemorrhoids.
I still wouldn’t trade our auto shop Grease Monkeys for anything.
Opening my toolbox, I smiled at the black and white strip of pictures that I hid inside. They were taken at the last county fair Jolynn and I went to.
And then she left me a damn Dear John letter and was gone without warning.
I slammed the lid down and went to the stockroom to grab what I needed for the day, pushing memories of Jo back into the box of shit I can’t think about right now.
The day moved along with oil changes, small repairs and the like when Olivia wandered out to the garage. “Hey guys, just had a call come in.”
“What is it?” I leaned over to see around the open hood.
“There’s a van that broke down on the side of the road. It’s a mama and some kidlettes.” She waved a post-it note around. “Who wants it?”
Jeremy wasn’t on the floor and Coop was trying not to get caught making moon eyes at Oliva.
Ah, hell.
“I got it.” I reached for my cigarettes and lit one, motioning for her to bring me the paper.
Libby walked over and narrowed her eyes. “You sure you want this?”
“Do you see anyone else?” I blew out a long stream of smoke, took the paper, and walked out the back door to the tow truck.
I checked the location and started the truck, pulling out of the lot and onto the road. It always bothered me when it’s a mom with kids.
Why doesn’t her man make sure her car is reliable?
I turned on the back road and drove about a mile when I saw the van parked on the side of the road. It’s hot as hell out and it looked like some old man stopped to look under the hood.
As I drove closer, the woman turned facing me and my breath caught in my throat.
Jo.
She’s all curves and woman now. That must mean the old man was her dad. I pulled up and parked on the other side of the road and hopped out of the cab.
“Hello, Mr. Whitman.” I called out and stepped closer to Jo. “Jolynn.”
“Richie?” Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “I … uh, didn’t know you worked for Grease Monkeys.”
“He doesn’t, Jojo.” He reached out and shook my hand. “He and his brothers own it.”
I glanced at the soccer van and saw three boys, a toddler, and tilting my head, I looked closer.
Is that a rear-facing infant seat?
“It’s way too hot to have the itty-bitty ones sitting out in this.”
Her head spun towards me with a glare. “Yeah. I know.”
Looking at Mr. Whitman, I smiled. “How about we both load her and the kids up and take them home and then I’ll come back for the van?”
“Sounds like a plan, my boy.”
Little voices start yelling from the inside of the van. “I wanna see the tow truck work!” “I wanna ride!” “Me too!”
I toed the gravel and scratched my chin. “I could load up the van and then if you’d be okay with it, Jolynn, the boys can ride with me.”
“I guess.” She bit her lip and sighed. “That would mean a lot to them.”
I offered a smile and nodded at the boys. “C’mon boys. Let’s get you in the cool cab.”
Whoops of happiness came from the van, and I was thankful we’re on a deserted back road. The three boys were all bigger now than they were the last time I saw them. I put my hand on the tallest boy’s shoulder and he flinched.
Son of a bitch. I know that flinch.
“Whoa, didn’t mean to startle you. You’re Harrison, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Richard.” I held out my hand to shake. “Can you tell me everyone’s names?”
He stared at my hand, then finally took it, and shook it. “Those are my brothers and sisters; Grady is the blond and Tyler is the taller one. The toddler is Briar, and Emma is our baby sister.”
“I will try to remember that. Let’s get you all loaded up and cool.”
“Okay.” He helped his brothers climb in and then I shadowed him to make sure he didn’t slip.
My heart broke when he flinched again. I know what those flinches are from. I know because me and my brothers used to do them too.
Looking over, I saw Jo and her dad had the girls loaded into his car with the air on and so I got in and turned the tow truck around.
The boys all waved to their mom and grandpa and then I let them watch out the back window when I got in position to hoist the car up on the tow bed. Three small faces marked up my back window and I can’t say I’m mad.
They reminded me of me and my brothers. I could hear the eager yelling from the inside and once the car was up, I made sure I locked everything in place before I climbed back into the cool comfort of the cab.
I grabbed a towel from the center console and wiped the sweat from my face. “You boys ready?”
“Yeah!” all three yelled back, and off we went.
The ride was mostly quiet until I turned onto the road their grandpa lived on.
Grady frowned as he picked at his fingernails. “Guess we not goin to da fair tonight.”
“Prolly not.” Harrison’s sad, soft voice made its way to my heart. “Mom’s gonna have to get the van fixed and she won’t have the extra to take us.”
“Van broke.” The youngest boy added.
“Yeah, van broke.”
We pulled up, and after I parked, I helped the boys out. Jo walked towards me, yelling at the boys to take off their shoes and their snack was on the table.
“How much do you think this will cost?”
“I won’t know until I get in there and find the issue.” I shrugged.
Her hand trembled as she held out a piece of paper. “Here’s my number. Can you call me when you know?”
Nodding, I accepted it. “I can do that.” I tucked it into my pocket. “Hey so, your boys mentioned the fair.”
Jo rolled her eyes. “Of course they did.” She ran a hand through her hair, blowing out a hard breath. “I’ll figure it out.”
“Where’s your husband?” My voice came out gruffer than I wanted.
“We’re separated.” She shrugged and looked everywhere but at me.
“Separated?”
“Yeah. You know? He’s there. I’m here.” And on cue, her phone rang. She pulled it out, shook her head, and put it back in her pocket.
“Look, I was planning to go to the fair tonight. Would you and the kids like to join me?”
“Don’t … don’t … patronize me.” Her brown eyes darkened. “I don’t need shit from you.”
“Whoa, whoa.” I put my hands up defensively. “I was just trying to be nice. I’m not asking for a date, or trying to get in your pants, steal your kids or whatever else you’ve got cooked up in that pretty head of yours. I was just being nice.”
A lone tear made its way down her cheek, and I stepped forward, wiping it away with my knuckle.
“Jo, we were friends.” I swallowed the hurt that flooded through me. “Best friends.” I managed to croak out. “Once upon a time.”
“I know. I know.” She let out a shaky laugh. “The fair would be nice.”
“Great. I’ll pick you all up at sex? Shit. I mean six.”
She busted out laughing and walked toward the front door. “Six is good. We’ll be ready.”