Redwood Nine Ch. 03

Jake laid his hand on Stan's shoulder, unable to console him, but knew what Stan was letting go of, knew that he had to get it out and face it. He patted his shoulder and left him be, as he heard a car coming in, with a noisy muffler. He walked out to see Lenny going to the driver and talk to him. Jake figured that must be the other person that JT said needed work done. He looked at JT and Piney, no longer weeping and hugging, but talking, while they leaned on the hood of Stan's car having a cigarette.

He walked over to Lenny and his friend and introduced himself. Lenny introduced Wally to him and explained why he was there.

"Yeah, I kinda got that when he came in. Looks like you came at a bit of a bad time, I'm afraid, Wally."

"Yeah, Lenny was just filling me in on what's happening. That really sucks, losing your brother like that. Younger brother, right?"

"Yeah, his father is in the office and he's taking it pretty hard. Seems there was some bad blood going on between them for a long time and now they have to deal with that. So, you need me to see what you're needing under there and fix what's making all the noise and Lenny, you're looking for a bit of tweaking on your bike, right?" They both agreed and waited for Jake to decide what to do.

"Lenny, bring your bike in the first bay and Wally, you bring yours in on the other one and I'll get it up and see."

They parted and the guys started their vehicles and moved them into the bays, while Jake went to JT and Piney.

"Guys, you should go in the office and talk with Stan. He needs to know things are right between you all. Too much has gone unsaid, for far too long and it's time you dealt with it. Go talk to him and put the past behind you. Whatever happened, isn't worth losing your family over."

They listened and heeded Jake's request and walked together into the office and quietly closed the door behind them. Jake watched them go and felt a goodness in his heart, knowing he had assisted in mending fences in a family. He went to Wally's car and adjusted the hoist pads to sit under the frame properly and hit the lever to raise the car. Lenny and Wally stood together in silence, the feeling that talking, would only lead to bringing up emotions none of them wanted to feel.

Jake looked under the Chevy and tapped the rusty exhaust with his screwdriver handle, from the manifold back, flakes of rusted metal breaking off as he went. He reached the end and looked at Wally forlornly.

"All you have is rust under here, Wally. This needs a new exhaust, front to back. There's not one piece worth saving, or even can be saved."

Wally looked at the rusted pipes and then to Jake, shrugging his shoulders.

"How much for a new one?"

"Pipes, muffler, clamps, hangers and such, around seventy bucks. Labour will run you thirty, so you're looking at a hundred to make it run quietly."

Wally reached in and took out his money and counted off a hundred dollars in twenties, tens and five dollar bills and handed them to Jake. Lenny glanced at the roll and raised an eye, wondering how lucrative Wally's business actually was.

"How soon can the parts be here?"

"I can order them and have them here tomorrow. Should only take an hour or so to replace it."

"Sounds good, Jake, thanks. Be here as early in the morning as I can, then."

With that issue dealt with, Jake lowered Wally's car and lowered the pads, so he could back his car out. Jake went over to the other bay and took a look at Lenny's bike. He looked at Lenny and shook his head at him, after he checked the oil.

"You gotta take better care of it, Lenny. Look at how black the oil is. This should have been changed long ago. The chain is loose, the tires are low, I don't even need a gauge to know that. That's just looking at it. I hate to think of what I'll find if I dig deeper."

"Sorry, Jake. Have a few things on my mind lately."

"So I heard. JT told me about the eviction and have to be out by the end of the week. Something not right there, Lenny. I'm no lawyer, but I know they have to give you more notice than that. Thirty days at least. Oh, got some news, might make that not seem so bad. I was talking to JT and Piney earlier about the storage building there and I agreed to rent it to you guys for four hundred a month. No utilities running, so you'll have to pay for those as well. I said they could start cleaning it out tonight, but if you guys want to get started, I can unlock the doors and let you get started now."

That put a look of happiness on their faces and they were only to happy to get started. Jake smiled to himself, wondering how stopping to lend a hand, had turned into helping others find happiness in their lives. One thing he was happy about, was the company. Clay was a good mechanic, but he was headstrong and didn't listen to reason, some times. He hadn't seen the horrors of life and appreciate what he had here at home. He was always wanting more and never satisfied with what he had already. JT and Piney presented themselves as men, ones who understood about listening to orders and how a life could depend on carrying out those orders, the way they were given. Clay was prone to adapting the rules to suit his purpose, but it rarely worked out in his favour. Hopefully he would learn a thing or two from JT and Piney and listen to them.

"I'll see what I can do to make your bike run a bit nicer, but you're going to have to come in and get those other things attended to and soon. Things going wrong on a bike, are a lot different, than things going wrong in a car, remember that."

Lenny nodded, looking guilty for his neglect and heeding the warning.

"I can come in tomorrow, same time as Wally. We can do some work on my bike, while you fix his car."

Jake turned to him and softened his look of disappointment, hearing the change in his attitude towards something so important.

"Do you good to get your hands on it. You should know your bike inside and out, like it's a part of you. When you know it, the littlest thing is noticed, nothing escapes you."

They listened to Jake describe things and knew he was a seasoned rider, one who knew the spirit of riding. He broke off from his thoughts and beckoned them over to the building and unlocked the door. The dusty smell hit their noses and got them sneezing from it.

"Didn't say it was in move in condition. Let's get all the doors and windows open and get some fresh air in here."

Lenny and Wally went about opening windows, while Jake unlocked doors and opened them. He pushed up the loading door and a huge cloud of dusty air rushed out. Wally and Lenny came through and they stood to the side, coughing, looking at Jake like he was selling them on a bad idea.

"Give it a bit to air out and I guess put some kind of mask on, until the dust is swept out."

"No shit. I'd suffocate trying to breathe that in. Like you said, needs a bit of tidying up."

They stood talking about the stuff inside and where to put it, when the office door opened and the three men walked out. JT walked in front and it was a heartfelt sight, to see father and son walking together again, a connection made between them. They came over to the building and joined the others, taking a brief glance inside. JT covered his mouth and nose with his T shirt and walked inside and looked at the swirling dust moving around the piles of boxes, discarded parts and general trash and debris. JT came back out and swept the dust off himself and looked at the others looking at him.

He looked primarily at Piney, Lenny and Wally and smiled. He nodded his head towards the building and smirked.

"Home, sweet home, guys."