The Mechanic

A story about a woman who wants more than she has and finally makes a mistake that convinces her husband that what he thought was the truth, is all a lie.

Edited by Lady Cibelle. From her comments, this story took a major turn for the better.

I sat in the cab of the flatbed truck I was driving, looking through the window at the small trailer a few hundred feet away. I had been sitting here for almost twenty minutes without an intelligent thought in my head: just memories. It looked the same: the mailbox in front with the name Prentice; the driveway empty now with my car gone and, if she still lived there, Heather would be at work. I wondered if I stayed long enough whose car or truck I would see pulling in at the end of the workday. Wouldn't be Drake's; he wouldn't lower himself enough to come down here to this part of town. More likely Heather would go to him anyway.

As a small flash of anger erupted, I almost left. Instead, I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and wondered what I should do next. For the hundredth time I asked myself why I took this delivery, the one that brought me back here to the place I left over two years ago. I left in anger and humiliation, swearing never to return, yet here I was. It was a stupid thing to do and I almost started the truck up to drive away, but just then, toward the back of the lot I saw a swing set and a sandbox, filled with bright colored toys. That was almost more than I could take and the tears caused the light to flash with coruscating colors, almost blinding me. I guess Polly would be almost four now: my daughter that I hadn't seen for far too long.

I remembered the last time I had been here at the trailer I once called my home. It was two years ago on July 3, the day before the day of celebration and partying and hell raising. I was one who used to do a lot of that, but by then, I had changed. That life was over for me, but I guess it wasn't for my wife, Heather. I tried to push that memory back, but sitting here at the site of my downfall, it forced its way back to the front of my mind. It still hurt. I still remembered the argument about the party and my refusal to attend. That was the beginning and end of my life as it was then. I hadn't been back since that day.

My name is Jesse Prentice and my wife of three years is Heather Prentice. We lived here in this small trailer, working to save all we could for our first house. We were going to buy a home as soon as we were able. We had the neighborhood picked out: it was called Cayman Estates and promised 'all the comforts of the islands'. It even had a small artificial lake! We were taken in by the glitz and the advertisements but then we were young and silly and in love. So, we watched the listings and the advertisements to see when a house was listed for sale. When one was listed, we went to see it with a realtor just to dream and make plans and dream some more.

Heather was a licensed RN but wanted to work fewer hours than she would as a nurse, so she worked as a receptionist for a construction company in town. I was a licensed mechanic and I worked for the Ford dealership as a master mechanic. At twenty four, I was one of the youngest men there but I was the only master mechanic, fully trained by Ford on all of their cars and trucks as well as Jaguar cars and some other foreign ones. I could do almost anything needed and as a result, had a great job with a decent salary. Together, Heather and I were able to put a nice chuck of change back each payday.

When I was younger, I did raise a lot of hell but when I met Heather MacArthur, I was beginning to calm down. Heather was very popular and was one of the prettiest girls in school. She was a cheerleader, a majorette in the band and dated only the biggest jocks and the captain of the football team. She was well known and sought after by a lot of young men when she graduated. At eighteen, she was no longer jail bait and she had her pick of a lot of older men who wanted a good looking girl to hang on their arms in public. I would see her around some times on the arm of some good-looking man. I certainly wasn't one of those.

I finally met Heather by accident when she came in with her father to buy a car. Her dad was Walther MacArthur, a very wealthy man and well known around town. Apparently he had promised her a car for a birthday present and they were here to pick one out. I was on my break, talking to Harry Sykes, one of the salesmen when they came in. Both Harry and I spotted Heather at the same time and we both said the same thing; "Sweet Jesus, look at her!" Not very original but heartfelt just the same. Harry went out to offer his services as I watched from his office. She was just gorgeous! At least that's what I thought when I looked at her.

She was wearing shorts with a loose T-shirt and tennis shoes. Her dad was in a suit and tie but no one cared much about him. Harry was too good a salesman to let the girl distract him and began his sales pitch to the dad. They went over to look at a cute Ford Focus, red in color with a lot of options. The girl looked it over, turned to check out the rest of the display models and, of course, gravitated to the Ford Mustang convertible. She walked over to it and I watched as she leaned over the door to look inside. I decided that I was not going to miss this chance and walked over to stand beside the car. When she looked up, I smiled and asked if I could answer any questions. She took me for a salesman and just nodded toward her dad.

"Pop wants to buy me one of those little sedans but I really dig this one. How much more is it than the one he's looking at?"

"About the same since that one is loaded with options. This beauty is pretty well stripped-down to make the price lower. But, it's got a lot more power, it's a rag top, and it's a whole lot better looking. Just tell dad that the price is the same and see what he says."

"But what's it missing? You say stripped-down: what does that mean?"

"No power seats, no satellite radio, no power mirrors, no leather, and no extras of any kind; that sort of thing. It's got all you need though: radio, air, power steering, windows and locks."

I saw her thinking and watched as she considered it. She looked back at the Mustang, then at me and finally walked over to her dad. She said something, pointed at the Mustang and smiled. So did he, then they both went back to looking at the Focus. I smiled to myself. The girl had common sense and that impressed me. I saw dad and Harry walk toward his office and I moved aside to let them pass. The girl walked over toward me and said,

"The Focus will be a lot better for me. And I like the extras. The rag top is cute but not as practical."

I agreed, we chatted and I finally introduced myself and told her I worked in the repair shop. She told me her name and after a few more words, I asked her out. To my surprise, she accepted. That was the beginning of the best summer of my life.

Heather and I dated all that summer and into the fall. After graduation from High School, she had decided not to go to college but to attend the Tech Center instead for a degree in nursing. She and her parents argued about it but she won and got her license. But after checking into jobs at the hospital and the clinics, she decided to take a job at the construction company because she would have fewer hours and make more money. That was where she was working when I first met her.

After working for almost six months, she took her car and clothes and moved into a small apartment with another girl. I talked with her dad just before she moved and he said they were disappointed but that Heather wanted to be on her own without help from her parents. She said they had given her so much and she wanted them to begin to spend money on themselves instead. I thought it was a beautiful sentiment and so did her dad. But, he was sad to see her go.

While Heather and I dated, we weren't exclusive by any means. I would have considered it but not her. She was having too much fun. She and I had never had sex, although we did some heavy petting. She said she wasn't ready and wanted to stay a virgin until she felt she was ready to commit to someone. I wanted that someone to be me but I didn't tell her that then. I asked her about her other dates but she assured me I had been further than anyone else. That pleased me even though I wasn't sure I totally believed her, but Heather told me a lot of things that I found hard to believe. At the time, it made no difference, since it was her choice and if it wasn't me, then so be it.

Things changed about a year and a half later. Heather and I had been dating for all that time and she seemed to be dating other guys less and less as time went on. I was moving toward asking her to marry me, but before I did, I made an offer on a double wide trailer in a nice trailer park just outside of town. It had paved roads, mailboxes, lots of trees and this particular trailer had a small porch with a white railing and an awning for the roof. It was vacant and I wanted it in the worst way. I held my breath until the offer was accepted and then it was mine!

I spent that next Saturday moving all my stuff into the trailer with the help of a couple of the mechanics I worked with. We did the entire job in less than five hours and I was now the proud occupant of 136 Calvin Lane, Whirlwinds Trailer Park. I hadn't told Heather anything about it since this was the final piece in my plan to ask her to be my wife.

That evening, I drove over to Heather's apartment, intending to ask her to marry me. As I pulled in, I saw her getting out of a car with Drake Cunningham, one of the guys she worked with at the construction site. He was a big wheel and I knew he was the son of the guy who owned the place. I stayed in my car and just watched as they walked over toward the door to her place. She had taken me up once to see it, but she never allowed me to come up after a date. She said the place was not all hers and her roommate would be mad if she brought guys up there.

She stopped at the doorway, took her keys out of her purse and then said something to Drake. He shook his head and said something back. She shook hers again and started to turn away. Drake grabbed her shoulders and pulled her against him. I almost jumped out of my car to defend her when it occurred to me to wait and see what she would do. She said something and when he put his arms around her and lowered his face to hers, she kissed him back with her arms wrapped around his neck. It was not an innocent goodnight kiss! I watched as the kiss continued and saw his hand drop down to caress her ass. She did nothing to stop him and as I watched, she turned in his arms, took the key and put it in the door.

At that point, all I wanted to do was hurt someone; hurt them like I was hurting. I was going to ask this girl to marry me and here she was making out with this bastard, just like I thought she did only with me. I was halfway to the door where they were standing when she looked over to see me coming. She pushed Drake away and started to say something to me but she never got that far. I pulled Drake away from her and before he knew what was happening, I hit him in the mouth. He staggered back, his hand holding his torn lip where blood was beginning to drip.

Heather screamed at me to stop, moved toward Drake to comfort him. She knelt down there in the gravel of the parking lot and cradled his head in her lap. I stood there, my blood boiling and my eyes fixed on her as she bent to caress his bleeding lip. That was all I could stand. I reached in my pocket and threw the ring box at her. I was so angry and hurt that it made no difference to me that now I didn't want to give the ring to her. I just needed something to throw at her.

As the box bounced off her shoulder and fell to the ground beside her, I spat out "to think that I almost made the worst mistake of my life! I hope you get what you want Heather, but that's clearly not me."

I was almost in tears as I turned and ran back to my car. I jammed my foot down on the gas and tore out of that lot. I drove back to my trailer and went in and sat there in the dark, my mind a whirlwind of confusion, anger and hurt. I sat there all night, trying to make sense of my life. How could I have been so wrong about someone? I thought she loved me like I loved her, but what I saw was not a woman in love unless it was with the dickhead she was with at the time. No way could she love me and still do that. No way!

It was almost light when I finally got up, walked back to my bedroom and fell across the bed fully dressed. I fell asleep almost immediately and I was so tired that I didn't even dream. I slept until almost noon before I woke again. I glanced at the alarm clock and just shrugged my shoulders. It was Sunday and I had nothing to do now that Heather was gone. I decided to get up, shower, change and maybe take in a movie. I shoved myself up, stripped naked and walked into the shower. It was small but big enough for a big man or two or three small kids. Right now, it was hot and that's all I cared about.

I stood there letting the water run down over my head and shoulders and almost cried with relief. I hadn't realized how tight my shoulders were and my neck was still tense. I felt the water begin to work its magic and I leaned against the wall letting it. I was so tired I hardly recognized the small draft of air as she came into the shower with me. I stiffened, tried to turn to confront her but the size of the shower kept me almost confined since she had her arms wrapped around my waist and her body pressed against my back.

I finally succeeded and pushed her back and away from me. I tuned off the water and screamed at her, "What are you doing? I saw you with Drake and it's clear to me you were about to let him follow you upstairs. I saw you, Heather! He had his hands all over you and you didn't even try to stop him. I was there! I saw it all!"

She stood there, defiant, with a small smile. "No you didn't. What you saw was me telling Drake that it was never going to happen between him and me. He was angry and was trying to force me to let him make love to me but I wouldn't let him. I turned to open the door so that I could slip in and put it between us but that's when you came over and grabbed him."

"That's bull, Heather! I don't believe you! That sure wasn't what it looked like to me. He had his hands on your ass and you let him. You put your arms around his neck and held on to him when he kissed you. You're lying, but I don't know why. All you had to do was tell me you wanted him and I would have backed away. It would have hurt but I would have done it for you."

"You're wrong, Jesse, and I want you to understand that. You're the only man I want and the one I want to make me a woman. If I can't convince you any other way, then I want you to take me now. Take me and make me yours. Do it now, Jesse, if that's the only way. I can't lose you now."

I hesitated, torn with the desire to take her as she offered, but knowing how much she always told me it meant to her to be a virgin for her husband. But what did I see that afternoon? I found it hard to believe what she was telling me but then I didn't know for sure. I never knew for sure about the things Heather told me. Had I stopped whatever might have happened by my actions? But then where had she been all night and this morning? With him? The question in my mind was whether I could trust her or believe her. That was the big question and one I had to decide right away. I looked down at her face, turned up to mine in pleading.

This was a moment that would define my life. If I chose to believe her, I opened myself up to the chance that she was lying and it would come back to bite me in the future. If I pushed her away, all my plans and dreams would change and the future would be one I had never considered. I decided to take a chance and believe her!

I told her that and I thanked her for her offer but that I couldn't do it, not knowing what it meant to her. She smiled at me, reached down to caress me and drive me slightly crazy before releasing me with a laugh. She backed out of the shower and left me to fend for myself. I listened carefully and heard the door close as she left. I relieved my frustration and dressed. I was going to ask her to marry me that evening, hoping and praying that I wasn't making a mistake. As I got ready to go out, a small nagging voice kept asking me where she spent the night. I tried to silence it and only succeeded when I got to Heather's place to pick her up. Then it was too late and I asked her for her hand in marriage. She accepted and I forgot everything but her.

We did marry and she moved into the trailer with me. We continued to work and we were doing alright for money and were able to save a lot. We wanted to buy a house but the down payment was more than we had at the time. We began to save now with a goal in sight. Heather got pregnant about a year after we were married and Polly came along nine months later. Heather worked up until a month before she delivered and then went back to work six months later with Polly in day care. We continued to save and work toward our own home.

I had been taking as much overtime as I could since we were so very close to making the down payment. Polly was two now and ready for a room of her own. I was getting excited and had let the realtor know we were close. She said she would call when the next home came available. I was very tired and I didn't have a lot of time or stamina for going out but I thought Heather understood that. We had a few arguments but she usually backed down when she considered what we were working toward. She went out a few times with her girlfriends and while I didn't like it much, I could hardly complain. She gave me no reason to doubt her and she was usually home early. That continued until the day before the big July 4th holiday.

I was really beat with working all the overtime and the extra six hours on Saturday. All I wanted now was to go home, take a long hot shower, grab a cold beer and take it out onto the deck and just flake out. I just wanted nothing and nobody except my wife and child for the rest of the weekend. Too soon it would be Monday and I would do it all over again. But, hell, it was worth it. Soon we'd have the money for the down payment on that house over on Island Drive in Cayman Island Estates. Our dream home and our first real place; not that the trailer was not a home, but after all, it was just a trailer. This was an actual house! For a mechanic with no formal education, it was a real goal. Just a few more weeks and we would have what the bank demanded for a down payment.

It was almost four when I pulled in, saw that Heather's car was already there and went inside. She was in the back, and I just hollered to let her know I was home. I heard the water running so I decided I could wait for the shower, grabbed a cold one and headed outside to my chair on the back deck. I kicked off my shirt and shoes and settled down with my feet up on the railing and my ass in the soft cushion of my glider. I let out a big sigh and took my first swig of the beer. Heaven! Pure Heaven! I had no intention of moving the rest of the day.

I was dozing as the tension left my body and I almost dropped my beer, but I snapped awake in time and took a big swig to try to stay awake. I was almost done with my beer and was considering going in for another when Heather came out. She had two beers with her and I told her how much I loved her. I took the beer and started to settle back when I noticed that Polly was not around anywhere. I had been listening to the silence and that meant no Polly. At that revelation, the fact that Heather was dressed to go out registered into my relaxed and slow-moving consciousness.