Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Hey Grease,” I said, bumping my hip into my door so it would latch.
“You havin’ problems with that door again?” he asked, straightening. “Thought we fixed that.”
“You guys fixed the passenger side,” I reminded him, pulling up my hood. It wasn’t raining yet, but the sky was dark and it smelled like it would start at any minute. “This side is sticking now.”
“You workin’ today?”
“I work every day,” I said with a laugh as he moved toward me.
“Well, when you’ve got some time, you bring her back in and we’ll figure out what the problem is,” he said, moving past me to open and close my door a few times. “Looks like a simple fix.”
“I will.”
“Surprised Samson didn’t already fix it.”
“I haven’t mentioned it,” I replied, ignoring the look he shot me. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Gonna be a big deal if it flies open when you’re drivin’.”
“I always make sure it’s latched and locked when I’m driving.”
“Uh-huh,” he muttered, unconvinced. “You here for your grandpa or Rumi?”
“Rumi.”
“Well that’s good since Samson’s not here,” he said easily, ushering me toward the garage. “Rumi!”
I could hear Rumi’s voice calling something back, but it was so muffled I had no idea what he was saying.
“Come on, honey,” Grease said, bringing me inside one of the large bay doors. “Rumi!”
“Just a sec,” Rumi yelled from underneath an old pickup truck. The only parts of him visible were from the waist down.
I took a long look at the way he filled out the stained jeans then quickly averted my eyes before Grease noticed.
“Don’t wander,” Grease ordered as he walked away. “All sorts of shit in here that’ll put you in the hospital.”
“I know the rules,” I replied, grinning.
I’d been coming to the garage for years, first to see Pop and later to meet up with Rumi. The rules had never changed even after I became an adult. If you didn’t work in the garage you weren’t allowed to go wandering in and if you did get escorted inside, you better plant yourself where your escort left you or there would be hell to pay. I never knew if they were actually worried someone would hurt themselves or if there was shit in the garage that they didn’t want anyone to see. It never mattered to me, because I’d never had the urge to go wandering around.
“What’s up, Gramps?” Rumi said as he finally rolled out from under the pickup. His eyes widened in surprise and he grinned when he saw me. “What the hell are you doin’ here?”
“Stopped by to say hi on my way to work,” I replied, kicking his foot. “You have a break coming up?”
“I’ll take on now,” he said happily, sitting up. “Where you working today?”
“Craft store,” I replied, following him as he walked to a sink to wash up. “I’m closing.”
“Eleven?”
“Yep.”
“That sucks,” he said, looking at me over his shoulder. “I was gonna see if you wanted to hang out.”
“I’m going to be pretty wiped by the time I’m off.” I grimaced apologetically. “We’re doing inventory this week. What about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow’s no good for me.” He didn’t look at me when he said it, reaching to pull a couple of paper towels out of the dispenser. “What about Wednesday or Thursday?”
“Closing again Wednesday, and Thursday, I told Bird I’d take him to a movie. Wanna come with us?”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “Friday?”
“Friday might work,” I said with a sigh. I was working late again on Friday, but at least I wasn’t closing. If I wanted to see him, I might need to just suck it up and hang out even if I was tired.
I followed him out of the garage and into the main room of the clubhouse, and something was prodding at the back of my mind. Something was off. I tried to ignore it because I knew I was overthinking things again and I needed to sort that shit out.
“How’d your date go on Thursday?” Rumi asked as he went behind the bar to grab us a couple sodas. I waved to his aunt Molly and aunt Rose, who were doing something near the stereo system before turning back to face him.
“Boring,” I replied with a groan, giving him a thumbs-down.
Rumi laughed. “That bad, huh?”
“Dude talked about work all night.”
“Did he at least have a cool job?”
“He was an insurance adjuster.” My voice was flat, making Rumi laugh again. “If I never hear about how much it takes to total a Honda again, it will be too soon.”
“What a chump,” Rumi said, leaning on the bar. “Hi, you’re pretty. Can I interest you in a story about the oil I changed today?”
“Still changing oil, huh?” I teased.
“I could do that shit in my sleep,” he grumbled. “I’m going to be your pop’s age and still changing oil.”