Spanking New by Clifford Henderson

Author:Clifford Henderson [Henderson, Clifford]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781602824249
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
Published: 2010-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

*

The next day I decide to celebrate the beginnings of my brand-new eyes by accompanying Rick to work. Jack’s Tires is full of all kinds of terrific things to look at. Cars, for one thing. I like cars—a lot. And tools are cool too—especially the air compressor. Bang! Bang! Bang! When I grow up I want to be good at fixing things like my dad. Maybe I’ll even get to wear coveralls. A green pair of coveralls will look really good with my hazel eyes.

My eyes are going to be one of my best features.

Right after Rick’s and my morning break, Richard Hale shows up. Rick is surprised when he sees his dad walk through the open garage door. I am too, so I do a quick scan, which reveals that this morning, after eating his two-minute egg and slice of twice-toasted bread—which Dorothy’s boycott of the kitchen has forced him to learn to make for himself—he decided to forgive his son for ripping up the flag.

“What are you doing here?” Rick asks casually, although he thinks he knows the answer: Dorothy told him about me.

“We need to talk,” Richard says.

Rick picks up a tire and brings it over to the tank of water to check it for leaks. “So, you’re not mad, then?”

“Well, I was, but I’ve had some time to think about it.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

“I want to believe that.”

“And she’s a wonderful woman, Dad. You’re going to like her.”

“Who’s that, son?”

The tire slips from Rick’s hands into the tank, splashing both of them.

“Whoa Nelly!” Richard jokes. “I didn’t come here for a bath!”

Rick bends down, hoping to appear intent on finding a leak. This also gives him time to think.

“There it is, son.”

“What?” Rick curses himself for being so jumpy.

“The leak. There it is!” Richard points to a little line of bubbles shooting to the surface of the water.

Rick pulls the tire out, digs in his pocket for a piece of wax stick, and marks the spot. “Mom didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what, son?” Richard reaches toward the tire. “Here, let me give you a hand.”

Rick jerks the tire away. “I can do it! It’s my job.” He looks around to see if Chad, his coworker, is watching, but Chad is in the office writing up an invoice. Richard follows Rick over to the repair area where Rick pries the tire off the rim and prepares to grind the weakened spot for a patch. “I’m getting married,” he says, then, flips on the grinder.

“What?” Richard yells over the gnashing sound.

Rick turns off the grinder, leaving nothing but the sound of static from the garage radio. “I’m getting married.”

Richard braces himself against the workbench. He’s always assumed he’d know the girl, that her family and his would be playing croquet or something out in the backyard, that he and the girl’s father would give each other covert nods of approval while the two lovebirds whacked balls around on his green lawn.

“Her name is Nina,” Rick says.

“Well! This is sudden.

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