Bob's Bikes and Auto Repair

Suzie pouted a bit when Scott sat up front with Mrs. Carter.

“You know, Scott, if you wore your uniform out today, you’d get a lot more attention.”

“Mom!” Suzie chided.

“It’s true Suzie, you saw how good he looks in his uniform.”

“I appreciate the compliment Mrs. Carter, but I’m not trying to draw attention to myself.”

“Yeah, mom, he doesn’t need anyone else paying attention to him.”

“Well, I’m going to take you out to a nice dinner this week, and I want you to wear your uniform when we do.”

All Scott could do was chuckle, “Okay, Mrs. Carter, I’ll do it for you.”

“You can call me Anne, Scott.”

“I don’t know if that would be wise Mrs. Carter.”

It was Mrs. Carter’s turn to chuckle. Scott knew the Carter women loved teasing and messing with him, and he knew most of it was in good fun, but it could get to be a little much, especially with how clear Suzie had been that she meant it. He was going to have to talk to her about it at some point, or this trip could turn into a nightmare.

Mrs. Carter dropped them off at the bike shop. Scott had run past it this morning, but now the shop was open and alive.

He recognized a few bikes, A Bad Boy from Mr. Johnson, he always came to talk with Mr. Buzek. Mr. Anderson was always finding some excuse to tinker with his Fat Boy, and there were more than a few cars and trucks there getting serviced. It looked like business was good.

Scott walked into the Bike Shop, Suzie hanging off his arm, staking her claim to him.

“Hey there, young fella, what can I help you with?” A chubby man with gray hair and a cane got up and walked around the counter.

“Wait, Scott, is that you?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Buzek.”

“You know better than to call me my dad’s name, Scott. Look at you, the military did you good son.”

“Thanks Bob, how are things going?”

“Good, business is good. Remember that big dealership in Springfield that tried to take our Bike sales?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Well they pissed off a bunch of the old guys and now they just sell crotch-rockets.”

“And how’s the garage doing?”

“Great, Jenn runs the whole thing now, she’s a dang good mechanic but even better running the garage.” Bob reached over and hit the intercom button. “Hey Jenn, get out here.”

“We’re busy enough she’s had to pick up a lot of repair work herself, if you are looking we could use a knowledgeable pair of hands to help.”

“I might just take you up on that.”

“Bob, I keep telling you to be more professional on the. . . Scott?”

“Hey Jennifer.”

“Oh my god, Scott!” she yelled, running up and hugging him forcefully.

Jennifer had always been a tomboy, growing up around her dad’s bike shop and around bikers she had always seemed more like one of the guys. She was pretty enough, her brown eyes matched the color of her curly hair, and she had always been in good shape. She could be pretty when she wanted but she was tough as nails and had a temper you didn’t ever want to see. Scott always thought she looked better in her overalls with grease or mud on her, it just felt more like Jenn.

She pulled away and punched him in the shoulder, hard.

“Ow.”

“That’s for not calling.” She punched him again. “And that’s for not visiting.” A third punch.

“What was that one for?”

“Because I’m pissed at you for the first two.”

“I’m sorry Jenn, I’ve been a crappy friend.”

“Yeah, you have.” She said, not trying to hide being upset with him. “And who’s your friend, is that little Suzie?”

“It’s me, but I’m not little anymore, I’m 18 now.”

Jennifer looked at Scott with an accusatory expression. “Are you now? Do you know why we called you little Suzie all the time?”

“Because you didn’t want me to hang out with you?”

“No because you were always flirting with Scott and we needed to make sure he remembered how young you were.”

“Damn Jenn, you act like I was some kind of creeper.”

“No, you were just dumb when it came to girls Scott, and Suzie was always flirting with you.”

“He doesn’t have to worry about my age anymore, I’m an adult.”

“Yep, she’s 18 alright.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“It means you are trying too hard to convince Scott you’re all grown up, but it just shows how much of a teenager you are.”

Scott had a sinking feeling that he was caught in the middle of something he really needed to get away from. Fortunately, Suzie was focused enough on Jennifer that she didn’t notice him escape her grasp and head over to talk to Bob.

“You all right, Scott?” Bob said snickering.

“I’m surviving. I need a ride, you have anything cheap and decent right now?”

“I’ve got better than that, but you’ll have to talk to Jennifer to get it.”

“What do you mean?”

Bob pointed out the back window of the shop. Scott walked back and looked out the window.

“Oh my god, is that Audrey?”

“That it is.”

“But how?”

“After Martha pawned it, Jennifer got Mike to let her redeem it and she’s been taking care of it ever since.”

Audrey was Scott’s dream bike, an FXWG Wing Glide. He had fallen in love with the bike from the Billy Joel video. when he found a rusted out one for cheap, he bought it, but he never could get it running right.

“It looks great, did she rebuild it?’

“Yep. It hit her hard when you disappeared, I think fixing it up was her way of keeping your friendship alive.”

“I’m so sorry Bob, I ran away and didn’t look back. I’m finding out now just how many people I hurt when I did.”

Suzie came up and grabbed his arm. Scott could feel she was aggravated.

“You saw her.” Jenn walked up behind them.

“She’s gorgeous, thank you for saving her.” Scott looked at Jennifer, she looked sad.

“She’s a good bike, I couldn’t let her be abandoned.”

That stung.

“Jenn, I’m sorry for the way I left, and for not. . .”

“We all understand why you left Scott, it just hurt that you never got in touch with us.”

“Yeah, that was shitty of me.”

Jenn smiled a weak smile. “I need to get back in the garage, so much work to do.”

“Scott’s available to work, Jenn. You could use a good mechanic.”

She paused for a moment. “We’d need to talk first, a real talk.”

“Are you coming to the bar tonight with Doug?” Scott asked. “We can talk there.”

“I’m coming, but we’re going to have fun, not talk about serious shit.”

Scott was not looking forward to that conversation, Jenn had let him know she was hurt, but there was more to it, and it wasn’t going to be fun. He really didn’t like knowing he had hurt Jenn.

“About Audrey, any chance I can buy her from you?”

“No.” Jenn replied, “I can’t sell what isn’t mine, she’s yours.”

“I can’t just take her after all the work you put into her.”

“She’s yours Scott, I fixed her up for you, and I’ve held onto her long enough.”

“Jennifer.”

“That’s final Scott.” He knew better than to argue with Jennifer once her mind was set.

“Thank you, Jenn, it means a lot.”

She turned and glared at him.

“If you run off and abandon her at a pawn shop again, I’ll kill you myself.”

She walked off to the shop as Scott watched her leave.

Suzie also watched her leave, but once she was out of sight, Suzie was practically bouncing.

“You’re taking me around on your bike!”