Page 12 of Smitty

The faded sign out front had been replaced, but the building itself hadn’t changed a bit. Hell, it still had the same bay doors, the same gravel lot, and the same busted brick steps out front. I’d tripped on the damn things at least a hundred times and complained to Cyrus, but he always had some excuse for not getting to it.

A lifetime seemed to pass as I sat there staring at it, and then, the driver’s door opened. Goose climbed in and tossed a box over into the back. “Got it.”

I didn’t answer. I just kept staring at that old garage that held a million memories, good and bad. It didn’t take long for Goose to realize something was up and ask, “Something wrong?”

“That’s where I got my first real job.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I was eighteen and out on my own for the first time, and the owner took pity on me.” Silence settled over us for a moment, but I eventually added, “I didn’t know anybody. I had no place to stay, no job, and no plan. I just had a couple of duffel bags, a few hundred bucks, and my truck.”

“No plan at all?”

“Hell, no. All I had in my head was getting the hell out of Bristol.”

“Understood.”

I didn’t have to tell him why. Goose knew the story. All the brothers did. A couple of kids, a 4-wheeler, and a freak accident that left a twin without his better half. It was a tough one to stomach, no matter how many times you heard it. I lived it, breathed it, felt it every time my mother looked at me, and when I couldn’t take it a second longer, I got the hell out of there.

“The money went fast,” I continued. “Faster than I thought it would.”

“It always does.”

“I slept in my truck and picked up work wherever I could find it. Construction. Loading docks. Landscaping. Even donated plasma a time or two.”

“A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”

“Yes, he does.” I ran my hand over the back of my neck and sighed. “I even spent a few nights at a shelter. The weather had turned, and I was low on gas and out of options.”

I could still remember that cold feeling of desperation and embarrassment, and how it seemed like nothing was going right. Goose pulled me from my thoughts when he asked, “What happened?”

“Cyrus happened.” Goose raised an eyebrow, so I motioned my head toward the garage. “He’s the owner.”

Just the sound of his name brought a smile to my face. He was leaning into his sixties, his hair had gone white a long time ago, and he scowled more than any man I’d ever met. He chewed tobacco, the kind that came in a pouch, and he always had a tool in either his hand or his back pocket.

I chuckled as I told him, “My pickup had broken down right in front of his shop. I popped the hood and fiddled around with hoses and wires I knew nothing about, and I was dishing out all kinds of profanity when he walked up wearing a pair of old overalls and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He didn’t even ask. He just leaned in and took a quick look before he announced something about my alternator being shot and that I needed to get it to the shop.”

Goose didn’t move.

He just sat there, waiting to hear the rest of the story, so I gave it to him.

“I asked him what it was gonna cost, and it was way more than I had. I told him I’d have to wait, but waiting really wasn’t an option. I had to work. I had to make money, and I couldn’t do that without a truck.”

“So, what’d he do?”

“He fixed it anyway. Told me I could sweep floors or help out with inventory until I earned enough to cover the parts.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.” I nodded. “And when he found out I was sleeping in my truck, he let me stay in the room above the shop. He didn’t stop there. He taught me all there was to know about fixing cars.”

It seemed like a lifetime ago, but those days meant a lot to me. Cyrus became the father I’d lost after my brother died. He turned my life around and never once made a big deal about it. He never treated me like a charity case. He simply gave me a chance, and looking back, I see how breaking down in front of his shop was one of the best things that could’ve ever happened to me.

“There were days I didn’t know what I would’ve done if he hadn’t been there.”

“Sounds like a good man.”

“One of the best.”