Kit’s POV
My eyes wondered around the small car shop quite a few miles from camp. It smelled like oil and grease with stains covered the floor and boxes crammed on every available spot on the shelves. All of them had barcodes and serial numbers on them but they meant nothing me, Roland however scanned each number as if he knew what he exactly what number he was looking at and what it meant. Then again he probably did.
I stuck out in this shop like a sore thumb with my black ripped jeans, left ear pierced, shaved undercut, in a camp shirt that was a little too small for my liking. Roland however seemed to fit in here if no where else. For the first time ever every bit of tension left his body, he stood up straight with confidence, his eyes focused on nothing but numbers and not scanning his surroundings like normal.
“So what all do we need to get,” I asked after a while of us seemingly going in circles.
I hadn’t been told where we were even going when Andrew came to get us this morning. Roland was dressed and ready to go like usual when the knock rang through the cabin. He answered the door and went to immediately walk out and close the door behind him but when Andrew caught my eyes he stopped and looked back to him.
“Why don’t we bring Kit along,” Andrew asked with a wide smile as he looked for Roland’s reaction.
“He’s not dressed,” Roland said, staring at my sweat pants and sleep shirt. I had planned on lounging around the cabin all day, only leaving for meals.
“We can wait for him. They don’t close until 5, we still have literally all day.”
Roland looked disappointed as he walked back into the cabin and sat on his bed to wait. I don’t bother responding as I grab a few clothes and head to the bathroom. I’m back in a few minutes and the second I close the bathroom door behind me Roland is off the bed and back outside the cabin without sparing a glance to me or Andrew.
“Are we allowed to do this,” I asked as we got into a car that was placed in front of the office.
“Only when we’re accompanied by a staff member,” Andrew said as he pulled a random shirt out of the passenger seat. “Also I’m going to need you to wear this. Roland got a new one because we had notice but this one is clean but used. You can either wear it over your current shirt or you can just change now.”
I take the shirt and without hesitation pull my shirt over my head and pull the other one on. I don’t miss the way Roland stares at the motion before getting in the car.
The ride was a bit longer than I would have wanted considering it was done in complete silence while Roland fidgeted slightly in his seat.
Again the second we stopped the car Roland was pushing the door open and all but running into the shop. My eyes barely had enough time to read the name of the car shop before Andrew was ushering me out of the car.
“I have to keep eyes on both of you at all times so try to keep up with him if at all possible.”
Instead of answering in words he began rattling off numbers as if I had any hope of not only remembering all of them but also help him find the number he was looking for.
“Helpful,” I sighed. I was never really a big fan of cars. I never understood the want to have the fastest or most expensive car, as long as it got me from point A to point B, it was good enough to me. “Why don’t we just ask the guy up front for help? It’s his shop, surely he would know where everything is.”
“I know where everything I need is at,” he said as he made yet another lap around the store without grabbing anything.
“Then why aren’t we getting it and leaving? Don’t you want to go fix your car?”
“I’m memorizing,” he said as he read off another number with pure joy in his voice. “See. Break pads, fuel pumps, and routers all together and then it switches to jacks, lug rippers, and air pumps. Nothing is where it’s supposed to be. The order is all off. These should be on different isles.”
“And this makes you happy,” Andrew asked. He had been quiet this whole time and keeping his distance by staying several paces back from us, occasionally stopping to chat with the man at the front desk but never speaking to us until now.
“No it’s awful but I’ll fix that later,” his face turned into a small scowl but the joy in his voice still present.
“Then why do you seem so excited about everything being wrong?”
“I didn’t think I’d be able to this again. It takes a lot of money to start fixing cars, sure after you get started you can make a good profit but it takes a lot of money up front and I was homeless. I figured the closest I would get was a tune up shop that makes you be done with everything in 30 minutes. This is so much better.”
After that I can’t find it in myself to be annoyed at the time spent in this shop anymore, despite us taking several more trips around the store without getting anything we needed.
“Hold this,” Roland finally said after the 20th trip around the whole store, pushing a small box into my hand. “And this,” a bigger box, “this too,” an even bigger box he somehow skillfully balanced in my arms before walking off.
“Andrew grab two of those,” he said as he pointed to two jugs of oil before pilling two more boxes into my arms.
“Can I go put these down at the desk,” I asked as my arms began to shake under the weight.
“No,” he said as he grab a few more boxes for himself. A new smile covered his face as he reached for what seemed to be the last box.
“Roland have you been looking at these prices,” Andrew asked as he looked at the tag for the last box he had picked up.
“No,” he answers again before being to walk to the counter.
“Now hold on, you have a budget. Do you even need all of this? You told me and Mary it would only be like 5 things.”
“6,” Roland said without a care.
“Okay, 6 then. Regardless you have ten boxes here. What is all of this?”
“Router, water pump, hydraulic pump, and fuel pump,” he said as he pointed to the things in my hand. “Axle, jack, and lug rip,” he said as he held up his own things. “Oil, oil pump, windshield wipers, and a box of fuses,” pointing to Andrew.
“And you need all of that for the car you currently have?”
“No, this is for the next cars. If you build up a small stock of most common items you’ll need you don’t have to leave the workshop as often.”
“Good point,” Andrew said carefully, “but we don’t have the money for this yet. I think for now it’s best that we stick to what you need and after you sell this car we can talk about getting more.”
Roland’s frown was deep as he looked around the boxes.
“That’s not fair.”
“How is that not fair? We don’t have the money so we can’t have them. We’ll have to come back when you sell the car.”
“But they’re useful and we need them so we should get them when while we’re here.”
“Not this time,” Andrew says carefully. “We’ll come back, when we have the money, and you’ll have a bigger budget after the profit. Until then we get what you need.”
“I don’t want to do that.”
“Andrew has a point,” I said as I put back the fuel and water pump just to keep my arms from shaking quite as much. “If we don’t have the money then there’s nothing we can do.”
Roland looks utterly devastated as he looked around the boxes in our arms.
“It’s not a no,” Andrew said sadly. “It’s just a pause. Just an understanding that it’s best to hold on for a second.”
The change came slowly. The smile on Roland’s face came first, then he’s shoulders curled in on himself, and lastly his eyes began scanning everything around him as if he was expected one of us to just start screaming at him.
When all of the extra boxes were put back we headed to the counter.
“I’m glad you found everything you needed,” the older man said with a smile on his wrinkled face. The name sewn on his shirt said Russ and it seemed to match him quite well. “That total is going to be $653.34. Cash or card?”
Roland looked up to Andrew briefly before looking back down at all the boxes on the counter.
“Can you cut us a bit of deal Russ,” Andrew said with his best therapist smile. “I’m sure you’ve heard of camp New Life. We’re actually a non profit that helps at risk kids and Roland here has asked us to help him fix cars to help make his stay a bit better. Is there anyway you can help us out?”
“I don’t know about that,” Russ sighed. “I’ll be honest with you, the big stores have kind of gutted us lately. I need to make a good sell or my wife is going to make me sell the place. I can 30 off if that helps but that’s about the best I can do. If you want to save money then I recommend putting that lug rip back and get a manual lug wrench. That’ll take about a 100 off the top and I’ll still get you that 30 off. It’ll bring it down to 523.”
“That’s still 23 over budget. Are you sure there’s nothing else you can do?”
“My wife is going to kill me for suggesting the manual, let alone the 30. I really don’t want to sleep in the yard tonight.”
“I want the automatic though,” Roland whispered as he ran his thumb over the hard case.
“I’m sorry kid. I can’t afford to let you have that. Maybe you can save up for it and come back,” Russ said. To his credit he did look pretty upset about it.
“Go pick up out a manual, Roland,” Andrew said as he pulled out two debit cards. “Put 500 on this and the rest on this one,” Andrew said with a frown.
The ride back to camp was much more awkward than the ride to the shop. I felt bad for him but there wasn’t anything to do. I mean Andrew already paid for what wasn’t in budget.
The second the car was parked Roland slumped out and moved to the trunk.
“Do you want help carrying all of that,” Andrew asked gently as he watched Roland put all the bags around his wrists. He was a lot stronger than he looked, his hands not shaking at all as he began walking to the broken car a few yards away. Roland doesn’t answer before sitting down by his car and unboxing the new parts.
“I have a few sessions for the day, would you mind sticking around him just in case he needs someone? If not I can get Mary to do it.”
“No I don’t mind. Have fun with your sessions.”
Sitting next to Roland as he unboxed everything was awkward. He barely looked up from what he was doing with a deep frown on his face.
“I wanted the automatic,” he mumbled as he took the lug wrench out of the packaging and immediately went to the tire.
“I know. But like Russ said, you can save up for it.”
“There’s no point in buying a new one when you have something that works.”
“There is if you want it.”
“Waste of money,” he mumbled. Any argument I had died in my throat. His selves had been rolled up, muscles I didn’t know he had tightened as he fought hard against the too tight bolt of the tire.
He was always so skinny. How has he been hiding them? Jesus.
I’ve known I was gay for a while but my mind did spin a bit at the thought of seeing Roland of all people this way.
He’s probably straight though so I force my eyes away from the sight and try to get a glimpse of the same Roland I had seen back in the parts shop.
Last updated December 30, 2023
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