None Of His Business

The Man

Tommy knew cars. If it had four wheels, he had wrenched on it, maybe even driven it a time or two.

Times were hard though, and what it took to keep his hard working Dad’s honest garage had made him a dishonest man. He started taking jobs he knew he couldn’t do and did his best to patch things up enough that the customer was out the door. Tommy didn’t care if the guys engine blew up in a few thousand more miles. By then, his check had cleared, and Tommy could keep the lights on another week.

So it wasn’t out of character for Tommy to accept a job servicing a make he had never heard of.

“Yeah we’ll have your Kaiser Grand Rapids back on the road lickety split!” Tommy said with a handshake and a smile.

“Very good” Said the old man with a suit that smelled oh so strongly of mothballs

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The Damage

Lunch was over, and it was time to assess the damage of what rolled into the shop this morning. An Altima with so much rust on it it was a miracle the lift didn’t snap it in two, an F150 with lots of play in the front wheel bearings, and a brown Kaiser Grand Rapids that looked more than out of place in the shop.

The Kaiser was, cosmetically, perfect. It looked like it just rolled off the showroom floor in 19-? What is the year of this vehicle? Tommy realized he was so keen on taking the job he didn’t even bother to ask such a simple question. It had to be 70s, the body, the baby blue seats, it had to be 70s.

What was the problem with it again? The old man was vague, and seemed like he couldn’t recall what was wrong with the car. Tommy’s need for the job made this alright though, just find something to fix on the old thing, there’s probably a seal and some fluids somewhere that needs to be replaced.

Tommy got in the drivers seat and backed out of the garage to take it for a diagnostic run. It started up great, just listen to that all American V8. This is why he got into cars. He drove down Main St towards Center Ave and could feel the power underneath. The Grand Rapids was an animal, he could feel it, why wasn’t it named the Tiger or something?

From Center Ave the interstate was just a few miles away. The whole way Tommy kept slowing and gassing the thing.

Raw Power

Kaiser knew how to make a car

“Where have you been my whole life?” Tommy jokingly asked the steering wheel before violently swinging it into a left turn onto the interstate

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TO BE CONTINUED