Finding Home in Redemption

Chapter Three

Introducing... Aaron! 

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Work, for me, typically started at eight in the morning. I'd respond to all the missed calls and emails, and schedule appointments for people needing repairs or maintenance. I'd take coffee and donuts to the shop out back and let the boys fight over who got what while I cleaned up the office and did their stock inventory. It never failed that when I finished, there was always one donut left; a plain glazed, which happened to be my favorite.

Our lot specialized in selling used cars, but they were new enough to generate plenty of profit while remaining affordable to our customers. I don't think I had ever witnessed a car come through with more than 20,000 miles on it and it was rare for us to have a client who was upset. With three sales associates who were always busy I'd say there was a need for a place like Cooper's.

The shop was at the back of the property and was mostly run by our mechanics. Pop and I didn't have the talent or knowledge it took to work on a vehicle, so we left it to the boys.

When Pop first opened the shop, he decided retired military and reformed convicts would make up his employee base. He believed in second chances.

It made him angry to see the men and women that spent their lives protecting us go through unemployment. Having served time himself in the Marines, he hated watching his brothers struggle to find jobs and provide for themselves and their families. If there was one group of people that deserved immediate employment, it was the men and women that served our country. Another thing that frustrated him was that the people that earned second chances, once out of prison, hardly ever received one. After extensive research on an individual and a reference letter from their parole officer, he hired Simon, Drake, and Raj. Pop's heart gravitated toward helping the underdog, so naturally, I was the apple and he was the tree.

I had never seen him waver in his obsession with cars, hence my name, Bentley. The woman who gave birth to me let Pop give me my name and thank God for that. I would have been a Violet Clementine otherwise, so crisis averted in my opinion. Named and raised by a car fanatic, you'd think I would be obsessed with them too, but I wasn't. I loved the business and interacting with people, but it wasn't about what we sold. Those customers gave my life purpose every single day, and that is what I cherished.

I would usually clock out at 5:00 P.M., but six days into November that wasn't the case. From start to finish I was always running. We had shipments of parts coming in, customers that weren't scheduled showing up and Pop sold more cars that day than he had in the last two weeks put together.

I didn't get to leave until well past 9:00 P.M., which meant it was freezing and dark. I argued with myself the whole walk home about not having a car. If I could have swallowed my fear, I would have used one from the lot, but the fact was, I couldn't deal with getting behind the wheel.

To keep my mind from racing on the walk home, I wondered what Sylvia had made for dinner. Every now and then I would eat with them, but that was out of the question tonight. Since I had my Crockpot full of food I was planning to pack for lunches all week, I'd be settling for a lunch meat sandwich and a can of soda.

As soon as I saw the figure on the steps of my apartment building, I knew something was about to change. The dog bounding up to me gave the identity of my visitor away.

He was altering the dynamic of our relationship forever.

"Hi there, Dog!" I said, laughing as he searched through my bags, almost knocking me down in the process. "I don't have any food right now, I'm sorry buddy." I didn't notice Man had stood and started making his way toward us. It was late, and even though I'd been feeding him for months, I couldn't stop the immediate reaction of fear I felt. What if he was on something and that's why he was waiting for me? I hated the thought as soon as it popped into my head.