KISS: Casablanca High School

Ch 95: Work, Work, Work (Peter)

Whistling softly, I ran a brush through my hair, tying it back into a ponytail and smoothing out my shirt. "Gotta get to work, can't be late," I hummed to myself, before popping open the box underneath my sock drawer and inhaling just a little bit of cocaine before skipping downstairs and heading to work.

Of course bossman Nick made me park my car out front since it was old and shiny and looked like new and people liked to see that. But despite making me use my car for free advertising, I was still handed a mop instead of a toolbox. "Hey, Peter, good to see you here on time again. If you wouldn't mind cleaning the floors before opening, that'd be great!"

I did mind, but it's not like there was anything I could do. I applied for the job as a janitor, and I mean yeah I intended to work my way up but I had to start somewhere.

I mopped the concrete floors, relishing the peacefulness of the garage before we opened and all hell broke loose. The bell rang and I was about to walk over and tell whoever was at the door that we didn't open for another half an hour but Nick ran out of his office, giving me a smile. "I got it! You just keep cleaning!"

With a shrug, I went back to mopping, wishing I'd be able to work on the car that was sitting parked nearby instead of just being the janitor. "Hey kid, what can I do for you?" Nick asked, hidden from sight on the other side of the wall. "Uh...I think it's the intake manifold that's busted, if you could just fix it that would be perfect, I got the replacement part and everything."

I knew that voice, and if I wasn't still a liiiiittle bit high I probably would've recognized it right away. "Sure, that'll set you back around $600 though," Nick said, and I could see the shadow of him leaning against his desk, giving whoever was standing there his same old sleazy grin I'm sure.

"600?! You know I can't do that, isn't there something I can do? Like clean the shop or anything, just to lower the cost a bit?" Gene. It was Gene. Grinning, I pulled out my phone.

"If you got the part I can do it for free once im off my shift, ur car will last til then and if it doesn't ill give u mine lol"

"Sorry kid, I got an employee who does that now. But hey, if you'd like your mom to drop by, we might be able to...aha, arrange a little something that would lower the price significantly," Nick said, voice getting disgustingly oily. I could practically feel Gene's blood pressure rising and breathed a sigh of relief as I saw him read my text, which was immediately followed by the sound of someone slamming their fist down on a desk, knocking a bunch of things to the ground.

"Talk about my mother like that again and you're dead. Don't expect me to come back," he spat, before the bell rang and the door slammed shut behind him. Nick, a little bit shaken, walked into the main garage, shaking his head. "You got some broken glass to clean up," he muttered. I grabbed a broom, giving him a grin. "Who was your friend?"

"Ah, this kid, I used to know his mom so I gave them a discount in the past. Too bad, I would've let you actually repair the manifold. Anyway, I'm sure you'll get your chance to show your stuff with an easy repair eventually."

Rolling my eyes, I just started to sweep.

It did hurt to have to experience the sounds and the sights and the smells of the garage and the mechanics at work, and the only thing that got me through the day was the knowledge that one day I'd be able to do that and until that one day I had working on Gene's car to look forward to.

I clocked out late that afternoon and drove Nick's free advertising home, sitting at home and waiting for Gene to show up so I could fix his damn car. The doorbell rang hours later and I heard Gram pull open the front door. "Can I help you, young man?"

"I'm looking for Peter Criss, is this his house? If not, my apologies, I must've misread the address." Usually that question would freak me out, but none of my dealers would've been that polite. "Gene! About time!" I cried, running into the living room. "Gram this is my friend Gene, I promised to help him fix his car, so I'm gonna go do that. Gene, this is my grandma, Ms. Vicki to you."

"It's very nice to meet you ma'am," Gene said, shaking Gram's hand. And for once, she smiled back right away. Impressive Gene, very impressive. I guess being a lady's man means you get to melt the hearts of old ladies too.

I walked with him to his car in the driveway, glancing at the red cast on his arm. "That's new," I said after a pause. "Yeah. Yesterday was fun. Then it turns out the intake manifold is shot so that's just really made my weekend. You sure you can fix it for free?"

I nodded, accepting the part from him and popping the hood. "Yeah, of course! I like doing this stuff and I haven't really been able to do this in ages since my car is in good shape. Sorry about what Nick said, didn't realize he was such a sleaze." Gene shrugged, ears burning. "It's whatever. I just won't go there anymore, it's fine," he growled. "If anything breaks down just text me man, I'm serious, I'll do it for free. You can give me the math homework once in a while in return."

A small smile spread across his face. "Deal." He watched over my shoulder as I repaired the manifold, whistling to myself. "So how'd you break your arm though?" I asked after a pause. "Wrestling. My last match of high school and I was trying to prevent myself from being taken down flat on the mat and I guess the way my opponent was applying pressure and like the angle and all that was just right to snap my...damn, I forgot the bone. Ulna maybe? But yeah, it should only take a few months to heal, which isn't terrible."

"Ah, I see. Sucks you lost man, I'm sorry." He grinned, shaking his head. "I didn't! You're looking at a state champ baby." I smiled back, punching him in the arm. "Ayy, nice! Can't say I'm surprised. Let me sign your cast, I want to be the first one to sign it."

He held out his arm, shrugging. "You can be the third one to sign it. Eric and Bruce got first dibs." "Aw, man! Aw, that's cute Eric did a little drawing for you. And I'm a huge fan of Bruce's message." Gene's face turned red as I grabbed a sharpie and signed my name, giving him a little drawing of a cat to go with it, which was nowhere near as good as Eric's fox.

"Yeah well...I mean you know, they give you pain meds and stuff, and I'm like kinda allergic to paracetamol, which sucks since it's like the most common painkiller, and since I was just there with Eric and Bruce and Coach none of them knew so the doctors gave me some."

"Ooh, what happens when you take paracetamol?" I asked, giving him a grin. His face grew redder as he ran his good hand through his hair. "I get like really loopy so I was hella out of it. I was basically high out of my mind and was trying to tear off my cast and jump out of the car and Bruce was driving and having to keep me from basically killing myself by diving onto the highway. So yeah, he was a little pissed when he wrote 'get well soon Gene, ur the best wrestler and the biggest dumbass in the state.'"

"But he followed it up with 'love u you big idiot' so I think it's sweet. Also a huge fan of Eric's message." "What was his again?" "Uh, let me see. 'Gene, never break ur arm again bc that was disgusting. Bruce is right, next time we're letting u jump out of the car. Love, ur fav fox.'  I'll admit, I don't get that last part."

Gene's face split into a grin. "That's what we call Eric because every time we have a wrestling tournament he curls up under the bleachers and basically hibernates for half the day. And he's a sly little bastard when he wants to be."

"Adorable. I love Eric man, he's such a cute kid." "Yeah, he's super nice. Tends to panic under pressure at time though. Like all I'm saying is that I'm glad Bruce was there, because Eric was probably freaking out more than I did. Kid does not have a career in the medical field."

"That's probably fair. Damn, I haven't been to his house in forever. I miss his mom's cooking." "Hey, at least you're lucky enough to have been to his house and gotten his mom's cooking."

Yeah, I really was lucky to have a friend like Eric. Just had to make sure I was able to keep him as one.