Bombus

Chapter 1

[Alex's theme: Stand By Me by Ben E. King]

  Stepping into the bathroom, I saw my younger sister already brushing her teeth while having her headphones on. She glanced over while stepping to the side, allowing me room in front of the mirror, and I grabbed my toothbrush.

  "Mornin', Alex." Sticking my toothbrush into my mouth, I quickly moved my right hand from my chin to my other hand before placing my left into the crook of my elbow and raising the right. She watched my reply before handing me the toothpaste. "You sleep okay?" I shook my hand yes and started brushing my teeth.

  I had to lean to the side a few seconds later when Charlie started air drumming to the solo playing from her Walkman. I continued the morning routine in the bathroom all the while my little sister was listening to her music and gargling mouthwash. When I saw her sniff her armpits and shrug, I quickly grabbed her before she left and handed her her deodorant while cringing.

  "....Is it actually that bad?" I nodded my head to answer her. "Thanks for the catch." And she put on the deodorant as I left the bathroom. Returning to my room to get dressed, I didn't even bother turning on the light since plenty of sun was coming in through the crack between the heavy curtains. Much like Charlie's room, my walls were covered in band posters and random images, however, the posters in here were for rock bands and Billy Idol.

  After pulling on my clothes I headed to the kitchen for breakfast and overheard Mom and Charlie talking about a car for her 18th birthday again.

  "You know, 500 bucks is all I need left to finish the corvette." Charlie popped off as she sat at the table and poured herself some cereal.

  "I don't have $500! You know how much nurses make."

  "Half as much as the doctors for twice the work, right?"

  "Tell you what, kiddo. I got another job interview tomorrow, if all goes well, I'll have you swimming in car parts." Ron pointed while smiling as he stood by the sink and was helping Mom with the dishes.

  "I prefer cash, Ron."

  "Don't be rude. Alex, feed the dog."

  "Conan is Otis's dog, make him do it." Charlie popped off as the little brown and white dog came running at me.

  "What?" The youngest rose his voice as he walked in while tightening his yellow belt.

  "Oh! You look so grown up in your karate suit. My baby boy is becoming a man." Mom began to gush, and I just rolled my eyes before opening the fridge to grab some juice. "Oh, shit! I'm gonna be late. Can you drop your brother at karate on your way to work, please?"

  "Um, I-I could, if I had a car."

  "Just let him follow you on your bike so no one abducts him."

  "'Abducts him'? You just said he's a grown man now."

  "If anyone tries anything, I will rupture their freaking spleen." Otis stated, but I knew he really couldn't simply because he was still just a yellow belt. Sighing, I tapped Charlie's shoulder and signed to her that I'd take Otis to his lesson so she wouldn't have to worry about it. She thanked me, and after breakfast, the youngest was following me into the garage to my bike. Charlie had enough stress working at the boardwalk, so I wanted to at least help a little.

  Otis hopped onto the back of the motorcycle and grabbed my shoulders to make sure he didn't fall off. I made sure he had on a helmet before even turning on the engine and pulled mine on as well. I was thankful for the bike, but like the corvette, it had been a project long in the making. I had only finished fixing this 100cc machine about a year ago with Charlie's help and spare parts from work.

  For the most part, we worked together to fix both the bike and the corvette, however, it'd been taking much longer on the car since it needed more work and parts than the bike. Dropping Otis off, he kept the helmet with him so he'd have it later and I wouldn't have to hold on to it while going to work.

~

  "Alex, a little help, if you don't mind." I looked up when I heard my name and saw Charlie waving a basket. Wiping the grease from my hands with a rag, I walked over to her and followed her into the scrapyard by the mechanic shop where I worked. The brunette handed me the basket and climbed onto a boat to check it out.

  She had her toolbox with her and went straight to the engine to see if she could salvage some usable parts from it. Leaning onto the edge of the boat, I watched her work to take out a specific part before she smiled and handed it to me. It looked fairly new with how clean it was and the condition it was in, so hopefully, it worked.

  Putting the part into the basket, Charlie hopped off the boat and-

  The boat rocked off what had been holding it up and crashed into the other boat right next to it, causing the short row of boats to topple over until they hit a car on the end that was covered with a tarp. Charlie looked at me with wide eyes and apologized, but my attention was on the headlight of the car now peeking out from under the tarp.

  I couldn't remember Uncle Hank or anyone bringing in a yellow car.... Maybe it had been brought in while I was off? Charlie followed my gaze as I walked over to inspect it, and she was a step behind me. Pulling off the tarp, I glanced at my younger sister after seeing the yellow beetle underneath. The windows and hood were caked with dust, but I didn't see any rust or serious cosmetic damage.

  Charlie went around and tried the door, finding it unlocked as she looked inside and waved a bee away from her face.

  "Alex, look at this." Coming to the side, I looked in and saw more dust and leaves on the floorboard, but everything inside was intact as well. "The keys are in here too...." She mumbled before trying the engine. Listening, I heard the failed attempt for the engine to start, but the radio turned on and was making random noises like static until it cut off.

  Charlie leaned back in the seat and waved away another bee before a few more showed up and chased her out of the car. Chuckling as she slammed the door, she gave me a look, and I already knew what she was thinking.

  Signing to her, I told her what it would cost her for me to work on the beetle.

  "Oh, come on, my birthday is tomorrow." I shook my head and repeated my price. "You'd do it free if you loved me." She raised her brows, but my reply was just a scoff. "Fine," Charlie sighed. "you win, you tyrant." I grabbed her hand to shake on it, and now she had to do my chores for a week.

  Helping my younger sister salvage some more parts, I waved to her as she left to go pay for them. I, on the other hand, went to get the tow truck to pull out the beetle and start working on it.

~

  "You'll never get that thing to work, you know." One of my coworkers popped off, and I was tempted to shoot them with the hose I was using to clean the yellow beetle off with. I had found out that all the bees after Charlie had come from a small hive over one of the vehicle's tires, and after moving it, I was cleaning it off before getting to work under the hood.

  I worked well into the night on the blasted thing, having a bit of difficulty as some of the parts were rather odd-looking. However, I knew my way well enough around plenty of engines to figure out what was what. I didn't finish the job that night, but I'd have enough time tomorrow to do so before the end of the day so I could try and get Uncle Hank to let me give Charlie the car as a gift.