The Arsonist (Warren Peace)

Chapter Three

I arrived at the garage heading over to my locker stripping myself of my leather jacket also setting my wallet and headphones inside the metal compartment. I headed into the lobby area and sat in the spinny chair and finished some paperwork that I’d been procrastinating about I looked up when the tiny bell rang out signalling that someone had walked through the door I spotted the red streak, “you wouldn’t happen to be stalking me now would you?” the automated voice asked his eyes shot up to mine and I smirked at him, “I was told I should talk to Mr. Payne about hiring.” I motioned for him to follow me I knocked on the closed wooden door, “Mr. Payne you have someone interested in the hiring position.” I opened the door, “I’ll be in the garage if ya need me Mr. Payne.” he nodded, waving me away. I walked out of the office and noticed a couple, “sorry for the wait, how can I help you?” the woman smiled, “hi um where’s the mechanic we need to talk to him.” I lifted my brow typing out, “I’m the mechanic on shift ma’am.” her eyebrows shot to her hairline, “oh wow sorry I just figured.” 

She trailed off, “anyway we need a tire change we were wondering how much it would cost.” I walked around the desk bending over clicking a few things on the computer and typed something in, “what kind of car is it, how many tires need changed, and what tires were you hoping to get?” the man spoke up this time, “it’s an SUV, we need all four tires changed, and we were hoping to get year-round tires if possible.” I typed in the new information clicking my tongue a few times as I made the calculations scribbling down a few things, “hmm it’s looking to be around $125.” the man scoffed at the autmoated voice, “sir if that’s gonna be a problem there’s other shops that could do this but they’ll probably charge you hella’ve more than we are or you can do it yourself.” I typed angrily the woman turned her lip up, “fine whatever but it better be a good job for the price we’re paying.” ma’am we’re the cheapest garage for miles and I’m the best damn mechanic in this town.” the voice sounded mocking making me smile a little.

I walked over and pressed a button allowing the garage door to open, “if you could pull your vehicle into the garage that’d be great.” the man complied and I entered the garage area followed by the woman, “and exactly how low will this take?” I clicked my tongue, "if you want a good job like you requested two maybe three hours by myself.” she huffed as she read it but didn’t say anything as she walked away.  I plugged my phone into the speaker that sat into the corner and blasted Ophelia by The Lumineers and walked over to the control panel lifting the car until I was eye level with the car tires. I took off the hubcap using the opposite end of the lug wrench I struggled with a few of them but managed to unscrew them after putting all my force into it I scrunched my nose at the black gunk that coated my fingers with each twist of the lug nut I gripped the tire by the barely there tread and gently tugged on the rubber until it came loose I set it beside me I grabbed the new tire from the other side and pressed it into place until the lug bolts were properly in position. I tightened the lug nuts by hand checking that they were all twisted the best I could manage. I repeated the process with the other three tires before lowering the car to the ground but not fully and tightened the lug nut with the lug wrench pushing with all my body weight. Once I completed that step I lowered the vehicle completely and made sure that everything was properly in place and tightened properly. 

I grimaced as my hands were covered completely by black substance. I wiped my hands before I grabbed the silver hubcaps, placing them where they were supposed to go. I drove the car out of the garage and I grabbed the keys from the ignition and walked into the lobby, “alright all done.” the man handed me the money, “ it’s pulled around the front have a wonderful night.” I handed him the keys and he nodded towards me and headed out the door, “Blake can you come here please?” I mentally groaned but plastered a smile onto my face, “how can I help you Mr. Payne?” he motioned towards Warren, “he’ll be working alongside you so I need you to show him the ropes think you can do that?” I nodded, “yes sir.” I noticed that my music was still playing so I walked over turning it off, “you have good music taste.” I turned towards Warren, “thanks not too many people think so.” I walked over to a car that needed an oil change I wrote on the board, "can you read sign language?" he shrugged, "a little." I smiled and started to sign so it'd be easier to show him what to do, “alright you want to watch me do it or do you already know how?” he shrugged, “I’ve seen it done a few times but I never really paid any attention to it.” I sighed, “so you want me to take you step by step.” he nodded, “please.” I smiled as I watched his eyes watch the movements of my hand, “alright first to check the dipstick.” I pulled it out and the liquid was a dark amber color.

“It’s still an amber color but it’s getting dark so it needs to be replaced.” I put my hair up into a bun so it would out of my face then slid underneath the car and he crouched down so he could see what I was doing, “then you unscrew this little cap here I grabbed an empty bucket and slid it underneath the drain and moved out of the way as I unscrewed the cap completely allowing oil to drain.” I slid out wiping my hands, “you’ll always wanna wear old clothes because you’re going to be filthy by the end of the work day.” he nodded, “normally we would need to flush the old oil but since the oil wasn’t too bad this time it’ll be fine just to add the oil.” he nodded I put the cap back in place and walked over grabbing the proper oil, “think you can add it?” he nodded and slowly added some he started to add too much, “okay okay that’s enough.” he stopped looking a little sheepish, “sorry.” I shook my head, “it’s fine it’ll be nice to have the extra hands now.” I closed the hood after checking everything was in order I walked into the lobby, “alright the oil change is finished Mr. Lee have a nice night.” the old man smiled at me then at Warren, “you too ma’am and Warren don’t forget to stop by to check your schedule.” he nodded

The old man offered one last wave as he drove off, “this is a second job?” he nodded, “I’m trying to get a place of my own.” I hummed surprising myself, “if you want a cheaper apartment I think there’s one available on my floor you shouldn’t over work yourself.” I walked around the desk sitting down filling out some more paperwork, “can you tell me about it so I know what I’m getting into?” I shrugged, “stereotypical apartment one bedroom carpeted there’s a tiny kitchen area along with a bathroom and all the doors have deadbolts along with a regular lock on the doorknob.” I turned the screen towards him so he could read what I typed he nodded, “do you know your landlord’s number?” I nodded jotting it down, “here ya go.” I bit my lip, “I might be overstepping a line here but how come you seems so different outside of school?” he shrugged, “you seem so nice now but at school you avoid everyone and seem so easy to anger.” he sighed, “everyone assumes I’m gonna be like my dad so I guess if I pretend that I can be like him they’ll leave me alone.” I rolled my eyes typing quickly, “they’re all assholes if that’s how they judge you.” he looked at me skeptically, “you know my parents who are yours?” I shrugged, “mom was killed when I was four her name was Anita Kitsch.” his eyes widened, “my mom knew her they were inseparable in high school apparently.” I smiled, “my father is Steve Stronghold.” I typed his name grimacing at his name like it was poison he grimaced at the name, “wait so you’re related to Will.” I nodded and looked at the time, “alright my shift has officially ended which means yours had too I’ll write down my usual schedule and give it to you tomorrow alright?” he nodded, “let me walk you home please.” I nodded, “alright.” I walked over to my locker grabbing my things before heading back to the front of the store, “let’s go.” I signed.