A loud pulsing sound ripped him from sleep. The dull heavy thuds continuing as his head shot from his pillow and his hand rushed for his knife. He stopped. He was safe.
'6,' he said. He felt a pang of guilt about his bad feeling towards the big man but laid back down and relaxed once the sound stopped.
Where Karla had laid was now long cold and her sleeping body replaced by a crumpled pile of dollars. The money for his bike, which judging by the missing keys was gone too. She must have left in the night to head back to her mum's place so she wouldn't wake alone and worry. Though she had left, her smell still remained on Scott's skin. A scent of flowers and oil covered that of his fusty sheets and pillows and more importantly had covered the smell of the suit. He sniffed his forearms where her skin had rubbed against his and smiled still half dazed in sleep and a little drunk on her scent his own ego.
He stretched out his arms in a triumphant yawn and writhed around under his sheets smiling all the while but the smile turned to a frown as he reached his hand around his back and scratched his ass. Several mosquito bites had appeared on there during the night. He groaned, then, knowing he was already late for work, winced at his watch. Late again, even after making the promise to Trevor about arriving early every day, this the first day and it was already broken. It was worth it though, worth being late, worth every itchy bite on his ass.
He smiled and jumped out of bed immediately pulling on his jeans. He grabbed the money from the bed and guilt tapped him on the shoulder. Had he used Karla, he questioned whether he taken advantage of her to get what he wanted. He mulled it over as he quickly dressed and pulled on his boots. He opened the door in to the hallway and rushed down the stairs and into the street where his bike had been parked, forgetting that he had sold it to Karla. The short ride to work was now a long walk so he trudged along the road towards Trevor's workshop.
The old familiar heat was already beginning to rise, as were the people of the town. Familiar faces began to emerge from their shacks and rooms along the narrow street. The heat was also raising the smell of honey buckets left outside doors waiting for collection. The hot smell of waste from dozens of men and women, that he would usually fly past on his bike, burned his nostrils.
As the heat and the stink started to peak, Scott finally reached the workshop with his hand pinching his nose so tightly that it was bright red when he released. He walked through the open door into Trevor's workshop and sighed as Trevor's telling stare greeted him.
'Here he is..,' said Trevor, 'almost on time as well'
'Hi Trev,' he said, before correction, 'Trevor.'
He tried to conceal the joy of last night from Trevor but he couldn't extinguish the small smirk.
'So where's the bike?' asked Trevor, 'Did it break down again?'
'No, the bike is fine,' replied Scott.
'So where is it? I take you didn't win the race last night' asked Trevor, 'and what is wrong with your nose.'
'It was close; no, I didn't win' said Scott sheepishly, 'and nothing.'
'Okay, so where is the bike?' said Trevor, 'it belongs to me now, I guess,'
'I sold it.'
'What,' said Trevor, 'you've been working on that thing for ages. I wouldn't have really taken it. You do know that right.'
Scott was taken aback. Had Trevor's harsh words the day before been for nothing? The impetus he had placed on him, the pressure to get the money because he was angry. He was standing there as if the hurtful words had never left his lips. Expecting Scott to just move on like Trevor hadn't publically dressed him down.
'Who did you sell it to?' asked Trevor
'Karla,' said Scott
'Karla!' he said 'Do you hate her or something, that thing is a death trap, and she already has a bike.'
Each one of Trevor's words seemed to shoot a surge of aggression through Scott. Particular the criticism of his work but then the guilt resurfaced. What if Trevor was right, what is he had tricked Karla into buying the bike when she was vulnerable.
Breaking the silence he said 'Well, here's your money' holding out the crumpled notes
Trevor took the money 'don't be like that Scott, what happened'
'Her bike was destroyed by the wall, Dennis pushed her off the track,' he revealed
'Really, she ok?' Trevor asked
'Yeah, she's fine,' his smirk grew remembering how her body moved on his
'I hate that prick Dennis' said Trevor
'Yeah, everyone does' agreed Scott
'Well, we better get to work then, hadn't we,' said Trevor standing up from his throne of piled wheels.
'Yeah,' said Scott whose attention had been drawn to the car sitting in the middle of the workshop. It was an old brown station wagon with cream detailing on the doors and panels. 'Is that Steve's car?' he asked. Steve, Betty's father, the man he hated. Scott always wanted to see Betty but not today not after last night with Karla.
'Yeah,' said Trevor, 'I will be working on that, but there's plenty for you today.'
Scott almost dared not to ask 'What about, the red bike, I can't afford to buy it'
Trevor looked up to the left and sucked air through his teeth, 'well, it needs fixing up before I can sell it, so I guess you should work on it.'
'Really?' said Scott
'Yeah, but there's three bikes in, they come first,' said Trevor, 'and stop fuckin smirkin just cos you've gotten your way don't think your something special.'
Scott chose not to correct Trevor over the nature of his cheer and stomped over to the first bike to begin work. He worked as quickly as could so burning to get his hands on the red bike changing a few parts and as always cleaning out the air filter full of sand. In every moment, in every action he wished he was working on it and rushed the job at hand. He was making so many mistakes it was actually taking longer than it would usually. He swore each time he snapped a tie, misaligned a part or trapped his finger. The red bike sat there waiting for him stealing his attention. After a couple of working without words in each other's company Trevor asked, 'So tell me why you didn't win.'
'I had technical problems,' said Scott
'What does that mean,' asked Trevor
'The electrics failed,'
'You mean the electrics I told you that you needed to fix before racing,' said Trevor shaking his head.
There it is again, thought Scott, his disapproval, his criticism, his unwelcomed words. He grunted 'Yes those.'
'Well, let's hope you finish something this time with this one,' scoffed Trevor
Scott dismissed Trevor's words and looked over at the bike leaning up in the corner. Whatever Trevor said, it could not extinguish Scott's excitement about the red bike. He had moved on to the Third bike which was a simple electrical fix and he pressed on wanting to complete it as quickly as possible. He was aching to work on the red bike, it seemed to beckon Scott over towards it. The remaining flecks of red paint glinted in the sun as beams of light shone in through the window as the sun began to set. The bike seemed to glow and sparkle like a diamond encased in dirt. The rust just a temporary cover for what was underneath.
A couple of knocks sounded on the open metal door. 'Hey, um, I'm here to collect the car, is it ready?' Betty was standing there with her Baby in her arm.
'Oh hi,' said Trevor, 'yeah, I'm just finishing up'
Scott felt a coldness up the back of his neck and dared not rise up from his crouched position in front of the bike. He was sure she knew about last night with Karla. He had played the scenario of them being together over in his head so many times that it almost felt real. So real that, last night felt like a total betrayal of her.
'Scott will sort everything for you,' said Trevor and directed a smile over to Scott.
Scott forced an awkward smile and stood up to great her. 'Hi' he said and walked over to the counter next to the door with his eyes glued to the ground. He passed her a piece of paper with Trevor's Scrawl of numbers and letters up on.
'Ok,' she said and passed a roll of dollars over to Scott who then placed it in a small metal tin. 'So did you race last night, how did it go?' she asked
'Yeah, I raced, yeah, I didn't win though, I was close though' said Scott stuttering each word
'Well, hopefully next time you will do better' said Betty
'Yeah I will I will have a new bike by then, you should come watch' why did he say that, she will see Karla. Keeping them apart was all he wanted after last night.
'Well,' she fell nervously quiet, 'I've got this little one to look after so I can't really go out at night'
'Of course, no I understand' said a secretly relieved Scott
She walked over to the car where Trevor was making the finishing touches of polishing the windscreen and door handles. She opened the back door and meticulously strapped her baby into the child seat. Scott eyes were drawn to her bending over and he quickly pulled them away hoping to not be noticed.
She sat down on the driver's seat and said 'Bye Scott, see you around.' Her smile caused the instant reflection of a smile back from Scott. 'Bye Trevor' she shouted as she drove out of the building waving a hand out of the open window.
Trevor pulled down the garage door and asked like a young girl after gossip 'So, what's the deal with you and her?'
'There no deal' said Scott and quickly got back to work hoping to quickly dodge the issue.
'Really' laughed Trevor, 'Ok, I get it'
With Scott succeeding in completing the work on the three bikes he haired straight over to the red bike. He had not even placed his hands on it yet. His eyes studied the lines of the frame and handlebars. He ran his hands along the course rust and frowned. There was so much to do. He grabbed his box of tools and set to the task of restoring the relic.
First, he completely disassembled the bike. Every part, he removed and either laid out on the floor, left soaking in cleaning fluid or placed in a trash pile.
Trevor walked over casting an eye over Scott's work 'There's a lot missing hey.'
'Yes,' admitted a deflated Scott.
'Did you make a list?' asked Trevor and Scott lifted up a scrap of paper where he had written a seemingly endless list of required parts.
Trevor walked away for a second and returned with a box, he threw it down next to Scott.
'Most of this will fit,' he said
Scott rifled through the box of goods and smiled. In the box was a selection of pre cleaned and well thought out selection of parts that would fit the red bike. Trevor had clearly put this selection together for the bike—for Scott.
'Trevor this is great, thank you,' he said
Trevor turned to walk away 'Just get this shit cleared up when you're done.' Reaching the door he parted with 'Don't let this become another half-finished project Scott,' before closing the door behind him.
Scott was confused by the duality of Trevor, harsh words but immense kindness. The bike was going to be his, he was sure of this now. He laid out all the new parts alongside the others. Every main component he needed was there. Just a few generic arbitrary parts were needed to make it run. He immediately got to work again bolting parts together and onto the frame.
He was still in the workshop as the light dimmed on the day and darkness meant he had to stop working. He finally called it a day with most of the bike together already but not yet ready to start. He didn't want to leave the bike so decided to take it with him as he left locking the door behind him.
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Sorry it was a little late, busy day. hope you enjoyed.