This Chapter is dedicated to lizzardliz, who is my cousin and has been wanting to read my werewolf stories. She now has a Wattpad account so feel free to check it out (she really loves Batman, by the way.)
(Chapter 2)
"You want a what?!" Rich yelled, "Aw, damn it!" he hissed as a loud boom ricocheted off the walls of the mechanic shop in downtown Philidelphia, Pennsylvania.
"Ouch, are you okay? You hit your head pretty good there." I observed.
"I'm fine, and thanks Captain Obvious." Rich grumbled as he slammed the hood of a rundown vehicle that looked like it was from the Dino-age.
"You're too young to own a vehicle, what are you, 13? and another thing: Do you even have a license? Or money? because I'm pretty sure buying a car costs alot. I'd know, I sell them." Rich shook his head as he started walking in the direction of his office, I trailed behind him.
"17, I'm 17, and I just need something okay? I don't care if it's a billion-years-old - " Rich stopped walking and gave me his 'Are-you-kidding-me?-look' He shook his head and opened the door to his office and closed the door in my face. Okay, fine! I barged into his office and he looked up at me through a pair of 'Kenneth Cole' glasses.
"Okay, maybe I would care if it was that old. All I need is a vehicle to get me from point A to point B. You know? I love old cars! They are adorable, is that want you wanted to hear?" I stopped and waited for a response. I narrowed my eyes when he just shook his head and looked down at his newspaper. I stomped up to his desk and slammed my hands on the table, Rich jumped in his chair and looked up at me with wide eyes.
"I traveled fifty miles to this filthy shop by bus because I heard that you sell nice cars and a cheep price, do you know how hard that is? That's three bus tickets and three hours and a whole lot of waiting at hand-me-down bus depots. Now, as I've stated before I need a car; I don't want one, I need one. So, why don't you get off your ass, out of that chair and find me a decent car that will get me far away from this place or so help me God; You'll be going home with no testicles. Got it?" I smiled in warning. "You have two choices: Get me a car or Go home without the hope of having any children. Which do you choose?"
"Uh, I like the first option better..." Rich gulped and I smiled sweetly and patted him on the chest.
"That's the one I'd pick. Don't worry, I have a couple thousand dollars with me so you'll get a...genuine offer on this deal. Here's one thousand and I'll give you another thousand when I see my new car." I nodded and slopped the ten one hundereds' on the desk headed for the door, I opened it a crack before I paused and turns towards him.
"Oh and Rich? Don't try to get revenge on my car, I know what the inside and undercarage of one is supposed to look like. Happy hunting!" I laughed and skipped out of the office, I looked around and saw a few chairs and sofa leaning up against the wall. I shrugged and sat down on the couch, grabbing a two-year-old magazine with a cover of One Direction on the front, I rolled my eyes and began flipping through it with little-to-no interest at all.
"Yo, wake up!" I heard a distant voice calling me.
"Hmm?" I hummed in my sleep.
"Wake up or I'll pour Ice on you, and yes I mean Ice; no water." An unfamiliar voice spoke through my sleep, I jerked awake and rubbed my eyes. Where was I? Oh, right. The mechanic shop.
"Oh, sorry. I must've dozed off." My eyes adjusted to a nicely built man, a bit on the rugged side, but fairly handsome considering the grease stains covering his white shirt.
"You know," I stood up and brushed off the front of my jeans out of habit. "Wearing a white shirt and working at a mechanic's doesn't exactly match." I picked up my bag and placed it on my shoulder. I looked over and the guy was looking at me like I've grown two heads. I shut my eyes and reprimanded myself. "I'm sorry, I don't have much of a filter. I didn't mean to offend you." I apologized.
"No-no, it's okay, It's just living down here. You don't really see many women talk the way you do, it's admirable, truly." He laughed and gestured outiside, my cheeks blushed a scarlet red. "Okay, so the boss managed to find you three exceedingly nice looking cars for your budget; All of them are different manufacturers so you should have no problem choosing." The man informed me.
"That's wonderful - I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude, but what's your name?" I asked the man showing me to my new car.
"Oh, right, my fault I guess I'm just anxious to get home. You see, it's my daughter's birthday and I'm not sure if she'll like the present I got her; My name's Colton." He stuck out his hand and I shook it, Huh, he seems too young to have a daughter.
"My name's Sydney and, well I'll be sure to hurry up then." I assured and he nodded before bending down and sliding up a garage door, it was dark out and the first thing I noticed was the blinding light of three distinguished sets of headlights.
"Holy hell..." I breathed.
"Yeah, nice right?" Colton rubbed his hands on his jeans and smiled at me, "Come on" he beckoned me forward. I took a deep breath and approached the cars.
"I didn't think Rich would find cars this new!" I jumped up and down and approached all three cars.
"Yeah, either your, uh, persuasion knocked him in the right direction or... it could have something to do with a new shipment we just recieved containing the cars you see before your very eyes." Colton laughed.
"And here I was beginning to feel powerful." I mumbled, Colton smiled and began pointing out the names and models of the cars.
"Okay, the one on the right is a 2013 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution XI, the one in the middle is a 2014 Mazda RX-8, and last but not least, literally, is a 2013 Mustang Shelby Cobra. Damn." Colton whistled, "I sure wish I was you."
"Well, since you wish you were me. What is your expertise? Which one should I get?" I asked genuinely confused.
"I don't know about you, but I prefer the Mazda RX-8." Colton pointed to the one in the middle, "I like their style."
"The Mazda it is then! Plus, it's Black so it's one of my top three favorite colors of all time." I nodded and Colton puffed out his chest in a joking manner making me laugh.
"Hey Danny! We got a buyer over here, get up!" Colton yelled over his shoulder to a man sleeping in an armchair, the man jerked awake.
"Wow, you have a habit with waking people up." I commented.
"Eh, it's fun. So, what is your favorite color?" Colton asked.
"Huh?" I raised an eyebrow, he laughed uneasily.
"You said it was one of your top three favorite colors, that leads me to wonder what your top favorite is." Colton said while grabbing a clipboard and a set of keys from the same guy who was sleeping in the armchair.
"Oh, I forgot I said that; It happens to me alot, but my favorite color is Blue. To be honest you're the only person who has ever asked me that." I told him truthfully.
"Ah, I get it; sucky parents, huh? Yeah, I had that too." Colton nodded and grabbed my hand. I watched as he unfolded my fingers and placed the keys in my hand.
I nodded in understanding. "What did you do about it?" I looked down at the ground, thinking he was going to say something about sticking through the pain and living with it. I'm such a coward, but what he did next shocked me; He lead me to a bench and sat down, I sat next to him and twisted my body to face his.
"My dad was an alcoholic and my mother was abusive, physically not emotionally. They dropped me out of school when I was twelve and Rich was kind enough to offer me a job here, so I saved up my money and eventually I moved out when I was sixteen. I was on the streets for awhile but it got better." Colton's eyes glossed over as if he was re-living a distant memory.
"What happened?" I asked, I curled myself up in a ball and interlocked my hands around my knees.
"I met Sylvia, she was my wife. We got married when we turned eighteen, it was one of those Las Vegas things; We were stupid, but so in love. I met her when I was seventeen, I was looking for a place to eat and I came across this diner in Mt.Laurel, New Jersey; Rich and I got in this...argument, it's really easy to argue with a guy like him - " Colton gave me a pointed look and I smirked back. "Anyways, I was sitting there and I don't know, it just felt like I was looking at an angel, as corny as that sounds, she was breathtaking. Then, when Sasha was born everything was perfect; I worked extra hard but Sylvia was always there, never giving up on me..." Colton's eyes watered and a tear fell out, I straightened up and gently grasped his arm in a soothing notion.
"You don't have to keep -" I started to say.
"No, You may be a complete stranger but I want somebody to know. At least you're listening." Colton nodded and continued his life story. "It was two years ago, Sasha was two, it was three weeks before her birthday and Sylvia wanted to get her something special. It was raining outside, and I mean it was pouring, I was driving and I couldn't see a thing outside. Lucy, our babysitter, was watching Sasha, thank God. Anyways, We would always cross this road that was on the side of a m-mountain and a vehicle was coming down at the same time we were coming up the road. I hit a pot hole and the car swerved out of control and the vehicle T-boned us. Sylvia died in the hospital three weeks later, on Sasha's birthday." Colton wiped his eyes with his shirt, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a carry-with-you tissue type of thing. Colton laughed,
"Why do you have those?" Colton indicated my tissue packet.
"I cry alot." I admitted.
"So, now that you know about me, what's your story?"
"No offense, but it's not nearly as, umm, lengthy as yours? I guess you could say. Okay, here goes nothing. When I was younger, I was never really accepted by parents. My Father always wanted a boy and obviously I'm not one and my Mom always worked, you could say she was a workaholic; My Father went into this depressed kind of state, he would constantly tell me that love doesn't exist." I leaned towards Colton and whispered playfully "I never believed him though." and leaned back again. "I think it was because my Mom was never around but I started suffering too, I got all these medical problems that sometimes make me think I'm going crazy and I forget things, alot of things. So, nobody ever payed attention to me and I was not good with people and making friends, finally I made a friend, or so I thought, named Ian. I think he was only pitying me though, I finally figured out that I wasn't ever going to be loved like I thought, and two days ago I overheard two people at this place I worked at talking about a mechanics shop in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania that sells cars at a cheep price. Alas, I bought three bus tickets to Philidelphia and here I am." I shrugged and smiled at Colton.
"Okay, so where you heading from here?" Colton inquired. Again, I shrugged.
"I'm not sure, maybe a place with a beach and ocean stretching out for miles or someplace with a lot of fresh air and billions of trees. I'll figure it out when I get there." I looked up at the stars and smiled. "Wherever it is, I hope it has an amazing view of the stars." I breathed out.
"Here, hand me your cellular device." Colton extended his hand and I laughed, handing him my phone. "Now that you have my number, and i'll have yours in 2.5 seconds we are no longer strangers." Colton smiled and handed me my phone back.
"Okay," I read his contact name outloud. "Colton Selfci, is that Italian?" I questioned.
"More or less, send me your name and that will be that!" Colton laughed and helped me off the bench.
"So, the Mazda?" I joked and Colton threw back his head and laughed. We approached my new car,it's still so weird saying that, and Colton opened my door for me.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Sydney Mayer, I hope we cross paths again someday." Colton bowed like an Englishmen and I laughed before sliding in to my car.
"Ooh, it has that 'new car' smell" I sniffed, which probably looked weird.
"It sure does, Well, my shift is over and I have a newly turned five-year-old waiting for me at home. It really was a pleasure to meet you, Sydney." Colton shut my door gently and started walking away, I quickly rolled down the window.
"Colton!" I yelled out, he turned around.
"Sasha would love anything you give her, because a good father is something that is cherished, and I know you're a great one. Sylvia would be proud." I smiled kindly and Colton smiled back.
"If Sylvia was still alive, you and her would probably be good friends." Colton laughed and shook his head. I grabbed my glasses, for driving, out of the bag in the passenger seat and slipped them on.
"Oh I have no doubt in my mind that we would. Also, the gift you got Sasha, is it in her favorite color?" I don't know why I asked that, but I guess it was assurance that he knows the simpliest things about his daughter.
"Yeah, it is." Colton nodded and gave me a puzzled look.
"Then, she'll definetly love it!" I laughed at his expression and put the car into start.
"Yeah, Blue is a wonderful color isn't it?" Colton smirked and I paused to look at him.
"Serious?" I leaned back in my car seat.
"Oh yeah, she loves blue." Colton waved goodbye to me and turned back around to start walking.
"Your daughter has amazing taste!" I joked.
"I know! Bye Sydney!" Colton laughed and waved behind him without looking.
"Bye Colton!" I yelled back, I checked the mirrors and hit the gas. I was halfway down the street when I started laughing out of nowhere.
Not even three days on my own and I've met a new friend and got a new car, maybe Colton was right in what he did; I looked down at my dashboard briefly.
"Okay, Alcatraz, take me anywhere I want to go." I patted the steering wheel gently.
Little did I know that name was seriously going to put my life into overdrive.
Hey guys! Yes, it's long. You're welcome and I wanted to incorporate a little of Sydney's journey into the story as well. I like Colton, I think he seems like a good slice of reality for Sydney. What do you think?
~Liz