THE MECHANIC
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THE MECHANIC
By Jerry D. Young
Published by Creative Texts Publishers
PO Box 50
Barto, PA 19504
www.creativetexts.com
Copyright 2008-2018 by Jerry D. Young
All rights reserved
Cover photos used by license.
Design copyright 2018 Creative Texts Publishers, LLC
This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.
The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual names, persons, businesses, and incidents is strictly coincidental. Locations are used only in the general sense and do not represent the real place in actuality.
Kindle Edition
THE MECHANIC
JERRY D. YOUNG
Chapter One
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“How much?” asked the customer.
“All total,” said Sterling Walker, owner of Sterling Automotive, “nine hundred eighty-seven fifty.”
The customer winced. But after a moment’s hesitation said, “Okay. Do it. But it better not be more than that.” It was more a hopeful statement than a threat.
“I’m sure it won’t be, Sir. This is the maximum.”
“Okay. How long?”
“This is Tuesday… Thursday afternoon at closing. Six PM.”
“I’ll be here.”
Sterling walked into the office of the five-bay automotive shop and sighed. It was good to get the business, the way the economy was, but it sure put a damper on the type of trade he’d managed to build up over the years.
Although, first and foremost, an excellent general mechanic, Sterling had started modifying and customizing vehicles early in his career and it was now a passion. But the economy wasn’t supporting such things. The sale of new vehicles was way down, the sale of used cars up and the repair of older model vehicles was now the bulk of Sterling’s business. He hadn’t had a custom vehicle in his shop in over three months, and no new projects for almost a year.
He’d raised his prices six months previously, to try to keep up with increasing costs. He knew they were rising, even if the federal government downplayed the inflation. He’d already made arrangements for new signs showing the new rates he was going to on January First. Thirty percent more than the current prices.
About half the increase would go to keeping the shop open, such as higher and higher utility bills and fuel costs for the two wreckers. The other half went to wages for his employees. He had excellent mechanics. All seven had been with him for years. His small office staff of three people also knew the ins and outs of a well-run garage and kept all the paperwork straight.
He’d been advised to let the office staff go, and have the mechanics do the work, but when Sterling contemplated it he found himself going pale and breaking out into a cold sweat. No. The office staff would stay for as long as he could keep the doors open.
Shaking off melancholy, Sterling went to check on the mechanics working on a 1981 Ford pickup that had literally been pulled from a farmer’s personal junkyard to be repaired and put back into use so the owner could sell his Ford Expedition and get out from under the payments and fuel costs.
With a thousand dollars of work, the moderately damaged vehicle, though it would look like a piece of junk, would be useable. Sterling had suggested a few improvements, and a new paint job, but the owner declined. He simply wanted something that would run, capable of hauling a load, with reasonable gas mileage. What it looked like was immaterial to him.
Things were coming along nicely, so Sterling went to the office to get a cup of coffee. He’d sold the popcorn maker, stopped the daily donut delivery, and the coffee service. But Sterling bought a coffee maker and personal coffee cups for everyone. He kept the office supplied with the makings. It wouldn’t do not to have coffee.
With coffee cup in hand, Sterling stood and watched the traffic on the street, and the first flakes of snow of the winter.
“Boss?” asked Jennie, his office manager. “You okay? You look kinda of… funny. Not ha ha funny, but like something is wrong.”
Sterling turned around and found himself admiring Jennie Craft’s amazing beauty. He still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to work for him in those early days when he was first starting out. Jennie could have been a model, if she’d wanted. She preferred to do the work she’d trained for. Running an office, even if it was a one-person office at first.
She, like Sterling, was still single, though both had just turned forty that fall. She was still something to look at. And knew the operation inside and out.
“Just a bit worried about the future, Jennie,” Sterling said.
“Ah. Going to be a rough one, unless I miss my guess. But it’s been good for business. I know you prefer the custom work, but we’re raking in the money right now doing the repairs to older model vehicles.”
“I know. But it’s not worth as much as it used to be. My grocery bill, such as it is, has doubled. And you know what the fuel prices are. And the banks. I’m more than a little worried about my retirement.”
“I know someone you might want to talk to,” Jennie said, moving from behind her desk to get a cup of coffee.
“Yeah? Who?”
Jennie cut her eyes over to Jessica and Sally, the other two office staff. “After work,” she replied, taking the cup of coffee back to her desk.
One of the mechanics stepped into the office and said, “Need you, Boss.”
As he walked out of the office, grabbing his safety glasses and bump cap, he wondered for a moment about Jennie’s cryptic words.
He’d entirely forgotten them at closing time. Though the mechanics often worked late, it was Sterling’s policy, which Jennie agreed with, that the office staff work a standard day shift. No working late unless it was super serious.
Jennie was waiting for him when he came into the office to close it up twenty minutes after regular closing time.
“Hey! What are you still doing here?”
“You forgot we had a meeting after hours, didn’t you?” Jennie asked, smiling.
“Oh. Uh… Well… I guess so. I didn’t really think of it as a meeting. You were going to give me some guy’s name.”
“Yes. But you and I need to talk about it first. I thought we could stop and get something to eat. I don’t feel like cooking tonight.”
“Oh. Okay. Where you want to go?”
Though he’d kept a definite hands-off policy with Jennie, they had shared a meal or two over the years and he was comfortable with the contact outside the office. And she seemed to be, too. Besides, she had a boyfriend.
“Let’s stop in the Peppermill and check out the new BBQ restaurant.”
“They have a new restaurant?”
“Several.”
“Okay. Give me a minute to change.”
Though most of the mechanics just wore their work clothes to and from work, Sterling always wore casual clothing to and from his apartment, changing into the work coveralls that were delivered every week.
He came out of the bathroom in the shop area a few minutes later in blue jeans and a polo shirt. “Okay. I’m ready.”
It was something of an incongruous sight, Jennie on the little Neo Sunshine Scooter, being followed down South Virgi
nia Street in Reno by Sterling’s rather imposing custom six-wheel-drive, six-wheel-steer, extended-crew-cab pickup truck with an extended custom toolbox bed. Even with a subdued tan/gray camouflage paint job it stood out on the city street.
The truck was an ongoing project for Sterling. He’d started on the concept right out of tech school, and made the various modifications as he had the time and money, doing all the work himself, with the occasional help of his lead mechanic, Joe Dobson.
At least the snow had stopped, for Jennie didn’t like driving the scooter when there was snow on the ground. She pulled into the valet parking area while Sterling found an out of the way spot since he took up two parking spots. Jennie was waiting for Sterling at the little coffee café near the hotel lobby of the casino.
Since she seemed to know where they were going, Sterling followed along silently. There was no waiting and the two were seated immediately. After perusing the menu and giving their orders, Sterling looked at Jennie earnestly and asked. “Okay. What’s this about?”
“You know what a prepper is?” Jennie asked.
“Not really. Someone that prepares?” he asked with a grin.
Jennie grinned back. “By book definition, yes. By the definition I and some of my acquaintances use, it goes further than that. Specifically to preparing for the worst that nature or other people might throw at us.”
“You’re a survivalist!” Sterling voiced it forcefully, but in a low voice.
“Not what the media calls survivalists,” Jennie reassured Sterling. “By the original definition of the word, yes. Now, those of us with no designs on changing the government by force, but who prepare for one, caused by who knows what, call ourselves preppers.”
“Okay. I got it. The media does really paint survivalists with a very dark brush.”
“Exactly. Now, I’m telling you this in confidence and really don’t want you to talk about it to anyone, besides me.”
“I thought you wanted me to meet someone.”
“I do, Sterling. But you need to understand that the confidentiality that I’m asking for is ten times more important for this guy.”
“He is a prepper, not a survivalist, right?”
“That is right. But he’s very low key about it, as we all are. He just takes it a step further than most of the rest of us.”
Sterling nodded.
“Now,” Jennie said, after their ribs were brought to the table, “how do you feel about the way things are in the world? The national economy, the world economy, global warming and other weather, the nuclear club, so on and so forth?”
“Well, you know I’m worried about the economy. Although I am getting some advantages because of it, I hate what it does to a lot of people. I’m seeing more and more people, even some families, out panhandling for food money.”
“And global warming?” Jennie asked.
“Well… that… I’m not sure. Seems like it could be like the Weather Channel special reports are saying… but I’ve seen some other stuff that says it’s just a natural phenomenon… that humans aren’t really causing it. Even that there might be an ice age instead. Or even because of global warming. I don’t quite understand it.”
“But you do see the dangers. Either way?”
Sterling nodded. “Yeah. Like now, the food prices would jump. But much more.”
“What are your thoughts on the nuclear club? All the countries that have nuclear weapons now, are suspected of having them, or are believed to be trying to acquire them.”
“It’s a mess. I don’t trust the former Republics control of their weapons. And some of the crazies in foreign governments… I can see a couple of them having a bad day and pushing the button.”
“Sounds like you have given at least some thought about some of this.”
“Well, it’s kind of hard not to, the way the news is going.”
“True. And the other stuff? Riots over food shortages, power outages because of sabotage or overloaded circuits, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, a coup…”
“Hold it. I think I see what you’re getting at. All the bad things that could happen… I don’t dwell on them, because there is nothing I can do about preventing them.”
“I understand that, Sterling. But what about surviving any one or combination of them? You do want to continue living if global warming is a fact, or if it’s just the opposite and we have a new ice age?”
“Well sure, I would like to live! But… Aren’t there things that aren’t survivable?”
“Several,” Jennie replied. “But there are dozens that are. Like your worry about your retirement. You can do things about that besides watch your IRA just slip away due to economic troubles.”
“How?” Sterling asked.
“Well, I didn’t want to get into specifics. My friend can help you more than I can. But for that particular problem, you can include gold in your IRA. Won’t increase in value much, in my opinion, but I think it will hold value. I think gold coins will buy about the same amounts of things in several years as they do now, even if the price jumps up or down.
“If your IRA investments don’t all increase, those dollars will be worth less and less, in my opinion. What you have now, even with some increases from the holdings, probably won’t buy as much in the future as they do now. That’s a net loss. A gain would be great, but staying even is much better than a loss. And there are even better ways to protect yourself from all kinds of the problems we’ve just touched on.”
“Okay. Say I’m interested. What do I do?”
“I’ll give you some websites to check out on the internet. And the e-mail address of the guy I want you to meet. He lives outside of Reno.”
“Okay. But let me take this slowly. You know how I am. Limited time and attention span.” Sterling grinned.
“Oh, you! Limited time, but your attention span is more than enough to handle these scenarios.”
That was the end of the Preppers talk. The conversation turned to the business, and how to handle the increase.
The next morning, shortly after Jennie and the others arrived and officially opened up the shop; Sterling crawled out from under his truck in the last bay and went to the office to get a cup of coffee. Jennie told him, “I e-mailed you those links.”
“Links? Oh. Yeah. Okay. I’ll check them out here shortly.”
Jennie knew better than to press him on the issue. When he said he’d do something, he would. If he gave you a time frame, he met it. If he didn’t… well… then you waited until he wanted to do it. She set about the regular day’s work and put Preps out of her mind.
Sterling got tied up helping on a tough body repair and skipped lunch. He didn’t take a break until an hour before quitting time. That’s when he pulled up his e-mail and clicked on the links Jennie had sent him.
The first thing that caught his eye were some sections on the forums that referred to Bug Out Vehicles. BOV’s. He spent some time reading through the replies and looking at the pictures some of the owners had posted.
“Got that part of the operation covered,” Sterling said to himself. Though not intended for bugging out, his custom truck would work admirably well for the task. Then, as he read more, he became somewhat concerned. Some of the posters were touching on subjects that had crossed Sterling’s mind a time or two, but which he’d basically ignored, for lack of a way to deal with them.
Jessica and Sally were both going out the front door when Sterling left his office, and Joe Dobson was locking up the shop. “That’s some interesting stuff you put me on to,” Sterling told Jennie. “A lot to think about.” After a short hesitation, Sterling asked her, “Is it okay to ask… do you do a bunch of that stuff? Storing water and food, the gold and silver? A bug out vehicle?”
“Usually, it’s not okay to ask a person about their preps, unless they’ve volunteered some information. But I trust you not to spread any of this around. I do prep. I’ve got food and water. Gold and silver. Guns and ammo. My old Subaru is my bug out
vehicle, for as far as it will go on a tank, and then on foot.”
“You have a gun?”
Jennie nodded. She opened her purse and showed Sterling the compact handgun. He had no idea what he was looking at. He did know it was a semiauto pistol, as opposed to a revolver, but that was all. Sterling wasn’t a gun person. Not anti-gun. He just had never had an interest in them. His rather consuming passion was automobiles.
“Is that legal?” Sterling asked, lifting his eyes to Jennie.
“Of course. I have a concealed carry permit.”
“Oh. Okay. You really do believe in all that stuff.”
Jennie nodded, fearing she’d scared him off by showing him the Colt Commander .38 Super her father had given her when she was thirteen.
“I saw some posts recommend a rifle and shotgun, too,” Sterling added.
Jennie nodded. “Yes. I have three rifles, two shotguns, and three other handguns. You know I always take my vacation the same time every year? That’s to go deer hunting. I hunt elk when I can get a tag.”
“Wow!” Sterling replied. “You clean it and use the meat and all?”
“My lunch today was a sliced elk roast sandwich.”
“Wow!” Sterling said again. “Hey! You have a garden, too! I remember you mentioning that a few times. You can feed yourself without a grocery store. That’s pretty amazing.”
“Not so much. Almost anyone can do it, even if they have limited space.”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been very good with plants. I think I might be better off buying a long term food supply and then buying from people like you that can grow food.”
“So you’re thinking about starting some type of prep program?”
“Yeah. After some of the stuff I read… Yeah. Thanks for bringing it up. Now… About this guy you want me to meet…”
“Triple Seven is his forum name. He writes PAW stories…”
“That’s Post Apocalyptic World? I think I’ve seen some of his posts”
Jennie nodded and continued. “He occasionally will post comments on other threads, but seldom starts a thread himself. And he doesn’t post very much about what he does to prep. I’m not sure what preps he does have, but he’s helped me out quite a bit with advice on one thing or another. We got together at the Peppermill a couple of times to talk face to face about some things I didn’t want to even discuss by e-mail.”
The Mechanic Page 1
