The Journey Part 7

c 2009 by Randal Schaffer

At about five AM, his door opened, and he snapped awake. Donny Mack was standing on the garage floor, about six feet below him. Donny said "Got you into Cranks and Nuts Garage." Cute name, he thought, as Donny Mack helped him down, and then pointed at the mechanic, who waved a greeting. "This here's Elvin. Don't worry, you didn't wake him up or nothing. He don't usually sleep much since he got back from the war."

He extended his hand to Elvin who took it and shook it. Then he said "Pleased to meet you, Elvin. How are you doing?" Elvin made no reply, simply took his hand back and shook his head. Donny Mack leaned over and whispered "I should have mentioned - his voice didn't come back from the war with him. Viet Cong sniper got him right in the voice box. Lucky to be alive, frankly." He raised his voice slightly and said "I'll have the car off the truck in a jiffy here, Elroy. I'm gonna take this old boy over to the diner and talk him into buying me breakfast while we settle up. You have Ernest call the diner to let him know what the damage is gonna be, okay?" Donny Mack leaned back over and whispered "Ernie's his brother. He'll be here in fifteen or twenty minutes."

Fifteen minutes later, through an artful ballet of lowering the car, then pulling the truck forward, then lowering the car some more, then pulling the truck forward again, Donny Mack had his car neatly deposited into the bay of the Cranks and Nuts Garage.

Donny Mack parked his truck and then walked over, pointing and saying "Diner's about fifteen minutes that way."

They walked in silence, and Donny Mack took a pristine-looking cigarette from behind his ear, struck a match on a greasy thumbnail and lit the cigarette. He smoked like a true addict, not seeming to enjoy the cigarette at all, simply barreling through it to get his nicotine fix. He dropped the butt in the parking lot of the diner and smashed it out with his foot.

They walked into the diner, and Donny Mack waved a hand at the enormous woman behind the counter as they sat down. "Morning, Imelda. Just towed this city slicker in and I was wondering if we could get some breakfast and maybe some coffee."

He quickly jumped in and said "No coffee for me, please. But I will take a hot cocoa."

Imelda looked at him a little oddly, as if she had never heard a grown man order hot cocoa before, and then turned to the task of getting the drinks ready. He looked around the bar, between the salt and pepper shakers, and everywhere else that any diner that he had ever seen keep a menu, but there was none to be found. Donny Mack caught him looking and said "Ain't but one breakfast here, bud. Eggs, sausage and hash browns. It'll cost you six bucks, and tip Imelda well. She's a damned good cook and waitress.

After she handed the coffee and cocoa to the two men, Imelda went into the kitchen to fix breakfast. "She lose her voice in the war, too?" He asked.

Donny Mack chuffed a cigarette smoker's laugh and said "Nope. She just don't talk much. Didn't hardly speak no English when she got here, and I guess that she just fell out of the habit."

As she prepared the breakfast, Donny Mack took out a receipt book and calculator, figured for a few minutes, then said "Okay. Looks like about fifty bucks for the tow. That sound fair?"

He nodded and took three twenties out of his pocket. "Keep the ten for your troubles, okay?"

Donny Mack nodded and pocketed the money, handing him a receipt for the fifty. Imelda brought the breakfast out, he was glad to see, with an unmarked bottle of hot sauce. As he started to upend it over his eggs, Donny Mack caught his arms. "Be careful with that sauce, man. Imelda makes it herself, and it is HOT!" He nodded, dropped a few drops on, and then handed the bottle to Donny Mack, who did the same. He took a bite of the egg with the hot sauce on it, and immediately felt sweat spring out along his hairline.

"Damn." Was all that he could say before taking a large swallow of water. Donny Mack, smiling and nodding, followed suit.

About halfway through breakfast, an elderly man came in, walked up to them and said "Excuse me, sir." He looked at the elderly man who said "I'm Ernest. Pleased to meet you." They shook hands, and then the elderly man told him what was wrong with his car. The whole thing sounded like he was talking in a foreign language. Ernest finished with "He says he can have it done in an hour, and it'll cost you three hundred."

He said okay, realizing that this one day on the road had cost him a tenth of his total stake, and then he and Donny finished breakfast as Ernest went back to the garage.

When Imelda brought the bill, Donny Mack grabbed it before he could and said "I was just joshin' about you buying breakfast. I can write it off as a business expense since we did business while we ate."

Donny Mack put one of the twenties that he had given him on top of the bill, and they walked back to Cranks and Nuts together. He noticed that all three bay doors were open now, and all three bays filled. Donny Mack shook his hand and walked back to the truck, while he went in to pay. Elvin was working on one of the other cars as he walked in and waved him a quick hello. Ernest was in the office, and he peeled three hundred dollar bills off his bankroll, and then, reluctantly, added another ten.

He got back into his car, and headed east.