Page 44 of Second Chance

“Daniel,” Tony says. He should probably raise his voice, but as soon as someone else notices, this will be very, very real.

Tony tears his eyes away from the knife and glances at the car, where Daniel and Colette are getting out. Daniel grabs his briefcase from the trunk and looks over to Tony, to the door, and freezes.

Colette stares at the knife over Tony’s shoulder. “That’s…”

Tony clears his throat. “I think we found the murder weapon.”

Chapter Seven

Tony’s working on his Toyota. It’s not an ’07 Camry, which is pretty much the only thing in its favor right now. Still, he can make it run smooth again with a bit of elbow grease. The first thing he does is take out the fuel pump and clean it up. Corollas get that—janky fuel pumps. This is Tony’s second pump, and he hopes some TLC can keep it running a while longer without replacing it. Every repair on a twenty-year-old car is a gamble as to whether it’s worth it, so the less parts he replaces the better Tony can justify it to himself.

“You ever think maybe buying a new car would be cheaper than all the money you spend on repairs?” Charlie asks mildly.

They’re sitting on the stool by the workbench, spinning circles while they wait for Tony’s half day to end and Daniel to pick them up to go hiking.

“No one should buy a new car,” Tony says to the inner workings of the Corolla.

He can practically hear Charlie rolling their eyes. “Fine, then. There are plenty of functioning used cars out there not in need of a complete overhaul every other month.”

“It’s not a complete overhaul; it’s only a few fixes.” Tony ignores the fact that he’s switched out most of the major parts of his car at least once.

The stool squeaks as Charlie twists in another circle. “Tony. My dude. Have you heard of the ship of Theseus?”

“Yeah, Charlie. I was in the same high school classes as you. My car is the same as it’s ever been.”

He ignores Charlie’s muttered, “I know, that’s the problem.”

Cleaning the fuel pump should fix the awkward moment when the car protests being put in reverse and the way it complains about accelerating too fast. Now, Tony needs to switch out the wiper pads for the squeaky windshield wipers and oil the ignition slot. It’s fine. It’s only another few minutes of work.

He ignores steadfastly that if he were getting paid for the amount of work he puts into this car, he’d probably recommend trading up. When the reception door opens slowly, he’s just started peeling off the old wiper pads.

Lisa stands in the doorway, waiting for Blake, who’s dawdling in the front office, to catch up. Tony can barely hear his voice, talking to Gianna out of his line of sight.

“That’s rough,” Blake says.

“It’s whatever,” Gianna answers.

Tony rolls his eyes.

“No, seriously.” Blake rarely sounds so earnest and serious. “I nearly dropped out of college sophomore year because picking a major stressed me out, I can’t imagine doing it all with a baby.”

As if on cue, Lia gurgles, which makes Tony smile. He can picture her happy little face, but he doesn’t want to come around from behind the car right now to let Gianna know he’s listening.

“Well, I’ll make it work,” Gianna says staunchly.

Tony wonders what she’ll do now that one of the classes she needs for her major might not happen due to unforeseen stabbing.

“Anyway, I can always pick up shifts here if things get tight,” Gianna adds. “It’s a great place to study between customers.”

This is news to Tony. He wonders how she would feel about picking up the extra shifts he took on so she could go to class. He doesn’t want them or need the half pay he gets for them. Much like her, he lives with their parents. He knows for a fact Gianna doesn’t have extra expenses as their parents cover all of Lia’s food and clothing. So, beyond future savings, the money she earns here doesn’t impact her life too much. Great to hear the business he works himself to the bone for means fuck-all to her besides a place to study.

“That’s cool,” Blake says.

“Yeah. Anyway. I gotta go. Have fun on your hike.”

“Thanks.” Blake is letting the hotter air from the front office into the garage, and Tony wishes he would wrap this conversation up already. “Hey, maybe next time you and Lia can come.”

Tony grits his teeth as he rummages through the storage containers against the wall in search of new wiper pads. The door to the front slides closed behind Lisa and Blake while he’s looking.

---