Page 8 of Second Chance

Sean’s shoulders slump. “Oh my god, yes. I have to call my parents. This is almost as bad as when I told them I wanted to be a film major.”

Tony tries not to laugh. “How ’bout you have a seat in the office with your friends, and we’ll get you all some water, and when we know what’s going on, I’ll let you know?”

“Thanks, man.” Sweat still beads on Sean’s forehead, far more than the cool air in the shop should allow, but at least he doesn’t look like he’s about to throw up anymore.

It’s literally Tony’s job to help, but he doesn’t say so. He’s well aware not all mechanics view themselves as being in customer service. He ushers Sean and his two friends, a girl with blue highlights who’s worn red marks into her palms with her fingernails from worrying and a tall, gangly Black guy in a jean jacket with about seventeen patches for bands Tony’s never heard of, into the office.

“Hey, you’re Gianna’s brother, right?” the girl asks.

“Yeah.” Tony looks at her again. Her face seems familiar. “Oh hey, we’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“I’m Lily. Lily Peterson? We met in January when—”

“Right.” Tony did meet her in January, standing in front of her dorm room with her parents on New Year’s Day after she tried to commit suicide because the professor who got Tony’s sister pregnant and dumped her had died. Daniel gave Gianna her email address. And since then, Tony’s gotten a consistent barrage of updates all summer on Lily’s personal life and return to studies, courtesy of Daniel advising her through Colette’s newprogram. Trying to act as if he doesn’t know more about her than he probably should, Tony overcompensates. “Hey, you’re back. That’s great.”

She nods, smiling a little shyly. She’d look sweet if Tony didn’t know so much about her. “Thanks. It was great of you to get me in touch with Gigi. We signed up for some of the same classes this year.”

“I’m glad,” Tony says, a little wrong-footed. He had no idea Gianna got in touch with Lily or even wanted to talk to anyone about the professor she was having an affair with. She certainly doesn’t talk to him. Still, it’s good Gigi has friends who get what she’s been through. She’ll need them. Getting through her senior year of college with a baby won’t be easy, and it’s only the first week.

He gets the students set up with a bottle of water and some glasses and heads to the garage again. Carl leans up against the pickup with the rusted bumper Tony was working on before he showed up, shooting the shit with Kyle though they can’t stand each other.

Carl looks up when Tony approaches. “Hey kiddo. They say anything about who’s gonna pay for the tow truck?”

Tony sighs. “You didn’t ask them?”

Carl shrugs. “The one with the dumbass mustache had a Triple A card, but with someone else’s name on it.”

“I don’t work for Triple A,” Tony reminds him. “You do.”

“What was I gonna do, leave those kids at the side of the road? It’ll work out, always does.”

It does, Tony thinks bitterly as he retraces his steps into the storefront because he, unlike everyone else in this business, developed some semblance of people skills. It only takes him five minutes of awkward conversation with Sean, Lily, and theirfriend to work out that Sean’s mother left her Triple A card in the glove compartment when she gave Sean the car for college and never told him whether or not he’s covered by it. Sean doesn’t want to call until he has an estimate, and it takes another five minutes of carefully hinting the bill for the tow truck will be significant if Sean can’t work out how he’s insured. Especially given Carl’s still sitting around, losing working hours while he waits, talking to Kyle about how he wants to close up shop early on Friday and head for Tivoli Bays while the fishing’s still good. All of this time will be on the insurance bill, and Sean doesn’t seem to know what company he’s with.

Tony leaves it to Sean to make the unpleasant phone call home and returns to the shop.

“You gotta stop towing people until you get their insurance details,” he tells Carl.

Carl scratches his head. “I don’t really do the paperwork side of things. That’s all Cindy.”

Tony takes a deep breath, considering how to explain that Cindy, Carl’s wife, is the world’s worst bleeding heart. She keeps sending him out to pick up cars without getting their insurance or Triple A numbers, a clear destination, or, in some particularly memorable cases, a name and address from the drivers. While this leads to great business for Angel Automotive, it’ll get Carl in trouble with Triple A sooner or later and, by proxy, Pa.Someonehas to pay him for the repairs they do in the shop.

“Carl, god love you both, but someone’s gotta run your business, and it ain’t Cindy,” Pa says, ambling into the garage.

Carl’s chest puffs up, and he seems like he’s about to answer something they’ll all regret, but Pa steamrollers right on.

“Got a new headlight sourced, and I think we can get the fender straightened out as is. Tony, get her up on the lift and see about that tire. I’ll write up an estimate for college boy in there.”

College boy. Tony shakes his head. As if Gianna weren’t attending the same school and wasn’t friends with at least one of the kids in the front office. Kids. Again, Tony reminds himself he’s not much older; he might spend a lot of time with Pa and Kyle, but he isn’t their age.

“See,” Carl says righteously. “Kid going to Lobell can afford the tow, insurance or no.”

“Not with school bankrupting him he can’t.” Kyle is right, of course, but not helpful. Lobell is one of the most expensive schools in the country, and Gianna’s going on a combination of grants and loans that make Tony’s head hurt to think about. If Sean has the money to pay for it out of pocket, Tony doubts he still will after graduation. Carl, whose kids went to community college in the early aughts, is convinced taking out a loan for school is a matter of a few thousand, easily paid back with a cushy office job. Kyle has a stepdaughter who finished high school in June, and Tony’s heard this argument about five times in the last four months.

“Carl, could you get the car on the lift for me?” Tony asks before the workday turns into a discussion on rising tuition costs and whether or not a good part-time job should cover them.

He situates himself in the driver’s seat as Carl maneuvers the tow truck so Tony can reverse the car gently onto the lift, flat tire squelching uncomfortably as he does.

With the car set up, he and Kyle crank the lift up until the dented fender is at eye level. Of course, Tony can’t find the spare tire anywhere in the trunk or under the car, but thankfully, they have the right replacement in stock. Switching it is the easy part.After twenty minutes, the busted tire is in the trash bin in the corner of the shop. The rubber boasts a long, narrow cut. There must have been broken glass on the shoulder where the car hit the guard rail. Tony can’t think of any other way to explain it.

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