Story PartII

[Road Worthy]

It was well past one in the morning before the two boys arrived


back at Ehtan's family farm. The remaining potion of their trip


was uneventful, but the the run-in with the officer lay heavy on


their minds. They knew that somehow they would be linked to


stealing the old man's fuel, but they tried to be optimistic.





Once on the property, the two boys headed straight for the


lean-to structure built along side the barn that housed Ethan's


Ford.





It was draped with a large dusty tarpouline. Ethan, picked up


the corner of the tarp exposing the rear deck lid. He then dug


around his pockets til he found his keys and opened the trunk.


Ethan and Joshua then placed the stolen three liters of fuel in


the trunk.





"Tomorrow, we'll take her for a ride after my parents leave for


the day." Ethan said, closing the trunk lid and then replacing


the tarp back over the vehicle. The two boys then snuck back into


the house.





Sitting on top of an old oil drum inside a battered metal


building , Thomas Morgan watched over the deserted garage for his


father. His father who decided to run his shop on a "need to"


basis, had left him here alone. Since the fuel crisis, business


was slow and it didn't make much sense to hang around Morgan's


Garage and Salvage for nothing, so he hired his son Thomas to


watch the place and perform some remedial tasks and to call him


when there was a true service call. In his father's absence,


Thomas took the liberty of making himself comfortable at his


father's shop. There was plenty of things to do, especially after


his friends arrived. They were always coming up with new and


creative ways of getting into trouble. This morning was no


exception, shortly after Mr. Morgan dropped off his son in front


of Morgan's Garage, Thomas's friends arrived.





Thomas, still sitting on the oil drum, vaguely heard a vehicle


approaching the shop. He hopped off the barrel, and walked


outside expecting to see some farmer who needed a tractor tire


plugged or some local fool wanting a used battery, but Thomas was


really shocked to see Ethan and Joshua inside Ethan's primered


Ford coupe.





Ethan sat behind the wheel with that shit-eating-grin on his


face, that Thomas knew all too well. "Let's go for a ride!" Ethan


shouted out the driver's window.





Thomas stood there, Looking back towards the open doors of the


shop and back again towards Ethan. "I don't know....My old man


would kill me if he knew I left the shop." Thomas said, again


glancing back at the open doors of the garage.





"Come onnnn...Its only up the road and back. Its been so long


since he had a chance to drive, it'll only be for a sec." Ethan


said, as he tried to coax Thomas into the Ford.





"Oh.......alright, just up the road and back, but I ride


shotgun!" Thomas said, as he ran for the passenger door. "Move


over Dog Boy!" Thomas said, as he swatted Joshua over the head


through the open window. Joshua looked over at Ethan for


support. "You heard him, get in the back!" Ethan said to Joshua


now impatient to get moving. Joshua reluctantly moved to the


back, allowing Thomas to slide into the passengers seat.


"Here we go!" Ethan shouted as the car shot out of the dirt


parking lot of the Morgan's Garage, they howlered out the windows


with pure joy and excitement all along road.





Ethan looked down to glance at the speedometer. The needle was


approaching the 110km per hour mark, the narrow tree-lined road


made them feel that they were doing twice that speed. The Ford


drove straight and true, and the boys were still yelling with


excitement. Suddenly, the engine begin to shutter and cough.


Ethan looked wildly around wondering what happened, all he could


think was that his newly built engine ate itself up. The color


washed from his face, as he thought of how he was going to


explain this to his father.





Meanwhile, Thomas leaned over to look at the guages. "You dumb


ass, your out of fuel! What kind of dumb ass drives around with


no...............Hey, where did you get the gas?" Thomas


demanded. Ethan was too busy trying to get the vehicle off the


road to listen to Thomas gab. "I said, Where did you get the


gas?" Thomas shouted again, this time emphasizing his question


with a smack against the back of Ethan's head.





Ethan quickly caught Thomas's retreating hand, twisting it with


aggressive force. Ethan stared Thomas down, who was now nearly


crying with pain. "Never, hit me again unless you think you can


take me!" Ethan coldly said, releasing Thomas's hand.


Thomas just sat there in pain, staring disbelievingly at


Ethan.





Some time had past, the boys just sat there motionless


contemplating their next course of action. Finally Ethan broke


the silence. "Sorry, Thomas.....I really didn't mean to hurt you,


but I really screwed up this time. If I don't get this car home


before my parents get back I'll loose the car." Ethan said almost


sincerly. "We stole three liters from the old man up the road


last night." Ethan added.





"Three liters?" Thomas exclaimed. "Now I know your a dumb ass,


this gas hog only gets 15km per gallon at best. What made you


think you could drive out here, race around, and then make it


back home?" Thomas said as he began to laugh.





Ethan, soon followed by Joshua began laughing along with Thomas.


The tense atmoshere instantly disovled.





They hiked it back to the shop, luckily for Thomas, the Garage


seemed untouched just like he had left it. Thomas got on the


phone and called his dad to come to the Garage. One half-hour


later Mr. Morgan arrived. He wasn't too pleased that he had to


waste fuel on his son's sorry friends, he told Thomas that this


would be deducted from his pay. Enough fuel was added to allow


Ethan to drive his Ford home.





The next morning the three boys reunited, the same time as usual,


but this time they traveled to Morgan's Garage and Salvage on


their bicycles. Ethan was pissed because, the evening before Mr.


Morgan called his folks, alerting them of their his escapade.


Ethan had to give up his keys to his car, and was forbidden to


ever drive it again at the risk of it being sold to put food on


the table. Luckily for him, his parents thought that Thomas gave


him the gas, lord help him if they knew he had stolen it.


Needless-to-say, the boy's spirits were low and the mood was


depressing.





The entire morning was uneventful, until an old pick up pulled


into the parking lot.





Joshua recognized the pickup at once, he could feel his face


redden with fear. Joshua nudged Ethan, motioning for him to see


the old man who was exiting his truck. Ethan grabbed Joshua's


shoulders, "Keep cool, don't say a word." Ethan said, trying to


reassure Joshua that everything was going to be alright.


Meanwhile, Thomas went outside to greet his customer, while Ethan


and Joshua stayed inside cloaked by the garage's darkness.





"What can I do for you." Thomas said, while wiping his clean


hands on a rag trying to make it look like he was a big-time


mechanic. The old man wiped the sweat from his brow with his


sleeve and said, "I'm here to pick up the part I ordered for the


tractor. "I don't recall there being any parts delivered


lately." Thomas replied. "Well, I ordered it a while back, Mr.


Morgan said he would hold it for me til I was able to ge

[Road Worthy]

:It w "Well, I ordered it a while back, Mr.



:Morgan said he would hold it for me til I was able to get some



:cash." the old man calmly said. "I'll call my Dad and find out



:where he's got it laying around." Thomas said, walking inside to



:the office. The old man followed.



:



:By the time the old man made it inside, Thomas was already on the



:phone with his father. Ethan and Joshua didn't have time to



:avoid the old man without looking suspicious.



:



:"Morning" the old man said as he saw the two boys. "Morning"



:Ethan replied. "Sure getting rough, huh?" the old man asked.



:"Well...Uh...Sure." Ethan said, not sure what the old man was



:asking. "These damn fuel rations, How they expect us to run a



:farm with the little fuel they allot us. We do grow the food



:they eat don't we?" the old man asked. "Sur

[MFP]

Nice, i like it!