Bullet the Grey Sky
The sky ripped open
and rain poured through the gaping wound.
Pounding the erstwhile mechanic.
Pounding the erstwhile mechanic.
Keeferman huddled over the exposed engine block as water washed down his face and off his nose, falling into a focal point on the wet battery leads he was trying to reconnect. It was a tight spot and the wet wrench kept slipping off greased terminals. Eventually though, he got it.
I'd gotten the emergency call while i was in the middle of a run around the neighborhood. Here i was forty minutes later, ten miles across town, and a hundred dollars lighter. Struggling to bring that car back to life. There was thunder and, yes, there was some lightning. i was experiencing a weird moment of deja-vu when it occurred to me: all that was missing was a hunchback named Igor. There were, however, people huddled under umbrellas running frantically for the shelter of the medical building or back to their cars in the parking lot.
They didn't seem to notice me though as i walked around to the driver's side door, opened it, and slipped inside. Instant quiet. The rain was now just a distant sound on the other side of the windshield. i was still soaked though and the keys i pulled from my pocket were dripping wet. i shook them once, wiped one on a drier fold of my shirt, and plugged into the ignition.
Of course it started right up. i shut it down and restarted it a number of times to be sure. No, yeah, it's good.
i got out and stepped back around to the open hood. -Waitaminute. The rain stopped. And it was alittle lighter out too. i tilted my head up to let the brim of my hat take in the whole sky. Just then there was a break in the clouds and the sun was shining down on my half of the parking lot. i swear. The sun came out and shined down upon me and my enterprise. i dropped the hood, stepped back, and considered my work.
Job well done, Keeferman.
Well done.
i drove across town, windows down and wind blowing, to Joan's office to collect my kudos. By the time i got there though, i was pretty dry, so i figured i wouldn't be getting Full Credit for my deluvian labor. Unfortunately, it was going to be worse than underwhelming. As i stood there waiting for the elevator, the doors opened and her manager stepped out with another coworker. We were each alittle surprised to see eachother, but exchanged greetings and i told them i was there to drop off Joan's now-functioning car. That's when her coworker told me the bad news. "Yeah, Joan said you were grumpy on the phone."
WHAT?!
It's quitting time and they're among the last of those scattering homeward. I'm not going to have the opportunity to track everybody down and explain the circumstances. I'm not going to be able to explain how I'd been in the middle of something, but dropped everything and immediately sprang into action. I won't get to explain how any perceived terseness was just me Getting Down to Business. Nobody's going to know that i got it resolved in less than an hour and no one's going to understand (on this bright & sunny late afternoon) that i did it in the Pouring Rain.
No.
Not only do i NOT get full credit for my good deed, but the way it's going down in the books is "He was grumpy about it."
This is bu-