CHRISTMASTIME... Ho Ho Ho? (Part 102i)

I survived the ”inquisition“ when I arrived home but just barely. When I told her that I had arranged to go to Peggy’s father’s garage on Saturday to really find out what was the problem with the station wagon she backed off a bit. I told her how nice he’d been and how I felt uncomfortable in trying to leave. However, she did give me a one of those ”we’ll see“ type looks. Jean pestered me all afternoon as to when Peggy would be back. I told her I didn’t know but that Karen would be disappointed if she knew that she (Jean) didn’t want her to babysit anymore. That gave her something to think about and shut her up for a while.

I was at James’ gas station bright and early Saturday morning. He introduced me to a tall blond haired man, younger than me, telling me that he was his nephew, Eddie. James started to get in the wagon with me but Eddie stopped him and asked me to pop the hood. I asked why and he just said he wanted to look at something. I asked James what he was doing and all he did was to shrug his shoulders. I sat there while Eddie went from one side to the other and then shut the hood and waved us off. It was puzzling.

It took lees than a minute to get to the transmission shop. James introduced me to Gus, the owner. It was obvious that he was from the city by the way he talked. James proceeded to tell him about my experience with ”Alec“. The reaction wasn’t quite as dramatic as when I’d told James about it but it was noticeable. Gus told me that he’d check it out thoroughly and said he'd call James in about an hour. James and I walked back to his shop and then he introduced me to his other mechanic, Darren. He looked to be about my age and said he remembered my race car which made me feel good. I knew the driver he was helping so it was an enjoyable meeting. I liked him right from the start.

I just hung around the office watching just how busy the place was. James never let the smile leave his face as he was in and out waiting on the gas customers. It was obvious that his customers liked him. Every time the phone rang I thought it was the transmission guy. It was well over and hour before the call I was waiting for came in. James talked with him for quite a while and when he turned to me the smile was missing.

Long story short was that the transmission needed to be completely rebuilt. It wasn’t like so many other things on a car that you can unbolt and put a replacement part right on. My knowledge about automatic transmissions was non existent so my question was ”How much?“. James didn’t answer the question but interjected that a better solution might be to buy a transmission from a junk yard and take my chances with it. Even though I’d only known him for a few days I felt he was looking out for my best interests with that suggestion. However, I wasn’t ready to make that decision right then and there.

I picked up the wagon at the transmission place and headed home. Elle, because Christmas was on Friday, hadn’t done her weekly shopping and with me home could do it without the kids. I was happily playing with them when I got a call from Eddie up at the gas station. James had told him what the prognosis was on the transmission and he was calling to offer to help me if I decided to get a used one. I was pretty impressed that he, without knowing me at all, would make an offer like that. But, I wasn’t ready to make a decision... and I don’t remember why.

It was a typical Sunday what with church and then a visit to the hospital with my grandfather. After the church service, when Elle and I were collecting the kids, Karen came up to ask how we’d made out with Patsy. I told her about Patsy wearing the Elf costume and got a ”roll of the eyes“ look from her followed by another ”that’s soooo Patsy!“ comment along with a big smile. It gave me the opportunity to pursue my curiosity about the comment especially from a week ago. She was reluctant to explain but I pressed her saying that it was unfair for her to lead me on by having repeated the statement. I reminded her of when she first said it over at Patsy’s house when we’d gone there to meet her. That made her laugh but I could see she was still reluctant. I ”pushed“ a little more and she finally broke down telling me that Patsy had done the same thing (leaving off her uniform panties) at the memorial Day parade. I had to ask in what context that was in and now, laughing, told me that Patsy was a drum majorette in the school band. I can tell you that the image of this pretty girl, high stepping in front of all the people along the parade route, in a short skirt with just her regular panties on was pretty exciting to me. I was concentrating on that image when Karen grabbed me by the arm and, now all serious, pleaded with me not to let Patsy know that she’d told me. Of course, I did, but I will also tell you that the image is still vivid, even though I didn’t witness it in person.

When I arrived at my grandfather’s place I was greeted with the news that my father had found a replacement for Jan. Actually, it was a replacement for Edith as well. He’d found a retired nurse who was willing to move in and be a full time caretaker for my grandfather. In a bit of irony, my grandfather knew her mother from when they were kids. It was going to take some time to get everything organized but at least my parents would be able to move back home on a permanent basis. My grandfather seemed to be happy about the prospect which was also important. After the hospital it home to try and relax before heading back for another boring week at work.

To be continued...