WAITING FOR SUMMER... with high hopes (Part 108b)

Arriving home that night I found Elle was awake having just visited the bathroom. In bed and in the dark I told her that the motor in the race car had ”blown up”. I swear the room lit up a bit from the smile on her face. She didn’t say anything and I just slipped into bed. It took a while to fall asleep and I was awake when it got light in the morning. I just wasn’t into church that day as I wanted to find out just what had happened to the motor. Of course that didn’t please Elle as she had to  take all three of the kids. Even though my grandfather wasn’t going to the hospital as much I would still try to stop by after church. However, that wasn’t in my plans for that morning either. Seeg had told me to get to his farm before 11am or after 2pm so as not to interfere with his Sunday dinner. I counted on Elle expecting me to still visit my grandfather so was going to see Seeg during that time period.

The farm wasn’t all that big but the barns and house were neatly painted which wasn’t the “norm”. Most of the farmers let their barns and houses get to looking a bit shabby so that the tax assessors would keep their valuations low. One thing I’d learned about farm houses was that in spite of all of them having front doors, it was the back door that handled about 95% of the traffic, in and out. It was no different at Seeg’s. There was a small back porch and as I approached I saw two short clothes lines with each running from the house to the posts that held the roof up. On one were a few small towels and on the other was a single pair of pale yellow panties. I couldn’t help but see the word “Saturday” embroidered above one of the leg openings. Upon seeing them I remembered the blonde girl from the night before.

A tall woman with a weathered face answered my knock. If any of you remember the comic character Popeye you’ll remember his chin and how it stuck out below his mouth. My first impression was that she was the female Popeye. As I stepped into the kitchen I was almost overwhelmed by the smell of the meal she was preparing. It smelled so good! Seeg soon appeared and out the door we went. He was a man of few words so all I did was follow him down the driveway and up the road about 150 feet. When he stopped he pointed into the woods. I peered in and I thought I saw the back of a car. After I walked in a few feet I saw what appeared to be the number 22 painted in silver on the trunk. The first words Seeg spoke were “If you want the motor you can have it.” Of course I said “Yes” and he told me all I had to do was come and get it out of the woods and take the motor... no money needed.

I was very curious as to how the car got there and who owned it. I just about pleaded with Seeg to tell me the story. Reluctantly, he told me that his son, Chet, drove his first race on opening night the previous year. When they returned to the farm after the races they found three young men standing in their driveway. They said they’d come from near the city and brought, supposedly, their race car to the track but weren’t allowed to race it. When they headed for home they’d gotten lost and ended up on the road next to Seeg’s farm. They’d flat towed the race car using a rope. The rope had broken and the car ran off into the woods and they had no way to get it out. Seeg told them how to get back to where they’d come from and they told him they’d be back in a few days to get the car. It had stayed in the woods for exactly one year and Seeg had decided that was long enough. He’d given the car to a neighbor’s son but the kid didn’t want the motor... so it was now mine.

Seeg was telling me the story out by one of the barns and just as he was finishing up the blonde girl appeared again. She’d been sent out to get Seeg as dinner was ready. I thought she was beautiful the night before and the pit area was pretty dark. In broad daylight... WHEW! Her hair, shoulder length, was the color of corn silk and she had on a fairly short flower print dress. I didn’t have the nerve to ask who she was as Seeg headed right for the house. Getting into my car I headed for home with my thoughts consumed by how beautiful the girl was. Reality returned as I drove past the area where the car was embedded into the trees and I realized I had to come up with a plan on just how I was going to get the motor.

I decided that I’d keep the new motor a secret from Elle and look for a better opportunity to tell her about it. Even though I knew that I had to take it apart and rebuild it since it had been out in the weather for a year, I didn’t mind. At least I had a motor... and it hadn’t cost me anything. Later that afternoon Elle took a walk with the baby which gave me a chance to call Darren to give him the news. As soon as I told him he had a solution for retrieving the motor. James, his boss, was real good friends with the guy who owned the automatic transmission repair shop and he had a wrecker. He said he’d work on James to ask the guy about borrowing his wrecker. He even volunteered that Eddie, his fellow worker at James’ shop, was friendly with the guy as well. I hung up having a real good feeling.

I won’t bore you with the trials and tribulations of getting the motor. The best part of it was that Seeg and the blonde girl came over to watch us thrash about. It was hard for Darren, Eddie and I to concentrate with her around. Eddie seemed to think she was related in some way to Seeg’s wife but wasn’t sure. In any case she was the topic of conversation on our way back to James shop where we'd been given permission to work on the motor. Even as we dropped the motor off at the shop the girl still had our attention, especially Darren. As we headed for home he told us he was going to make a point of finding out more about her.

To be continued...