By Tayler Franklin (age 14)
Part 2 of a trilogy
Background; in part one the road trip was interrupted when the girls experienced a mechanical failure with the MGTD stranding them on the Skyline Parkway looking for help.
“From Lemons can come lemonade”?
“I don’t think we can fix it, at least not without competent help.” I frowned, I couldn’t clearly see what the problem was but I knew that we needed to call a tow-truck. I motioned for Rinnah to keep the hood open while I Goggled near-by mechanic shops and waited as the page slowly loaded. My phone kept searching for a signal. “Reed’s Foreign Car Repair Garage” was on the first page that popped up. The reviews looked decent and wow there was a MG logo on their site! Since they were still open I clicked on their phone number waiting for an answer. Rinnah started to speak but stopped when she saw me raise the phone to my ear. It rang as I paced back and forth beside the car, my anxiety rising as my imagination began to get the best of me. I was freaking out thinking a crazy ax-murderer could come out of the woods or a speeding car could fly around the corner, crashing into two teenage girls standing by their broken MG.
My terrifying thoughts were put on pause as someone answered the phone. “This is JC Reed speaking, how may I help you?” As the gruff voice spoke through the speaker I cleared my throat. “Hi, our car broke down on the Skyline Parkway and we need a tow-truck to come out and take it to your garage.” I could hear myself I must sound awkward and clueless. There was some rustling in the background and muffled voices on their end before he spoke again, “where are you on the parkway? Can you narrow it down...are there any landmarks near you?” I hummed, clicking the home button then going to Google Maps and tried to get an address or something to give to the man. Finally, I found a mile marker and we had a plan of action. I told him it was an MGTD and he said, “ Anyone traveling in any 70 year old British car deserves all the help they can get.” My son will be there with our flat bed in 45 minutes. I turned to update Rinnah and found her asleep in the car. I continually poked slapped her on the arm. Finally she stirred groaning, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Wake up doofus, the tow truck will be here soon.” She glared at me as I quickly snapped a picture of her frizzy matted hair and all. “No, no! Taylerrrr! Delete that! I look awful.” I held my phone away as she reached for it. “Ok, ok! I won’t post it”
We sat there passing time reminiscing about funny moments from our past. Including the time we flew down the stairs in a laundry basket catapulting us thru the back door into the backyard. We may be maturing but our adventurous spirits live on. We rambled on until we saw headlights coming out of the darkness. There appeared a faded red, somewhat rusted tow-truck with the shop’s logo painted on the side. A young man exited the truck smiled and said hello then began loading the MG on the flatbed.
I felt relieved muttering thank you numerous times as we hopped into the truck, Rinnah sitting next to the driver and me on her right. As he climbed behind the wheel I could see he was a probably 18 or 19-years old. He had golden brown short curly hair and vibrant blue-green eyes that reflected like pools of light. He had a sharp jawline and a handsome face. Not really my ‘cup of tea’ but I could tell Rinnah was infatuated with him. They were immediately exchanging side-glances. This road trip just got more interesting.
When we arrived at the garage his dad (the gruff voice) was waiting at the door. He said, “ This isn’t going to get fixed tonight do you girls have a place to stay?” We looked at each other suddenly realizing we hadn’t given that any thought. He kindly offered to let us stay with his family. This made Rinnah very happy when she realized his son lived there too.
The next morning Mr. “JC” Reed left early for his shop. When he returned about 9:30 we were eating our breakfast when he gave us the bad news. We had a blown head gasket. I wasn’t sure what that meant so he put it in terms of time and money. Three days and $250! Three days, this made Rinnah very happy but the $250 dollars put a real dent in our travel money but we had it.
I was shoveling down the golden fluffy waffles that John (the son) had made, trying to avoid making small talk. Rinnah being the extrovert was already in intense conversation with John. I envy that, the ability to make spontaneous conversation with someone completely new. My thoughts were halted when I heard my name in the midst of their dialog and I turned my attention to them. “John was wondering if we wanted to go to town with him while he runs errands.” I pondered the question. I was thinking anything is better than being cooped up in a stranger’s house so I nodded in acceptance while they went back to conversing. I continued lost in my thoughts.
After the changing of clothes and brushing of hair and teeth, we were out of the house. Rinnah ran toward his truck, her hair moving in step as she hopped into the passenger side, yelling “shotgun!” Rolling my eyes at her antics, I climbed into the backseat while John turned the key and the truck sprang to life. We rode into town, jamming out to the country songs that popped up on the radio. First, we parked outside a General Store and John said, “I will be right back”. Now that we were alone I looked at Rinnah with raised eyebrows. “So, what’s going on between you and Mr. Repair Boy?” She blushed, turning away from me looking out the window. “Nothing is going on,” She stammered feigning offense at my accusation. I scoffed, “yeah, friends who just met each other and can’t take their eyes off one another.” We glared at each other then Rinnah rolled her eyes and turned away once again.
When John returned he was met with deadly silence. He furrowed his eyebrows but smartly didn’t comment as he drove on through town. I didn’t understand why Rinnah was getting so offended; can’t she see that I am trying to protect her? It’s a story that has been around for ages, boy meets girl they fall in love too fast then they separate because the distance is too much of an challenge and this ends with unnecessary heartbreak for the both of them. It’s just a summer fling. Call me heartless but I’m being realistic. Realism is a trait I have adopted because in the real world, there are no fairytale endings.
I spent my afternoons in JC’s garage since John was so distracted with Rinnah. I handed JC tools and learned a lot about how an MGTD works.
The remaining nights at home were passed with a smokescreen of deceptive happiness. Board games and laughter rule the nights while sitting around the campfire in the backyard. Romance happened in the shadows while stargazing and roasting marshmallows. Empty promises were made between the boy and girl who were hopelessly in love. It was time to map out our route along the back roads to our destination in Maine. Thank you and goodbyes are said with embraces and chaste kisses with phone numbers and promises exchanged. Then Rinnah and I are off to my Uncle’s house on the coast of Maine.
Back on the road again….
PART THREE TO FOLLOW
