November Falls - 1. Chapter 1 - Ember

Ember

I slammed the bonnet closed. That old world solid click reminded me of the cars I worked on when starting here - twenty years ago. This ‘73 GTR Torana was a classic - solid, powerful, brute force for mums to shop in and dads to remember back when - nothing like today's turbos, or, “never getting dirty” SUV’s. It was a thing of beauty.

Beautiful car – idiot owner.

These young kids - they buy expensive classics and don’t look after them. It’s the third time this particular car has been brought to my workshop to be repaired, not including the five or six times it’s been here to get new tires in the past three months. Such a damn shame. I pulled a rag from my back pocket and wiped across the hood and side guard, then cleaned some of the grease from my hands.

My place is called ‘The Chop Shop.’ I’ve owned it for eight years now. I did my apprenticeship here straight out of school, all wide-eyed and damn glad to be away from the classroom finally. There aren’t many opportunities in a small town in Australia to get a start. Our town or I guess we would be considered a small city, Glenwood Oaks, has a population of about fifty thousand, more if you include the surrounding farms and smaller towns. Not what you would consider a place of opportunity for a young person starting out straight from high school. But, I just happened to get lucky, Mike the owner of the garage at the time didn’t give a flying rats ass that I was young, or that I was gay. He needed help and that’s what my job was, to learn and help him as much as possible.

When I was thirty, the owner, Mike, decided to sell. He gave me first option to buy before putting it on the market. I jumped at the chance to own my own business. I’d saved a nice nest egg for a house but decided to take the risk and took him up on his offer. He gave me a great deal on the place, in exchange for him never having to repair his own cars again. That made me laugh: he’d made a good life for himself from this business, yet he hated every minute of it. When he turned over the keys, he said, “If you ever need help, just call… an agency and get yourself an apprentice like I did.” Mike shook my hand, slapped me on the shoulder and whistled while he skipped all the way to his car. He couldn’t get going fast enough! And I was full of awe: ‘I’m going to do this.’

With hours of hard work, plenty of heart-in-mouth times and a few laughs along the way, I've managed to grow the business from the great start Mike gave me. Sometimes I can’t believe it. After three years of sacrificing, hard work, and building the business, I bought the vacant lot sitting next to the workshop and expanded with two more work bays - three in total: one is for mechanical repairs, the second for electronics, and the third, the largest, is all tires & suspension. The Chop Shop now boasts four full-time workers, well four and a half really: all good guys, easy to work with and they all work bloody hard - not a lazy one in the bunch. We feel more like a family than a business most of the time. A fair bit of ribbing goes on but couldn’t think of a day without these guys - they're my work family.

I’ve been lucky enough to surround myself with strong, confident people. After my crappy high school experience with bigots and bullies, I was determined to provide a safe working environment for gay people. Not that it is a requirement for me to hire a person nor is everyone that works at ‘The Chop Shop’ gay. This is a male dominated industry; it only takes one bigoted asshole to make life a living hell for a LGBT person. Therefore, gay or straight, we have each other’s backs.

There’s Justin who is our resident magician – Auto-Electrician; Rodney, whom everybody calls ‘Basher’ – I’ve no idea why – he is the tire and suspension specialist who’s seen a bit of the ’73 GTR lately; then there is our young bloke, Troy, who’s my third-year mechanic’s apprentice - he reminds me a bit of myself at his age, although, can't say I had a cell phone welded to my hand when not under a bonnet; and last, but by no means least, Jim who is about seventy years old and retired from the workforce – sort of. He was bored about twenty minutes after retiring, and about thirty minutes later his wife was sick of him. So they could both enjoy their retirement, he decided to find a job working only a couple of days a week. He’s been at ‘The Chop Shop’ for about five years and works when we have big days. Basically, he’s our go-for, he loves it, and we love him. Having Jim around is like having my Granddad hanging out with us – and the stories. He makes our life easier, he’s a lot of fun, and very easy going, which fits in well with our group of misfits.

“Hey, Boss?” Mags called out from the office door.

Crap!

I forgot about Mags. Mags is our office everything - she is the glue that holds ‘The Chop Shop’ together. She’s a tiny, petite woman, all of about four-and-a half-feet tall, in her sixties. She’s also Basher’s Mum, which is funny because Basher is about six-feet-four-inches tall and built like a brick shithouse. She claims she doesn’t know where he got the nickname ‘Basher’ from, but I don’t know. Mags runs a tight ship and takes no crap from any of us ‘Youngens’ - her words, not mine. I’m friggin’ thirty-eight, for Christ’s sake. She is fantastic, though. I only have to do minimum paperwork and end of the month with her. Mags insists I do end of month finances with her so I know what is going on with my business.

“Eight years Mags, I’ve been asking, then begging and now pleading, call me by my name.” I turned toward her and smiled.

She ignored me as usual.

“Hawko called. ETA five minutes, bringing in a breakdown from out on the highway,” Mags said, closing the door behind her.

Well, that sucks - four o’clock on Friday afternoon and we get a job, so no early finish Friday this week.

“Troy!” I yelled, not knowing where the kid was. I say kid, he’s twenty-one.

Hawko is a tow truck driver. He’s also one of my best friends. He moved to town a few years back, and we bonded over our similarities right away. Both gay men, working in macho, masculine environments where gay is not usually tolerated - not in this town anyways. Luckily we’re both big guys, and we got our muscles the old-fashioned way, hard and heavy labour. We also don’t have the same taste in men, which is a good thing. Hawko likes his men smaller and on the effeminate side, but sassy as hell and bossy. He loves to have someone to manhandle, but in an affectionate way, not abusive. I usually like my guys smart, nerdy and awkward, but I’m not opposed to the jock type, as long as they aren’t a meathead, someone like me sometimes.

“Yeah Boss,” Troy approached out of breath.

I didn’t even have to say anything, I raised an eyebrow to question where he had been.

“Sorry, I was giving Basher a hand with some tires.”

“Sure, does he still need you?”

“Nah! We were just finishing up. You want me to move the Torry out?” He asked hopefully.

“Yep, Hawko’s bringing in a breakdown. Take it for a quick spin would ya. Make sure the brakes are good, and it’s not pulling,” I said walking over to the job board and picking up the paperwork for the Torana. “And Troy,” I gave him a serious look, “no burnouts, speeding or anything else tempting.” I couldn’t hold in my chuckle, knowing full well he would never do that in a customer’s car.

“Buzzkill,” Troy grinned getting into the car.

I filled out the information Mags needed to invoice the owner, then walked into the office as Troy drove away. Geez, the car sounded good.

“This for the Torana?” Mags asked while taking the clipboard from me.

“Yup.” I looked out the office window just as a tow truck arrived. “Hawko’s here - you right with everything, Mags?”

“Yeah Boss, you take care of that, and I’ll organize this,” she said pointing out the window.

“When you’ve done that, you might as well head home. Get a head start on your wine for the weekend. We aren’t going to be fixing that car until Monday.” I smiled warmly.

“Will do, thanks, Boss,” Mags said unfazed, picking up the phone to call the customer, even with the wine joke.

Still “Boss” - one day she’ll say my name, one day.

I met up with Hawko as he exited his truck.

“Hey, Hawko.” I greeted my friend

“Hey. Long day?” he asked.

“Is now.” I smiled and indicated to the SUV hooked up to his truck.

“Poor guy - ten minutes from home. He’d been driving since sun up, the guy was exhausted, and he had his son with him. That can’t have been fun for either of ‘em.”

“Mm, no doubt.” That would have sucked. I can’t imagine how much of a pain in the ass that was. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” I said walking to the back of the truck with Hawko.

We got the SUV into the repairs bay, and Troy re-joined us, “It’s still pulling a touch, I’ve put the Torana in Basher’s workshop. He’s going to lock it in there for the weekend and give it a wheel alignment on Monday morning.”

I chortled, “Okay. If the kid can’t get to his car until Monday, we may be able to keep him alive for another weekend. He won’t be happy, but I don’t care.” I pointed to the newly arrived SUV, “Alright Troy, let Mags know and then give this a once-over. I want you to tell me what’s wrong with it.”

“By myself?” Troy arched an eyebrow so high I thought it would get caught in his hairline.

“Yes, you know how to diagnose - you’ve done it a million times, buddy. You’re a smart kid. If you have a question or you’re unsure, just ask,” I said encouragingly and tapped his shoulder.

“Okay,” he answered nervously.

“You’ll be fine, and I’ll check after you’re done as a safety net. If you’ve missed anything, we’ll go through it together.”

I smiled and nudged him toward the car. Troy slowly ambled to the office while eyeing the SUV like it was about to lash out and attack him.

“You won’t fuck it up, Troy - just take your time, think and give it a shot.”

I led Hawko out of the workshop to give Troy some space. I didn’t want him to feel pressured. I used to hate it when Mike would ask me to do something then stand over my shoulder. Sometimes it’s best to be able to think for yourself. Use your training - things will come together naturally.

“Will he be alright?” Hawko asked, nudging his chin in the direction of Troy.

“Pfft, of course, he will. The kid is smart, he’ll figure it out. He’s gotta learn to trust himself. Won’t do him any good if I just dictate his job. We’ve got the time right now, so he can figure it out, use his education.”

“You’re a good teacher mate. The kid’s lucky to work here.”

“He’s a good kid and works damn hard. Never grumbles when I get him to do shitty jobs,” I said shrugging a shoulder. “He just needs a little more confidence in himself.”

“I'll say,” said the deep timbre of Basher from behind me as he joined our pow-wow.

“Uncle Ember,” a young girl squealed, I turned in the direction of the squawking, and my young five-year-old niece was running toward me. Her arms already stretched out for a hug. My teenage nephew AJ – Aaron Jr, dawdling behind, his eyes glued to his phone as his fingers worked ten to the dozen.

My niece is named after me, well sort of, her name is Ember, which is what everyone calls me. Unfortunately, my real name is November – damn parents. I also have two younger sisters, twins, April and June. These two monsters belong to April and her husband Aaron, who was my best friend in high school. Still is today. I scooped Ember up like an infield grounder at a baseball game when she reached me. Her arms went straight around my neck, and she laid her head on my shoulder for a hug.

“Hey Jelly Bean, how was school today?”

“Good.” I heard her giggle after her standard answer.

“How’s it going AJ? Your Dad tells me you finally got your license?”

AJ pulled his head out of his phone, “Um… yeah, on the second try.” He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal.

“Congratulations!” I said my fist lightly tapping his shoulder, now he grinned with a little bit of pride.

“Dad said you offered to help me find a car?”

“Yep, we can have a look around together. Maybe hit some of the auctions. We might be able to find something good, mechanically sound and economical for you.” I smiled. AJ rolled his eyes at me. No kid wants to hear that - they always want something cool for their first car. God forbid the thing actually runs.

“Sure,” AJ answered unenthusiastically.

“Hey, AJ, we all made you a deal - get something small and easy to drive for your first car. Nothing flash, your first car always ends up dented and scraped. You’re still gaining experience. If you do that, you know, just a cheap something for a runaround, we’ll find a shell of something wicked, and we’ll all do it up together. You keep your end of the deal, and we’ll keep ours,” Basher told him sincerely.

“You’ll still do that?” The kid asked excitedly.

“A promise is a promise, kiddo,” I answered re-enforcing Basher’s statement nodding.

“Thanks, that’s totally awesome,” AJ stated enthusiastically.

“Where are your folks?” I enquired.

“Um… Dad made Mum take him to get a case of beer, so they dropped us off first because Ember wanted to see you. She wouldn’t shut up about it actually,” AJ said rolling his eyes.

“Aw, at least someone loves me,” I said cuddling Ember.

“Yeah!” Ember said defiantly sitting up in my arms and poking her tongue out at her brother.

AJ just rolled his eyes at his sister.

“Hey, little one, where’s my cuddles?” Basher said to Ember. She gave him a shy smile and held out her arms for him to take her. He took Ember from me like she weighed nothing. She’s getting too big to pick up these days. I smiled. Basher has always been good with kids, and they flock to him, probably because he never grew up. He’s been dating the same woman, Jennifer, ever since I’ve known him. She’s alright, but I think he could do so much better. She doesn't like nor wants children, a good thing for the kids I’d say. But Basher would be a fantastic Dad, and I’m sure he’d love to be one.

“Let’s go say hello to Nanna Mags, and find those choc-chip cookies before your brother does,” Basher said as he cuddled with Ember as they toddled off to the office to visit with his Mom.

Justin joined us after locking up his workshop. Then Aaron arrived, with a case of beer.

“Let’s go inside. I don’t want customers to see us drinking out here.” I nudged my chin toward the repairs workshop.

We all trudged into the back of my workshop. Aaron put the carton down, broke it open, and handed everyone a beer. “Son, go and get a glass. You can have half of this beer since your Mother isn’t here.”

“Sweet,” AJ said and took off for the breakroom.

Aaron focused on me, his tongue poking slightly through his teeth. He leaned back onto the bench.

“So, Ember,” he poured some beer into the glass his son handed him, “have you changed your mind about coming to the twenty-year reunion with me tomorrow night?”

He gave his son the glass filled with beer.

“Nope,” I said letting the ‘p’ pop for emphasis.

“Why not?” Aaron clipped, crossing his arms, resting his beer on his elbow.

“You damn well know why not,” I said and took a swig of my beer.

“Come on, mate. It’s been twenty years. Think about how many of them are fat or bald, even fat and bald, and that’s just the girls.”

Aaron laughed then he and Hawko fist-bumped.

“I haven’t really spoken to any of them since school. They didn’t even speak to me back then unless it was to be fucking assholes. So why would I want to waste a perfectly good Saturday night? Besides Hawko and I are going down to the city. There’s a new bar just opened - we thought we might check it out.”

I looked to Hawko for the save. Hawko winked at me and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Aaron.

“–No you’re not. Hawko has that big date tomorrow night. He’s been talking about it for days now,” Aaron said smugly.

Well, shit!!

Hawko gave me a sympathetic smile and drank a mouthful of his beer. How the fuck am I going to get out of this?

“You could always take me out driving Uncle E - you know, I don’t have a car yet,” AJ piped in, “and like you guys already told me it’s about gaining more driving experience.”

I tipped my beer bottle toward my nephew, “See, I’m busy. My nephew needs me.”

A pair of little arms wrapped around my waist. They didn’t quite reach all the way around me, but Ember clung onto my shirt. My hand went around her shoulders, pulling the young one into me. I looked down and smiled. She grinned back at me.

“Hey,” she said bashfully.

“Hey, Jelly Bean.”

“Don’t ignore me, mate. Come with us - it will be fun. We can drink and make fun of all the assholes together.” Aaron argued.

“Mate, I’m tellin ya, I ain’t going.” I sat firmly on – No fucking way!

“C’mon Ember, you’re not anything like you were at school. You’re six feet of muscle, you have your own business. You’re a successful guy. It’s not like Brady Douglass and his cronies are going to say anything. If we’re lucky, they won’t even show up. April is making me go because some of her friends will be there. It won’t be any fun for me if you’re not there,” Aaron pleaded.

Hawko was standing next to him with a weird look on his face, when my eyes met his, he looked away. Wonder what that’s about?

“Fuck, I hate that guy!” I muttered under my breath so Ember couldn’t hear me.

“So if this is your twenty-year reunion, that means mine is next year,” Justin groaned.

“At least you didn’t have Brady Douglass in your year,” I whined.

“Ha! No, but we had Cameron bloody Douglass.” Justin commiserated. “He was just as big an asshole.”

He remembered my niece Ember and said sheepishly, “Sorry, Ember.”

Ember giggled. “You should hear the naughty words Daddy says.”

“I learned ‘em from Mummy.” Aaron quipped quickly then taking a mouthful of his beer.

They had better not let April hear them, or it will be game on.

“That’s where I learned them.” AJ followed.

Then he and his Dad clinked drinks in solidarity. I love how close Aaron is with his son. It makes me jealous I don’t have that sometimes.

Ember pulled on my shirt. “Uncle Ember, you should go with Daddy.”

“You think so, do you?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

Ember grinned and nodded her head in confirmation. What do I say? No, and set a bad example in front of AJ and Ember? They’ll think hiding or running from your problems is okay. Damn Aaron – I’m going to kick his ass later. I looked down at Ember, and she had a big expectant smile like I would do it for her. Damn adorable kid.

“Fine. How bad could it be? It’s only one night, right?” I sighed giving in, then smiling down at my niece who nodded her head in agreement, a grin splitting her face in half.

“Right,” Aaron said tipping his bottle at me in thanks.

Fuck! What have I done?