Chapter 6
Hana
We could hear the party going on at Winston’s place as we passed by.
“You sure you don’t wanna go in? I’m sure it’d be fun!”
“Yeah, for you! Winston wouldn’t be allowed to sell me drinks.”
Lucio seemed kinda bummed out with that answer; he really wanted to go to this party for Lena, but I couldn’t go if I wanted to, and he promised he’d come with me to Mako’s. It wasn’t far from my place, only about 7 minutes by bike, and Lucio was keeping pace in his new roller-blades pretty well so we’d be there soon enough.
“If you’re sure, I trust you.” He said swinging of a pole as he rounded the corner. “I love these things! I feel like a movie star!”
“Well you have the looks for it big guy! You’re dressed like some sort of superhero DJ!”
“Now that’s a movie I can get behind!” he laughed. “Hey, you know if Jamie’s there yet?”
“Yeah, I think he works night shifts now.”
Jamie was our friend who works at Mako’s place as a trainee engineer. He didn’t go to school, I don’t even think he lives anywhere, but he’s a fun guy if you can get past all the crazy ramblings. He’s always super dirty though, so we don’t hang out much except from going to Mako’s on Fridays to play old video games and get high.
And then there’s the big guy himself, Mako Rutledge. He’s 7 feet of muscle and metal and built like a sumo wrestler. The guy scares off most customers (probably doesn’t help that he carries a meat hook around with him) and those who do actually use his services only do so because he’s the best mechanic in 200 miles. He barely ever talks and he never takes of the mask, but the guy has a soft spot for kids. He basically adopted Jamie. It’s a tough-love relationship but those two are closer than family.
Someone tried to skip Mako out on some money while he was away and… well let’s just say Jamie made sure he got his car back in several smaller parts. They tried to take Jamie in for questioning but Mako wouldn’t let them into the house. They came back a few days later with a warrant and said if he didn’t comply they’d have to use force. They tried. Eventually they decided it wasn’t worth sending another 6 officers to the hospital over a kid and let Jamie go. They were too scared to press charges against Mako, so that was the last time the police ever climber the hill up to the garage.
The garage itself wasn’t exactly clean either. The walls had been patched up a few times with random sheets of metal, and the roof was covered in brown rust. Half the garage was also walled off for “employees only” which means that where the not-so-legal stuff is stored.
Overall, a very shady establishment ran by an even shadier man with a sweetspot for our generation.
“Okay, wheels off, up the hill.” I said, stepping off the bike as we began to climb.
As we neared, the top the garage door raised until it was wide open and we were greeted by a black welding mask in a dark room.
We walked through the door as Mako growled “Little late for this time of year?” His breathing seemed to shake the room “Told the kid you weren’t coming. Ha! Put the bike in the corner, he’s in the back.”
“Thanks Mako!” we said in unison.
“Don’t mention it.” he said with another deep breath. “You kids’ve got it harder than most. Deserve a place to relax.”
I rested my bike on the wall and walked towards the door leading to the back of the garage.
“Oh, one more thing.” Mako raised a hand in front of us. “The kid’s got the lass over, watch yourself going in.”
“Don’t worry man!” Lucio laughed “Satya and I are friends now!”
Oh Lucio, so innocent.
“That not what he’s talking about big guy” I told him
His face went red as he caught on and Mako let out a deep throated laugh as I pushed the door open and walked in to the room.
You could smell the pot in the air; he started without us the bastard! The walls were darker in this room and the only lights were a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling and the old TV on the coffee table propped up on the table. In the middle of the room was a cardboard box we’ve been using for the table and pillows and bean bags sitting around it that we’ve been using as chairs.
“Jamie you better not be fuckin in here because I’m coming in!” I called out.
I turned the corner and found Satya and Jamison (thankfully) fully clothed smoking watching an old movie.
Satya turned around and laughed at me “Well Hana! You’re welcome to join in if you’d like.” She joked.
I bend over and gave her a kissing face “Sorry hunnie, still straight, maybe next time!”
Lucio called out from the other room
“Is it safe? Is everyone fully clothed?!”
“Unfortunately!” Jamie called out in response, eyes still locked onto the screen.
Lucio came into the room and sat on the pillow next to Jamie around the table.
It was always funny seeing these two next to one another. I was fairly short but compared to Lucio even I looked big. Meanwhile when Jamie stands up straight, which doesn’t happen often, he’s nearly as tall as the door frame. Compared to Jamie Lucio looked like a child.
Lucio opened up the backpack next to Jamie and pulled out a bag of chips and started picking at them. “What’s this?” he said, pointing at the television.
“Some old war film, I just like looking at the engines mate!”
“Ah okay, I get you” he raised the bag of chips “Mind if I?”
“Go ahead” he pointed at his overalls. “I’m too messy to eat right now anyway!”
He wasn’t lying; his blue overalls looked like he’d being crawling around in mud and metal. Jamie’s work usually involved getting covered in grime.
Satya grabbed the seat next to Jamie and wrapped her towel around her hands before holding onto his arm. She leaned into his neck and laughed. “As per usual, he’s just crawled out of someone’s car!”
Satya had problems with touching some things; it’s one of the many downsides to being an autistic kid genius. Oil was one of those things, so whenever she visits Jamie at work she brings along a blue towel. Jamie has always been nothing but understanding though. He even once offered to quit working overall just so she wouldn’t have to deal with the feeling of oil.
“You’re the one who decided to date a mechanic sweetie!” he joked before using his free hand to point to me. “C’mon Hana, take a seat! If I recall correctly, we have something of a bet?”
“Oh you’re on, junker!” I grabbed a controller off of the cardboard box and sat in front of the TV. Jamie had challenged me to a game off Tron the other day and it ended in a draw.
“Same bets as before?” he said pulling up next to me with a controller.
“Yep! If I win I get a sweet new helmet!”
“Yeah, and WHEN I win I get to borrow your reviewers licence!”
I laughed back at him “All this just to play a few games early?”
“Heck yeah! Now plug in your fucking controller and let’s do this thing!”
The game began and at the start Jamie started winning. I could hear Satya behind him cheering some slightly obscure words of encouragement. It didn’t matter though, I’d make a comeback. I started to pick out his patterns. He favoured a left turn when we were about to collide. I started double bluffing to get him to move into a line I’d drawn earlier in the game. I started winning and I could feel the salt starting to grow in Jamie as my score grew above his. Lucio was behind me occasionally chiming in with “wooo!”s and “yeah!”s as well as the occasional meme.
We played 9 games and I ended up winning 5-4. After the last game I threw my controller into the air and received a two person applause as I took a bow.
“Thank you! Thank you! I did it all for my fans!”
Lucio threw my pillow at me and laughed “and for some stupid helmet!”
“That too” I made a peace sign with my hands and blew him a kiss.
“Ah well! I’ll admit when I’ve lost.” Said Jamison, as he collapsed on his bean-bag next to Satya.
Seeing those two together always made me smile a little bit. They’re both living a world made more difficult by their situation and somehow they both always find time for one another. Jamie can be crazy sometimes but around her he is always calm because it makes her more comfortable.
If you saw Satya grow up you wouldn’t exactly expect her to end up with a guy like Jamie either. She’s the genius kid in a rich family; she asked her parent if she could move abroad for a few years to get some independence in her life. Of course that was a total lie, but her parents bought it and send her money every month to cover the cost of living away. You wouldn’t expect someone like that to fall for a homeless Australian guy. But never the less, they’re near inseparable now.
“Yo Hana.” Lucio called out “What time is it? We should be getting home soon!”
“We?” Satya asked. “Is there a we going on here?”
“No there isn’t! Stop asking!” I yelled back.
“Whatever you say, Hana!” Satya laughed, leaning into her boyfriend’s arms. She was a lot calmed now that she’s been smoking. “Not judging!”
“Of course you’re not.” I turned to Lucio. “Yeah, it’s getting late, we should head home.”
“Cool, right behind ya! Nice seeing you guys” he replied.
“Right back at you, little fella!” Jamie said in response.
We both stepped outside the door into the pain garage to find Mako on his back, underneath some car on the lift. The blow torch was on, so he couldn’t hear us leave, so I just banged on the car and pointed at the door when he turned to look at the noise. He gave us a thumbs up to show that he understood.
I grabbed my bike from the other side of the room and walked it over to the door where Lucio had left his roller blades. He slammed on the button and the garage door slowly stuttered and started to open.
“Race ya to the bottom?”
“You’re on big guy!” I replied and pushed my bike down the slope and took my feet of the pedals.
I got to the bottom of the slope a few seconds after Lucio
“I win, as always!”
“And you wonder why people think we’re super competitive!”
“Excuses, excuses! I win, nothing you can do about it!”
I leaned over and punched him in the shoulder before checking my watch.
“Damn, it’s a lot later than I thought it was.” I got back into the bike and looked at Lucio “I’m not streaming tomorrow; wanna come round mine and have some fun?”
“Sure, but I can’t stay the night, I’ve got work in the morning.”
“Sucks for you, big guy!” I shot him a wink and cycled of to my place with Lucio following behind me.