Chapter 23

Steve’s fenders bolted ... all the holes fit ... the gauge was correct ... they looked perfect. Better than new.

“What colour?” Alice said.

“I thought the same as the body,” I said.

“I dunno,” she said.

“Google?”

We looked.

I, on my desktop, and she on her laptop. There was a ton of, “That’s nice,” and, “I like that.” A few “Eww’s,” and, one, “That’s positively ugly.”

Evidently, we were on the same page because the rejection exclamation was said like twins.

“Come here, look at this.” Twins again. We both got up and switched chairs. “Exactly.”

International orange, black running boards, chrome deluxe radiator trim and a 4 inch chop top.

“Are you sure?” said George. “If we chop it you can never go back.”

“Why not?” we said.

“Major changes to the metal.”

“We’ll check back,” we said, “Let’s go see daddy.”

My daddy is the only daddy Alice Li has ever known. We share.

Daddy was in the garage. “Where is my UTE?”

Uh oh. Oh well, nothing for it but the truth.

“Repco.”

“Why?”

“New fenders, paint and general maintenance,” we said.

“You left your computers on.”

“Oops.”

“Guilty, guilty, guilty,” he said. “Orange?”

“It’s in primer, now.” I said.

Alice said, “We were looking at colour.”

“Anything else?”

“I love the chop,” the two of us said.

“I do too. Repco?”

“George,”

He called.

“George? David. Do it. Wait ... I have another.”

George asked, “Another?”

“Roadster ute.”

“Same year?”

“Yes ... and a 35.”

“I don’t like the ‘35,” George said. “Did you see Alice’s ‘39?”