Chapter 283: Mechanics and Mysterious Strangers

After Alvin I needed to recharge. I wasn't at risk of shutting down, but I had gone on reduced power mode. It was like the old me being exhausted, Just running on very low energy, It was such a short drive back to the Downtown House that I didn't bother plugging in.

When I got back to the house, I did plug my ass in. I did it more to recover quickly than anything else. I also knew no one was going to be stopping by unannounced. At least no one who knew me. If anyone else showed, it was very likely that they wouldn't be telling anyone what they had seen.

After forty-five minutes I was 'top of the world ma'. That being the case, I began thinking about the cruiser. If I took it to a dealer in the morning, I would have to take to Tryon. I checked with my built in Internet connection and found that the closest dealer was twenty five miles away. That drive was filled with heavy traffic. The bike was doable, but it was also very dangerous. I might be titanium and steel, but I was still no match for a two ton car.

I decided to call around Aster before I spent the whole day sitting in a dealers showroom. I needed someone to recommend one of the small repair shops to me. I passed the time until 9AM watching the news of the world, and reliving in great detail some old memories. I even ran some old TV shows.

At 9AM I called the only person I could think of who might know someone. "Blevins," the voice on the phone said.

"Blevins, it's me Maxine. I need someone local who can work on the Cruiser," I admitted.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked.

"If I knew that, I would buy a set of tools and do it myself," I replied shortly.

"You sure as hell need to work on you people skills twit." he did laugh though. "Do you need it towed?"

"I got it home last night, but it acted like it was running on about half it's cylinders, but I think I can get it somewhere close. That is just a guess though," I admitted.

"Okay if you need a tow call Buck's Towing. He is on the police list of approved wreckers. We use him all the time and he is straight up honest. As for the work, best I can do is give you the name of a guy who came up in a homicide investigation last year. He has been working on my cars since. I get a big discount. You won't get it, but tell him I sent you. It might help with mine," he said honestly.

"Okay, who is the mechanic." I asked.

"Everybody calls him Deacon Burke. Don't let the name fool you, he is a hard living dude. He is young by our standards, but he has been around the block. He ain't cheap, but he is honest."

"Okay, give me his address?" I demanded. I didn't need a phone number since there was no reason to call around. I couldn't use the cruiser as it was and I didn't care to go round and round with mechanics.

"You really should call him. He has a small shop and sometimes it takes him a while to get to your car. Be sure to tell him that you are a friend of mine. It might not help, but it can't hurt."

I made the call and of course the man on the phone said he couldn't tell me anything without bringing the car in. "I can't even look at it till after lunch. You can bring it in anytime before noon and I'll call you when I check it out," the young sounding man said.

I decided to deliver the car before I went to Helen's for my social time. I forced myself to go there every morning despite the fact that I didn't need to eat. I did it to prevent becoming a hermit.

Deacon Burke was a very black, black man. I was pretty sure he could run his linage all the way back to Africa without a break in the gene pool. There was something to be said for that. I also saw a number of certificates on his wall. Burke had taken some first rate tech school courses. That didn't make him a better mechanic necessarily, but it make him ambitious. There was a story somewhere in his being a small town mechanic with all those certificates.

"So, when do you think I will know what's up with the woodie?" I asked.

"I got to finish that Explorer I was working on, when you came in first. It's going to be after lunch before I can really check it out. From what you told me, it could be a bad plug or something much worse."

I knew better than to comment. "Well let me know as soon as you find something," I said walking about.

"Hey you that TV lady ain't you?" he asked.

"Well I do own a TV," I replied smiling.

"Well it fits, they told me Blevins was a friend of a TV star. What you doing driving a piece of shit Chrysler?" he asked.

"It was what I could get when I needed it in a hurry, I have had two of them the first one gave me no trouble in almost two years. I have had this one two months and now it's in the shop. So we will see if it is a piece of shit or not." I said.

"It is," Deacon said with a smile. "But you brought it to the man who can turn chicken shit into chicken salad. Of course miracles ain't cheap."

"Before you reinvent the car, give me an estimate," I insisted.

I rode off on the bicycle with him watching. Since I didn't want the attention that flying down the badly paved street would bring, I rode away slowly.

I ate, I walked, and I recharged my power circuits and still I didn't heard from Burke. I got tired of waiting so I got on the bike and rode by the shop. At least the hood was up on the Cruiser so I pulled into the yard.

"So what do you know?" I asked.