Chapter 2

Ben and his father had breakfast together at the same time every day of the week, including weekends and holidays. They were both at the table at seven on Thursday morning, his dad reading the paper while Ben had the usual bowl of cereal.

"Ready for your test?" his dad asked when Ben got up to do the dishes.

"Yes," Ben replied.

"Ok, we'll leave in twenty minutes, I want to be there for eight," his dad said before going back to his paper.

"Alright, I'll be ready," he responded and left the kitchen to wash up and get into his clothes.

Ben got dressed in some casual clothes and reviewed the handbook until his dad was ready to go. The drive to the testing office was short and luckily the wait to have a vision test was relatively short. After he passed that, he was given the written multiple choice test and quickly had it done. It was marked just as fast and he had easily passed. He left with a G1 licence and could now drive during the day as long as a driver with a full G licence with four years of driving experience was in the front passenger seat.

His dad just nodded when Ben showed him his licence and led the way out of the office. Instead of driving right home, he turned into a GM car dealership and parked the car.

"Come on," his dad said as he got out.

Ben followed as they went inside and walked up to the manager's office.

"Morning Sam," the manager said.

"Morning Charley," Ben's dad replied. "This is my son Ben."

"Morning Ben," the manager said.

"Morning, Mr. Tate," Ben responded, reading the nameplate on the desk.

"Is it all set?" Ben's dad asked.

"Yep, the paperwork is all done and it's been detailed," the manager answered. "It's waiting in the bay for you. Come on, I'll show you."

"Great, thanks Charley," Ben's dad said.

The manager led them through the dealership to the bay where a new 2012 deep red Camaro ZL1 sat.

"Now that is a beautiful piece of machinery," his dad said, walking around the car. "What do you think, Ben?"

Ben just nodded as he looked inside at the black leather seats and manual transmission.

"Well?" his dad asked, looking through the driver's window at him.

"It's sweet, you getting a new car?" Ben asked.

"No, it's for you, for your birthday," his dad said with a grin. "I hope you like the colour."

"I like the colour," Ben replied. "Is this a joke, like in the Transformers movie where the dad drives into a Porsche dealership and then drives to a used car dealership?

"As much as that would be funny to pull on you, no this is not a joke," his dad answered. "You're a good kid and I've haven't been a great dad so far. This is one of the ways I'm going to make it up to you. But, if I find out you're racing it or driving it like a maniac, I'll take it away and trade it in for a pink VW bug. So, while you have all the bells and whistles, you don't get to find out it does zero to sixty in four seconds. Understand me Ben?"

"Yes Sir," Ben replied, looking back at his dad with a matching serious expression. "You know you didn't have to do this. I can't drive alone for a year so it's just going to sit in the garage. A used car would have been more than enough."

"You can drive alone in eight months if you take the driver's ed class and pass the G1 driver's test," his father corrected him. "In the meantime, we'll use it to get you some practice on the weekends. I'm sure you won't mind being seen with your old man if you're driving this around."

"No, I don't have a problem with that," Ben told him. "Thanks dad."

"You're welcome Ben, let's take it out for a spin," his dad suggested with a grin. "Charley, can you have someone drive my car to the house and leave the keys under the seat?"

His dad tossed his keys over to Charley when he agreed and got into the driver's seat.

"I'll drive it to the school parking lot and you can practice a bit before you get out on the road," he explained before turning the car on.

For the next three hours, his dad taught him the basics of driving, everything from how to shift gears to parking, both normal and parallel. The last hour they drove around the city, mostly on the quiet side streets so he could get the hang of it.

"Time for lunch, anyplace you want to show the car of at?" his dad asked.

"No, where ever you want to go is fine with me," Ben replied.

"Really, no teen hangout you want to impress the girls at?" his dad persisted.

"No, I don't bother with that stuff," Ben told him. "Besides, you're already taking me out tonight."

"You're way too mature for your age," his dad said. "I guess that's why I felt ok with buying you a car this powerful. Let's go over to Fallon's then – it's over on Yonge Street. Take a right at the next light."

They had a nice lunch at the upscale restaurant where they both watched the wait staff walk around in short skirts and tight blouses. After the meal was done they drove home and Ben worked out for an hour and then read a book.

At four, he had a shower, shaved and then got into his new suit, his dad helping with the tie. They took his car, with Ben allowed to drive to the restaurant which was located on the main floor of a downtown Toronto luxury hotel.

"Ok, before we go in, I have surprise number two for you," his dad said after they had the valet park the car.

"Oh?" Ben asked.

"I invited a couple of ladies out to dinner with us," his dad informed him.

"Anyone I know?" Ben asked.

"No, you've never met them," his dad replied. "I want you to enjoy yourself and not be quiet and shy. They will be friendly and I want you to find some confidence talking to women. They are here to spend time with us and for all of us to have a good time. So step out of your shell and enjoy their company. Understand?"