Broken

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Broken into pieces

Jesse, was working the night shift at the service station. In between filling up cars, he was changing the oil in his 64 Falcon. His job was to run the station and answer service call’s with the tow truck. He was spreading a little oil around the ring of the filter and it reminded him of the only thing his father gave him, that was the mechanic gene. Jesse came from a very abusive childhood. His father was nice enough, but nit outspoken. The mean drunk was mom, and she loved to take it out on Jesse. Loved when he yelled mother stop. Later on, when jesse was ten or so, It was then that Jesse took the place of all the kids punishments. He just closed his eyes when he was receiving the abuse. When he was old enough, he had to go anywhere, as long as it was away from this life. It was an awful way to save himself, bye leaving the other kids to deal with it. He traded one hell for another. Now it was just a mental hell.

The streets took its toll and jesse came back a wounded teen. He had scars that were not visible to the eye, but demanding on the soul. He pretty much kept to himself and even though he developed the mechanic gene, it was a fine art. But is that really all he would’ve inherited, that and an alcohol addiction. He had been working for Bob for four years. Bob was a bastard to work for and he always screwed jesse on his pay. Jesse stayed because Bob was the only one that would put up with his addiction, and job’s were scarce in this area of town. Jesse has been trying to turn his life around. He has been going to AA meetings for eight months now and staying sober. Just then as he was going over all this.

The phone rang and it was a state Trooper. “Hey Jesse… we got a breakdown on the freeway , just before the Tacoma narrows bridge. Are you available?”

“Yes, I’ll be right there,” said jesse.

Jessse then grabbed his coat, closed up the station and fired up the old tow truck. Driving through the pouring rain, he headed for the fastest route there.

Waiting for jesse to arrive was Amanda. She pushed the button and the window of the 67 Caddy went down smoothly.

“Jesse will be right here to help you mam. I have another call, so I have to leave. Jesse will take good care of you.” The trooper tipped his hat, gave her a wink and was on his way. While waiting for the tow truck, Amanda thought about her life. She came from money, but money isn’t everything. Her father was a CO at the penitentiary. her mother was a socialiter who sold homemade arts and crates. From the time Amanda was born they never had time for her. She was raised by Catholic schools and part time housekeepers until she finished school. Two years ago her mom passed away. Three day’s ago her father lost his job. Though they always took care of her financially, she hardly knew them. She was on her own off to find out how to live a normal life. Because of the lack of love, Amanda was somewhat timid and would choose to be alone most of the time. When jesse arrived, He put on the flashing lights, grabbed his flashlight and walked up to the car. The steamy window came down and the flashers enhanced the glow of her beautiful skin. Her. eyes was stunning, and long her hair gave her a movie star look. She made Jesse’s heart skipped a beat, which made him hesitate to talk.

“Hi I’m Jesse. What seems to be the problem?” he asked.

“Well I hit that puddle back there and the car just stalled,” she said.

The rain had let up to a sprinkle as Jesse walked around to the hood of the Caddy. After popping the hood, he asked her if she could hold the light. Jesse thought if he could fix it there, he could save her a tow bill. Bob’s prices were brutal.

Amanda opened the door and jesse could hear the click of her high heel’s work their way to the front of the car. She held the light and watched jesse take off the distributor cap. He dried it out with a rag the best he could and cleaned up the rotor button with his jack knife. Jesse noticed the light was moving as she shivered. He gave her a smile and took off his coat and placed it on her shoulders. He then went back to working on the car. Amanda took in the view of the steam coming off his back. His jeans fit just right and his damp shirt outlined his muscles. His sleeves were rolled up and she sported a few tattoos with on his forearm. The dim light glistened off of his shiny dark hair, which was faded to a nice crew cut. Back and a little above his collar. His 5 o’clock shadow made him look rugged. When he caught her looking, she returned to being timid.

Jesse had her get in and give it a try. The Caddy fired up and purred like a kitten. He shut the hood and returned to her window.

“How much do I owe you?” Said Amanda, while reaching for her purse.

Jesse wanted to say, “How about a cup of coffee at the diner down the road?” However, common sense told him; “why would a pretty girl like her, want to do anything with a greasy bum like him?”

“Fifteen would be fine,” he said instead.

Amanda handed him a twenty and gave him a smile. “Thank you,” she said. And they parted ways. Jesse returned to the station and finished the oil change on his 64 Ford. It wasn’t until about ten miles down the road that Amanda noticed she still had Tommy’s jacket. She made a U-turn and headed back down the way she came. She had been thinking how nice it would be, to be loved by a guy like jesse. She was tired of being alone. Visions of his handsome rough face were going through her mind, driving her crazy with anticipation. It had been only about twenty minutes when the phone rang again.

“Hey jesse, Trooper Briggs here again. We need you at the railroad crossing north on 99. There has been a terrible accident.”

Jesse closed up the station once more and headed north to aroura. He had thought, (Could this be the caddy?) Then he realized, she would be a lot farther than that by now. When he arrived to the scene, blinding lights were flashing on fire trucks and police cars. As he walked towards the accident he overheard the engineer say, “She just crashed right into us.” When jesse got to the car, sure enough it was the 67 gold Caddy convertible. His heart dropped and while they extracted the girl, he paced around in circles with his face in his hands. Tears ran down his cheeks as he hooked the chains up to haul the car away. The next morning, Bob arrived at the station. Jesse’s car was still in the garage and the tow truck was missing. Bob then called Jesse’s cell phone and there was no answer. After arriving at Jesse’s residence, Bob found his tow truck. The gold Caddy was still hooked up. Bob glanced inside and saw a large amount of blood. Jammed under the brake pedal was a red high heel shoe, and on the passenger side was Jesse’s coat. He went up on Jesse’s porch yelled out a few profanities and pounded on the door. There was no answer, so he tried a few more times. After no answer again, he broke the door down and proceeded inside. He found Jesse in his living room chair with a large empty bottle of Jack at his feet and a partial bottle of Wild Turkey in his hand. Jesse had died of alcohol poisoning. Apparently losing Amanda brought feelings of a love lossed before he would even get a chance to receive it.

I know what you all are thinking… Why didn’t I write a better ending? (If he just would have asked her to go for that cup of coffee.) The timing of the train would have been different.

But you see the real truth is… we live in a world of Broken People. Missed chances, and unspoken words. We walk by that homeless man needing help. That person who’s car won’t start. We are shallow detached souls.

here…