ACTA NON VERBA

Tired of rain!

THREE.

As the first drops of rain hit her windshield, she thought to herself. Beth, you should have listened, he was right again. Here comes the rain first fairly light but then increasing to a downpour. Beth moved from one lane to the other as she exited the interstate at her exit. Just as she turned on to a side street boom, kathump, kathump, kathump. The unmistakable sounds of a blowout. This could only happen to me on a day like this she bemoaned to herself as she pulled over. Why me? Why Now? She thought as the rain continued to pour down on her car. A slow drip seeped through the crack she had put in the window to let air in and the rain slowly flooded the side street she had exited on. Maybe only ankle deep but deep enough that she wasn’t getting out to fix it now. At that very moment she was dressed to the hilt for a job interview that she obviously now was going to be late for if she even got there at all.

It was growing darker and darker as the thunderstorm rumbled overhead. A smack of thunder could be heard occasionally off in the distance. But overall, a small storm compared to the ones that generally pop up in this part of Charleston in the summer. Plenty of rain though, something you get used to after living here for 25 years as she had. It would flood the streets for a half hour to an hour but then would flow away or seep into the sandy soil barely to be noticed. Literally two hours after the rains would fall you might not be able to tell it had rained. She liked that part of it but now while it was coming down, she despised it.

Rap, Rap, Rap, against her window was the sound that startled her. She could make out the figure of a man in a yellow raincoat. He was holding a flash light standing next to her door. “You need some halp, maam” the man outside the glass stammered.

Beth cracked the window even farther and said, “Yes sir, am in a hurry, gotta interview for a job this morning.”

With the window open more she got a better look at him. He seemed nice enough, dark hair, a little rough on the edges, mid-forties maybe a little too old for her but a nice enough fellow anyway. He seemed to scan the area for a few seconds then leaned in towards the window and focused on her face. “Well, I tell you what, I can hook you up on my truck here and run you on down to that tire fixin place about a mile on up this street. That’s if you would like that is maam.” He paused, then said. “Might be the quickest way to get going if you know what I mean. With all this rain coming down is all.”

Almost as quick as the words came out of his mouth without even thinking she answered with a quick. “Oh yes, please, I could use some help and an umbrella if you have it.” The little smile she gave him didn’t seem to hurt the situation any either. She thought maybe it would speed the process up a bit and by the look he gave her it was definitely working.

“Shure thing little lady, hold on and I’ll get you that umbrella.” he said, as he turned and walked back to his beat-up old wrecking truck. She grabbed the sun-visor and looked in the small mirror. It took just a second or two of fussing with her hair a little till she thought she had it just right. She murmured to herself “Couldn’t hurt to keep him happy why he is helping me out.” Then she added “Maam, I ain’t no maam yet!” as she looked back in the tiny mirror.

Her mom would be proud of the woman she had become, strong, self-reliant, and a woman of the world in a godly sense mind you. Her mom had stressed for years about the teachings of “Her Lord” as she called it. But as most young people had done during their teenage years it simply passed from one ear slowing slightly for the brain and then on out the other ear without much real sticking power. She was a good person morally but the real deal on Jesus had passed her by through this point in her life, and she really didn’t have time to stop and listen now. Her life was too crowded and to time consuming for much else. Then again something must have stayed with her because she never seemed to stray from those morals her mother had thought were so important growing up.

The tow truck driver returned with an umbrella and helped her into his truck. Then he hooked up her car and hoisted it into the air. All the time rain continued to pour down

from the sky, and the sound of it hitting the pavement roared through Beth’s head.

With a loud bang and a squeak as the door opened the tow truck driver climbed into the cab. As he slammed the door he said, “Just a ways up here and weel get you all fixed up there little missy.” A cheesy little grin crossed his face and as he put the truck in gear he told her, “Good thing I came by or you might, uh, uh, been out here all day.”

Beth replied “Yah, thanks for the help, I appreciate it.”

“Oh, it ain’t nothing, glad to help a pretty lady in trouble.” he said.

A pungent smell began to increase in the cab of the truck as they drove down the road. At first Beth did not realize it was the man driving next to her. But it didn’t take long to figure out where the smell was coming from. That plus the swastika on the man’s forearm made Beth realize she didn’t want much to do with him. Leading him on is not what she wanted so she turned and stared out the window. Maybe silence would hold off the uncomfortable feeling she was getting sitting next to this man. And hopefully he would get the idea that she was not interested in him.

“There’s the tire shop I told you about.” He said.

At first glance the building was a bit small but the sign out front said, Jimmy’s Discount Tire’s. We Won’t Let You Go Flat! He turned into the parking lot and drove up under the overhang. The building was an old gas station with the pumps removed. A bit dirty and greasy but what did she expect, Beth thought to herself.

As the tow truck driver came to a stop Beth pulled out her purse and asked, “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing maam, this ones on me. Seems like you have had enough troubles this morning.” The man said.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” she said.

He replied, “No, just doing my one good deed for da day. You head on inside and I will unhook your car.”

As she opened the door and started out, she said, “Well I can’t thank you enough.” With that she turned and headed towards the front door of the tire shop.

A man hurried to the door and opened it for her. “Come on in maam, what can we do for you?” as he showed her to the front counter and swung around to the other side and sat down in front of his computer. “Go lay down, Trevino.” he told his old golden retriever that had gotten up from her corner to check out the ruckus. Then he focused in on Beth.

“Well, I have run into a bit of trouble with a flat tire and need to get it fixed as fast as possible. I have a job interview I was supposed to be at about ten minutes ago.” She said anxiously.

He glanced down at the keys on his key board and asked her. “What make, model, and year is your car?”

Hesitantly she stammered out, “I, I am not sure, I think it is a two thousand and two Dodge, ah Dodge Sombrero.” She paused then said, “Maybe, I am not sure but it is right out there”

“Chick car as my kids would say.” He shot back and then with an inquisitive look he said “Where is that car of yours?”

She spun around and pointed to the spot where her car had been. She said, “Right there on the back of this tow truck. Hold on maybe he moved over here.” moving towards the front door she glanced to her left but nothing was there. Quickly Beth snapped her head to the right and she could see the truck with her car still attached moving away from the store down the street and fading into the rain. “Hey what is he doing?” then with a much louder tone “Where is he going with my car?”

Flinging open the door she stepped into the dampness before returning back into the warmth of the tire shop lobby. “I think he stole my car! I think he stole my car!” she yelled.

The counter man showed her to a seat and said, “Don’t worry I will call the police.”

Beth just rolled her eyes and held her head in her hands sobbing. Muttering to herself, “God give me the strength to finish this day.” At that moment she felt a warm moist object stroke her hand. Well, it was a lick not a stroke. Trevino had gotten back up and was licking her hand. Beth welcomed the feelings the dog seemed to know she needed. Her hand petted the back of Trevino’s neck and the dog’s tail wagged furiously as the animal seemed to know he had brightened Beth’s day just a little. As she thought to herself, Beth wondered how cats and dogs seemed to know exactly when you needed cheering up. If she could only bottle up that sense and pass it on to everyone, the whole world would be a happier place. Even the place she was in that day.

THE SERIES WILL CONTINUE.......