AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you,” she says, and I can hear the relief in her voice.
“No problem. It’ll be fun to have a helper,” I assure her.
“Yeah, and anything that keeps him off this for a few hours is great,” she says as she waves the gadget in the air.
I grab a pen off her desk and scribble my office address on the corner of her desk calendar. “You’ll find us here,” I tell her.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“See you then,” I say before Caleb rejoins us, and I walk out of the office with him right behind me.
“Hand me the wrench sitting on top of the toolbox,” I instruct.
Caleb does as asked, and I loosen and remove the bolts holding the old alternator in place.
“Open your hands,” I tell him.
He does, and I drop the bolts in his palms.
“Hold on to those. We’ll need them to attach the new one.”
He nods enthusiastically.
“Have you ever worked on a car before?” I ask as I pull the old part out and set it aside.
“Nope.”
“Ever driven a car?” I ask.
“I’m only twelve,” he informs me.
“I know, but my dad let me drive around the yard when I was your age.”
His eyes go wide. “He did?”
“Yep. He was right there beside me, but he wanted me to be comfortable behind the wheel before I turned fifteen and could start driver’s ed.”
“I wish my dad had time to teach me stuff like that,” he admits.
“I reckon doctors are pretty busy guys, huh?” I ask.
“Yeah. He mainly just hires tutors when I need help, or Mom teaches me what she can, but she’s a girl.”
“Sounds like you’re a lucky guy to have a mom like that.”
“I guess so,” he responds.
“You don’t think your mom’s that great?”
He shrugs.
“What’s your problem with her? You tell me, and I’ll keep it just between us. Man to man.”
I can tell he likes the idea of being talked to like a man as he considers spilling.
“She doesn’t ask me,” he says.
“Doesn’t ask you what?”
“Anything. She just tells me. Like when we came here, she didn’t ask me if I wanted to come to Tennessee. She just packed my stuff and told me we were visiting Granna for the whole summer.”
“And you don’t like it here?”
“No. I want to go back. I miss my friends, and I like our house. It’s big—really big. My room is three times as big as Uncle Gene’s room, and we have a pool,” he explains.
“A pool, huh?”
“Yeah, and a game room, and the television is huge.”
“But you have a whole river in your backyard now,” I point out.
“I know. It’s just Granna’s house is old and small, and there aren’t any neighbors,” he grumbles.
“You know, Caleb, you can build a house out of cow dung or solid gold. Both keep you just as warm and dry. Bigger doesn’t mean better. All that matters is whether or not it’s filled with love and if you’re happy.”
“What if smaller doesn’t make me happy?”
“It takes a lot of work to be happy, son. Happiness doesn’t just fall out of the sky. A man has to make his happy.”
He wrinkles his nose.
I lay down my tools and wipe my greasy hands with a towel. “Take today, for example. Did you have fun?”
“Sure.”
“You like working on the old car, huh?”
He nods.
“Maybe you’re meant to be a mechanic. Or a mechanical engineer.”
“My dad wants me to be a doctor, like him,” he tells me.
“That’s a good job too. If it makes you happy. Whatever you decide to do, work hard. Don’t do anything half-ass, whether it’s medical school or trade school. Respect is earned from the quality of work you put out, not the title in front of your name or the size of your house,” I say.
He ponders that for a moment.
“And, Caleb, respect and show up for your mom. No matter what you think she did or didn’t do. Showing up is what real men do, and that’s what everyone is going to remember about you. Don’t be like your uncle Gene. Not a soul in this town would spit on him if he was on fire because of the way he abandoned your grandmother in her time of need.”
“I won’t ever leave my mom,” he says.
