Milestone
Alan had been buzzing around the Island in anticipation of his 18th birthday for weeks much to the amusement of his older brothers who had great fun in pretending to forget its significance. It would not be a normal birthday for him if he hadn't dropped hints but on this occasion he was expecting great things after all he had seen the photographs in his dad's study of his brother's on their big day reminding him of the family tradition. The photographs were not a record of the parties thrown they were a record of a Tracy milestone, on each of their 18th Birthday's their father had provided them with their first set of wheels and Alan was sure his would be no exception.
"Hey there Scotty." Scott braced himself for the ball of energy that would come bounding his way, he was grateful he'd recently indulged in a large dose of caffeine to prepare him for the inevitable 500 mile an hour onslaught that was heading in his direction.
"Have you seen this Mr Bond." Alan shoved the photograph of Scott standing proudly next to a 2027 Aston Martin DB10 chuckling. "Silver eh now there's a surprise."
"That girl was a classic, she was old but perfectly formed when I got her, bit of a babe magnet too." Scott grinned as memories came flooding back.
Alan laughed "Did dad really get you that for your first car."
"Well if you remember I had to drive his old banger for a year before he thought I'd earned my stripes but yes I got the old girl for my 18th. Unfortunately I wrapped her around a tree by the time I was 20, not my finest hour, that's what you get for showing off in front of your uni buddies. I'm surprised you don't remember the aftermath."
"God Scott, I bet he was furious."
"You could say I received the sharp edge of his tongue, it may have been a little worse if I hadn't have been in hospital with a broken leg and concussion." Scott smiled at the memory of his ashen faced father torn between tearing a strip off him and gripping him in a vice like hug. "I certainly had to work off the value of the car though and once I had recovered he made it clear I wouldn't be getting a replacement from him."
Alan looked through the other photographs "Virgil's and Gordon's I obviously remember but why is John holding up a large piece of paper."
"Ohh … that's his IOU."
"His what?"
"Well four wheels isn't his thing, he made him promise to get him into space by the time he was finished at university and to be fair to dad he only ran a few months over."
Scott and Alan looked at each other and broke down in hysterics at the thought of John defaulting on the instant gratification of a birthday present, happy to defer it to a future promise and eventually receiving the biggest damn wheel of all.
Scott handed him the photo of Virgil next to the large green Land Rover Defender, why don't you take that down to the hanger I'm sure he will fill you in on his memories.
"Scott."
"Yes Alan."
"When we taking our trip?"
"Thought maybe we could head out tomorrow for a few days and we'll be back in time to celebrate with the others, you need to have something in mind though… And Alan there will be a budget."
Scott sighed the memories stirred up only served to remind him of how much he was missing his father but in his absence he would make sure the tradition continued and hopefully rein Alan in on the amount of horsepower he could handle. He started to understand now that his teenage years were long forgotten that his father may have made a slight miscalculation in entrusting his 18 year old self to the Aston and hoped Alan would pick a car that would encourage sensible driving. Good god Scott when did you get so old? Then he realised the worry the thought of Alan in the driving seat of a super car would give him.
Alan raced into the hanger to find Virgil engrossed in troubleshooting an avionics issue on Thunderbird Two with Brains on hand with the test data.
"Virg, you got a sec?"
"Kinda up to my neck in it squirt, is it important?"
"Just wanted to talk about your other green goddess."
This brought an intrigued Virgil out of his bird for a moment and he smiled when he saw the photograph in Alan's hand."
"Ahh Big Bertha, what a gal."
"You what?"
"Well she was my first girl." His hand stroked his current obsession as if to stay the jealousy that may be stirring inside "Dad got her from a local farmer, she was near to dead on my 18th but I insisted much to his amusement that I wanted a doer upper and had her in full working order with a few modifications of my own by the time I was 19. I think bringing her back to life was actually better than driving the old girl, working on it with dad when he could spare the time was the best part of all, it seemed an anti-climax when she was finished." Virgil grinned at the sight of the vehicle he had not seen in years and the memories it jolted.
"I do remember you spending a lot of time in the garage when I was on vacation from school." Alan smiled at his brother's obvious enjoyment of a moment to reminisce.
"She came into her own though, pulling trees and telegraph poles off the road after that F4 Tornado hit. Do you remember Al? We had the road clear in hours?"
Alan smiled, even though the day was tainted with tragedy after one of the largest ever tornado producing cells made its destructive path through their home state, working with Virgil and his father to clear the debris and offer as much assistance as they could was one of his stand-out childhood memories.
"You thought about your wheels yet?"
"Working on it."
"Why don't you go find the squid and ask him about his passion wagon, Do you remember his VW?"
"His what."
"The Surf Shack."
"Vaguely … I saw it a couple of times at the beach house, never brought it home did he?"
"He kept it at the beach house, so unless he invited you on one of his weekend benders with the swim team you've only seen her a few times... There are more interesting photographs pinned to the board in his room, holds lot of memories apparently." Virgil smirked as he turned his attention back to his work on Two.
Alan needed no further prompting, the words passion wagon were enough he would have to give his own vehicle some consideration, Scott using the word babe magnet had not gone unnoticed either. This decision was one that he would he would have to make carefully, his first instinct had been for a stock car for use on the track but he was starting to see how that may be a little short sighted.
Alan raided Gordon's room for the photograph before making his way out to the pool area where he was sure he would find Gordon. Sure enough his brother was on a lounger drying off in the sun when he looked up and saw Alan heading towards him.
He noticed the photo in his hand he immediately went on the defensive. "You been in my room?"
"Waded through your mess to find a photo Virgil was talking about, wanna give me the low down on the passion wagon?"
Gordon grinned at the mention of the nick name he'd given his VW camper "Don't wanna make you blush little brother."
"Just can't believe dad went shopping with you for that."
"Well I told him I was interested in a VW he just assumed it was a slightly different car, I'd already paid the deposit his face was a picture when I made him drive away from the forecourt with me."
"You never."
"I did, I insisted on getting a taxi to pick her up, he had never in all his days sunk so low apparently." This had both boys in fits of laughter, Alan was laughing so hard he thought his sides would burst.
"What you gonna make Scott drive away in? Need a little help surfing your options?"
"Got a little idea, fancy helping me out?"
"Sure, I'll be in your room in ten."
Scott found Gordon and Alan in his room huddled over the computer they lowered the lid on the laptop as he entered prompting his immediate concern. He hoped that there was a natural explanation for their conspiratorial glances but thought it best to leave well alone, sometimes with those two it was best live in ignorant bliss.
"You decided Al?"
"Yep, take me home, I've found the perfect set of wheels in the old USA."
Scott left them to it hoping that Alan would manage to get a little sleep in before their journey, once he had gone past the point of no return it would be like spending the day with a toddler on a sugar rush. The idea of going home had pleased him, it seemed like the perfect way to include their father on Alan's milestone, he just hoped he had nothing to worry about he had obviously enlisted Gordon into some sort of scheme. At least in the USA he wouldn't be bringing a drunk Alan home form a bar, a couple of beers at home and a set of wheels for his little brother, job done.
