Author Note: Princess Bee or Princess Burkhart – eh, Bee is easier to remember! Oh and the guys are still predictable idiots! (Hey DFT, yeah, last chapter was kinda dry.....)
Chapter 03 – Jack Ford
"Kitty I need you to sew something." Kitty looked up from her magazine. Red handed her a uniform. "Aw honey, you'll look so adorable in this!"
Red frowned. "It's not for me; it's for my new mechanic. Jack. It's for Jack Ford. I need the name sewn on the pocket."
Kitty raised an eyebrow. "Is this the Jack that made you a rich man?"
Red almost blushed. "Well, yeah, the kid isn't a dumbass and does a good job. This is my way of saying thanks and trying to keep a good employee."
His wife smiled. "Well, I think that's very noble of you Red Forman. I'll even make some cookies you can take on Monday."
Red waited for Kitty to run off so he could watch the game and drink his beer. Jack Ford. What was that kid thinking? He chuckled. Life just got more interesting.
*
"Watch, I can crush this beer can against my forehead." Kelso boasted. Fez and Eric looked at each other then switched the full can for an empty so Kelso could accomplish his miraculous feat. "It's awesome, it's like the beer went right into my brain."
"Kelso, you are an id-i-ot." Fez enunciated. "You drank the beer first and then it went into your brain." Eric laughed, "Guys you'll never guess what Red bought this week."
Kelso and Fez looked at him expecting a great answer. Eric grinned, "Steak. We had honest to god, delicious mouthwatering beef. Mom's been trying to trick us with chicken for so long; I forgot what it tasted like."
"Dude, you had cow and didn't invite me? You're a bad friend!"
Fez punched Kelso in the shoulder. "He brought the beer." Michael grinned, "Okay, friends again. Did Red win a prize or something?"
"No, actually he made money at the shop. He hired some new guy that's a wizard or some shit like that. But hey - if I get to eat beef for dinner, who cares?"
"I have extra tootsie rolls if anyone wants them." Fez offered. Kelso took a couple and popped them in his mouth. "Who wants to go to Grooves and annoy Hyde?"
Kelso was the only one with his hand up. Fez shook his head, "He's too grumbly. I think I'd rather jump off the water tower."
Kelso was bouncing in his seat. "Yeah, let's go do that!"
Eric laughed. "You guys are crazy. Anyways, I gotta go home and make a lesson plan. The regular teacher is going vacation all week so I get to teach class. Yes, I Am The Man!"
*
Red arrived at the shop early Monday morning with three cars waiting at the pull up door. He took out his coffees and the bag of homemade cookies and knocked on the clean window. Jackie cleaned the window? The side door was unlocked and he came in out of the cold.
"Hey, did you see that? We have three customers already! Okay, Kitty made cookies for Jack Ford."
Jackie smiled, "I love her cookies." Red handed a paper bag, "Here's a uniform – it might be big because I didn't know your size. Get dressed, hide that hair and meet me in the bay."
*
The uniform was a men's small, but Jack had to roll the legs cuffs so she wouldn't trip and she stuffed her hair in the bandana and covered it with a baseball cap. She looked in the faded bathroom mirror. If no one looked too close, she could pass for a boy. Perfect!
Red came back to the office with a clip board. "Okay, the first car probably has a loose head shield. The woman says it sounds like a can of rocks. Car number two thinks he has an alternator problem and car number three is a referral from the VW last week. He just wants a tune up. I tell ya Jackie, this is so much better than retirement."
Jackie smiled. "I'll get started on the can of rocks and maybe you can check out the alternator. It's probably a bad battery with this cold weather."
The new garage team headed out to their respective cars and started to work. Jackie popped in a Joan Jett cassette in her new radio and cranked it up. Red almost glared at her but all he could see was purple shoelaces and the soles of her boots. Okay, so if music helped her work, he could wear ear plugs. It was a fair trade off.
Jackie saw that the heat shield was loose and reached for her socket wrench and tightened up the bolts. One corner looked like it had been hit by something so she bent it back with her pliers and rolled out from under the car giving Red thumbs up.
Red started the engine and the noise was gone. The customer was ecstatic. "That noise was driving me crazy! How much do I owe you?"
Jackie moved over to the third car that needed a tune up. Thirty minutes later the car was declared fit for the road. Red pocketed the next check. While they were waiting for the new battery to be delivered, Jackie drove to a sandwich shop and got them some lunch.
She came back and there were two more tune ups waiting. Red grinned around his sandwich. "Maybe I should change the sign from Muffler to car repair. I haven't sold one muffler all week!"
Jackie had an idea. "Well, since Muffler Master only does one thing and your garage is the only local one, maybe we could put an ad in the paper. If it's some serious transmission work or an engine rebuild, we can farm that out to a specialty shop in Kenosha. Also, if you tell that auto supply store that you'll do all your business with them, you can get a discount and free deliveries."
"Yeah?" Red didn't know those services existed. Jackie smiled. "Let me go talk to them, and I'll get you a good deal."
Red looked at her jumpsuit. "But they'll know you're a girl." She smiled. "Not if I wear a pretty dress and tell them you're my dad!"
Red eyed her suspiciously, "Jackie I don't know…." But she only went into the office to come out with a white blouse, a short skirt and heels. "Damn, Jackie, you grew up, I don't need to see this, go take care of business and get your ass back in the uniform!" Red shielded his eyes until she left in the Toyota truck.
*
"Hi, can I speak with the manager please?" Jackie smiled prettily at the young pimply faced counter clerk. His large Adam's apple swallowed, "Sure, I'll go get him."
A large man in a nice crisp ironed shirt and a touch of gray walked towards the counter and smiled. '"May I help you miss?"
She held out her hand. "I hope that you can. You see, my dad owns Forman and Son muffler shop and well, he's getting tons and tons of business…."
"Yes, he has had been ordering more parts than usual."
"I'm sorry; I didn't get your name." she said sweetly.
"Walter. It's Walter Johnson."
"Well, Mr. Johnson, if my dad was to order his parts exclusively through your store, could he get a discount?"
Walter was charmed by Red Forman's daughter. She was beautiful and spoke well. "I guess Red's good fortune would be my good fortune so yes; I think I could get him a 15% discount."
Jackie wasn't happy because she knew the auto parts markup was 30%. "Walter, how about 20% off and free parts delivery. I know this because I used to work in a parts store and I know how much this stuff really costs."
Walter's eyes widened. "Really now - how much for a gallon of coolant?"
"For what type of engine? A four cylinder doesn't need the same as a V8." The questions and answers went back and forth for a few minutes while Walter scratched some figures on a pad of paper.
"Okay, 20% off parts and free delivery. But, I want some of my store flyers posted on his bulletin board."
Jackie stuck out her hand. "Deal. Oh, and he's going to need a case of 30 weight oil delivered - So nice to meet you Walter!"
Walter watched the Forman girl walk out of the store with a little extra sway to her skirt. "Damn, I wish that wasn't Red's daughter!"
*
Jackie came back in through the side door and changed back to her jumpsuit. She put on some safety glasses and her gloves and tapped Red on the shoulder. She scratched her cheek while Red looked at her, unable to determine what happened.
"Did that Johnson guy give you a hard time? He never liked me, I swear - my foot is shaking it wants to kick his ass so bad."
Jackie smiled. "Not to worry Mr. Forman. You're getting 20% off and free delivery. You got a case of oil being delivered shortly."
Red was speechless. He just made 20% more money that he could pass on to the customer. If there wasn't a customer in the bay, he would have given Jackie a big hug.
*
Red couldn't find an acceptable apartment for Jackie at such short notice, but he did find a small Winnebago which had a complete bathroom and kitchen with a nice queen bed. He hooked up a utility pole and the recreational vehicle was locked within the shop yard where she would be relatively protected. He got the RV at an auction and figured that after Jackie found a new place, he and Kitty could do some traveling.
After the shop closed, Red showed Jackie his new purchase. "Oh my god Mr. Forman, you did this for me?"
Red only wished Laurie had ever shown such gratitude. "Uh..yeah, these captains chairs turn around for sitting. The kitchen table doubles as a bed. This couch, hey this is a nice couch. It turns into a bed, the TV is up here above the cab, and I'll have to let you climb on the roof to reattach it. The bathroom has a tub, and I've connected a hose so you can get hot and cold water. Just remember you're running on propane so let me know when it gets low."
Jackie discovered the bedroom and the soft wonderful bed. The mauve and green curtains that surrounded the windows were soft and feminine and she felt so incredibility lucky.
She walked back and looked at the mirrored closets and the little two burner stove and the fridge was cool. There was a tiny sink for dishes – it was everything she needed.
She whirled around and caught Red in a big hug, "Thank you Mr. Forman, this is the best present ever!"
Red wiggled out of the hug, "Aw Jeez… don't go start making me like you when I have to treat you like an employee…I just don't want you to….I need my office back! Go get your girlie stuff and put it in here." He grumbled.
Jackie smiled and went to get her duffle bag and personal stuff from the garage office. He came back into the bay, "No wild parties in here either!" He heard Jackie chuckle and shut off the lights closing the shop for the week.
*
While Jackie was taking her first bubble bath in months, Red was showing Kitty another successful week's deposit.
"Oh Red, this is so wonderful. You'll have to invite Jack to dinner so I can meet this wonderful employee."
"Well Kitty, Jack's kind of shy. You could say that Jack would rather read a book than talk to people." Actually Red was embarrassed because Jackie caught him reading one of her library books and he was at a good part!
Kitty wasn't going to let this go. "Well then, I just have to make some leftovers and you can give them to him for lunch." Red leaned across the bed and kissed his wife. "Now that's something I can do."
*