Ch13

On unpacking the supplies in the garage both Virgil and Gordon saw what a military operation the simple respraying of the car would be without the assistance of Brains and his robotic army, Virgil could have the green beast back to new within a day, this relatively small vehicle would at least double the time. Virgil sighed as it dawned on him that no payment from Gordon would cover the amount of time he would need to invest in his mercy mission, especially now it looked like they would need to pull an all-nighter and worse of all they would need to work together to stand any chance of being back in time to avoid questioning from Scott.

"Well Gordon you have certainly gone and done it this time, we're gonna have to sand as much of that pink off as we can before we even mix the primer." Virgil carried on unloading the stock while Gordon walked round the car.

"You sure we can't just spray it back to red." Gordon looked at him hopefully, preparation had not figured in the quick fix he had assumed was necessary.

"Fraid not, sand, smooth, sand, smooth again, a couple of coats of primer, drying time, couple of coats of red and then buffing, so don't think you'll be getting any sleep tonight."

"I'm doing it!" Gordon had thought he would come along as moral support and oversee the operation it now seemed clear that Virgil expected him to have some hands on involvement.

"We're doing it. And just be grateful you're not doing this on your own, push me too hard Gordo and I'm bailing and just shouting out the instructions." Virgil threw overall's dust-mask and goggles to Gordon "First though, clear working area, you're gonna have to make this as dust free as possible."

"Me! I thought we were in this together." Gordon eyed Virgil with a look of suspicion.

Virgil grinned at his hapless younger sibling "Heard cleaning was your specialty. Look Gordon if you want the car doing properly then you are going to have to reduce the possibility of contaminants sticking to the paint while it's drying." Virgil turned to leave as he let Gordon process the news of his most hated chore barely suppressing the laugh he wanted to spill at Gordon's expense.

"And where do you think you're going?" Gordon was not finding any part of this amusing.

"Getting supplies, it's gonna be a long night and if you think I'll be missing meals then you are very much mistaken."

"I'll get them."

"Your still cleaning, I'm gonna do the bit you won't think of and read the instructions."

"Jeez Virg, I think you are taking this far too seriously."

"If you don't want it looking like a kindergarten kid has had a field day then I think you had better get it into your head that this is gonna take some serious hard work and some proper preparation. Maybe next time you'll think of the consequences of your actions. One phone call has just cost you at least twenty-four hours of hard labour and you seem to be forgetting you have dragged me along for the ride, so just put up and shut up."

"Jeez Virg now you sound like Scott."

Virgil smirked "You wanna hear what Scott would have to say about this, it can be arranged. Gordon we are an hour in, with nothing done and I already wish I'd never left the Island. Go get supplies, start cleaning and leave me in peace to read this."

Gordon left muttering under his breath, good god this was turning out to be a nightmare, the list Virgil had insisted needed to be performed before the regretted retribution could be cleared from the slate was overkill for turning a car from pink to red. Still maybe Virgil would relent and start the clean-up operation, usually what Virgil said and did when it came to doling out a lesson were two different things. On reaching a now sparse refrigerator after their last visit and having not thought ahead to order supplies Gordon saw how Virgil's already precarious mood could be tipped over the edge. There would be the wrath of god either way, a trip to the store would look like he'd been avoiding the cleaning but coming back with two bottles of water, some slightly dubious milk and some other scraps left in the refrigerator would be seriously detrimental to his health. The lecture on pre-planning he could do without, best just get the store run out of the way and get some serious supplies that would keep his brother in check then just get on with anything Virgil barked at him. This was time to suck it up, if only Alan knew the amount of effort he was putting in for him, it seemed a shame that his brother would never get to hear about the hard work he was about to put in on his behalf.

The sound of the car engine starting jolted Virgil out of the manual, the sound of the car leaving made his blood boil. Gordon even in the mode of attempting to resolve a mistake could actually keep on making it worse, this was the last favour he was going to get and the payment had just doubled, Gordon would be doing his chores for a month. Just to make sure that the debt could not be argued with or negotiated on any level and before he rolled up his sleeves to get on with the cleaning Gordon seemed so keen to avoid Virgil took out his phone and took a picture of the AMG with its pink make-over. True to form the cleaning job was done before Gordon came back with the supplies, the cheery face rounding the door did nothing to calm the silent fury building inside. The overalls and PPE were this time thrown with a force and a look that could kill.

"Two hours lost Gordon, last chance or I'm giving Sadie a call and you're on your own."

"You wouldn't, Alan will be gutted when he sees her."

"Then I suggest you start sanding because whatever is not done this time tomorrow is staying as testimony to your poor attempt at being a big brother that gives a shit and it's nothing to do with me."

Gordon could see that Virgil had been pushed beyond the point of reasonable behaviour; time to buckle down put a few hours hard graft under his belt then maybe the angry bear would be replaced with the slightly fluffier version he was used to. After an hour of silent sanding and showing as much enthusiasm for hard graft as he could muster Gordon could see Virgil coming round, in-fact he knew he would never admit it but he was thoroughly enjoying himself, Virgil always hummed when lost in a task that he found relaxing. By the time they got to the primer and the food was dished out while they waited for the first coat to dry Virgil had become animated, chatty and Gordon was thoroughly enjoying his company. By first light the first coat was on and the AMG looked almost back to her former glory. Gordon walked round her to inspect their handy work; they were so close to the end of the list he could taste victory.

"One more coat and buffing Virg we are nearly done. She looks great already."

"Not bad eh." Virgil stood back to survey the car with a smile on his face, if they could get the next coat on a dried without a spec on it Alan would never know, well almost.

"Virg."

"Yes squid."

"What we do about the inside of the bonnet and the trunk?"

"Trunk and sills, a quick fix just repeat what we've done on a smaller scale, couple of hours tops."

"And under the bonnet?"

"Well Gordon that's a reminder for you that not every mistake can be truly rectified, we haven't the equipment here anymore to lift the engine and it would take too long so If Alan has to look under the bonnet, then you Gordon will have some explaining to do."

"Shit!"