Nick had watched the young man work at first, prying loose his desired 'inverter' from the clutches of one of the many boats sitting in the lot, before Ellis set him to the task of getting their chosen vessel fueled. His only tool for the job was a long length of coiled hose, which he dutifully strung from the parking lot to the tank of the boat. It wasn't a lot of fun knocking on the bottom of cars to determine if anything remained, nor was sucking on the end of the damn hose to get a siphon going between either tank, but he did it out of partial responsibility– after all, he had volunteered to help, though he ended up distinctly regretting it the time he had very nearly gotten a mouthful of gasoline.
Only two of the seven vehicles sitting in the lot had anything to offer them in the ways of fuel, and it would have to do. He didn't really know what kind of mileage Ellis' little runabout speedboat got, but the distance they'd be traveling couldn't be more than ten miles to the air station, so with any luck they'd make it.
Nick just wasn't a big fan of leaving things to luck.
He added a couple of paddles to the storage compartment of the boat just in case, though it was the last thing he wanted to resort to. Job complete and obligation fulfilled, he recoiled the hose, returned it to the shed and traipsed out to where the mechanic had his head under the hood of a Dodge Neon. He lifted a supple eyebrow at the momentary glimpse of bent-over tush, admiring cautiously and redirecting his eyes to more appropriate heights when Ellis pulled the battery loose of its mount. He sauntered over as the mechanic placed it on the asphalt next to the inverter; Ellis noticed him. He pushed the bill of his hat up and wiped his hands quickly on his pants. "Ya git her fueled?"
Nick nodded. "She's ready to go."
The hick gave a reciprocated bob of his chin and hunkered down, immediately committing to getting the two components wired together. It was a process Nick couldn't say he understood, even as he watched. Sleight-of-hand was his forte, not minute manual labor such as electrical wiring.
Between the way that the mechanic currently worked with meticulous swiftness and their conversation earlier back on the road, Nick found himself compelled to ask something he had been wondering for a while. He leaned into the side of the compact, folding one leg over the other. "So, how'd you get 'into' cars?" he questioned.
Ellis brightened rapidly at the initiation of dialogue, his mouth happily and eagerly taking off. "Oh! Well, a'course I took autoshop e'ry semester it was done offered at mah school, but really, s'Keith's uncle who I'd hafta thank fer the most part." He paused to motion his screwdriver at him. "See, he was in the renovatin' business– like, classic American cars an' shit from the 1950s an' 60s. He'd buy a fixer-upper an' convert it tuh a thing'a beauty, I tell'ya, inside an' out." Ellis whistled and shook his head, committing to twisting one of the screws back into a panel of the inverter that he was done with. "He was goin' tuh various car shows an' whatnot almost e'ry weekend, all around the country–" he swept his hands out suddenly to indicate the man's distant travels, but they immediately returned to their task. "He'd go wit' one car an' come back wit' another, that was jus' the way he was. Never kept a finished car too long– didn't wanna git 'attached' so tuh speak."
Nick nodded his understanding.
Ellis continued, briefly tipping his hat upward to keep it from falling over his vision as he bowed over his work-in-progress. "Made a pretty penny off'a the whole deal too, I reckon, judgin' from his house…" He lifted an eyebrow. "Big. Real big. Big as they come in Savannah. Though ya can't say he didn't have his priorities, what with it bein' attached to a five-car garage. A'couple'a those ports even had hydraulic lifts built intuh the floor," he pointed at the ground, "so he could jack 'em up an' work underneath easy– was purdy slick really."
"Yeah, sounds like he was fairly well loaded," Nick commented, recalling other tidbits the mechanic had given him about his buddy's uncle. Not a guy he would have felt bad about swindling in all likelihood.
Ellis chuckled and shrugged. "Well, he was doin' what he loved. An' what he loved was fixin' up cars. Guy didn't have no kids though– or a wife," he added quickly, "so tha's prolly why he dun shared his hobby wit' Keith an' I. He used tuh let us help him on various projects– lesser ones a'course. Taught us how tuh do everythin' from body work tuh suspension tuh fuel injection– you name it!" Ellis gave an absent scratch to his chin. "Acshuhly, it was 'bout the only thing he ever trusted Keith wit'," he laughed loudly. "Sometimes I think he jus' wanted tuh keep him outta trouble. Definitely wanted tuh make sure he got himself a respectable job, tha's fer damn sure."
Nick gave the statement a moment's pause. "Thus the auto shop," he guessed with a flick of an eyebrow.
Ellis paused to nod very slowly. "Yeah… thus the auto shop," he murmured. He gave a thinly veiled smile.
Nick hesitated, catching the expression that seemed a little off for the hick's usual effervescence. He gave a cautious lick of his lips. "You did want to run that auto shop, didn't you?" he asked with seriousness.
"A'course I did!" the hick proclaimed cheerfully, perhaps a little too much so. His face seemed to hitch briefly, but he shook it off, tightening the battery's left bolt over the wiring with a couple of quick full arm motions, re-distracting himself effectively.
Nick drummed his fingers across the metal of the hood, considering leaving the subject alone. He was unsure if his line of questioning would be breaching the young man's privacy or not, but by now it stuck out like a sore thumb. He swallowed and chose to follow through regardless. "What did you really wanna be, El?"
Ellis seemed to seize up from head to toe and he actually physically fumbled his screwdriver to the ground. He gave a somewhat hoarse chuckle, avoiding his gaze for a number of long seconds, shaking his head, not responding, pretending to concentrate on his project.
Nick waited a couple of ticks.
Eventually Ellis caved, unable to hold back. "I… I wanted tuh be a doctor," he breathed, daring to look back up at him– the blue eyes were ever so slightly glassier than usual, a thin sheen of wet coating the surface. "Surgeon, spuhcifically," he tacked on. Nick considered the answer impartially. It certainly wasn't the most surprising answer he could have expected from the hick– actually, pretty far from it. Ellis swallowed hard and grabbed his tool back up from the ground, setting his jaw and returning to his task. "But it ain't like I don't still git tuh help people as a mechanic. S'all the same really."
No, not really.
Nick's lip quirked rigidly at the mechanic's odd form of denial. How long had he been telling himself that? Or had someone else eventually convinced him of it? Obviously studying to become a surgeon would have been a financial impossibility– but Nick had to wonder if anything else been an issue as well, holding him back from that career, or if it was just the money? Surely he could have applied for some loans or borrowed from the bank or something to get through. Nick bit at his bottom lip, trying to reason it out. But becoming a surgeon required more than just going to college for four years– shit, kid would have had to go to graduate school too, not to mention the internships and other related hoops to jump through; he'd probably still be studying now. And his family situation was probably what made that unrealistic, completely out-of-the-question. Nick licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak. "I bet you'd make a great surgeon," he said honestly, gently, "you're really talented with your hands." Not to mention the eye-hand coordination the kid possessed, and his warm, friendly demeanor. Yeah, there was no doubt in his mind that the kid could be a literal life-saver with proper training and education. Though he had his cynical doubts about what good a degree would be now, in the aftermath of a zombieapocalypse.
Ellis stared at him speechlessly. Nick was well aware that he had phrased his words in such a way as to suggest the occupation was still a possibility. The hick didn't respond, he just dropped his gaze again and made sure he couldn't be seen beneath the brim of his hat, his body language rigid and stiff.
He sensed he had indeed crossed a boundary. Or at least, trodden into territory the southerner did not want to discuss with him. Nick turned himself away, frowning hard, leaning against the car with his hands folded, listening to the sounds of Ellis' work, a little rueful he had brought it up.
The wrench faltered against a bolt.
And then the mechanic stood and hurtled it at the side of the building. The tool made a loud clang as it hit, reverberating in the still air like a note of finality.
Nick blinked with minor shock at the outburst and glanced to the hick.
Ellis' shoulders heaved with rage. He quickly brought a hand to pinch the brim of his nose, glowering into his palm, trying to calm down amid pent-up emotions. "M'sorry," he spoke lowly. His eyes fluttered open. "Thank you, Nick. Fer sayin' that." His voice was a little shaky. He lifted his gaze and gave a weak, apologetic smile.
"Yeah, no problem," he said, not wanting to make any big deal out of it. He wouldn't have guessed he'd strike a hot button in the kid– that one even existed.
"I mean it," the hick insisted. He reached over and Nick stiffened as his hand descended upon his own, the mechanic's rough palm brushing the bumps of his knuckles gently. Ellis looked him straight in the eye. "Ya always know jus' what tuh say, an' I appreciate it."
Which was kind of fucking ironic, because he certainly didn't know what to say at that instant in time. He managed to release the breath he had been holding in when Ellis pulled his hand back away and re-bent over his project, severing eye-contact.
"S'almost done," Ellis informed him. "Jus' gotta tighten a few last things, then we kin take her inside, plug in the microwave, an' eat."
"Sounds good," he said gently, nodding. Internally, he wondered what else the hick had given up for his family and friends, what else life had unfairly denied him.