Chapter 25: Mechanical Error!
FOUR MONTHS LATER!
After Simon and Jeanette did their taxes they realized that they hadn't been on a vacation before with just them and the kids. They talked and finally decided to go camping. After a family discussion they figured they could go up at the lake, soon it will be camping season there. The children became very excited and couldn't wait to go.
-----------------------
TWO WEEKS LATER...
Before he, Jeanette, and the kids could go camping, Simon had to make sure the car was in tiptop shape. As he tinkered in the engine, Alvin, Theodore, and the kids all wanted to be there to help, or watch. Theodore and the kids ate ice cream while sitting on the garage table beside the car. Alvin sat at the driver's seat, while Simon is checking out the engine under the hood.
"Ok, start to rev up the engine, Alvin!" Simon called out.
"Dad, I don't think that's such a good idea..." Mary started to say. She had a funny feeling about what was going to happen, but her warning fell on deaf ears.
Alvin gently presses on the gas pedal a few times.
VRROOM, VRROOM, VRROOM. The car's engine started sounding pretty good, but suddenly a loud, KABOOM, came from the back end of the car.
Everyone screams. Theodore jumped so high that his ice cream fell on Tom's head.
"Yuck!" He complains as his head is dripping with strawberry ice cream. Simon bumped his head on the hood, and Alvin nearly had an accident in his pants.
"Wow, that was loud!!" Cried Vincent as he checks if his heart is still beating.
"Hmm..." Simon came around from the front of the car, and headed towards the back end.
"Gee, thanks for the premature heart attack, Simon." Alvin said as he grasped at his chest.
"Turn off the engine, Alvin." Simon said, bluntly.
"Gladly!" Alvin agreed.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING OUT HERE?" Jeanette yells as she runs from the front door to the garage door, with her sisters not far behind.
"Uncle Theo dumped ice cream on my head, mom!" Tom immediately told her like it was the most important thing as he points at his head, and at his uncle at the same time.
"The car went Ka-boom!" Mary said waving her hands above her head.
"WHAT!" Jeanette turned to glare at Simon, but quickly noticed that is currently looking under the back end of the car along with Vincent. Finding all of this frustrating, she let out a loud huff.
"Hmm..." Simon ponders as he investigates the damage.
"Hmm..." Vincent adds as he started to copy his dad's actions.
"The muffler blew a hole." Simon announced to his son.
"Yup!" Vince agrees as he knew what his dad was talking about.
"SI-MON!" Jeanette finally bellows.
"What?" Simon asks in a slightly annoyed tone as he pulls himself from under the car.
"Are you trying to blow us all to kingdom come? What do you mean the muffler blew a hole?" She asks throwing her arms in the air.
"I'm tuning up the car...and it's a good thing I did too. We wouldn't want this muffler to blow on the highway now would we?" Simon said in a matter of fact manner.
"But now what are we going to do for transportation?"
"Relax Jeanette. I work in an auto shop, remember?" Simon reminded his wife as he went for his cell phone. He pressed the speed dial, and before placing the phone to his ear and listens for the ring.
"Hi Nathan, it's Simon...Yea, not too bad...Hey look, I need you to check something out for me? You know the car I drive, right? ...Yea that's it...anyway, the muffler just blew, and I was wondering if you have a spare one in the shop...Ok!"
There was a pause as Simon waited for Nathan to get back to the phone. He looked up to see Jeanette still glaring at him. Simon gave a low growl before Nathan returned to the phone. He began to perk up when he started to hear good news.
"Oh that's great! What luck...Ok, I'll be right over to pick it up, just take what I owe off my next pay check alright...Thanks Nathan, see you soon!"
Simon looks up at everyone and smiles, even though Jeanette and her sisters were all still showing disapproval with what just happened.
"It just so happens that there is one muffler left for this type of car." He turns toward Alvin and adds. "Alvin, I was wondering if we could take your car to go pick it up now?"
Alvin quickly glances at Brittany, and notices that she has a jam stain on her dress. No doubt she got that from when the car muffler blew. He didn't want to be around to hear her complaints, so he figures a quick drive to the auto shop would be the best diversion right now.
"Sure just let me get my keys, Simon."
Theodore noticed his brothers heading out and saw Eleanor's angry stares too and gulped. There is no way he wanted to be left behind.
"Wait, I'll come too." He calls out to his brothers.
"Hey, I still have ice cream on my head!" Tom wines.
"Dad? Can I come too, please?" Vince cries.
"Hurry up then!" Simon calls back as he opens the passenger side of Alvin's car.
As soon as the boys drive off, the girls and Tom are left in the garage. Jeanette finally looks at her son and realizes that he needs to be cleaned up.
"Get upstairs and into the tub, Tom." She orders pointing to the front door of the house.
"Yes mom." Tom sighed as he does as his mom suggests. He knew she was already mad.
"What about my dress, Jeanette?" Brittany wines addressing her raspberry stain.
Jeanette sighed annoyingly, and looks back at her sister. "You know where the laundry room is." She simply says as she follows her son toward the bathroom.
Brittany growled in frustration behind her sister back. She realized that Jeanette already has her hands full right now. And she didn't need her troubles too, so she decides to clean her stain herself. Leaving Eleanor and Mary left in the garage. The two of them look at each other with a blank expression.
"Well, that was an adventure!" Mary chirps innocently.
Eleanor smiles at her niece, and holds out her hand. "Would you like to get more ice cream?" She asks.
Mary looks down on the floor to see that she had dropped her ice cream during the explosion. Bashfully, she looks up at her aunt again.
"Sure." She grins and runs up and takes Eleanor's hand.
The two of them heads into the kitchen to get more ice cream. They decided to eat their treat in the backyard, while Jeanette is washing Tom, and Brittany is washing her dress.
FOUR MONTHS LATER!
After Simon and Jeanette did their taxes they realized that they hadn't been on a vacation before with just them and the kids. They talked and finally decided to go camping. After a family discussion they figured they could go up at the lake, soon it will be camping season there. The children became very excited and couldn't wait to go.
-----------------------
TWO WEEKS LATER...
Before he, Jeanette, and the kids could go camping, Simon had to make sure the car was in tiptop shape. As he tinkered in the engine, Alvin, Theodore, and the kids all wanted to be there to help, or watch. Theodore and the kids ate ice cream while sitting on the garage table beside the car. Alvin sat at the driver's seat, while Simon is checking out the engine under the hood.
"Ok, start to rev up the engine, Alvin!" Simon called out.
"Dad, I don't think that's such a good idea..." Mary started to say. She had a funny feeling about what was going to happen, but her warning fell on deaf ears.
Alvin gently presses on the gas pedal a few times.
VRROOM, VRROOM, VRROOM. The car's engine started sounding pretty good, but suddenly a loud, KABOOM, came from the back end of the car.
Everyone screams. Theodore jumped so high that his ice cream fell on Tom's head.
"Yuck!" He complains as his head is dripping with strawberry ice cream. Simon bumped his head on the hood, and Alvin nearly had an accident in his pants.
"Wow, that was loud!!" Cried Vincent as he checks if his heart is still beating.
"Hmm..." Simon came around from the front of the car, and headed towards the back end.
"Gee, thanks for the premature heart attack, Simon." Alvin said as he grasped at his chest.
"Turn off the engine, Alvin." Simon said, bluntly.
"Gladly!" Alvin agreed.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING OUT HERE?" Jeanette yells as she runs from the front door to the garage door, with her sisters not far behind.
"Uncle Theo dumped ice cream on my head, mom!" Tom immediately told her like it was the most important thing as he points at his head, and at his uncle at the same time.
"The car went Ka-boom!" Mary said waving her hands above her head.
"WHAT!" Jeanette turned to glare at Simon, but quickly noticed that is currently looking under the back end of the car along with Vincent. Finding all of this frustrating, she let out a loud huff.
"Hmm..." Simon ponders as he investigates the damage.
"Hmm..." Vincent adds as he started to copy his dad's actions.
"The muffler blew a hole." Simon announced to his son.
"Yup!" Vince agrees as he knew what his dad was talking about.
"SI-MON!" Jeanette finally bellows.
"What?" Simon asks in a slightly annoyed tone as he pulls himself from under the car.
"Are you trying to blow us all to kingdom come? What do you mean the muffler blew a hole?" She asks throwing her arms in the air.
"I'm tuning up the car...and it's a good thing I did too. We wouldn't want this muffler to blow on the highway now would we?" Simon said in a matter of fact manner.
"But now what are we going to do for transportation?"
"Relax Jeanette. I work in an auto shop, remember?" Simon reminded his wife as he went for his cell phone. He pressed the speed dial, and before placing the phone to his ear and listens for the ring.
"Hi Nathan, it's Simon...Yea, not too bad...Hey look, I need you to check something out for me? You know the car I drive, right? ...Yea that's it...anyway, the muffler just blew, and I was wondering if you have a spare one in the shop...Ok!"
There was a pause as Simon waited for Nathan to get back to the phone. He looked up to see Jeanette still glaring at him. Simon gave a low growl before Nathan returned to the phone. He began to perk up when he started to hear good news.
"Oh that's great! What luck...Ok, I'll be right over to pick it up, just take what I owe off my next pay check alright...Thanks Nathan, see you soon!"
Simon looks up at everyone and smiles, even though Jeanette and her sisters were all still showing disapproval with what just happened.
"It just so happens that there is one muffler left for this type of car." He turns toward Alvin and adds. "Alvin, I was wondering if we could take your car to go pick it up now?"
Alvin quickly glances at Brittany, and notices that she has a jam stain on her dress. No doubt she got that from when the car muffler blew. He didn't want to be around to hear her complaints, so he figures a quick drive to the auto shop would be the best diversion right now.
"Sure just let me get my keys, Simon."
Theodore noticed his brothers heading out and saw Eleanor's angry stares too and gulped. There is no way he wanted to be left behind.
"Wait, I'll come too." He calls out to his brothers.
"Hey, I still have ice cream on my head!" Tom wines.
"Dad? Can I come too, please?" Vince cries.
"Hurry up then!" Simon calls back as he opens the passenger side of Alvin's car.
As soon as the boys drive off, the girls and Tom are left in the garage. Jeanette finally looks at her son and realizes that he needs to be cleaned up.
"Get upstairs and into the tub, Tom." She orders pointing to the front door of the house.
"Yes mom." Tom sighed as he does as his mom suggests. He knew she was already mad.
"What about my dress, Jeanette?" Brittany wines addressing her raspberry stain.
Jeanette sighed annoyingly, and looks back at her sister. "You know where the laundry room is." She simply says as she follows her son toward the bathroom.
Brittany growled in frustration behind her sister back. She realized that Jeanette already has her hands full right now. And she didn't need her troubles too, so she decides to clean her stain herself. Leaving Eleanor and Mary left in the garage. The two of them look at each other with a blank expression.
"Well, that was an adventure!" Mary chirps innocently.
Eleanor smiles at her niece, and holds out her hand. "Would you like to get more ice cream?" She asks.
Mary looks down on the floor to see that she had dropped her ice cream during the explosion. Bashfully, she looks up at her aunt again.
"Sure." She grins and runs up and takes Eleanor's hand.
The two of them heads into the kitchen to get more ice cream. They decided to eat their treat in the backyard, while Jeanette is washing Tom, and Brittany is washing her dress.