Chapter Four: Fly
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything Degrassi related. The only character in this chapter I own is Tristan.
The thick autumn breeze that owned the air ripped through Marco's skin and sent shivers through out of his bones as he waited against the open hood of his car for his ride off the side of the road. He knew he should've taken his car in for a check-up last month but, he had convinced himself he was pressed for time. Plus, Dylan always said he'd take a look at it.
A sigh of relief slipped through the crack between Marco's chattering teeth when he spotted the tow truck passing him and parking in front of his stalled car. He rushed around the vehicle to meet whoever was coming out right at their door.
"Thanks so much. You're saving the day!" He exclaimed before taking a good look at who was climbing out from behind the wheel of the tow truck. "What? Paige sent you?" Marco couldn't believe it. He backed up quickly and walked away. Jay just smirked and shook his head around while going to take a look under the hood of Marco's car. "Don't touch that. Do you even know what you're doing?"
"They sort of teach you about cars in auto shop." Jay tried to keep his cool but, Marco was so frantic and hadn't welcomed him too pleasantly.
"I can't believe Paige called you. What a kidder."
"As a matter of fact, she and I had a bonding session earlier this afternoon."
"What? Did you two share a line of coke?"
"You might want to be nice to your mechanic. It helps them fix your car properly." Jay stood up straight and told Marco, directly. He waited until a clear sign that Marco was going to be quiet before returning to working under the hood.
"It's your engine. When was the last thing you got your car looked at?" He asked while tinkering around.
"A month ago." Marco lied.
"Well, wherever you took it, they definitely didn't know what they were doing."
"Can you fix it?"
"Yeah but, it'll take some time."
"How long?" Marco crossed his arms over his chest to help keep warm.
"I can't exactly time it but, it'll be at least a week." Jay reached up and slammed the hood down before going to lift the car onto the tow.
"Great." Marco wanted better news than that. He reached into his blazer pocket and took out his cell phone. He tried to get a hold of Dylan for the sixth time since his car broke down. He held the phone and waited through ten rings before the voice mail picked up.
"Do you need a ride to work?" Jay offered kindly while watching Marco's car climb up onto the back of his work's truck.
"No!" Marco quickly said. The very sight of Jay Hogart still made Marco's stomach turn like it did when they were bratty teenagers but, after a moment of thinking to himself, Marco swallowed his pride. "Yes, please." He rolled his eyes and cursed himself silently.
"Climb in." Jay smiled and tilted his head in the direction of his truck and Marco bustled around and jumped into the passenger seat.
"Oh, Marco, what are you doing?" As if he was in high school again, Marco worried that maybe Jay was going to skin him and leave his body face down in a ditch.
"So, where am I taking you?" Jay asked while turning his keys in the ignition.
"Fermore Agencies on Stafford." Marco clung to his side of the truck and stared out the window. He avoided any kind of contact with Jay, including eye.
"You're an accountant?" Jay chuckled.
"Why is that funny?" He averted his eyes to the side but still kept to himself.
"I just didn't think of you as a bean counter."
"I'm not boring and it's not a boring job." He defended himself strongly.
"I wouldn't imagine so. I don't think I could ever work with money like that anyways."
"Too tempted to pocket it?" Marco snarled. Of course, Marco was still the same sweetheart he had been when walking the halls of Degrassi, but with Jay he was highly defenses. He never let his guard down for a moment.
"You know, I'm not the same person I was when I was seventeen, just like you aren't the same person as you used to be." Jay tried to make amends. He understood what Paige was getting at before.
"I believe that, but that doesn't change anything that happened."
"I am sorry, Marco, I am." Jay said while driving and trying to keep his eyes on the road so Marco couldn't see how tender Jay was capable of being.
"That's nice."
"Come on, man, I'm trying here."
"Try harder."
Jay took a deep breath and searched his head for something they'd both be interested in or be able to find some common ground with.
"So, I read that bacon actually comes from the testicle of the male pig. That was on yesterday." He tried to say without grossing himself out. He checked out of his peripherals if that caught Marco's attention.
"That's disgusting." Simply, Marco said, trying not to throw up in his throat.
"Yeah. Thing is, I don't think I'll stop eating it. It tastes good."
"Why are we talking about this?"
"Just trying to get to know you."
"Well, here's a glimpse into my life, Jay, I don't eat a whole lot of pig's testicles."
"It's all a matter of choice, I guess." He chuckled.
Unfortunately, Jay couldn't cross Marco off his list of people to make amends with. Clearly, Marco was going to take some time, but Jay was prepared to work on him. He knew not everybody would be happy to just forgive and forget with a big bear hug. He turned into the parking lot of Marco's work place.
"Alright, thanks for the ride." For the first time in their half hour together, Marco quickly let his eyes view Jay's.
"Yeah. Someone will give you a call today about your car."
"Awesome, thanks."
"See ya." He gave Marco a friendly wave but, he just slammed the door quickly and rushed inside to work.
Tristan was hunched over the front desk of the auto body shop where she worked for extra cash. She held her chin up with her fist and read over her textbook while the clang and clamor of men working on cars and tossing around tools filled the air around her, as well as grungy music from the auto body's stereo. She could tune all the background noise out easily and concentrate on her History homework but, when the door of the auto body shop slammed as severely as it did when Ashley Brooks stomped in, she shot straight up and shook.
"Oh, hi, Mrs. Brooks." Tristan recognized Wes's mom from all the basketball games. Ashley just stomped right by her and walked through the busy shop without a care. She found Jay in the back, working under the hood of Marco's car.
"Put a leash on your son, Hogart!" She shouted as she tapped his shoulder with a vicious hit.
"What?" He slithered from out of the hood and wiped his hand against his forehead, leaving a thick stain of grease on his skin. "Oh, Ashley, to what do I owe the pleasure."
"Your son punched mine today at school."
"What? You sure it was my son?" He checked.
"Yes, Jesse Hogart, same last name, same unwashed hair, same crude mouth, and same sucker punch."
"Sounds like my son." Jay tried to handle the confrontation lightly. She was clearly overreacting enough for the both of them. A few of the other mechanics in the shop stood around and chuckled at the sight of Ashley yelling at Jay.
"You're lucky he's not expelled or anything. One more stint like this and I'll have him out of that school so fast, you won't be able to blink."
"I can't wait. We should do this again."
Now, Jay had no problem apologizing to anybody from his past that he caused any sort of pain to but, Ashley, he just couldn't manage to take her seriously. It was important to him that he got all of Jimmy's forgiveness but, he truly wished he'd put a muzzle on his wife. He wanted to see the good in Ashley, but she never let it show in front of Jay.
"Bye, Mrs. Brooks!" Tristan waved as Ashley stormed past her and left the shop.
"Tris," Jay called from the car he was working on. He headed over to the desk Tristan was working at, cleaning his hands off on a cloth. "When I asked you what happened at school today earlier, did you purposely leave out that your brother punched out Wes Brooks?"
"You bet." Tristan nodded while flipping the page in her textbook.
"Good girl." He looked back and wondered how to handle this one. He was trying to clean up his past to set a good example for his son but, clearly he was going to have to work a lot harder. "What was it about, do you know?"
"Something stupid, probably. Wes and Jesse have never seen eye to eye." Tristan blew a few stray hairs out of her face and told her father, candidly. "I think Jesse feels he's got something to prove. He said it's all about living up to the Hogart name or something." She shrugged and shook her head, sweetly.
It was a harsh blow to hear that but, Jay couldn't let it go.
"Oh man." He lifted his ball cap off his head and ran one hand through his whole head of hair. "Alright, can you call those numbers for me?" Jay pointed to the work computer next to her that had a list of a few names of people who's automobiles had come into the shop earlier.
"Sure." Tristan pushed her book away and picked up the phone. She read off the top number and waited for the other line to pick up.
"Marco Del Rossi."
"Hey, Marco Del Rossi from Degrassi?" She asked with so much pep in her voice, Marco could've guessed she was a cheerleader.
"Yes, who is this?" He asked while sifting through lists of numbers on his office desk.
"I'm Tristan Hogart. My dad says you're, like, the most fashionable person to walk the earth. I'm calling about your car but, since I've got you on the line, tell me what you think about bubble hems?" She leaned foreword against the desk and asked him, genuinely. Neither Jay or Gia knew where Tristan got it from, but she had the gift of gab and always used it.
"I can't say they're very flattering. I've never seen a girl pull it off."
"Agreed but, the cutest dresses have them attached and they're so expensive to get altered."
"Yeah, I wouldn't know." Marco had never purchased a dress for anyone besides his mother, so he'd never had to take one to a tailor. "Anyways, about my car?"
"Oh yeah, it'll be ready in about a week. I've got a number for a car rental place we work with, if you need it."
"No, that won't be necessary, thanks. How much is all this going to cost?" He held his head and asked. He prayed that it would be somewhat affordable.
"Let me see." Tristan clicked on his name on the computer and read over the summary. "It says it's been taken care of." She squinted. "That's weird. I guess, the shops covering it."
"What?" Marco said. "That doesn't make any sense."
"It could be a computer error, Mr. Del Rossi but, if somebody is willing to install a new engine in your car for free, don't question it, just accept it."
"I guess your right."
"Someone will drive your car over to you by the end of the week."
"Great. Thank you very much."
"Have a good day. Thank you for choosing our shop." Marco could hear how bright her grin was from over the phone.
Fly - Nick Drake
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