This is part of my "Lost Years" series covering the years between 1999 and 2016, but I decided to post it as a separate story. Written as kind of a sequel to "The Car" episode in season 2, this fanfic will tell the story of when and why Rebecca eventually had to retire the Wagoneer that told the family's story. It will also fill in some other gaps in Rebecca's story, including when and how her parents died and the mystery sister we never really met. There's also a little more of Rebecca and Miguel in the early days, both because the "Miguel" episode made me realize how much I loved them together and wanted more, and because Miguel was away from Rebecca and the Pearsons for most of the lost years, so Rebecca can simultaneously catch him and the audience up.
Please review if you like this (or even if you don't - constructive feedback is welcome)! Knowing people are reading my stories keeps me motivated to keep writing them.
OCTOBER 2010
"Oh, hell no! You have got to be kidding me!" Rebecca says angrily, staring at her phone as she and Miguel wait in the lobby of an Acura dealership.
"Whoa, we haven't even seen the car or talked to a sales rep, and you're already agitated?" Miguel teases.
"No, no, nothing to do with that. My sister Jenny just sent me a friend request on Facebook, and I see from the mutual friends that she already friended Kevin and Kate," Rebecca complains.
"Oh wow – is she the one who announced her pregnancy in her toast at your wedding reception?"
"She sure is," Rebecca says with a dry chuckle. "Wow – good memory! If only that were the worst of it."
"It must be pretty bad if you don't even want your kids being friends with her on Facebook."
Rebecca sighs. "It's a long story, and not something I'm going to tell you in the lobby of a fancy car dealership."
"Fair enough. Thanks again for coming with me today," Miguel says. "I know how much you hate car dealerships, so I did all the legwork beforehand. I know which car I want and what features it has and what I'm willing to pay for it. I just wanted you to come with me for a test drive to make sure you find the seat comfortable before I take the plunge."
"I know. That's sweet, honey," Rebecca says, gripping his hand. "Just don't try to convince me that I need a new car, and I promise to be on my best behavior. I'll even try not to roll my eyes when the overly enthusiastic salesman starts yapping about all the latest and greatest bells and whistles that I don't understand."
"Oh don't worry, I'll probably roll my eyes at least a couple times," Miguel chuckles. "And trust me, I have seen what happens when someone tries to convince you to get a new car when you're not ready."
NOVEMBER 1998
"Thank you so much for coming with me," Rebecca says to Miguel as they wait at the service center at the Jeep dealership where the Pearsons originally bought the Wagoneer. "Every time I get the car serviced, they find more things that are supposedly wrong with it, and they gave me this long list over the phone that I didn't understand, and I just want to make sure I'm not being charged…what do they call it? The idiot tax?"
"I get it. I'm happy to help," Miguel says reassuringly. "Obviously, I don't know nearly as much as Jack did about cars, but with my background in sales I'd like to think I have a pretty good bullshit detector."
"Mrs. Pearson?" a man calls out, motioning them to a round table.
"The good news is, the timing chain doesn't need replacing just yet, although with a car this old it's a ticking time bomb," the technician explains. "The bad news is, our initial inspection revealed several things the car needs - new brake pads and spark plugs and…" the technician continues to rattle off a list of things Rebecca doesn't understand as the room starts to spin and the man's voice gets blurry. Then suddenly, clarity returns as he tells her that the "biggest item on the list are new ball joints, which will run you about $400 for parts and labor…"
Something snaps inside Rebecca and she turns to Miguel. "See, I told you something on the list sounded familiar. The Wagoneer was making an annoying rattle and Jack fixed it about six months ago. I could swear he said something about new ball joints." Miguel raises his eyebrow at the technician.
"Ma'am, we're just going by what we have here, which unfortunately is not much in terms of service records because you said your husband did most of the repair work on the car himself. But obviously we don't want to do anything unnecessary, so if you want to check your records to see if your husband bought new ball joints recently…"
"I don't have any records, our house burned down!" Rebecca snaps. "Can't you tell from looking at the car which parts are new?"
"Not always. Unfortunately, sometimes the amount of time required to take things apart costs more than just fixing the most likely culprit. I know this is probably a little overwhelming if you're not used to handling all of this, and that's why many people decide to replace a car when it gets to this age. I can introduce you to someone in our sales department…the 1999 models are just about to come in, so they can probably give you a really good deal on a 1998."
"No, no, I don't want to look at new cars," Rebecca says anxiously, close to tears. "I want you to stop trying to take advantage of the fact that I'm a widow who knows nothing about ball joints and fix what actually needs fixing! You should be ashamed of yourself!"
"Rebecca, hey, let's step outside for just a minute," Miguel urges gently, touching her arm softly.
"Can you believe that guy?" she says indignantly when they are out of earshot. Miguel hesitates to respond, afraid of making the situation worse. "This is what they do, isn't it? They just make up a long list of stuff that sounds scary to try to get you to buy a new car."
"Maybe. I don't know. Based on what I know about car dealerships, I'm pretty sure that guy will make more money if you agree to a bunch of repairs than if you buy a new car, but that's neither here nor there."
"I'm sorry," she says, realizing she might be overreacting a bit. "I sound like a crazy person, don't I?" she asks.
"No, you sound like someone who's been through a lot," Miguel says sympathetically.
"Maybe he's right – I don't know the first thing about maintaining an old car, and getting a newer car would probably save me money and aggravation in the long run. But it's our family car, and I'm nowhere near ready…"
"I know," Miguel says gently. "Why don't we do this: I know the guy Jack used to buy parts from. He's a nice guy, and he'll probably remember or have records of which parts Jack bought to replace on the Wagoneer in the last couple years. So I'm going to go ask the technician for a written estimate, then we'll take my car over to the parts store and depending on how the estimate jives up with the repairs Jack did on the car, we'll either come back and get the work done here or we'll ask the parts guy to recommend a good, honest independent mechanic. Okay?"
"Okay," Rebecca agrees shakily.
"Whatever the car actually needs, I'm going to take care of, and I'm not taking no for an answer, because whatever it costs is going to be substantially less than all the free labor Jack expended fixing my cars for years before I started leasing. One way or another, we'll get that car in good enough shape that you can drive it until you're ready to let go, alright?"
"What? No, I can't let you…" she protests.
"Rebecca, I'm not asking," he says firmly.
"Thank you," she says sincerely, tears of gratitude filling her eyes.
OCTOBER 2010
"I was kind of a jerk to that guy in the maintenance department, wasn't I?" Rebecca acknowledges.
"You were overwhelmed and upset. And for the record, you were right about Jack already replacing the ball joints. Actually, I don't think you ever told me – when did you finally retire the Wagoneer?"
Before she can answer, a sales person comes up and introduces himself and shows them to the Acura MDX that Miguel came to see. Thus, frustratingly, Miguel and the audience have to wait a little longer for the answer to his question.