Two Peas?

Jade & I had a moment today.

If you know my car, you know she has personality. She's a little eccentric, very stubborn and very dramatic. She puts on a major show when her fuel tank is low and she acts all bubbly and saucy when you fill her up. She's picky about how her doors are opened, who drives her and whether or not she wants to allow you to see how fast you're driving at night.* She's my baby though, and I love her.

So I took her in for an oil change. Full service. We take care of each other like that. I also asked the mechanic to check the brakes out because they were making a scratchy noise last week. So I'm sitting in the office, letting Jade & the mechanic talk to each other, and I'm looking up at the service board with all the pricing on it;

Basic oil change: $25.00
Full Service: $32.00
Diagnostic: $16.50
Brake Check & Tire Rotation: $15.00

It occured to me then that since I asked the mechanic to check my brakes and give Jade a full service oil change, that he was probably rotating the tires as well. I could see Jade's bright green paint in the third bay, farthest from the door. So I headed outside, to make sure the guy was doing all I asked him to do.

As I'm walking over, I see the mechanic on the shop phone, walk into a storage closet or parts closet or something and vanish for a second. And as I reach the third bay, there's Jade. She looked exactly like any other car would in such circumstances, but because I'm a storyteller and she happens to be quite a character, this is what I saw/thought:

As I come around the corner, Jade's sitting there with her hood open, all four tires cast aside, looking at me like a mischievous high school kid caught in some devious act, with wide doe-in-headlight headlights. I cross my arms, look around for the mechanic and stare her down.

Me: Mmhmm.

Jade: Ummmm… okay. This is not what it looks like. I swear.

Me: Jade. I leave you out here with him for fifteen minutes and you let him take all your tires off, with your hood open for all the world to see?!

Jade: Look, he had a drill, okay? Well, it was a pressurized tire iron, really. I didn't mean to. But it just—it all happened so fast! I barely had time to think! You know you can't just leave me alone like that!

I shook my head at her, biting back a hint of a smile and thought,
"Well, I guess it could happen to anyone."


*Her dashboard lights are touch and go, and no longer respond to my Han Solo-esque knocking them into submission.