Be All, End All

An hour or so breather. Fresh air. No toxins to avoid. No fumes to inhale.

The door to Darynn’s left opened. Her first concern was being caught leaning by her new temperamental boss. Then the sudden movement of turning when the door opened caused her headache to throb and she decided she didn’t really give a shit what he thought.

“I got one coming around. Get the gun ready.”

Darynn groaned and stood. Yeah, she wanted a foothold in a garage that had a reputation. Yeah, she wanted the experience. Yeah, she wanted the meetings and connections such a job would yield. But she also wanted her sinuses to work without hurting again too. She wanted to go home and not smell like acrylic or some other chemical that wouldn’t wash off and was starting to irritate her skin.

One month. That’s how long she’d been playing gopher and stooge to the owner of this damn shop. The clientele seemed to be the type people she wanted to meet, but she never left the back of the shop so there was no way she’d ever actually talk to any of them. The mechanics were rude or harassing. The owner was an asshole and she usually felt so bad from the fumes of paint jobs and other such crappy task that she didn’t give a shit to try any harder.

“Be all. End all.” Yeah. If something didn’t improve soon she was tucking tail and going home. Another month. That’s how long she’d decided to survive. She was looking for other employment to keep from returning home in disgrace, but was getting nowhere fast. Winding up changing wiper blades at Jiffy Lube was not her idea of a dream come true.

She had no formal education outside of high school. One year of tech school before she’d been forced to drop out. No references except for Che, the owner here, and she got the feeling from the way he looked at her sometimes that he was getting calls about her and was most likely giving bad testimony. Whatever. One more month. At the rate she was going she’d be *thrilled* to go home.

Two of the mechanics, Rodney and Igor, at least that what she called him, slowly rolled a taped and sanded ’03 Nissan 350Z into the paint bay. She was waiting, respirator, apron, gloves, boots, the whole get up.

Rodney, the head mechanic, gave her a little wave and grinned like a maniac as he closed the door. She flipped him off but he just grinned wider. Asshole.

The color was good, a midnight blue that looked lighter or darker depending on the angle of the light. She took a deep breath of non-tainted air and got started.

Twice the too loose mask slipped and she was breathing in the thick air before she knew it. Faulty equipment was her torture. She was beginning to suspect that Che’ had given her an older respirator in an attempt to run her off.

She was finished and circling to check for any thin patches or runs when she felt the first wave of nausea. She swallowed the feeling, not really thinking anything of it. Then she was suddenly gagging and stumbling toward the door.

The door opened and closed with little help from her, but as she pulled at her mask she didn’t really notice the significance. The cool night air felt refreshing for one second, stalling the inevitable until she’d stumbled a few yards along the wall. Then she was bent over puking up lunch and breakfast and the two sodas in between. The stubby weeds didn’t care what was watering them. Gagging and spitting she tried to clear her mouth when her stomach clenched again and she was spewing fresh chunks.

Minutes passed with only the sound of ringing and her pulse in her ears to keep her company. The sound of crunching gravel filtered through to let her know she wasn’t alone. Had someone been watching her? How embarrassing. But for the present she couldn’t find the will to care. She guessed it wasn’t one of the mechanics. The sun was full down now and they usually made certain to cut out long before dark. Could be Che’, but he hadn’t yet come back to check on her this late.

“Alright?”

A somewhat clean shop rag appeared in her peripheral and she gratefully took it. Watering eyes and slobbering mouth was not how she wanted to face anyone.

“Thanks.” Her voice came out as a raspy whisper and she spit again, trying to get rid of the awful taste before she wiped her face.

“Fumes?”

Darynn almost couldn’t wait to see the owner of that voice. Soft and low, his voice was comforting, making her feel the intimacy of the situation despite how bad she felt. But she could detect the strength in his voice, as if to hear him yell would make someone cower. How intriguing.

She pulled the respirator off from where it hung around her neck, not wanting to face the owner of* that* voice looking any worse than possible. Taking a step back, she kept one hand on the wall to keep her balance and raised her head. She came face to face with the peeker from the parking lot. The one who’d driven off in the car that was her Mazda’s twin almost six weeks before.

“You.”

He smiled, showing surprise, but also obviously pleased. “You,” he echoed still smiling. “So this is where you ended up.”

“Gettin’ my nails done.”

He crossed his arms, making him seem even bigger, and smiled down at her. “You’re the new guy Che’ hired?”

“One and the same. He’s up there braggin’ about me, I’m sure.”

“He had some things to say,” the giant said and his tone told her the ‘things’ Che’ had said were better left unrepeated.

“Well, I’m sure it was all flattery, seeing as how you’re here to check on your car,” she surmised. “Worried I was doin’ the interior too?”

He grinned, “From the way he talked I’m surprised it’s not done in polka dots.”

Darynn stood, forgetting her queasiness. “Did he say that? That fucker wouldn’t know a good paint job if it was on his ass.”

A dark brow rose over an equally dark eye. “I’ll have to mention you said that. I take it this ain’t what you want to be doin’.”

“Is it that obvious?” she snapped, hating taking her frustrations out on this guy, but unable to stop herself. No one had cared to ask how she felt. She didn’t know anyone in the city and no one she worked with gave a shit. Now that she was given the opportunity she couldn’t keep from venting about it. “Won’t let me near one of his precious cars. Fucking pieces of shit anyway. I wouldn’t want to be wasting my time on doing his fucking oil changes for him! He’d have me vacuuming twenty-four seven if he could.”

“Che’s a good guy.”

Darynn seethed at the comment, but instantly shut her mouth. Like it or not she was stuck where she was, with a boss skeptical of her talents. She sighed long and loud and then smiled like a well-trained employee. “Did you want to see her?”

The guy cocked his head at her sudden about face, but nodded. Darynn opened the small door on the side so they could slip in, then was coughing at the lingering fumes.

He made a trip all the way around the car, inspecting it as if it were the first paint job he’d ever seen. Finally he stopped beside her again near the door.

“The car you had. Did you build it?”

Darynn glanced up at him, seeing that he was still looking at the Nissan and not her. “Yeah.”

“The whole thing?”

Darynn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, the whole thing. It’s my car, spoiler to spoiler.”

“If you can do all that, why are you wasting time here?”

“For the experience. For the connections. I don’t know anyone. I can’t afford my own shop. My home got broken up a while back and I’ve been trying to relocate.”

He was silent for a while and she started to wonder if that was the end of that conversation. Aw, poor grease monkey down on her luck looking for handouts. Sob, sob. See ya later.

“Would you consider coming to work for me?”

Darynn’s untrusting nature flared a warning and her eyes narrowed, though she kept her gaze on the car before her. “You have your own shop?”

“Yeah. This isn’t my car, but I don’t have a way to paint so I bring them here. My team will pick it up and finish it.”

She could hear the pride in his voice when he mentioned ‘his team’. Yeah. A bunch of wrench happy weekend warriors. They’d probably string her along for a few weeks, never actually pay her and then run her off.

“I’m not working in some backyard garage for a bunch of drunks to gape at for the weekend.”

The guy was smirking, arms crossed again, still looking at the damn car. “Fair enough. I’ll talk to Che’. Come by my place tomorrow and give me a day’s work. If you want you can come back here on Friday and we’ll forget the whole thing.”

Darynn was intrigued. He had that much weight with Che’? He must be one hell of a customer. But in truth she couldn’t consider turning it down. If anything it could just be a chance to show someone, anyone that she really could do this. “Yeah, okay.”

The man nodded and was walking away before she could say another word. She thought of yelling after him. She didn’t know where this supposed shop was or what his name was or anything, but then she stopped. Didn’t want to seem too eager, after all. If he wanted her there, he’d make sure she knew where it was.

With an overly dramatic sigh she entered the paint room to finish up with the car and clean and put away the equipment.

“Che’, what the fuck are you thinking puttin’ her out there?”

The man being questioned looked up from a mess of papers on his desk. His dark eyes glanced at the now closed office door before returning to his friend. “Dom, she’s got no references. No experience. No education.”

“Fuck that. Neither do I. What about the car?”

“So she can paint. I’ll give her other jobs.”

Dom frowned, then shook his head. “Not my car. Hers.”

“What about it?”

Dom was leaning on the desk now, getting into the other man’s face. “Have you seen it?* I *was fuckin’ impressed.”

The smaller man frowned then pointed through the office window. “She drives that.”

Dom smiled at the beat up Ford Probe parked beneath a tree on the back lot. “She’s never driven another one?”

“She’s broke. Lives in a trailer. I doubt she could afford another car.”

Dom stood, still looking at the little worn car. Good body though. “Well, do me a favor. She’s gonna come by the shop tomorrow. If she decides to work for me you’re not gonna have a problem?”

Che’ showed his disbelief, but shook his head. “For you, Dom, whatever. I don’t think she’s worth it though.”

Dom shrugged and headed for the door, “We’ll see. If she comes back here Friday you’ll know V or one of the guys scared her off.”

Che’ laughed out loud until the sound was cut off by the closing door.


Darynn jumped when a shadow fell across the paint gun she was cleaning.

“All set.” He held a card out to her. “Here’s the address. Dawn or any time after.”

She nodded and flipped the small card over. The only thing written on it was the address. “Che’s okay with it?”

He nodded, “He’s a good guy.” With that he turned and headed out.

“Hey.” Darynn called, feeling like the whole encounter was rather surreal. “What’s your name?”

Those dark eyes were on her again. “Dom. Yours?”

“Darynn.”

She was used to getting slack for her name. Customarily a guys’ name, but ‘Dom’ didn’t seem to care.

“See you in the morning, Darynn.” Then he was gone. That perfectly tuned motor roared to life somewhere out in the parking lot, and then all was silent again.