THE RACER Chapter 9

Roll Up Door
courtesy photobucket.com

             

The next morning Abel was up early and went out to the road to just look and admire his new building.

It was something he never expected to have.  The roll up door made it very accessible and easy to get into even with a truck.  His volunteer helpers had dug a pit in the back corner so he could standup under a car and work on it from under there.

Much more needed to be done, but all that took was time and money, and as time went by it would be finished inside like he wanted.

An old man named Mason who had been a bridge builder came by and said he had a good welder machine that he would trade for a set of tires.

Abel had stacks of still good tires, and told him to pick out what he wanted and to take one for a spare.

 

With the help of Charley, the old man Mason found a good set and it pleased him to no end.  In fact he was so happy, he said he would teach Abel how to weld with the machine, and if he had some special job he would do it for him at a reasonable price.

The old man was a good electrician and helped Abel and Charley put in the wiring.  

 

Once the power was hooked it up they were ready to do some welding if it was needed.  

Someone gave Abel an almost new vice and he bolted it to the first work bench he built.

The boy Lucas’ mother thought he was spending too much time over at Abel's but she gave in to his whining about being needed over there.

His dad told her that Lucas would get tired of the dirt and grime sooner or later so leave him be.  

 

The one thing his mother was displeased about was his clothes and how dirty and greasy they were getting.  

Abel realized that this was a real problem so he took Lucas down to the dry goods store and bought him a pair of coveralls to wear instead of his regular stuff.  

Lucas felt like a real mechanic and the only thing that would have made it better was if the coveralls had a name tag on them.  

              
Charley had plenty to do for people were always bringing old cars they wanted to get rid of and they would either give them to Abel or sell them for very little.  

As time went on Abel was making money from selling used parts and the scrap metal so he could begin to pay Charley wages.  

This was something new for Charley because he had never had any spending money before.  He had always worked for his upkeep and his mother took what money he made for herself.  

 

He had always worn hand-me-down clothes and when he had his own money he bought his first pair of new pants and shirts.

 

Old but Good
courtesy free clipart

As the days went by the shop was being put in order with benches and shelves. Then one day a guy came by with an old riding mower he wanted to get rid of and Abel told him to put it in the shop.

 

The guy wanted to know if it had any value or if Abel would pay him anything for it.

Abel said look out back at all the stuff that has been given to me because people had no place for it and I took it as a favor to them.  

 

There is certainly some value in those things but only if someone needs them.  Unless it is something I need I can't afford to pay for anything just to own it.

Perhaps you should keep your mower and use it to make money cutting grass for people. The guy said I can't get it to run so you can have it if you want.

Abel said, like I said you can put it in the shop and I will look it over and see if anything is salvageable on it and will sell the metal for about ten cents.

That is all it will bring if that much. The man agreed to leave it and said how about giving me a nickel for a cup of coffee. Abel said okay here a dime buy yourself a donut to go with it.

The man drove off just about the time Lucas showed up.

When Lucas saw the lawn mower he just stared at it for a long time. It was as if he was mesmerized at the sight of it.

 

He went over to it and looked it over front and back and said under his breathe, "I'm a racer." 

To be Continued