What the Facel is a Fucking Vega?
by
Ephesus14
©
This is a re-post
WARNING:
This is not a BTB story. Nobody cheats and no spouses are shared. There is very little sex.
What the Facel is a fucking Vega? ... Or I was lucky to take it in the rear!
I don't know a Ford from a Nissan without looking at the nameplate, so when the ugly blue car rear ended my Wrangler while I was stopped at a traffic light, I had no idea what kind of car it was; nor did I care.
After I was hit, the other driver stayed in her car and I walked back to her. She was on the phone. The first thing I noticed was her perfume; next were her eyes. They were green. I'd never seen anybody with green eyes before; or if I had, I never noticed. From what I was able to hear, she was telling someone, her husband, I assumed, about the accident. She didn't appear interested in ending her call so I called 911.
A police officer arrived very quickly and the other driver got out of her car. She was about my age, had blonde hair, and was, by any standard, attractive. The officer took our drivers licenses, registrations, and insurance documents and started filling out his report. He gave me copies of her insurance information and vice versa, but she and I had no conversation at all. My car was drivable so he asked me to move it off to the side. Her ugly little blue thing was not drivable so he called a tow truck.
The tow truck arrived and started to pull her car up onto its bed, when I heard a yell.
"Stop! Stop!"
A man about my father's age ran up to the tow truck driver and yelled. "Don't do anything. Leave it alone. Leave it alone."
The officer approached the man. "Sir. You have to step back and let him do his job."
Just then 'green eyes' walked up to the man. "I'm sorry, Daddy."
He looked at her. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm sorry."
"It's all right, sweetie. It's just a car." Then to the tow truck driver. "I said leave it alone. Do you know what you are doing?"
It's just a car? He wasn't acting like it was just a car.
"Sir, we have to clear the intersection. Let him do his job." Repeated the officer.
"He has no idea how to handle that car. We have to wait for my garage. They'll take care of it."
"We're not waiting for anything. We're towing it now."
"But that's a 1958 Facel Vega FV4 Typhoon. They only made 36 of them. It has to be handled carefully."
"I don't care what it is. It's blocking traffic and has to be moved." The officer turned to the tow truck driver. "Get it out of here." Then he said to the man. "Sir come with me."
He took the man's arm and led him away. Green eyes followed.
The man turned to the officer. "Anyone hurt?"
"No sir."
"Where's the other driver?"
"That would be me," I responded.
"Are you hurt?"
"Nope. Just pissed."
"You're pissed? It could take months to get replacement parts for that car ... if they're even available." He looked agonized as his 'one of only 36' was dragged up the bed of the tow truck.
I looked at him and spoke. "Forget your car. Thanks to your daughter, or who, or whatever she is, I've missed an interview for a job and there aren't that many jobs available for guys like me. It will probably take me just as long to get another interview as it will take for you to get parts for that ugly car."
He completely missed my comment about green eyes being his daughter, or who, or whatever she was, "Ugly? You think it's ugly? That's a work of art." He said indignantly.
"Art? Well, there's no accounting for taste I guess, but I missed my interview so I'm still unemployed."
"What do you do?"
"I'm an architect."
"An architect?" He looked me up and down. "Are you any good?"
"You bet I am."
"Then why don't you have a job?"
"It's a long story, but the short version is my mother had a stroke and I came to Houston to look after her."
"I'm sorry about your mother and I'm sorry you missed your appointment. Look, here's my card." He took a card out of his pocket, wrote something on the back of it, then handed it to me. I looked at it. The name J. Paul Tarver was printed on the front. There was nothing else. I turned it over and read what he had written on the back. 'If this guy is any good, maybe you can use him.' "Take it to Marty Cummins at Bradburg and Cummins. Maybe he can help you." Then he looked at the tow truck and ran over to it yelling. "Make sure it won't fall off!"
I had tried several times to get an interview with Bradburg and Cummins, but had not been able to.
For the first-time green eyes spoke to me. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention." How could anyone stay upset looking into eyes like those I asked myself?
I tried to figure out what to say. First her father, who I initially took to be a perfect ass, did something nice and then she apologized. I was taken aback, but I snapped out of it when her father spoke. "I hope you're insured."
I looked at him then pointed to 'green eyes'. "She's the one who better be insured. It was her fault."
"That will be determined by the investigating officer," he said.
Just then the officer approached us and spoke. "The investigating officer has made his determination." He handed me back my registration, license, and proof of insurance. He did the same to 'green eyes' only he included a citation for her. "Have a nice day." He said as he walked to his patrol car. I headed back to my Wrangler and watched as the ugly blue, one of only 36 in the world, 1958 Facel Vega FV4 Typhoon rolled down the street on the back of a common Chevrolet rollback tow truck.
I decided to not try and reschedule my missed interview but, instead, would call Bradburg and Cummins, so I went home. Well, it wasn't exactly my home. It belonged to my father. My mother had suffered a stroke seven months before and he asked me if I would come and help him take care of her. She managed to live four months.
Dad was having a bad time dealing with her passing so I decided to stay pretty close to him. I made the permanent move to Houston to be with him. I put my house in Pennsylvania up for sale and asked my best friend, Barry, if he would arrange to have my furniture put in storage.
First thing the next morning, I made the call. "Bradburg and Cummins, how may I direct your call?" Said a voice that could give a eunuch a hardon.
"Good morning. My name is Ryan Prescott. I'd like an appointment to see Marty Cummins, please."
"And what would the appointment with Mr. MARTIN Cummins be about, Mr. Prescott?"