Saturday is when I run around and take care of all the chores I can’t get done during the week. I pulled into the mall to drop off a pair of boots for resoling and check out the new sound systems at the stereo shop for a client – I make my living as an electronics and computer guru. I parked my truck (driving a pickup is wonderful cover for a transplanted Yankee in the South) and started toward the entrance when a blast from my past stopped me cold.
It was a 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville convertible. Everyone remembers this model; it’s the one with the huge tailfins that have the rocket-exhaust tail lights on them. It is arguably the most visually striking car ever built, and ranks high on everyone’s Top Ten list of memorable Detroit rolling iron.
My high school principal had inherited a white ’59 with a red leather interior from his father. It was nicknamed “The Pussy Wagon” because it was used to parade the Homecoming Queen and the winners of town beauty pageants down Main Street. This one was The Pussy Wagon’s mirror image, red with a white interior, just like the Cadillac used in the TV ads to promote the marque. I gave it a slow, respectful walk-around.
Whoever owned this Caddy took good care of it. There wasn’t a dent to be seen. The few chips and scratches had been carefully touched up and were almost invisible. If there was any filler on the body, I couldn’t find it. I leaned over the driver’s door and looked at the odometer: 295,869 miles. For a daily driver, this machine was nearly cherry.
“You like my car?”
I turned toward the voice and received a shock even greater than that caused by the convertible. A slender Asian woman was walking toward me.
Standing about 5’7” in the heels she was wearing, her real height was closer to 5’3”. Her beautifully shaped legs scissored in and out of the unusual full-length skirt she was wearing. Made up of a mass of thousands of layered green and black threads, at rest the skirt concealed her legs completely; but when she walked, the threads fell away and her bare legs flashed in and out of them up to mid-thigh. She was wearing a wraparound green top that tied at the back and simultaneously acted as brassiere and blouse, showcasing two breasts that were average in size but set close together. The result was they looked larger than they actually were on her petite frame.
Her face was striking rather than pretty, having the faintly simian cast around the eyes Asian women of a certain age acquire. Blue-black hair cut in a pageboy completed the package. The overall impact was remarkable. This was a woman that, once seen, would not be quickly forgotten.
“Yes, I do. You seldom see a classic car in as good shape as this one outside a car show. I was just admiring her.”
“My husban’ called it his big toy. He found it when we were stationed in California, an’ he spent three years bringing it back to showroom condition.” Her voice, low and mysterious, had a trace of an accent. Taking a closer look, I pegged her as a Filipina who had lived for years among English-speakers.
“I’d like to meet him,” I said. “He’s done a really great job on this car.”
She looked away. “That would be hard. He died las’ summer. This is th' firs' time I've taken it out since th' funeral”
Oops. Taking my foot out of my mouth, I stammered, “I’m sorry for your loss, ma’am. I didn’t mean to offend. I’ll just be on my way. Again, I apologize.”
She smiled a little. “You had no way to know. He’d be pleased that someone appreciates his big toy. I’ll accept your respects in th’ spirit they were meant. Have a nice day.”
I watched as the widowed Filipina climbed into the Caddy, backed out and headed for the mall exit. The coupe looked just as good today as The Pussy Wagon had looked back in the day, and had a better-looking driver.
Half an hour later, I was heading into the setting sun with the pickup cap sheltering groceries, a couple of new DVDs and some stereo components as well as my toolkits and whatnot. I had the road to myself and gave some thought to the driver of that Cadillac as I drove along.
I’d enlisted right out of high school, trading six years in the Air Force for training in computer and electronics repair and guaranteed qualification for the GI Bill. College would have been impossible otherwise. Although I’d been in while the Air Force still owned Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, I’d never been stationed in the Far East.
Barracks gossip claimed Filipinas made the best wives. Supposedly they were devoted, obedient, fucked like minks with their tails on fire and were skilled at household management. I discounted the rumors, remembering the joke that said the only difference between a fairy tale and a soldier’s story was that fairy tales started out “Once upon a time,” and soldiers’ stories started out, “No shit…”
A car was pulled off the road up ahead. I slowed down. It was the Caddy, hood up and a white rag tied to its door handle. Its Asian owner frantically waved at me as I pulled behind the convertible and switched on my idiot blinkers. I got out and went to meet her.
“Hello again,” I said. “Do you need help?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Th’ car, th’ temperature gauge jus’ went off the top an’ then smoke came out from th’ engine. Can you help me?”
“Let’s see,” I said.
I looked under the engine in the fading light. A smelly puddle of coolant had formed there. It didn’t take long to find what was wrong.
“You have a split water hose,” I said, walking past her to get my Car Box out of my truck. She followed me.
“Can you fix that?” she asked.
“Maybe enough to let you limp to a garage,” I said. “Will you hold the light for me… I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name?”
We exchanged names. Hers was Elena. She held my big flashlight as I unloaded the Car Box and sorted out what I would need for the job. She looked dubiously at a coil of heavy gauge copper piping, a length of rubber hose, a spool of stiff electric wire, some clamps and a piece of gasket material as I fetched the tool kit.
“With that, you can fix th’ engine so I can drive?” she said doubtfully.
“I think so, Elena,” I said, and set to work.
A little more than half an hour later, my magnificent improvisation was in place. The broken thermostat that was the cause of the trouble had been removed. Gasket material replaced it, holes cut for the bolts and to let cooling water flow through. The split in the middle of the hose hadn’t reached the bends that led in and out of the engine block, so I’d clamped a piece of copper pipe into each end and bridged the gap with hose from the Car Box and two more clamps. The whole thing was anchored with lengths of twisted wire attached to whatever was handy so it wouldn’t flop around. Elena leaned in to look at the repair, bracing herself on my shoulders. I was aware of her breasts pressing against my back. We looked at each other. Her face was hard to read in the falling darkness.
I repacked my gear and poured the gallon of antifreeze mix I always carry into the radiator, and topped it up with 2 ½ gallons of water from my groceries. I closed the hood and walked to Elena, seated back behind the wheel.
I explained, “The garage I use is about four miles west and a mile south on County 356. You lead off. Watch for the turn. I’ll follow with my blinkers on in case someone comes along. Take it slow and easy and don’t tromp the gas. If she starts to act up again, pull over and we’ll figure out the next move. At the garage, we’ll drop off your keys and then I’ll take you home. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said, and smiled with returning confidence.
She turned the key. The engine ground for a second, then caught. Running a little rough at first, the big V-8 smoothed out. I patted Elena’s shoulder and motioned her to move out. As she switched on her lights and pulled onto the empty country road, I ran back to my truck and followed her, the caution blinkers clicking in the cockpit as we went. We arrived at Gus’s Garage without meeting another car.
The place was deserted, which didn’t surprise me on a Saturday evening. Elena stopped in front of the service bays. I stopped alongside her.
“Bring her on around the back and park next to the building,” I shouted over the idling engines. Elena nodded, and moved ahead and around the side of the building. She parked in an open slot and I pulled up behind her, shutting off the engine and rummaging for an envelope and notepad as she rolled up the windows and put up the top.
I wrote a note saying what had happened and instructed Gus to flush the cooling system, replace the coolant hoses, install a new thermostat and bill the work to me. Finished locking up the Caddy, Elena walked to where I sat on the truck’s step in the light from the cab. She had already taken the car keys off her key ring. I held out the envelope to her and she dropped them in. I added the note and sealed it. When I closed the door, the only light was the starlight twinkling down on us. Elena was a lighter shade of dark in the stygian gloom to my unadjusted eyes.