Josh pulled into Earl’s Texaco, saw Big Earl saunter out the front door, and wished to hell that he’d gone to a different gas station. The thought of having to deal with Big Earl hadn’t even crossed his mind. The problem was that Big Earl—even though he was the proprietor of Earl’s Texaco—liked serving the customers himself whenever he could and he loved to talk. Which was to say he’d stand there running his mouth long after the number dials had stopped rolling and your tank had been filled, the motor in his mouth going and going and going.
All Josh wanted to do was gas-n-go. He didn’t feel like hearing about Big Earl’s latest failed adventures ice fishing, or his pathetic attempts to snag Susan Potter for a date—the guy was the same age as Josh’s old man, you’d think he’d’ve hooked up with somebody by now!—or how he, in his younger days, would tear this city up, cruisin’ through the center in his Chevy, picking up chicks. Who the hell cared how tight Big Earl and the old man were, or what Big Earl once did in the glorious days of his youth.
And that, right there, was what really made Josh curse himself for not thinking far enough ahead and gassing up somewhere else. Earl knew Josh’s father. Best of friends. Big Earl liked to talk, and it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for him to call Josh’s father at the college to inform him that his son and former girlfriend were cruising around in The Beast on a snowy day. Snow was indeed falling, but it wasn’t anything Josh and The Beast couldn’t handle.
Josh turned toward Abby. She hadn’t said word one since he’d picked her up, even when he pulled into McDonald’s to get breakfast. She had sat there, stone-cold silent, not even casting a glance at Josh. So he had gone into the golden arches by himself, ordered a couple egg sandwiches and OJs, thinking he was doing a good thing getting breakfast, figuring they’d need food in their stomachs if they planned on driving straight through all the way to Albany. All he got when he returned with breakfast in hand was a grunt and a nod. It was odd, because when he picked her up, she at first seemed kind of excited. A bit jittery, but in a good way, like a kid going on the roller coaster for the first time. Happy to be finally doing it, but just a little bit skittish at the prospect of what could happen. It hadn’t taken long for Abby’s excitement to turn to—Josh glanced at her—to this. Whatever this was.
Josh considered driving past the pumps and on to a different filling station, thinking maybe Big Earl hadn’t recognized him. Big Earl motioned for Josh to pull in next to the pump that he was leaning against. Great. So much for that thought. He’d been made. Just friggin’ great.
Josh pulled up to the indicated pump and looked across the seat at Abby and asked her if she was all right. Judging from her response of “just fine,” she was not. He shut off the engine, opened his window, and turned to see a big face inches from his. It wasn’t fat, and it didn’t have a bulbous nose or anything like that, it was just big. Like everything else about Big Earl.
“Mr. Schofield.” And here came that fake reverent tone Big Earl liked to use with Josh, whether due to his friendship with his father or out of plain old obnoxiousness. Big Earl wiped his hands on a greasy rag hanging out of his pants pocket. “What can I do ya for?”
That was another reason Josh wished he hadn’t stopped here. How many times did he have to hear the ‘What can I do ya for?’ talk. Who the hell talked like that? Big Earl said it every time, annoying the hell out of Josh every time. Couldn’t he talk normal instead of pretending to be…what, cool or something? ‘What can I do ya for?’ Give it a rest already.
“Fill it up, Big Earl. Regular.” Josh felt silly using the Big in front of the Earl, but that was the only acceptable way to address Big Earl Tomkins. And Josh had never been, nor ever would be, in any mood to push the envelope on that subject. You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, spit into the wind, pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you certainly don’t mess around with Big Earl, whether or not he was your father’s best friend (which, in point of fact, might be even further reason to not mess around with Big Earl). You just didn’t do it.
Before Josh could roll up the window, it started. “Hear there’s a storm headin’ our way.” Earl twisted off the gas cap and stuck the nozzle into the filler pipe. He wedged the gas cap into the nozzle handle and came back to Josh.
Josh looked out the windshield at the falling flakes and wondered how the guy could be so smart. Nothing to do now except go along with it. “How much we supposed to get?” Josh looked at Big Earl, without really looking at him.
Big Earl raised his cap and looked to the sky, squinting his eyes. “This one’s fixin’ to be a biggie.”
According to Big Earl, every storm was always “’fixin’ to be a biggie.” Although the man was frequently wrong on such meteorological matters, that didn’t stop him from continuing his prognosticating.
“Hope not.” Josh didn’t know what else to say.
Big Earl gave The Beast a once over like he was mentally undressing a good-looking woman walking toward him on the street. He leaned into the open window and nodded at Abby who only continued looking straight out the windshield. “Yup. Seein’ how you’re drivin’ this here fancy set of wheels, and I know your father ain’t exactly in favor of you sittin’ behind this wheel”—he patted the steering wheel with one of his claws—“especially in winter, and especially with a storm on the way.” Big Earl stared at Josh without a hint of a smile.
Josh focused on the steering wheel, cleared his throat, and smiled as he looked up at Big Earl. “Yeah, well, I’m surprising him today.”
“He’ll be surprised all right when he finds out you took The Beast out of hibernation for a spin in the snow. They call off school? Didn’t hear any cancellations on the radio.”
Josh looked back at the pump. Only half filled. “Winter vacation this week.” Josh didn’t offer anything more, hoping Big Earl would drop it.
“Ah.” Big Earl scratched his head. He adjusted his cap and leaned harder against the driver’s door.
Josh cleared his throat again. “I’m taking Dad out today. Just a…you know, father and son thing. We haven’t exactly been seeing eye-to-eye lately, so I figured I’d take him out to eat, talk things out.”
“Takin’ him to lunch?”
“Yeah.”
Earl straightened up and looked at his watch. “Kinda early for lunch, don’t you think?”
Josh swore to himself. This guy is unbelievable. “I wanted to gas up first, then check in with my work and see if they needed me early today.”
Big Earl looked across Josh, at Abby. “She surprisin’ your father too?”
Josh felt the blood rush to his face. Or was it draining? Whatever the blood in his face was doing, he felt it and he was sure Big Earl could see the effects of it. He looked back at the pump. The guy had to have the slowest pumps in the world. He looked at Big Earl. “Abby? No. I’m just…I’m just bringing her to…to the church.” Yeah, there you go. Good recovery. You’re back on track. “Her father had to go in early today, and she got bored at home, so she’s going there to do paperwork and stuff. So…um, yeah…that’s why she’s—”
Big Earl planted a bear claw on Josh’s shoulder and squeezed. “Calm down, Mr. Schofield, calm down, before you give yourself a full-on myocardial infarction.” (One good thing to say about school, Josh actually knew what ‘myocardial infarction’ meant, though he was more than a bit surprised to hear Big Earl use it in a sentence.) The hint of a grin morphed into a smirk on Big Earl’s face that conveyed the message, Jig’s up, Josh my man. Can’t pull a fast one on Big Earl.
Josh was about to answer the unspoken accusation, but Big Earl beat him to it. “I can smell a lie a mile away.” Big Earl’s grin-turned-smirk took on the full glow of a morning sunrise that thought it was surprising the world with its brightness, but was, in essence, only fooling itself. “I know exactly what’s going on.” Big Earl winked, and Josh knew—he didn’t know how he knew, just that he knew—he had nothing to worry about. “Sure, you’re bringing your dad to lunch, but you figured you’d take The Beast out for a little spin beforehand. Probably thought it’d be fun driving in the snow, maybe go to one of the vacant lots at the industrial park and spin out a few donuts, have some fun.” Big Earl grinned, nodded at Abby, and with a raised eyebrow which made his cap rise, said again, “Have some fun.”
Josh didn’t know if he should be embarrassed or angry by the implication. He thought for a moment, then held his hands up in surrender, and went with his gut that told him not to correct Big Earl’s assumption. “Big Earl, you got me dead to rights, man. Dead to rights. Why did I even try hiding it from you?” Josh looked back at the pump. Finally. “Oh, hey.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Looks like it’s all filled.”
“No need to be so nervous, son. I know how it is.” Earl jerked the nozzle from out of The Beast’s hindquarters and hung it back on the pump. He screwed the gas cap onto the filler neck and wiped his hands on the greasy rag. He leaned in close to Josh and lowered his voice. “Thing is, you forget I was young once and used to create some fun of my own.” Big Earl elbowed Josh in the shoulder. “If you know what I mean.” He glanced at Abby, then pulled away from the window. This time he planted both of his bear claws on the window sill and spoke in his normal volume. “Just be careful. Hear me? Don’t do anything stupid, like getting yourself pulled over or wrapping this beauty around a tree.” He slapped the door on the word ‘beauty,’ causing Josh to jump in his seat. Abby didn’t move. “Hear me?”
“Yeah, I hear you. Loud and clear.” Josh fished his wallet out of his back pocket. “Here.” He forked over a ten-spot and a fiver. “Keep the change.” He looked up at Big Earl. “Thanks for not saying anything to the old m—, to my father.” He was tempted to wink, but instead tapped into the same will power—seemed like he had an abundance of that this morning—that had prevented him from clicking his heels earlier.
Big Earl nodded and stepped back. Josh turned the key, thankful to feel The Beast’s engine rumbling again, and pulled away from the pump. He exited the lot and glanced at the rearview mirror.
Big Earl stood next to the pump and shook his head as The Beast pulled away.