Click! The lights to an old but well organized garage flickered on, revealing a large open workspace. While the garage itself looked a little old and dingy, it was still well maintained and well kept, with workbenches kept clean, tools well organized in different bins on the shelves above. The concrete floor was dirty with the years worth of oil leaks and grease stains, and while the garage itself had room for only three cars, only one space was occupied by a old pickup truck on a raised platform. The flourescent lights flickered on and hummed, and with another
Click!, the stylized neon sign hung on the back wall reading
Grant's Garage hummed to life. An old African-American man stood proudly, despite his slightly stout figure, looking upon his livelihood with pride. He adjusted his glasses as he looked upon the garage floor, and sighed. Just another day at the office.
Lionel Grant, wearing the grease-stained longsleeve underneath his jean overalls, stepped away from the garage and into his office, where he kept track of business. His overalls sported a toolbelt, as well as a patch spelling out his first name in cursive. Sorting through papers, invoices and statements, he put them all in their seperate binders before putting said binders away in a neatly organized shelf. His office walls, while being made of the same concrete that the garage was made from, was littered with photos and momentos of his friends, family and the vehicles he fixed. It wasn't time to open yet, but the hour was about to come soon. Booting up a dinosaur of his personal computer, he turned to the security camera system, waiting for a particular car to show up in the back lot. By the time the Windows XP splash screen loaded onto his CRT monitor, the car he was all too familiar with parked in the back. He smiled once he got a good look at the
Red Devil, a project he's worked on with his granddaughter since he got custody of her. Knowing full well that she's got the keys to the back, he simply went back to work on his computer.
After a few minutes of getting everything sorted out from the day, a familiar voice spoke to Lionel.
"Hey gramps. Anything new today?"
Lionel looked up from the CRT screen, seeing his granddaughter in her work outfit. The black woman dressed herself simply in her filthy work jeans, boots and gloves, complete with the branded Grant's Garage T-shirt, with her first name branded on her chest. The cambion stood lazily in front of Lionel's desk, her hair pulled back in a ponytail making her small horns clearly visible on her forehead. Nothing special today, just another day at the office for her too.
"Nah, the answerin' machine had nothin' when I got here." Lionel said, his speech a little slow, age in his voice. "Would you mind getting everythin' set up for today?"
Andrea nods with a soft smile. "Sure thing." She turns to walk out the office, before stopping. "Oh, uh... nana wants you to bring back some of the records from February, for the tax forms. Not right now, but when we close up."
"Right, right." Lionel nodded, getting the according binder from the bookshelf. "Once you're done, feel free to play around on your uh... phone until someone shows up." Lionel said, doing some more work on the computer.
Andrea nodded before looking into the garage. She saw the pickup truck on the raised platform before turning back to Lionel. "Did the parts for the F-150 arrive yet?"
Lionel shook his head. "FedEx says the delivery won' be for another three days. You shouldn't worry about it anyway." He brushed it off with a nonchalant gesture. "I'll be with you in five minutes. Just let me finish these forms real quick, alright?"
Andrea nodded again. "Alright papa." The cambion went straight to work. Getting the workstation ready, pulling out all of the necessary tools, getting some of the tools powered up and turning on the sign to let the public know that they were open for business, Andrea had that all done in short order. And all she had to do was wait for the work to come in, so she did what she did best, which was to sit down on a folding chair, and play games on phone.
Ten minutes later
Lionel just finished up his forms, and one he closed up the windows, he gave the security cameras one last check before heading into the garage. He blinked.
What in the world kind of car is that? He thought to himself once he got a nice look at the brand spankin' new Range Rover. It looked sleek, and rather expensive too. Who drove that kind of car around here? He'd be the first to know if someone got a car like that... must be an out-of-towner, or one of those uppity rich folk from Madison Heights. They don't come around here often these days. Lionel blinked, adjusting his glasses to get a good look at the car, and the woman who drove it. She seemed to be looking for the entrance at a slow pace, definitely someone unfamiliar with the area. May as well give her a warm welcome.
Lionel stepped out from the office into the garage. "Look alive, child. We got ourselves a customer. You ain't gonna believe what they brought here." Lionel called out to Andrea.
Andrea blinked before standing up, putting her phone away. "O-kay..." Her fiery eyes looked towards the closed garage doors, wondering what will be coming through them once Lionel gave her the all-clear.
Lionel stepped from the garage into the checkout room, where a computer and several chairs were placed for people who waited on their vehicles in their first or final stages. The checkout room led to the front door, with the LED
OPEN! sign lit up in the adjacent window. Lionel opened the front door and walked out onto the pavement, getting a better look at Ratte and her Range Rover.
"My my. What do we have here?" Lionel gave Ratte a warm smile. "Hello there, ma'am. I'm Lionel Grant of Grant's Garage. How may I be of service on this fine mornin'?"
Mixtape Ghost N
