Welcome back, Brad Ferguson, with Part Two of "That Damn Hot Rod." Thanks for visiting the Window!
One Saturday morning around a quarter after eight, Frank and JD pulled up
and tooted the horn. He didn't really have to honk the horn―I had heard him way
before he got here! Pete said, "See ya later, Dad."
I saw them loading the lawnmower and hedge
clippers in the back of Frank's pickup and Frank drove off with Pete right
behind him. I figured Pete had two or three yard jobs that day and needed the
help. I also wondered if JD was gonna be worth anything helping them. Ya see,
earlier that summer, JD was caught egging cars and stealing hubcaps. He spent a
month in the State Juvenile Detention Center. I did notice that JD was now
wearing a regular shirt, his hair was cut off and in a flattop, and he was not
wearing sunglasses. Maybe he learned his lesson and had straightened up. Time
would tell.
I needed to go to the hardware
store around 10:30 that morning to pick up a couple things. I got the wagon out
and was heading down South Maple Street. I look up ahead and there was Pete's
coupe and Frank's pickup parked right in front of old man Zimmermann's place.
The Mansion is what I called it.
Now old man Zimmermann―that's a
story to itself! He had started up the Ford dealership in the city around 1930.
Called it Zimmermann Ford. He had built up the business through the years and
it was now the second largest Ford dealership in the state. A real
accomplishment there. But failing health and a gimpy leg had made him retire
earlier than he would have liked to, so he handed down the dealership to his
son Bob a couple years back. Some guys have all the luck.
Old man Zimmermann was kinda
eccentric―the only car he owned was a black 1934 Ford Crown Victoria. He could
have afforded a brand new top-of-the-line vehicle every year if he had wanted
to―he had the money―but he kept the '34 and it was always clean and ran like a
top.
About a year or so back, word had it
that he and his son had gotten into a heated argument about the way Bob was
making changes at the dealership. It resulted in a falling-out between them and
they hadn't spoken to each other since. But old man Zimmermann was still aware
of the goings-on at the dealership because of Howard. Howard Tomlinson was the chief
mechanic there and had been hired by the old man on day one when the dealership
opened. They were old buddies, and Howard would come over to the house and give
him the poop as to what was going on down at the dealership. You could
sometimes see them on a Sunday afternoon playing checkers on the front porch.
So, anyhow, old man Zimmermann had
become pretty withdrawn after the falling-out with his son. He had let his
beard grow and his hair was mostly unkempt. He stayed at the Mansion most of
the time and let the yard go. It used to be well-manicured but now the bushes
were overgrown, weeds were knee high, and the grass was nearly a foot
tall. He had become sort of a recluse.
Talk was that the neighbors in that ritzy neighborhood were pissed off about
the unsightliness, but do you think they would lend him a hand to clean it all
up? Nope. The self-centered rich bastards just bitched about their property value going down.
I was nearing the Mansion and
I saw old man Zimmermann out on the front porch leaning on his fancy cane. And
there in the yard were Pete and Frank and JD trimming the bushes and pulling
the weeds. I blew the horn as I drove by, stuck my arm out the window, and
waved to the boys. I figured this was a good gig for them. They ought to get
paid pretty handsomely for this big job.
Pete and Frank pulled up to the
house around dusk that evening and they took the lawn mower and hedge clippers
out of the pickup and Frank and JD left. Pete put the lawnmower and clippers up
in the garage and came drag-assin' into the house. I said, "Well, did ya
get the place all cleaned up?"
Pete said, "Yep, it
looks really good. I'm tired."
I said,"Did the old man pay you boys well?"
Pete said, "Well,
Dad, he needed the help, so we just volunteered and done it for free."
I clinched down hard
on my teeth to keep from blurting out what I was thinking as my blood pressure
was rising.
Pete continued, "Ya know,
Dad, it turns out that old man Zimmermann is pretty cool. When we were about
done with his yard, he hobbled out to my hot rod and we started talking about
cars and mechanics. Ya know, he really knows a lot about cars and
engines."
I said, "Well, he
oughta. He was in the car business for nearly 30 years."
Pete said, "His wife
was real nice too. She made sandwiches and lemonade for us."
Pete said that the old man knew
right away that the flathead wasn't the original engine and had started asking
questions about what he had done mechanically to it. "I told
him about how I rebuilt the engine at the machine shop and installed it and
about the new clutch and new brakes. When I told him that I had taken two years
of Auto Mechanics and Repair at Southside, he told me that Zimmermann Ford had
brought Mr Yoemans up to speed before he started teaching the classes at school."
Pete went on, " He kept asking me about really
technical things, Dad, like bearing clearances, valve lash, and ignition timing
and stuff. I knew all the answers but it was almost like he was testing me or
something."
Pete continued, "Dad, all
those questions…it felt kinda weird, so I changed the subject to his 1934 Crown
Victoria. He called it his 'baby' and told me to go to the garage and take a
look if I wanted. So while Frank and JD finished up on the yard, I went to the
garage and, Dad, you wouldn't believe it…that car has only 21,000 miles on it
and it looks brand new. I told old man Zimmermann that I loved it and it was
really impressive."
Pete said,"Then he asked
me what my name was and when I told him, he just said 'Peter, eh? Good name'
and turned around and went back into the house. That was kinda weird.”
I chuckled a little and told
Pete not to be so hard on the old-timer; one of these days he would understand. Pete said,
"I gotta take a shower and eat something. I'm starved".
I couldn't sleep too well that
night, wondering how the Mansion looked now. You know how it is sometimes; you
start thinking about something and ya can't get it out of your head and you
just lay there in bed thinking.
I got up early Sunday
morning, jumped in the wagon, and headed down South Maple. I couldn't believe
my eyes when I saw the place. It was a total transformation...front yard looked
great…even had blooming flowers planted. The boys had brought the Mansion back
to its old glory.
It was three days later when Pete, and
Mamma and I were sitting at the kitchen table and the phone rang. Pete got up
and answered it. "Hello?...Yes…yes, sir, that's me....yes. Yes, sir, I'll
be right there.” He hung up the phone, ran out the back door, jumped in his hot
rod, and was gone before I even had a half a chance to ask him who it was.
I turned to the wife and
said disgustedly, "Probably someone selling him some more damn hot rod
parts."
Mamma just shook her head and said, "Now, John.”
Later that afternoon, Chickie was
at the house. She and Mamma were in the kitchen while I was in the TV room
trying to get the rabbit ears adjusted so I could watch Beat the Clock. Pete came home and came running into the house yelling,
"DAD! DAD!"
I asked what all the
excitement was about. With his arm tightly around Chickie, he said, "
Guess what, guys. I got a new job...a full-time job. They hired me as a mechanic
down at Zimmermann Ford. I can't believe it!”
I shook his hand and
give him a big hug and congratulated him. Mamma joined in on the hug and gave him
a kiss and said, "We're proud of you, son.” There we were, all four of us
in a big group hug.
I ask him when he started work
and he said, "Tomorrow morning. Howard, the chief mechanic, interviewed me
and then took me for a tour of the shop and I met some of the mechanics
there... boy, the shop is big... and they have all the modern equipment too.
Then we went into the office and I met Bob Zimmermann and then Bob... I mean Mr.
Zimmermann, asked me to go with him for lunch... well... actually, I took him.”
Pete was so excited and was talking a million miles an hour, but I managed
to get a word in edgewise. "Wait a minute. You took him to
lunch?"
Pete said that as
they were walking outside Bob said that his father and him were talking again
and his dad had told him all about Pete and the hot rod. Pete said,"Well,
then, Mr. Zimmermann said he was so impressed that he just had to take a ride
in it.”
I asked,"
Well....did he like it?"
Pete replied, "Dad,
he had a smile on his face and was acting like a kid all the way!"
Just then Frank pulled up and Pete
said, " Come on, Chickie. I gotta go tell Frank.” Chickie and Pete ran outside
hand-in-hand.
The wife and I walked over
to the kitchen window and with my arm around her we stood there watching the
three of them. A million thoughts were running through my head, one of which
was me being so foolish all these years to be wanting my son to be something he
wasn't. He had known all along what his passion was. I leaned over and rested
my head on Mamma's head and said, "I think our little boy is turning into
a man.” As I watched Pete and Chickie and Frank celebrate, my eyes drifted over
to the '32 coupe and a smile crept onto my face and my eyes become a little
misty. That "damn hot rod”... today it was quite a pretty sight.
