Once Clair’s car arrives at the garage, Raven gets to work on it. She has the old water pump out and sitting on her work cart. The new one hasn’t arrived yet, so she goes to the back storage room and starts looking for the belt and hoses. She knew they had them in stock because she just did the weekly stock order.

After looking around some more, she finally finds them. She grabs some new hose clamps and heads back to Clair’s car. She wonders how the investigation into the prison was going. The last she heard from Carol was that the law firm she worked for was going to investigate them.

As far as she was concerned, the place needed to be closed. Maybe some of the guards and prisoners that violated her should experience what it meant to have your world turned upside down. They should see what life was like to be here now. She never wanted to be a girl. She just wanted to help her family out.

Raven heads back to Clair’s car with the other parts and waits for the parts she ordered to arrive. While she is waiting, she begins working on another car. It was a simple tune-up and they had everything in stock. She works on that car and by the time she has that one done. The water pump had arrived.

The reason it took so long for the pump to arrive. The auto part store she ordered it from, had to pick it up from another store of theirs. Their computer inventory said they had the pump in stock, but it was wrong.

Once the pump arrived, she puts everything back together and bleeds the system of any air pockets that might have formed in the engine water lines. Around 1:30 pm. Raven starts cleaning up and changing clothes. She drives Clair’s car down to the library to pick Clair up from work.

Clair was just finishing put a stack of books back on the shelf, when she spots her car pulling into the parking lot, through a nearby window. She glances at the huge clock on the far wall and saw what time it was. It was a quarter till, two o’clock.

“Edna, I’m taking lunch.” Clair walks over to the checkout desk and parks the book cart.

“Okay, I’ll see you in an hour.” Edna helps a ten-year-old girl with a few books she was looking for.

Clair grabs her purse and heads out to the parking lot. She spots Raven standing by her car.

“It’s fixed and purring like a kitten. I gave it a little tune-up.” Raven hadn’t done much, except check the plugs and wires.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Raven gets in on the passenger side, while Clair gets in on the driver side.

Raven watches as Clair backs up and drives out of the parking lot. She wonders where Clair was taking them.

“We’re you busy down at the garage this morning?” Clair didn’t like the silence between them.

“A little bit. We had several tune-ups and inspections we had to do. How about you? We’re you busy?” Raven glances towards Clair.

“Not really. I had some returned books I had to shelve, but nothing important. Most people use the internet nowadays to find their favorite
books online to either buy e-copies of them or rent them.”

“That has to suck for you.” Raven enjoyed holding a book in her hand and reading it.

“Sometimes, they still come to us and ask us how to use their devices. Now a day’s kids are brought up with so much electronics at their
fingertips, that they are losing their basic skills. Most kids don’t know how to write in cursive writing anymore. They just print their name or put an X as their signature.” Clair wonders what the next generation is going to be like.

“Most things are leaning more towards technology. Companies want bigger profits and if technology can give it to them than they will be
heading down that route. It will hurt the next couple of generations, but what can you do? Even automotive work is getting to be more of a guessing game than art like it use to be. Most modern cars are computer chip driven and if something is wrong with it, the repair will be expensive to track down what caused it to go.” Raven hated working on most modern cars.

Clair pulls into the parking lot at an old burger joint that had gone out of business in the ’70s and was now being brought back to life. It had some modern convenience but still had an old style feel to it.

“I hope you like old fashion hamburgers and onion rings. This place makes the best and the atmosphere inside takes you back in time.” Clair leads the way to the restaurant.

Raven follows and watching how Clair walked. She noticed that there was a little extra wiggle to her walk. She wonders if Clair was flirting with her.

When they walk inside the restaurant, Raven couldn’t believe how it looked. It had old black and white checker floor tiles. Several old music jukeboxes and the tables and chair looked like they were from the ’50s or ’60s. Even the waitresses on duty were wearing uniforms that looked like they came from the ’60s.

Clair leads them over to a booth. It had a mini jukebox mounted on the wall at the end of the table. After a few minutes, a young black-haired woman comes over.

“What can I get for you today?” Dolores passes out the menus and took her pad out to take their order.

“I would like a cherry coke, please.” Clair was looking at the menu.

“Sweet tea, for me please.” Raven wasn’t much of a soda drinker.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” Dolores walks off to give them time to figure out what they wanted.

“I think I’m going to try their old fashion steak sandwich with their home-made onion rings. What do you see that you like?” Clair looks over towards Raven.

Raven had been looking over the menu carefully for something that piqued her interest. Her eyes kept going back to the spaghetti with homemade meatballs.

“I’m going to have the spaghetti with homemade meatballs.” Raven closes his menu and places it on the table.

Dolores comes back to their table their drinks. She places them down on the table.

“Have you decided what you would like?” As she takes her pad and pen out of her pocket.

“I’ll have the steak sandwich with your freshly made onion rings.”

Dolores picks up her menu. She looks towards Raven “what would you like ma’am?”

“I’ll have the spaghetti with your homemade meatballs and garlic toast.” Raven hands her menu to Dolores.

Dolores collects the menu’s and walks off with them.

“So, how much do I owe you for the repairs?” Clair was going to do to go by the bank after lunch.

“Two hundred, like I quoted you.”

“You don’t mind if we stop at the bank after lunch, do you?”

“No problem.” Raven doesn’t mind.

“What don’t you tell me a little about yourself, Raven. Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?” Clair was watching Raven’s facial expression.

“Neither, I really haven’t been looking for anyone.” Raven takes a sip of her tea.

“There’s an event coming up that I have been invited too. I am wondering if maybe you would like to come and be my plus 1.” Clair figures she could find out which way Raven leaned.

Raven had to think about it. Mrs. Mercer suggested she should get out more and be more social.

“When is it?”

“Next weekend at the park. You won’t have to bring anything.” Clair figures the Pride In The Park event would be a good experience for Raven.

“I don’t have anything planned for next weekend. So, sure I wouldn’t mind going with you. What time?”

“Let’s say at ten o’clock. You can meet me at my place and we can walk from my place.”

“Okay.”

Dolores brings them their meal. After she leaves, they start eating and make small talk about the place and the food.