Artemis wipes the sweat beading on her forehead as she puts the final touches on the bicycle she was working on. The weather was changing from summer to fall, but it was still hot humid outside. She had the garage door opened and one of the big floor fans from her mother’s garage blowing air into the garage.

She was still feeling hot and sweaty, even with the fan blowing on her. She had on a pair of cut-off jeans that her aunt Stacy had gotten her from the thrift store they liked going to. She was also wearing a muscle tee that said I hate working out on it in pink letters. She didn’t bother putting on a bra because of how hot it was.

She’s been buying bicycles cheap from thrift stores, yard sales, junkyards, and other places to refurbish and resell them. Her mother had given her the idea since she could get the bicycles cheap. A friend of hers created a webpage for her to display the bicycles she had for sale and to advertise that she fixes them as well.

She was busy working on a tricycle for the jones from down the street. They wanted her to do a complete overhaul of it because they wanted to give it to their daughter as a gift. The overhaul meant including repainting it and replacing all bearing and the seat. They had picked out a nice seat to replace the old one.

While she is working in the garage, Brandon and one of his friends pull into the driveway. They had a third bicycle between them that had a flat tire.

“What’s the problem guys?” Artemis puts her wrench down and walks out of the garage.

“Hey Artemis, could you fix the front tire on here for my brother, please?” Brandon pulls the bicycle forward for Artemis to look at it.

Artemis grabs the handles on the bicycle and turns it upside down to look at the tire. The rubber on the tire looked like it needs replacing and aligned when she spins the tire. Some of the spokes look like they needed to be replaced.

She looks at Brandon “I have a brand new one in stock that I can let you have for thirty bucks. This one looks like it could use some work.”

“How much would it cost to fix that, today?” Brandon didn’t know if his brother would repay him for a new tire.

“It will cost you forty for me to fix this one and I would have to go and get the rubber. I don’t have any tires on hand that isn’t mounted already.” Artemis has most of the tires she bought mounted on the rims she redid.

“Thirty for one you have already or forty for one that you’ll have to go and buy rubber for?” Brando looked at the way Artemis was dressed. She looked cute in what she was wearing.

“Let me see the one for thirty dollars.” Brandon wanted to see what Artemis looked like from behind.

Artemis turns around and walks to the back corner of the garage. Her mother said she could use half of the garage for her bicycle business. She reaches up to the wheel hanging down and unhooks it. She turns back around and notices both boys watching her. A smile appears on her face as she walks towards them.

“Here you go.” Artemis hands it to Brandon to inspect.

Brandon looks over the front tire. He liked that it was already put together and balanced. He looks back up at Artemis “okay. Is there another charge for installing it?”

Artemis just smirks “no, that’s included in the purchase.”

“Okay, I’ll take it.” Brandon digs into his pants pocket for the money.

“Hey Artemis, do you have any sodas for sell?” Terrance noticed Artemis had a can of soda sitting on her workbench.

“Yep, I have Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Due, Sprite, 7up, and a few others.”

“How much are they?”

“Fifty cents, each.”

“Let me get two Pepsi’s please.” Terrance pulls out a dollar bill.

Artemis walks over to an old coke cola cooler and pulls out two cold Pepsi’s. She liked the cooler. Her mother had a client that restored old drink machines.

“Here you go, Terrance.” Artemis hands the sodas to him, after accepting the money.

“Thanks.”

“Hey, here’s the money for the wheel.” Brandon hands Artemis thirty dollars.

“Thanks. Let me write you a receipt.” Artemis pulls her receipt book out and writes him one.

She marks down on a separate sheet the sodas she sold. She tears a receipt out and hands it to Brandon.

“If there are any problems, just bring it back to me.” Artemis grabs her wrench and takes the old rim and tire off and replaces them with the new one. She double checks everything to make sure it was like she advertise.

“It looks good, Artemis.” Brandon saw how well it spun on the bicycle.

“Thanks.” Artemis flips the bicycle back up and takes it out of the garage for the guys.

Brandon pops open his soda after Terrance gives it to him. He takes a sip and loved how it felt going down his throat.

“Careful, or you’re going to end up buying another one.” Artemis watches both boys enjoying their drinks.

“For fifty cents a can, it’s worth it.” Terrance could drink another one.

“Do you have a recycling bin for the cans?” Brandon was done with his soda.

“Yeah, just give it to me.” Artemis holds her hand out for the can.

Brandon's hand sits over to Artemis “here you go.”

“Thanks.” Artemis accepts it.

She puts it in the can crush hanging from her workbench and crushes it. Afterward, she puts it in the bin near her bench. She already had a decent collection of cans.

“Here you go, Artemis.” Terrance hands Artemis his can as well.

“Thanks, fellows.” Artemis accepts it and does the same thing to it she did to Brandon.

“Well, see you later, and thanks.” Brandon turns around to lead the way with his brother’s bicycle.

Artemis watches as the boys ride off. She waits a few minutes, before getting back to work on the tricycle breaking it down and labeling the
parts. She makes a list of everything she was going to need to rebuild it.

Once all the parts are labeled and put in plastic containers to go to get sandblasted and painted. She sets that aside to put in her mothers’ truck, later when she comes back from her shop. Her mother normally didn’t work on Sunday, but she had a client that needed their car first thing Monday morning.

Her aunt Stacy was at work as well. One of the ladies she works with called in sick. So, she had to go in and cover the shift. Artemis goes about working on another bicycle that only needs a few things done to it. It was a tune and lube job. She works on that bicycle for an hour and a half.

When she is done with that one, she promised her mother she would cut the lawn. So, she grabs the lawn motor and checks the gas level and oil level, before she starts on that. She puts her headphones on and her favorite basketball cap.

She starts the lawnmower up and starts cutting the lawn. It takes her thirty minutes to down the front yard, the sides, and the backyard. By the time she was done, she wanted to just go inside the house and cool off. She wishes it wasn’t so humid out. She brushes the lawnmower off and puts it back into the shed.

Since she was done for the day. She closes the garage door and grabs the money bag and receipt book, so she can see how much she made these past few days. Her mother was teaching her how to keep her books.

She walks inside the house and up to her bedroom. She strips out of her clothes and stands in the middle of her bedroom, enjoying the A/C on her bare skin. She still can’t believe she was a real girl. She walks across the hallway to the bathroom and takes a nice cold shower.

Once Artemis is done with her shower and dressed in her favorite lounge around the house shirt and baggy shorts. She fixes herself some lunch and watches a movie curled up on the living room sofa until her mother and aunt come home.