Charlene shivers as she walks into the empty garage with a coffee cup in her hands. The old garage seemed so alone at times, without her father here to run it. She turns the lights and air on and goes about opening for business. She had one car due to go out this morning and was waiting on parts for the other one. She walks into the office and puts her lunch in the dorm room refrigerator in the office and sits down and listens to the messages on the answering machine. There were at least ten messages. Two of them were free to come back. She had told the owners that the parts they had used were going to break down after a while or that the car wasn’t worth saving. She gets their address out of her outbox and calls the company that did the tow work for her to bring the cars in.

Charlene leans back in her chair and sips her coffee and stares out the office window like her father used to do. Tears slide down her cheek as she thinks about him. He has been dead a year now and the pain still hurt. She missed her father a lot. He was her best friend and her strength.
He had been killed by a driver that hadn’t seen him helping an old woman along the side of the road. Her father had stopped to help the woman and had just finished tightening the lug nuts on the wheel he changed. When a truck driver texting on his cell phone, hit her father. The truck struck him and killed her father instantly.

She had been at school that day when she was informed about her father’s death. She was only fifteen and wouldn’t have her father to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day or see her children when they were born. He was all she had left right now. Her Uncle was over in
Afghanistan serving over there for the government. Her Aunt lived out in California and had four children of her own. Her mother had abandoned her father and her, when she was just six years old. She had run away with a younger guy. So her father had raised her all alone. The only thing she had left of him now was the house and the garage. She would always come home and help him after school and on the weekends, except Sunday. They would go to church and then out to eat at her favorite diner.

When he died, she had inherited the house and the garage. She had dropped out of school to run the garage and keep it going. She had four people depending on her and she wasn’t about to lose the garage or the people working for her. One of the other mechanics that knew her father had offered to buy the shop from her, but she couldn’t sell the shop. It was her father’s and she needed to keep it running for him. He had built this shop with his sweat and blood before she was even born.

She knew her shop foreman Henry would be coming in soon. He and her father had been best friends since high school and worked well together. He and his family had been there for her when her father had been killed. She knew her father wanted to make him a partner in the garage. She had waited till her father’s funeral had been over with and all her father’s accounts were paid up to date from his life insurance before she had her father’s lawyer draw the paperwork up to make Henry a partner. She was going to follow her father’s wish. She takes a sip of her coffee and closes her eyes. It was a good thing she knew how to work on cars. Otherwise, she would have to depend on her workers to keep the shop open.

Most of the girls at school already thought she was weird because she would rather be covered in grease and under the hood of a car than be wearing make-up and fashion label clothes. She either brought her clothes off the rack at a thrift store or someplace like Wal-Mart, Target, or Kmart. She didn’t go to places like The Gap, JCPenny, or any places like Macy’s and stores that cater to high school and college students. She cared more about practicality than popularity. She takes another sip of her coffee and wipes her eyes to clear away the tears. She turns her computer on and began to answer emails and to see if any of the cars her father put on the web for sale had been sold. Her father would go to car auctions and buy some cars cheaply and then bring them back to work and flip them.

He and Henry were famous for flipping cars. Sometimes when the shop was slow, the flipped cars paid the bills around the garage. The employees were always paid first, and then the people her father owed money to, and finally her father. Her father made less than his entire employee and she was going to continue that trend. She was going to make her pay, the beginners rate her father started all mechanics off at. She busies herself with office work.

“You’re just like your father, you know that Charlene?” Henry comes walking in with two boxes of glazed donuts.

“I’m my father’s daughter.” Charlene watches as Henry sets the boxes of donuts down on the desk.

Henry opens one of the boxes and turns it around for Charlene to take a few.

“Help yourself.” He smiles at her.

“Thanks.” Charlene reaches forward and grabs two donuts and places them on a napkin. She licks her fingers afterward.

“I have something for you, Henry.” Charlene opens the desk drawer that had her purse in it and pulls out the envelope inside. She closes the desk drawer and looks back up at Henry.

“My father wanted to do this before he died but didn’t get a chance to do it. So, I’m honoring my father’s wish.” She hands him the envelope. It had the law firm's address and name on it.

Henry accepts the envelope and opens it up. He pulls out his eyeglasses and starts reading them.

Charlene eats her donuts and drinks her coffee as she watches Henry read the paperwork she had the lawyer draw up.

He looks at her “are you sure about this, Charlene?”

“Yes sir. My father had told me he was going to make you a partner, the day before he died. He even asked me what I thought because he knew I loved the shop and wanted to take it over when I was old enough. However, I knew he hadn’t had a chance to tell you before he died, so I’m honoring his wish and I can’t think of anyone else that deserves it more. You and my father started this shop together and it is only fit that you become a full partner of it. So that you wouldn’t inherit any of my father’s debt, I paid off everyone with dad’s insurance money and told them to add you onto the accounts.” Charlene reaches for her coffee and takes a sip of it.

“Thank you. Have you decided what you are going to do?” Henry sits down at his desk and eats a donut.

“Yes. I’ve dropped out of school and I’m going to stay here and help run the garage. I know my father would want me to stay in school, but I can’t just go to school and leave everything on your shoulders, Henry. Plus, we don’t have enough money coming in to hire someone part-time to work and trained them to run the office or get parts we’re going to need. So, I’m going to do everything my father did and continue in his place. Since some of the contracts will need both of our signatures on them, it would be best if I am here so you don’t need to track me down.” Charlene raises her coffee cup and takes a sip of it.

Henry just shakes his head “You are your father’s daughter.”

“Yep, but you’re not going to like some of the changes dad had been talking about. One of them is Kevin. He thinks he has been stealing parts from some of our customer’s cars and the other cars in the back, without asking. Also, dad discovered some problems with the invoices of some of the part stores we get our supplies from. I looked over the files and discover Kevin has been buying things for other people’s cars under the garage name. He has also been charging them more money than we do and not paying for the parts he gets. So for now on all allowed parts and supplies need to be authorized by me or you with our signature on the work order, along with a P.O. number. Also, Jose has been doing well and dad thought it might be good to give him a raise. He also suggested that Jose might like that dark blue Ford Ranger in the back. He knows the mini-van he has is needed by his wife to take the children back and forth to school and soccer practice. Since Jose has been late twelve times this month, he figures it might be easier on Jose if he has a vehicle of his own. I’ve already made a check out to the garage and deposited it for the full amount you and dad had wanted for the truck to cover what you guys had in it. Dad was going to do the same thing.” Charlene leans back in her seat.

“I knew about the truck. We talked it over, so I agree with you on that. As for Kevin, stealing, I suspected it, but could never prove it. Are we going to keep Kevin on or let him go?” Henry would like to see the smart ass go.

“Right now we need him, but there’s this guy dad heard about from church that needs a job. He doesn’t have any experience working on cars, but dad said he use to work on boats and there’s not much difference between them. Plus, if he works out, we could replace Kevin with him and enter into the boat business. Also, dad was thinking we might want to ask Ralph and Terry if they want to rent out the other side of the building for their motorcycle shop. Dad said that they have been looking for a bigger place. Terry’s home garage is too small for them and it would be a good place for them to set up shop at. They could buy their supplies under our vendors if you agree.” Charlene had glanced at her father’s notes. He always wrote things down.

“The motorcycle shop sounds like a good idea. It would open up more opportunities for us. As for replacing Kevin, I would rather get rid of him now, but you are right we need him, and getting someone to replace him would cost us time. Do you have the name of that guy your father was talking about?” Henry takes another donut.

“Yes, It's Steven Wright and he lives over on White Dove rd.” Charlene writes the number down and hands it to Henry.
Henry takes it and tucks it into his shirt pocket.

“When I go to get the parts for the Volvo, I’ll stop by his place and see if he wants to start today. Are you going to talk with Terry and Ralph, since you know them better than I do?” Henry drinks some of his coffee.

“I can do that as soon as Jose shows up. I want to talk to him unless you do?” Charlene gives him a questionable look.

“You can. I’ll tell him it’s important. That still leaves Kevin.” Henry wouldn’t lose any sleep if he up and left.

“Oh! Don’t worry. I have a special job for him and I’m cutting his hours back. Remember Mr. Redstone and Mr. Jackowiak's cars? We’ll they are coming back in today with the same problem they had before because of the cheap crappy parts they bought from someone. I think they bought them from a chop shop. Put Kevin on their cars and charge them a little extra for having to redo the work a second time. If they make a big fuss about it, tell them it’s the new policy, and if they don’t like it, then their welcome to take their business somewhere else. Dad was getting tired of dealing with them. Also, let Jose train the new guy. He’s good and I think Jose would make a good second for the garage. That way you can relax and spend some time with your family.” Charlene sips her coffee.

“Trying to get rid of me so soon?” He knew Charlene’s father always made him take a vocation.

“Nope, I’m trying to keep this shop running with my father gone and I can’t do that if the one man who’s been like a second father to me gets himself beat up by his wife.” Charlene knew Henry’s wife. She had taught her what it meant to be a woman. Her dad didn’t know what to do when she had her first period and Henry’s wife came over and talked with her. She was the one person to whom she could talk too about female things.

“You’ve been hanging around my wife too much. Alright, I’ll go after we get some of these projects of your father’s going first. I’ll train Jose to run the shop while I’m gone.” Henry takes a sip of his coffee and just looks at Charlene.

They hear the sound of a loud car pulling up outside. Charlene moves the curtain aside to look outside and notices it was another car Kevin was brought to the shop to work on.

Kevin walks in and was surprised to see Charlene sitting at her father’s desk. He had figured Henry was going to be taking things over now. He knew he could pull the wool over Henry’s eyes by lying.

“Good morning everyone” He reaches forward and takes a donut out of the box.

He pours himself a cup of coffee and leans against the counter in the office.

“Henry, I was wondering if I could work on the car I drove this morning before I start any new projects.” Kevin takes a sip of his coffee.

“You better ask Charlene. She’s running the garage.” A smile appears on his face.

“You got to be kidding. She’s just a kid. You’re the shop foreman.” Kevin couldn’t believe Henry was saying Charlene was in charge.

“You’re right, I am the shop foreman, but she’s the owner of the business, which means she’s my boss like she is yours. So I would be more polite to her if you still want a job.” Henry loved this.

Kevin looks at Charlene “I can’t believe I’m going to be working for a teenager.”

Charlene just smiles “well you know what my father uses to say, don’t you? You better believe it. As for working on the car, you drove in, I don’t think that’s going to be possible today. You are scheduled to work on Mr. Redstone and Mr. Jackowiak's cars when they get here. If you want to work on that car you drove this morning, it will be on your own time, not mine. Also, any parts you need to get for that car will be paid for in advance when you order them. Since that is your side business and not mine. Also, any parts or supplies we order for any of the cars we are working on need mine and Henry’s signature on the purchase order and a PO number will be needed from now on.”

“What? How are we going to get your signature if you’re in school?” Kevin wasn’t liking this. This was going to cut into his side business.

“I can do this because I’m the owner. Also, I won’t be in school, I’ll be working right here with you guys at the garage. If any business you bring to the garage isn’t our business, then you’ll be responsible for all costs of the job. The supplies here are strictly for the shop to use in our customer cars and for your personal cars like my father used to do. I’ll also have the new work schedule out by this afternoon before we close up.” Charlene wanted to see if the guy Henry was going to talk to was going to take the job.

“What, now our day off is going to change?” Kevin didn’t like the new rules being put in place.

“Not only the days off but hours as well. Things are starting to slow down and I need to trim back on some hours. You’re the low man on the totem pole, so I’m cutting your hours back by two days a week. You’ll still get twenty-four hours a week, but you’ll have Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off. Isn’t that right Henry?” Charlene looks over towards Henry.

“That sounds about right. Mondays are our busiest days. Tuesday and Wednesday are just as busy. Saturday, we don’t do much, except finish up on jobs we didn’t do on Friday. So those three days will be fine. I think this week might be a good time to start the new changes.” Henry looks up at Kevin.

He could tell Kevin was getting angry from the way he was clenching his jaw.

Kevin looks over toward Charlene. There was anger in his eyes and he couldn’t believe how much she was going to hurt his money and business-wise.

The donut he had eaten tasted like sandpaper in his mouth now. How could this teeny-bopper come in and ruin his life like this?

He’ll get even with her, one way or another. He turns and leaves the office and heads out to change into his work clothes.

“I think he’s mad at you.” Henry looks over towards Charlene.

“You think? He brought this on himself. If he didn’t go behind your back and my father’s back and do the things he did, I wouldn’t have to do this. Anyway, don’t you have a shop to open?” Charlene looks at him.

“Hey! I thought we were partners?” He gives Charlene his best hurt look.

“We are, but I run the office and you run the garage. I know how much you hate the paperwork. If you want me to, I’ll let you do the paperwork.” Charlene starts getting out of her chair.

“No, I hate paperwork.” He stands up and grabs two more donuts out of the box and more coffee.

He starts heading to the door. He stops and looks at Charlene “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Send Jose to me when he comes in please.” Charlene turns her attention to the paperwork.

“Alright, boss lady.” Henry just smiles and walks out of the office.

Charlene returns the smile and goes back to the paperwork. She signs for the tow bill for the two cars when they come in and starts adding PO numbers to the current invoices. Jose shows up thirty minutes late for work and asks him why? She sits quietly and listens to his explanation and then sends him to the back of the garage to bring around the ranger. She gets the dealer tag out of its storage place and goes outside with Jose.

She hands him the tag and gets in the truck on the passenger side. She has him drive the truck through a car wash to clean it and ask him some questions while they drive over to see Terry and Ralph.

They spend a good hour or so talking. She gives Jose some money to go and fill the truck up and heads inside to continue her conversion with Ralph and Terry. Jose heads to the gas station to fill the truck up and get himself some breakfast and a soda. By the time he comes back, Charlene is outside waiting on him. They talk some more by the time they get back to the shop. Just as Charlene was getting out of the truck, she tells Jose that it is his, if he wants it.

Jose stops and just looks at her.

“Henry and my father thought you could use a second vehicle Jose. So they wanted you to have the truck if you would like it.”

“Yes ma’am. I would like it very much. Thank you.” Jose couldn’t believe it.

“You’re welcome. Oh, by the way, Henry wants to see you about something as well. Also, I don’t want you to be late from now on.” Charlene gives him a stern look.

“I promise ma’am.” He smiles at her.

“Bring me the tag back when you get your own plates, Jose. If you need an advance, let me know, okay?” Charlene starts walking towards the door.

“I will ma’am, thank you.” Jose looks at the truck and couldn’t believe it. He could help his wife out a lot.

He heads inside the garage to track down Henry.

Charlene heads inside and over to her computer to send her lawyer a request for the required paperwork she’ll need to rent out the other side of the garage. Ralph and Terry had agreed to her offer and had asked if she would be willing to handle the accounts and paperwork. Terry wasn’t good at doing all the paperwork. In return, they would make her a third partner in the business, if she handles all the clerical stuff and the books.
She’ll have to tell Henry later. She watches as Henry escorts Jose to the office. They come walking in.

“So I take it, that you told Jose?” Charlene looks at Henry.

“You said you were.” Henry looks back at Charlene.

“I agree to tell him about the truck. The other matter is in your department.” Charlene had a smile on her face.
Henry just stares at Charlene.

Charlene notices Jose was confused about something.

“Fine, I’ll tell him.” Henry turns around to face Jose.

“Jose, me, and Charlene have spoken it over and we think you’ll make a good second in charge when either she or me are not around. It comes with a pay raise as well. Do you want the responsibility?” Henry looks at Jose.

“Yes! It would be an honor to be your second.” Jose looks at both his bosses.

“Now you see why I said, no more lateness. You’re to fill in when Henry isn’t here in the mornings or if I’m running late as well. So starting Wednesday you’re going to come in early and Henry is going to show you what needs to be done to open the shop and close the shop up. I’ll add you to be an authorized person to shut down the alarm system.

Charlene sips her coffee as she sorts through the mail. A month has gone by since she has taken over as the owner of her father’s garage. Ralph and Terry had moved into the shop on the other side of her garage and we’re doing well. They had hired two additional part-time workers to help out on the motorcycles they had backlogged. Kevin had left two weeks after she had introduced the new guy. He worked his butt off and caught on quickly. He still needed to get a tool chest, but for the time being, he was using the spare tool chest. Henry put him on full time and he worked every hour he was here. He didn’t slow down or goof off. She used her father’s old tool chest when she worked out in the garage. Jose had been fifteen minutes early every day since she gave him the truck. He was here before she was and had the shop open and ready to go for business. He and the new guy had gotten along nicely and the two of them were like kids in the shop. Just like her father and Henry had been.

Henry was on vacation this week. It was the Easter holiday and she had given him a bonus so that he and his family could go and see his mother in Georgia.

She looks up when she hears the bell on the door ring when a young-looking girl comes walking in. She couldn’t be more than ten or twelve years old. The clothes she had on were filthy and unkempt. Her eyes had a defeated look in them and she seemed to be nervous and on guard like she was afraid something was going to jump out and hurt her.

She looks at Charlene “do you have any work I could do around here? I’ll work hard and not complain about it.”

Charlene looks at the girl “where’s your mother at?”

“She’s at home sick.” The girl had looked down at the floor when she answers her.

“Does she know you are out looking for work?” Charlene was curious about this girl.

She notices some bruising on the girl’s forearm and her hands and legs.

“She doesn’t know I left the house to try and make money.” The girl wouldn’t look up at Charlene.

“What is your name?” Charlene could help but wonder if this girl was being abused.

“Tonya Whitehouse.” The girl felt scared.

“Well, Ms. Whitehouse. Before I can hire you, I need your parents’ permission. Would it be okay if I talk with them?” Charlene was grabbing her purse.

“My mom doesn’t like strangers. She, she doesn’t know I escape from the locked room she had me in.” Tears were starting to fall down her face.

“Why don’t you come over here and sit down and tell me everything?” Charlene pats the chair in front of her.

Tonya walks over and sits down in the chair. She tells Charlene everything about her mother. How she has a drinking problem and how sometimes she hits her and locks her up in her room. How she sometimes doesn’t eat and have clean clothes to wear, because her mother drinks all the money up. Charlene sits and listens to the poor girl and notices how hurt she looks.

“I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we go and get you some food and then get you clean–up and try to help your mother? You can come home with me tonight.” She gives the girl a loving smile.

“Thank you.” She reaches over and hugs Charlene.

“You’re welcome.” Charlene holds her. She’ll have to call her lawyer and have him check into this girl’s family.

“Let me go and inform Jose I am leaving for a while, okay?” Charlene gives the young girl a loving smile, before heading into the garage to tell Jose she was taking the rest of the afternoon off.

She comes back and grabs her purse from its drawer.

“Okay, let’s go get you cleaned up and some fresh clothes and food in your belly.” She takes Tonya’s hand and walks with her to her father’s old pick-up.

Charlene spends the rest of the day with the girl and visits her mother. When they go in to see the girl’s mother, she was dead. She had stumbled and hit her head on the end table in place. Charlene had called the police and paramedics about the mother. Charlene tells the police Officer that
Tonya was staying with her and will be from now on. The cops knew who she was, because of her father. Charlene helps Tonya gathers up everything she wanted to take with her and take Tonya to her house and scrubbed her from head to toe. She got some of her old clothes down out of storage and dresses Tonya in them. She fixes a big dinner for Tonya and they spend the night watching a movie, which Tonya hadn’t seen. She tucks Tonya into bed in her old bedroom and heads into her father’s old room and lays down to go to sleep.

Tonya comes walking in after an hour.

Charlene looks at her “can’t sleep?”

Tonya shakes her head no.

“Can I sleep with you?” She was giving Charlene puppy dog eyes.

“Sure.” Tonya pats the bed next to her.

Tonya runs over and gets in bed with her. She snuggles close to Charlene and falls asleep instantly.

Charlene just strokes her hair and holds her tight to her as her father did her. She was too young to be a mother, but this girl needed her. She closes her eyes and falls asleep with Tonya next to her.

Charlene was ready to throw her wrench at the social worker from child protective services when she had come out to the garage. They had gone to her office to finish talking. Tonya was in school and happy.

“What do you mean I’m unfit to raise a ten-year-old girl?” Charlene was growing fond of Tonya.

“We think it’s too much responsibility for someone of your age. You’re still a teenager yourself. You’re not even allowed to vote.” The social worker didn’t think Tonya would be better off with another family.

“I’m fifteen going on sixteen in a few months and I own two businesses and keep the books for them. I’m also responsible for the welfare of eight employees’, including my own and you think I can’t handle being a mother to Tonya? What planet did you grow up on? Tonya is happier than I have seen her since I met her and now you want to go and destroy that? I’m telling you now if you take Tonya away from me, not only will I sue you, but your supervisor and the city. I will not see that little girl hurt again.” Charlene was pissed.

Henry heard Charlene and could tell she was close to hitting the woman. He heads to the office and knocks on the door.

“ENTER!” Charlene was madder than a hornet’s nest.

“Take a walk Charlene, now.” He gives her a command like his best friend did.

Charlene glances back at the social worker and then storms off, slamming the door behind her.

Henry waits a few minutes to give Charlene time to clear away.

“That proves it. She’s not fit to be a mother, her temper.” The social worker was about to write something down in her notebook.

“With all due respect to you ma’am, the reason her temper is up is that you are trying to take someone from her she cares about. You don’t understand the relationship she has with that girl. Tonya means a lot to her, just like this business does. She works her butt off taking care of this garage, her employee, and her customers. I wasn’t here when Tonya came to the shop asking for work, but everything Charlene told me, I would have felt the same way about her. In the past two weeks, since I have been back, I have seen her do everything she can for that little girl. When she had lice, Charlene took care of her. When Tonya was afraid to get her shots for school, Charlene stood by her. When Tonya kept Charlene up with nightmares, she came here the next morning and did payroll and ran this business. Tonya means a lot to her. If you try to take custody of Tonya, you’ll fight with your hands, because she has one of the best lawyers around working for her. You do not want to get in a fight with her. You will lose.” Henry knew the family and knew Charlene will do everything she can to win.

“Look at it from my point of view, Mr. Brickhouse. She’s just fifteen years old. She has a GED education and is busy running two businesses. How is she going to be able to be a mother as well?” The social worker was trying to use reason with this man.

“The same way all parents do who have children. The best they can. She has a whole support network set up for Tonya just in case something happens. I’ve known Charlene since she was born. I’ve seen her handle things no child should ever go through. She is one tough cookie and will give Tonya everything she needs, including love. She’ll never be short on that.” Henry looks at the social worker.

The social worker looks at Henry “I can’t give her permission to adopt Tonya, because she is underage. However, I can get approval for her to be Tonya’s legal guardian. There is a condition to this. I’ll need your word that you will do everything you can to protect Tonya from any harm and to make sure Charlene takes care of her.”

“Trust me; I’ll look after Tonya, just as I look after Charlene. Charlene is my godchild and I make sure she is taken care of.” Henry smiles at the Social worker.

“Fine, I’ll need her signature on these forms for her to be legally Tonya’s guardian.” The Social worker pulls the forms out that Charlene needed to sign.

“Leave them on her desk and mark where you want her to sign. Right now she’s out walking her anger off. How long she’ll be, I don’t know, but as soon as she gets back here, she’ll have these signed and mailed off.” Henry knew Charlene was always better when she was level-headed.

The social worker marks the places on the form for Charlene to sign.

“Tell her I need these by Wednesday, please.” The social worker looks toward Henry.

“I will.” Henry watches as the social worker leaves the office.

He waits for Charlene to come walking back into the office. He could see she was calmer and tired from her walk.

“You look a lot calmer.” Henry watches as Charlene comes walking in from the garage.

“Sorry for losing my cool, Henry.” Charlene comes walking back in and over to her desk.

“I know it’s hard on you Charlene. I explain to the social worker what Tonya means to you. You have to remember that she’s concerned about Tonya’s welfare.” Henry fixes himself some coffee and one for Charlene.

He walks over and places her mug on her desk.

Charlene picks her coffee mug up “I know, but Tonya means a lot to me, Henry. If you had seen her when she first came in here looking for a job, you would have gone ballistic.”

“I know, Charlene. You care for her like she was your baby or little sister.” Henry takes another sip of his coffee.

Charlene looks at the paperwork left on her desk and where she needed to fill them out at. Charlene takes her pen out and starts signing them after she reads them. The paperwork was making her Tonya’s guardian for now. She’ll have to call her lawyer to see what could be done about adopting Tonya as her ward.

Charlene looks at the clock on her wall to see what time it was. Tonya wasn’t due to be dropped off from school for a few more hours. Charlene works on the time sheets for the week and writes checks for the bills, which needed to be paid. She balances the books and notices that they were making a deceitful profit, even after the bills were paid and payroll was taken care of. Her bank account was alright as well. Charlene picks up the phone and places an order for a pizza for her and the guys. While she is waiting for the pizza to be delivered, Charlene goes and checks on the motorcycle shop and gets their bills and such. She checks the shop and the work orders that they have. She gathers all the finished work orders and takes them back to her office to enter into the computer systems.

Tonya sits quietly on the bus as it arrives at the bus stop where she would normally get off for home, but now she got off to go to the shop that Charlene owned. She liked Charlene a lot. Ever since her mother died on her, she has been living with Tonya. She has been like a big sister and mother to her. She gets off the bus and heads toward the garage, where she notices the pick-up truck was still parked.

Charlene looks over at Tonya as she sat at Henry’s desk working on her homework. Henry didn’t mind Tonya using his desk to do her homework. Sometimes he came into the office to see how she was doing, while Charlene was busy with paperwork.

She had so much paperwork that has piled up. The garage was busy with inspections and repair jobs. The motorcycle shop was busy as well.
They had to hire two more part-time people to work on the motorcycles. One of the local motorcycle clubs has been recommending their
members bring their motorcycles to the garage.

The local police department didn’t have anyone that knew much about motorcycles, so they had a contract with Ralph and Terry. She had to make room to establish a secure area in the compound for the police motorcycles that were in for repair to be kept. It had to be a dry area where the electronics on the motorcycles didn’t get wet. So, Charlene, Ralph, Terry, and Henry came in on a Sunday, when the shop was closed and built an enclosed area for the motorcycles.

Henry’s wife Mary looked after Tonya while they were at the garage working. Henry’s wife Mary was like a mother to Charlene. She was the one that helped her when she first got her period. She was the one who taught her about the birds and the bees and how to protect herself. She was also the one that taught her how to wear makeup. She was the mother she never had.

So, there was no one else she trusted more to look after Tonya when she needed a babysitter.

Henry walks into the office and noticed Tonya doing her homework and Charlene working on paperwork. A smile appears on his face as a memory surfaces of when Charlene would come in and do her homework at her father’s desk. He walks over and grabs a cold bottle of water from the mini-frig they had in the office. There was a full-size one in the employee’s breakroom.

Charlene looks up from the receipt she just entered into their new accounting software. She loved the new software because it made everything easier.

“I’m glad we invested in this new software?” Charlene loved it.

“Oh? What is so special about it?” Henry didn’t trust computers or software.

“Let’s just say, it makes everything easier in seeing how much we are spending and how much we have coming in.” Charlene loved that the
software was making it easier.

“That’s good. Now, tell me the bad news?” Henry knew there was always bad news.

“The bad news is, our utilities are killing us. According to the software, it’s been going up for the past five years.”

“How did you manage to figure this out?” Henry was curious about this info.

“I managed to input all the Excel spreadsheets files dad made. I only entered the last five years into the program and had it check the figures.”

“And it managed to forecast or sum up how much we are spending on utilities?” Henry was surprised at the software.

“Yep, dad included every bill you guys got. He put everything in the spreadsheet.” Charlene was glad her father kept detailed files.”

“Your dad always was detailed in what he did. He didn’t use to be, but after we got audited by the IRS, he started making sure we had everything recorded.”

“I’m glad as well.”

“Is there anything we can do about our utilities?” Henry wonders if they could save money.

“Turn the air compressor off when we shut down, and make sure all the lights we aren’t using are turned off. Power down any equipment we aren’t using when we close. Other than that, I don’t know what else we can do.”

“I’ll pass the word to the guys.” Henry looks over towards the security monitors they installed for the police motorcycles.

“I can’t believe how clear the images are on the security monitors.”

“I know. It’s also a good thing that the system backs itself up in the cloud as well. The security person from A&P Security installed a good system.” Charlene had to upgrade their security systems when they got the police contract.

“I hope the contract pays for itself, after all the upgrades we did.” Henry was worried about the cost.

“Speaking of contracts. I was contacted this morning by a rep from Alpha Plumbing Service and they want to hire us to do repair services to their service vehicles. The thing is, the owner is one of those old fashion guys that won’t talk with someone like me. So, I was hoping you would be willing to talk to him.” Charlene looks at Henry to see if he’ll do it.

“Is it because you’re a girl?” Henry didn’t like guys that were like that.

“No, it's because I’m a teenager and he think I don’t know what I’m doing. I know his secretary and she informed me that he would like us as his service provider, but he doesn’t trust someone so young.”

“And since I’m part owner, you think he’ll talk with me.” Henry already knew how Charlene thought.

A smile appears on Charlene’s face as she looks at Henry. Her father was smart to add Henry as a partner.

“How did you guess?”

“You, young lady have been taking lessons from my wife.” Henry points his finger at Charlene.

Tonya looks up from her homework when she hears Henry accuse Charlene. She liked Mary and was learning so much from her.

“She’s fun to be with.” Tonya smiles at Henry.

Charlene smirks when Tonya makes that statement. She knew Tonya liked Mary as well.

Henry turns to look at Tonya and just shakes his head. He was outnumbered in the office with Charlene and Tonya.

“Look, just take the owner of Alpha Plumbing to a steakhouse or something for lunch. He’ll respect you and we can land the contract. Plus, I can write it off as a business expense.” Charlene had done some research and found out she could write a lunch business meeting like these off as a business expense.

“Alright, give me his number.” Henry figures it wouldn’t hurt to meet with the guy.

“Here you go.” Charlene hands the business card she had over to Henry.

Henry accepts the card. He pulls his cellphone out and calls the number printed on it. He walks out of the office and talks with the owner of Alpha Plumbing.

“Charlene, can I have a soda, please?” Tonya looks at Charlene.

“Sure, here get yourself a snack as well.” Charlene hands Tonya some quarters from her desk drawer.

“Thanks.” Tonya gets up and walks out of the office to the waiting area for the customers.

The machines in the waiting area were owned by the shop, just as the ones in the break area for the employees. Charlene goes back to work and a few minutes later, Tonya comes walking back into the office with a soda and a bag of chips. Charlene looks up and smiles at Tonya as she watches her sit back down and goes back to work on her homework.

Henry sticks his into the office “I’m having lunch with him tomorrow at The Steak House.”

“Alright, bring me the receipt and I’ll reimburse you for it.” Charlene looks up at Henry.

Henry winks at Charlene and goes back into the garage to inspect a car.

“Charlene, what are we having for dinner?” Tonya looks at Charlene.

“I was thinking about going to the diner tonight. Unless you want something different.” Charlene knew Tonya liked to help her when she cooked.

“I was kind of hoping we would have sloppy joes tonight.” Tonya liked hamburgers, chicken, and sloppy joes.

“Okay, we can have sloppy joes tonight. I’ll stop at the grocery store on the way home.”

“Thanks, sis.” Tonya was happy.

“You’re welcome.”

A few hours later Charlene finishes up all the paperwork she had to do. She and Tonya stopped at the grocery store to do some shopping. She loved watching Tonya do the shopping. She answered one time why Tonya liked the grocery store so much. Tonya told her, that her mother never let her do the shopping. She always locked her in her bedroom when she left the house.

Charlene watches as Tonya stops to look at some coloring books the store had on sale. She picks one up and looks at it.

“Go ahead and choose six, Tonya.”

Tonya looks at Charlene “are you sure? I don’t want to be a problem.” Tonya knew how her mother would never buy her anything.

“I’m sure, Tonya.” Charlene smiles at her to reassure her.

Tonya chooses six coloring books she liked. There was a smile on her face as she helped Charlene shop. They originally came in to buy what they needed to make sloppy joes. Instead, they were walking out of the store with several bags of groceries.

When Tonya and Charlene get home. Tonya helps put everything away. Once everything was put away.

“Go upstairs and change out of your school clothes.”

“Yes ma’am.” Tonya rushes out of the kitchen and upstairs to Charlene’s old bedroom.

Charlene hears Tonya race up the stairs and wonders if she was that loud when she did it. She digs around under the sink and finds the cast iron frying pan she likes using. She puts that up on the stove and starts chopping up some veggies for the sloppy joe. She liked using fresh veggies to cook. She knew the fresh veggies would do Tonya some good.

Tonya comes walking back into the kitchen. She had put on a hello kitty shirt and a pair of shorts.

“You didn’t start, did you?” Tonya wanted to do the cooking.

“No, all I did is cut up the veggies for you.” Charlene looks at Tonya wearing an old hello kitty t-shirt her father gave her.

“Goodie.” Tonya pulls over the step stool and starts fixing dinner.

Charlene stands nearby and lets Tonya do the cooking. She watches her and helps Tonya out where she can. A smile appears on her face when Tonya adds the ketchup to the cooked ground beef.

Charlene pulls two plates down from the cabinet and toast some hamburger buns.

The two of them sit down at the dining room table and eat dinner. Charlene looks at Tonya after taking a bite of her sloppy joe “did your mother teach you how to make these?”

Tonya nods her head yes and takes another bite of hers.

“Well, you did a good job on making these.”

“Thanks.”

After dinner, Tonya sits with Charlene and watches a movie she has been wanting to watch, but never did. Tonya had her head resting on Charlene’s lap and was covered up by the throw blanket that was kept on the sofa.

Charlene strokes Tonya’s hair as she lays on her lap. Something her mother uses to do before she ran off, abandoning her and her father. She feels Tonya slowly fall asleep.

A smile appears on her face, as she grabs a pillow and put it under Tonya’s head. She gets up and tucks Tonya in.

“Sleep tight, Tonya.” Charlene places a kiss on Tonya’s forehead and turns the television off.

She dims the light and heads upstairs to her bedroom.

Two weeks have gone by since Henry managed to convince Alpha Plumbing to contract them to maintain their fleet of company trucks. They also landed another contract with two security companies as well. The first one was called Strong Dog Security and the second one was Storm Guard Security.

Storm Guard Security also did remote security protection. That meant the garage, the holding area, the storage area, and the motorcycle shop were all protected. They all had video and audio cameras. All the windows and doors had alarm sensors on them and motion detectors inside the garage and motorcycle shop as well.

Charlene was sound asleep when she gets a call in the middle of the night. She turns over and grabs her cellphone off the nightstand and presses accept “hello?”

“Hello Mrs. Easton, this security professional Williams with Storm Guard Security. There’s a security alarm at your garage going off. We have already called Mr. Brickhouse.”

“Alright, do you know which alarm went off?” Charlene sits up in bed.

“Yes ma’am. It was the back door to the garage.”

Charlene knew that only a few people had access to that door. She, Henry, Jose, and Kevin had a key, but she had Henry get Kevin’s key before he left.

“Alright, thank you, Mr. Williams. Go ahead and reset the alarm, if you haven’t already.”

“It’s already been reset by Mr. Brickhouse, ma’am.”

“Okay and thank you again.” Charlene ends the phone call.

Charlene calls Henry on his cellphone.

Grease Monkey Garage:
Henry was walking around the garage making sure nothing was broken or missing. He had called Jose in to help him. He remembered one time when he came down to the garage by himself and got jumped by two guys.

“Do you see anything missing, Jose?” Henry looks over towards Jose.

“Nothing is missing that I can see.” Jose had looked over everything.

Just as Henry was about to say something, his cellphone starts ringing. He knew right away who was calling him. He pulls his cellphone out and presses accept “hello Charlene.”

“Hey Henry, is there anything wrong down at the garage?” Charlene was still sitting in her bed.

“Everything looks okay. Someone tried coming through the back door using a crowbar.” Henry had looked at it and noticed the steel door and frame were bent.

“Any idea who it might have been?”

“One, but the guy was wearing a hood. There was no way I can confirm who the two of us thin it is.” Henry was thinking it was Kevin.

Ever since they let him go from the shop. They have been getting phone messages from an unlisted number.

“None of the cars have parts missing, do they?” Charlene knew Kevin use to take parts off of the cars waiting to be worked on or just given to them because the owners couldn’t pay for the report.

“I haven’t checked outside yet. Once Jose and I are done in here, we’ll go out into the yard and check.”

“Alright, call me if you need me to come down to the garage.” Charlene didn’t mind going to the garage.

“I will. Go back to bed. You have to take Tonya to school in the morning.” Henry knew Charlene drops Tonya off at school, before coming into the garage.

“Alright, see you tomorrow.”

“Night Charlene.” Henry ends the call.

Charlene puts her cellphone back down on her nightstand and curls back up under the blankets. She tries to fall back asleep before she has to get up to take Tonya to school and her to work.

She manages to fall back asleep before she is woken at six in the morning.

She gets up and goes over to her old bedroom and opens the door. She always leaves the door slightly open for Tonya, so she doesn’t think she is locking her inside her bedroom as her mother did.

“Alright, sleepy head, time to get up and get ready for school.” Charlene gently shakes Tonya’s shoulder.

Tonya slowly opens her eyes and looks at Charlene standing by her bed. A smile appears on her face “do I have to?”

“Yes, you do, sleepy head. If you hurry, I’ll stop by McDonald’s and buy you some breakfast.” Charlene knew Tonya loved McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches.

Tonya jumps out of bed “okay.”

Charlene walks out of the bedroom, while Tonya gets ready for school. She walks across the hallway to her bedroom and starts getting ready for work. She was going to help the guys out in the garage today. She was done with all the paperwork and they were a little behind on jobs.

Once she was dressed, she checks on Tonya and help her. She makes sure her book bag had all her books and supplies. She also puts five dollars in Tonya’s purse to get lunch and a snack.

“Alright, Tonya. Let’s head to work.” Charlene grabs her truck keys and heads downstairs.

Tonya follows behind Charlene. She grabs her house key and put it around her neck. She shuts the door behind her, after locking it. She gets in on the passenger side of the truck.

Half-n-hour later, Charlene pulls into her parking spot. Tonya was at school, after getting breakfast at McDonald’s. She gets out of her truck and walks into the garage. She notices Jose was already there.

“Morning, Jose. I got donuts for everyone.” Charlene had stopped at the bakery this morning and bought a dozen pasties for everyone.

“Cool.” Jose heads towards the office to grab a donut and some fresh coffee.

As he is pouring himself some coffee. He looks at Charlene as she turns her computer on. He notices she was wearing her mechanic coveralls today.

“Are you going to be working out in the shop, today?”

“Yeah, I thought I would you guys a hand.” Charlene was thankful that her father and Henry taught her about cars.

“Just be careful, Charlene. You know how Henry reacts when you’re in the garage working.” Jose takes a sip of his coffee.

“I know.” Charlene walks over to the coffee pot and fixes herself a cup.

She opens the refrigerator and grabs the creamer to pour some into her cup. She puts it back and closes the door. She adds some sugar to her coffee and stirs.

She takes a sip from her coffee cup and moans as it slides down her throat. She sits on the corner of her desk and waits for Henry to show up. After five minutes, he comes walking into the office and spots Charlene and Jose drinking coffee and eating donuts.

“Started without me?” Henry walks over and fixes a cup of coffee.

“Hey, they were fresh. What do you expect?” Charlene bites into an éclair.

Henry just shakes his head as he walks over to his desk where the donuts were. He picks up an apple fritter.

“So, was there anything missing out in the storage area?” Charlene looks at her godfather for an answer.

“Nope, the alarm must have scared whoever the person was off.” Henry bites into his apple fritter.

“That’s good. I still think it is Kevin.” Charlene knew Kevin wasn’t happy when he left.

“Whoever it was, might try again.” Jose knew people like that, don’t allow alarm systems to stop them.

“Your probably right, Jose.” Charlene wonders if she should ask the cops to have a car drive by a few times tonight.

“Let’s not jump the gun, people. Whoever it was might not come back tonight. They might take a few days.” Henry grabs another apple fritter from the box.

“Let’s hope so, Henry.” Charlene was glad she upgraded all the security around the garage.

After everyone finishes their morning breakfast. They walk out into the garage and get to work.

Charlene watches as the plumber works on removing the old water heater. She had gotten up early to prepare a lunch for Tonya to take to school with her. She called Henry and informed him she wouldn’t be coming in for a few hours. Since she had a contract with Alpha Plumbing. She called them to come in and replace her water heater.

Henry told her to take the rest of the day off. He knew she didn’t want to, but she decided to listen to his advice.

“Are you sure there isn’t anything I can get you, sir?”

“I’m fine, ma’am.” Billy was told by his boss to treat this young girl with a lot of respect and to do his best to replace her water heater.

Charlene figured since she was going to be stuck at home today. She would do her Saturday morning cleaning routine now instead of on Saturday. She turns on her father’s old stereo system and plays one of his old vinyl records. She never knew why her father kept these records.

She listens to the stereo while she dusts the different rooms. She also grabs Tonya’s dirty clothes and separates them into different piles. She adds her clothes into the different piles as well.

After about three hours, Billy finishes replacing the water heater. He tested the system, making sure there weren’t any leaks and that she had good pressure.

“Everything is ready to go, Mrs. Easton.” Billy looks at the young teenage girl.

“Thanks. How much do I owe you?” Charlene looks at Billy.

“That’s not my department. Gloria from accounting will send you the bill. I just need your signature here saying I completed the work.” Billy hands
the work order over to Charlene to sign.

Charlene accepts the work order and signs it. She made sure to look everything over before she signed it. Charlene hands the workorder back to Billy.

“Thanks for everything.” Charlene was thankful for Alpha plumbing showing up as quickly as they did.

“Any time.” Billy gathers his tools and supplies and leaves the house.

Charlene watches him as he leaves. Once he pulls out of the driveway. She waited the appreciated time he recommended to let the water in the water heater warm up before starting a load of laundry. She gets a load of laundry going while the clothes are washing.

While the laundry is going, Charlene sends a text to Henry, letting him know the plumber has left. She doesn’t expect an immediate response from him. She knows he usually is out in the garage itself, working on a car or assigning work.

Charlene fixes herself some lunch. After lunch, she separates the laundry and folds everything. Typically, around this time, she would be wrapping up yesterday’s work orders.

After she finishes with the laundry. She starts making Mexican stew. She figures by the time Tonya gets home and completes her homework. It should be done cooking in the crock pot.

Once Tonya arrives home from school. She sits down at the dining room table and works on her homework.

Charlene helps Tonya with any problems she has while doing her homework. After helping Tonya with her homework, she checks the crockpot and starts setting the table. After dinner, Tonya helps Charlene with cleaning the kitchen. Afterward, Tonya gets ready for bed and is allowed to watch television for a little while.

The next day, when Charlene shows up for work. She has a lot of paperwork in her box on her desk. Some of it looks like it has already been done, but there was still a lot more left to do.

She sits down on her desk chair and starts working. When Henry walks into the office, she waves to him. She was concentrating on getting everything done.

Henry spots Charlene working on the paperwork that was in her inbox. He also noticed she brought in two boxes of donuts.

“How did the repairs go?” Henry knew what a damage water heater can do.

Charlene looks up from what she was doing “the guy Alpha Plumbing sent over, did a good job.”

Charlene enjoyed a nice hot soak after dinner.

“Did he say how much everything was going to cost?” Henry was curious about what the job coasted Charlene.

“No, not yet. The plumber said they will bill me.”

“Let me know what the cost is. I know what the repair should be.” Henry has an uncle that is a plumber and can always check the cost.

“I will. So, did I miss anything yesterday?” Charlene looks at Henry.

“Nope, we stayed busy all day long. That’s why you have so much paperwork to do.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Henry grabs another doughnut and walks out into the garage.

Charlene and Tonya watch as Mrs. McDowell inspects the house. She had dropped by unannounced to do a house inspection. Charlene had picked Tonya up from school. When they arrived home, Mrs. McDowell was waiting for them. She wanted to do a surprise inspection of the house.

“As you can see, Mrs. McDowell. The house is cleaned; there’s food in the cabinets, pantry, and in refrigerator. Tonya is doing better in school, and she has clean clothes and toys to play with.” Charlene didn’t like Mrs. McDowell invading her home and questioning her about taking care of Tonya.

Mrs. McDowell looks at Charlene and Tonya and notices that Tonya is standing close to Charlene as if she is scared of her. She sighs. “I’m not going to take you away from Charlene, Tonya. I can see she is doing everything for you.”

“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Tonya, Mrs. McDowell.” Charlene would do whatever she could to give Tonya a stable and safe life.

“I can see that.” Mrs. McDowell writes her notes about the inspection.

“So, when will be the next time you drop by, Mrs. McDowell?” Charlene wanted to be home when she did.

“I’ll let you know. I know you have a business to run.” Mrs. McDowell has gone over all the financial records from Charlene. She noticed that
Charlene may be part owner of the company. She only took a beginner’s pay.

Both girls watch as Mrs. McDowell leaves the house. Tonya wraps her arms around Charlene “why does she have to check up on us?”

“She is concerned about you, sis.”

Charlene could understand why Tonya felt the way she did. She didn’t like Mrs. McDowell checking up on the two or doing surprised inspections either.

“Come on, let’s go and fix some dinner.”

“Can I cook?” Tonya looks at Charlene when she asks.

“Yes, I’ll let you cook.” Charlene knew Tonya took precautions when she cooked.

“Yea!” Tonya was excited because she liked cooking.

Charlene helped Tonya gather the ingredients she needed to make dinner. The two work together in the kitchen, but Charlene lets Tonya do most of the work. She remembers when her father would let her cook. He would let her do all the work and stand back to watch her cook.

Once dinner is ready. Charlene sets the table, and the two sit down to eat. Since Charlene cleaned up while Tonya cooked, there was very little to clean.

Around one in the morning, Charlene gets a phone call from the security company. She wakes Tonya and rushes downstairs, and gets in her pickup truck. Tonya was right on her heels, still, dress in her Pj’s.

Charlene speeds towards the garage but is careful. When she pulled up to the garage, fire trucks were there, and other emergency vehicles. She spots Henry talking to the fire battalion on site.

Charlene looks at Tonya “stay here in the truck and keep the doors locked.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tonya wonders why the garage was on fire.

Charlene gets out and walks up to Henry and the fire chief. She couldn’t believe the shop had caught fire. It was a good thing her father had installed fire sprinklers years ago when a frayed wire sparked and caught the place on fire.

“How bad is it, Henry?” Charlene was worried.

“Just a few cars in the back storage area. Someone set the dumpster and the used oil tank on fire.” Henry wonders why a person would do that.

“Did the cameras catch anything?”

“I haven’t looked at the security footage yet.” Henry watches as the fire department starts packing their hoses and gear up.

Charlene walks back to her truck and grabs her tablet from her purse. She noticed Tonya was watching everything.

“Is everything okay?” Tonya had a concerned look on her face.

“Everything is okay, Tonya. Just stay here in the truck.”

“Okay.” Charlene shuts the truck and walks over to where Henry is standing.

“You brought your tablet with you?” Henry couldn’t believe Charlene had her tablet.

“I keep it in my purse, so I always have it.” Charlene accesses the security feed and goes through tonight’s footage.

Henry watches as Charlene accesses their secure cloud storage. He watches the footage as it plays “stop there.”

“Okay.” Charlene rewinds the video footage and stops it where Henry said it too.

“Can I?” Henry holds his hand out.

“Sure.” Charlene hands the tablet to Henry.

Henry enlarges the image and notices it was Kevin and some other guy they didn’t know. Henry walks over to the detective there talking to the fire chief.

“Here are the people responsible for the fire.” Henry shows the security footage.

The detective and fire chief watch the security footage. When they are done ‘can you send me a copy of that footage?”

“Yeah, let me get my partner over here so she can do it.” Henry motions to Charlene to come over to him.

Charlene looks towards the truck to check on Tonya before walking over to Henry. The two other men were watching her. She knew the fire chief. He has been to the garage on more than one occasion.

Since Charlene already knew the detective’s email address. She sends a copy to his email address.

“Thanks, Charlene.” Detective Massie looks at Charlene and smiles.

“You’re welcome, detective.” Charlene looks toward Henry.

“Is there anything we can do tonight?”

“Unfortunately, no. Why don’t you head home and put Tonya back to bed?” Henry knew how cranky kids get when they don’t get enough sleep.

“All right, call me if you need me.” Charlene turns and walks back to her truck.

“For a young person, she’s very mature.” Chief Brooklyn has never met someone so mature before.

“Charlene takes her responsibilities seriously.” Henry knew Charlene’s father would be proud of her.

Charlene drives home and tucks Tonya back into bed. Before she could leave Tonya’s bedside, Tonya grabbed her hand “will you sleep with me?”

“Sure, sweetie.” Charlene lays down on the bed and holds Tonya against her body.

The Next Two Months, October:
Charlene comes walking into the shop feeling tired. She watches as Henry looks up from some paperwork he was working on.

“I can’t believe you are doing paperwork.” Charlene flops down onto her office chair.

“I had to because you weren’t here. How did court go?” Henry knew Charlene had to appear in court about the fire Kevin started.

“We won, but don’t expect to see anything from Kevin or the guys that helped him.” Charlene gets up and walks over to the minifridge in the office and grabs a cold soda from it.

“I figure we wouldn’t. He didn’t have much, to begin with.” Henry knew Kevin couldn’t hold onto money. Kevin had a bad habit of spending it as fast as he got it.

“The insurance adjuster has already come out to see how much we lost. Hopefully, he’ll be fair to us.” Charlene was worried about that.

“He will. He’s been working with us for a while. So, what is Tonya dressing up for Halloween?” Henry was curious.

“She’s dressing up as a female mechanic. I thought she would dress up as a Princess or something, but she didn’t want to. She said that she wanted to show the boys at school that girls can be mechanics.” Charlene was surprised when Tonya said that.

“She reminds me of when you were little. You would get into fights at school when the boys teased you about being a tomboy or when you came to school dressed in one of your father’s t-shirts.”

“I had to deal with Tom Adams. He uses to love teasing me because I wasn’t as developed as some of the girls in my class. Hell, I did have my first period until I was twelve and I didn’t start developing tits until I was fifteen.”

“I know, Charlene. You came running to my wife when you had your first period.” Henry remembered because he saw a blood stain between her legs on the blue jeans she was wearing.

“Hey, your wife told me I could come to her.” Charlene was glad she had Henry’s wife to help her through her first period and pick out her first bra.
A smirk appears on Henry’s face. He remembered everything Charlene experienced.

“You know, your turn is coming around to pass on what you learn to Tonya.”

“Don’t remind me. That is one conversation I’m not looking forward to.” Charlene knew Tonya knew some of the basics already about sex from her birth mother.

“How’s the schedule coming?” Henry had made some requests for Jose.

His wife was pregnant and needed help with the kids and her appointments. Henry told him he would do everything he could to help him out.

“Almost done. I need to add in a few more days for Steven. He needs the money badly. His boat business isn’t doing so well.” Charlene made sure she knew as much as possible about her employees.

“That’s the boat business. People would rather buy a new boat, instead of pouring money into an old one. You do know what Boat stands for, Charlene?” Henry looks at Charlene for an answer.

“Yeah, bust out another thousand.” Charlene has heard how boats were expensive.

“That’s right. You keep pouring money into them.”

“Yeah, but they are so much fun during the spring and summer months.” Charlene has only been out on one a few times.

“True, they are.” Henry stands up out of his chair “I better head out into the garage and sees what is going on.”

“Alright.” Charlene watches as Henry walks out into the garage.

Charlene starts working on the work orders and paying bills. Ralph and Larry come into the main office.

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Charlene looks at them.

“We need to hire another mechanic, Charlene. Do you know anyone that might be able to help?” Ralph has been hoping they could get by without hiring anyone new.

“I might, but it's a woman and she’s extremely good with motorcycles. She’s got a lot of clients as well. Plus, she’s a lesbian. Do you guys have a problem with that?”

“I don’t care if she wore a chicken suit. As long as she can turn a wrench.” Ralph didn’t care about a person’s sex life.

“How good is she?” Larry was curious.

“Let’s put it this way, Larry. She’s got the clients, but not a place of her own to work. If you make her a partner, she will bring some more clients to you and make you guys lots of money.”

“Call her and tell her we will be willing to partner with her.” Larry didn’t mind partnering with this woman.

“Alright, I’ll see if she can be up here tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Charlene.” Ralph and Larry walk out of Charlene’s office.

Charlene looks through her father’s old Rolodex. She finds the number for Tammy’s cellphone. She picks the phone up on her desk and dials it.

Tammy’s Home Garage:
Tammy was working on a Harley Davidson that belonged to a customer of hers when she hears her cellphone ring. She looks around for it and spots it over on the wall counter.

“Bambi, can you answer my phone for me?”

“Sure, mom.” Bambi walks over to the counter and grabs her mom’s cell phone.

She presses accept on it “you have reached pigs on a stick. How can I help you?”

“Funny, Bambi. Where is Tammy?” Charlene recognized Bambi’s voice.

“She tearing an engine down. Hold on a minute, Charlene.”

Bambi looks at her mom “mom, it’s Charlene. She wants to speak to you.”

“Bring me the phone sweetie.” Tammy wonders what Charlene wanted.

Bambi takes the cell phone over to her mother. She hands the cell phone to her.

“Hey, Charlene, what’s up?”

“Are you still looking for a shop?”

“Yeah, do you know of one?” Tammy was told she had to move her operations out of her garage.

“Yeah, Ralph and Larry are looking for a mechanic and they would make you partner as well. They have too much work for just them and their two mechanics.”

“I don’t know, Charlene. I normally like working for myself.”

“I know, but they are willing to make you a partner. They need the help and I know you need a bigger place. Why don’t you come and speak with them and tour the shop, tomorrow?”

“I can’t do tomorrow. Bambi has a doctor's appointment, but I can do Thursday morning.”

“That will be fine, Tammy. I’ll let Ralph and Larry know and say hi for me to Bambi as well.”

“Alright, I’ll see you then.” Tammy ends the phone call.

A smile appears on Charlene’s face. She hopes things can be worked out between the two. She goes back to work after entering the meeting into the computer and sending it to Ralph and Larry.

Tonya was excited as she stood next to the front door. Today was Halloween, and she was going trick-or-treating with Charlene and some of the kids from school. They were going to go by Henry’s house later for a Halloween party.

Charlene spots Tonya, ready to go outside and join her friends. A smile appears on her face as a memory of her and her father surface. They used to go out together. He would dress up in a costume and follow her around. He always made sure she was safe.

Charlene was dressed up in a costume of her own and would follow Tonya and her friends. She told the other parents she would make they were safe.

“Are you ready, kiddo?” Charlene looks at Tonya and smiles.

“Yes, ma’am, I’m ready.” Tonya was excited because this was the first year in a long time that she had gone out on Halloween.

“Okay, let’s go and have some fun.” Charlene grabs her pumpkin as well. Sometimes the parents give the adults candy as well.

Charlene and Tonya leave the house and join Tonya’s friends from school. Charlene follows as the kids in front of her talk and joke among themselves. She was happy to see Tonya enjoying herself. When they approach some of the houses, she remembers the people inside as being the same ones she and her friends would get candy from.

Charlene waves to the people as she watches Tonya and her friends get candy. She was enjoying watching Tonya having fun. She knew as soon as they got to Henry’s place. She was going to get a lot more candy.

Charlene and the kids go to every house giving candy out. By the time they finished trick-r-treating, Tonya’s pumpkin was overflowing with candy.

She looks at Tonya “okay, sweetie. You can take a handful of candy with you over to Henry’s house.”

“Okay.” Tonya shows Charlene which pieces she takes so that they can be checked.

They drop the candy pumpkins off at the house. The two big bowls of candy Charlene left out while she took Tonya around the neighborhood were almost empty. She combines what is left into one bowl and puts them in the house.

They get into the pickup truck and drive over to Henry’s place. The party was already in full swing. Charlene had to park down the street and walk back to Henry’s place.

“Wow! Henry went all out this year.” Charlene couldn’t believe the decorations or the appetizers laid out.

Tonya spots Bambi and some of the other kids from the garage. They were bobbing for apples. She looks at Charlene “can I join them, mom?”

“Go and have some fun, sweetie.” Charlene watches as Tonya runs off to join the other kids.

“How did she do tonight?” Henry had spotted Charlene dressed in her costume.

“She made out like a bandit. She’s going to have enough candy to eat until Christmas.” Charlene looks at Henry dressed in a pirate costume.

“That’s the way it should be. Don’t forget to check the candy.” Henry knew Charlene’s father always checked her candy.

“I won’t. The last thing I need is something bad happening.” Charlene knew their neighborhood was safe, but in the past, one of two kids found things in their candy. It was mostly in neighborhoods where the kids had gone instead of their own.

“Come on, Charlene. Tonya will be okay.” Henry drags Charlene off to mingle with the rest of the guests.

Charlene checks on Tonya throughout the night. She smiles when a bucket of slime is dropped on her. She had that happen to her one year. She takes a picture of it to tease Tonya later. As for herself, she enjoys being around adults. She makes sure she doesn’t take any alcoholic drinks.
Henry’s friend Greg was famous for making spiked apple cider drinks and homemade ale.

By the end of the night, Charlene was beyond tired. As she drove them home, she noticed Tonya was curled up on the bench seat and was
sound asleep. All the candy she got at Henry’s house was sitting in the plastic pumpkin on the truck’s floor.

Charlene carries Tonya inside the house and undresses her. She puts on her pajamas and tucks her into bed.

“Sweet dreams, Tonya.” Charlene backs out of the bedroom and leaves the slightly open for Tonya.

Charlene goes to her bedroom and undresses. She removes all the makeup and takes a nice relaxing shower. She covers up a yawn as she finishes washing her body and drying off. She slips on her nightgown and lies down in bed. She looks at the picture of her father sitting on her nightstand. “Happy Halloween, daddy.” As she closes her eyes.

The next day, Charlene checked all the candy Tonya got and found nothing wrong with them. They have pizza for lunch that day and later in the evening. The two go to KFC and get a big bucket chicken dinner while still wearing their PJs.

When they get back home, Charlene and Tonya curl up on the sofa and watch movies all day and night long. On Sunday, the temperature outside had dropped. So, they build a fire in the fireplace and fix a hearty soup for dinner.

Monday morning, Charlene stops and buys donuts for everyone on the way to breakfast. She buys enough for both garages. She also brings in the leftover candy for everyone to dig into. She noticed most of the guys were either still hungover from the weekend or too tired to work. She sends everyone home early except Henry. She looks at Henry “have you ever run into this before?”

“Only after the Superbowl. They will be in a better mood tomorrow.” Henry knew the men were just worn out from the weekend.

“I hope so. It’s not like we have many jobs right now.” Charlene looks at the work orders. They only had three of them, and they were simple jobs. Luckily, it was something she and Henry could knock out.

“The guys will be better tomorrow.” Henry gets up out of his chair.

“I hope so.” Charlene follows suit.

She heads towards the locker room and changes into her coveralls, and starts working on the cars. She doesn’t stop for lunch as she works through. Henry’s wife was picking Tonya up from school for her today.

By early afternoon, they had everything done and enjoyed some subs they had delivered to the shop. Henry finishes the sub he got and takes a sip from his drink.

“I have to admit. These are some nice subs.” Charlene liked the sub she ordered from the new sub shop they ordered from.

“I thought you might like them. Are you still planning on closing the shop on Thanksgiving?” Henry knew he and Charlene’s father used to do it.

“Yep, I’m still planning on closing down that day. I don’t think anyone should have to work that day.” Charlene liked it when her father used to close the garage and spend time with her.

“Good. You and Tonya are still coming over for dinner, aren’t you?”

“Yep, if I don’t. I think your wife would send you to find us and ask why we weren’t there.” Charlene knew Henry’s wife well.

“True, she would do that.” Henry smile as he finishes his drink.

Charlene couldn’t believe how fast Thanksgiving was approaching. She knew Tonya enjoyed Halloween, and now she would experience Thanksgiving. She had asked Tonya what Thanksgiving was like with her mother, and she had told her they never did anything.

Charlene looks over toward Henry “so, are we still doing thanksgiving at your place this year?”

“Unless you and Tonya have somewhere else to go.” Henry looks at Charlene.

“Nope, I want this Thanksgiving to be very special for Tonya. I asked her what Thanksgiving was like with her mother, and let’s say she never experienced it.”

“Well, I’ll make sure Tonya knows what Thanksgiving is like.” Henry has been hearing a lot about what life for Tonya was like.

“Tell Mary I’m bringing the ham this year, along with two side dishes.” Charlene was thinking about making her mother’s famous macaroni and cheese as one of her sides.

“As long as you bring your mother’s famous Macaroni and Cheese.” Henry loved Charlene’s mother’s dish.

“Of course.” Charlene planned on going shopping after work today.

“Are you planning on going to the auction on Wednesday?” Charlene knew Henry liked flipping cars.

“Yeah, and hopefully, I’ll be able to purchase a few cars this time.” The few times Henry went to the auto auction. He was unable to purchase any of he cars. The prices that they were going for, were to steep for his taste and left little profit.

“Well, good luck.” Charlene knew Henry enjoyed buying and selling cars.

After work, Charlene and Tonya go grocery shopping. Tonya loved shopping with Charlene. She watches as Charlene selects the cheese for her macaroni and cheese.

“Charlene, what are we doing for Thanksgiving?” Tonya was curious.

“We’re going to Henry’s place for Thanksgiving. My father and I started it after my mother died.”

“Cool! I like going to uncle Henry’s and aunt Mary’s place.” Tonya liked staying over at Henry’s place.

“And they like having you over. Especially Mary. She likes spoiling you.” Charlene knew how Mary spoiled her, and now Tonya.

“Can I help cook, please?” Tonya looks at Charlene.

“Yes, you can, sweetie.” Charlene didn’t mind Tonya helping her cook the Macaroni and Cheese or the Green bean casserole.

Charlene walks up and down the aisles, picking out groceries for the dinner and the next few days. She watches as Tonya stop and looks at a few things she might be interested in.

“Do you see anything you like, Tonya?”

“No, ma’am.” Tonya didn’t see anything she really wanted.

Charlene looks at the different hams on sale and spots the one she wants to buy. It was already cut, and it came with the honey glazed already. She picks out the biggest one and put it in the cart.

“Are we going to eat all of that?” Tonya looks at the size of the ham.

“There might be some left over.” Charlene knew Henry and Mary always invited other family members.

When they come to the turkeys, Charlene picks one for everyone that works for her.

It was a tradition her father started, and she would continue it. She also buys ones for Terry, Tammy, and Ralph. By the time she checks out, she has put a big dent in her budget. She could write it off on her taxes, but she doesn’t like doing that.

Tonya looks at all the food Charlene bought. They had two carts full.

“Will we get all this in the truck?” Tonya didn’t think they could.

“Yes, we have plenty of room.” Charlene pushes the carts over to the truck.

Tonya and Charlene unload the carts and put everything in the back, and secure the groceries, so nothing goes flying while she drives. She’ll give the turkeys out tomorrow.

When Charlene and Tonya arrive home. They spend the evening making the sides and cooking the ham. Charlene noticed Tonya fell asleep in one of the kitchen chairs. A smile appears on her face as she picks Tonya up and carries her upstairs to her bedroom. She undresses Tonya and puts her nightgown on her.

“Sleep tight, my little sister.” Charlene kisses Tonya’s forehead and heads back down to the kitchen.

She stays up cooking the ham, macaroni and cheese, and green bean casserole. She leaves the fried onions off until they reheat the casserole at Henry’s place. When everything is cooked, she covers them with foil and prepares to drop them off at Henry’s. Afterward, she goes upstairs to her bedroom and goes to bed.

Two Days Later, Henry’s Place:
Mary watches as Tonya smashes the cooked potatoes. She knew Tonya wanted to help, so she was teaching her how to make mashed potatoes from scratch. A smile appears on her face as she watches Tonya whip the potatoes.

Charlene steps close to Mary “Tonya looks like she is having fun.”

“I would have to agree with you.” Mary was pleased with herself.

Mary and Charlene keep Tonya busy while they work on everything for dinner. By the time dinner is ready, Charlene looks at Tonya, “why don’t you go and tell everyone dinner is ready.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tonya heads into the living room, where several people and Henry are.

Henry spots Tonya come walking into the den. Everyone who wasn’t in the kitchen had gathered either to watch the football game or socialize with one another.

“What’s up, Tonya?” Henry looks at Tonya.

“Dinner is ready.”

A smile appears on Henry’s face as he looks at Tonya and notices she has some flour on her clothes. He knew she had been working hard inside the kitchen with his wife and several other women.

“Okay, Tonya.” Henry gets up and turns the television off.

Everyone gathers around the table. The kids had a table of their own, and their parents made sure they had what they wanted. As for Tonya, she had no idea what she wanted to eat first. But she does take a little of everything to try at first.

Charlene watches Tonya throughout the meal. She already knew what Tonya liked, but she’ll learn more about Tonya. She hopes Tonya enjoys herself.

First Day of December:
Charlene and Tonya were listening to Christmas music and making Christmas cookies in the kitchen. The song currently playing on Pandora was I Saw Momma Kissing Santa Clause. As Tonya measures out the flour, Charlene watches and dumps it into the large mixing bowl. They had made three batches of cookies so far. She helped Tonya with the first batch and part of the second batch. But she wasn’t helping Tonya with the third batch at all.

Charlene follows her father’s recipe for making chocolate rum balls. She asked Mary to buy the rum since she was technically underage. She may run a business and take care of Tonya, but they’re still things she can’t do.

She looked at Tonya and could see how much fun she was having. The red and green chain they had made to count to Christmas was hanging on the refrigerator. The Christmas tree that Henry had helped them set up was in the living room, with the lights blinking on and off.

Custom ornaments were hanging from the tree from when Charlene was growing up. She also had some made with her Tonya or just from pictures she took of the different events she had been in.

Tonya looks at Charlene when she carefully pulls the cookie tray out of the oven. She hopes they were cooked right.

“Are these cookies ready?” Tonya watches as Charlene looks at the cookies.

“They are perfect, Tonya.” Charlene saw that the cookies were golden brown.

A huge smile appears on Tonya’s face as she puts the tray on the counter. She lets them cool as she starts another batch of cookies. Tonya was enjoying herself. Christmas was never anything like this with her mother. They never made cookies or wrapped Christmas gifts.

Tenth Day of December:
Grease Monkey Garage:
Charlene watches as a car carrier pulls up to the garage. She saw that Dave’s Car Courier was painted on the side of the truck. She picks the phone up and announces over the intercom for Henry. Afterward, she puts the receiver back on the phone.

Henry hears his name over the intercom in the garage and walks into the office. He spots Charlene looking outside “what’s up?”

Charlene turns to face Henry “were you expecting a load of cars?”

“Yes, you won’t believe how much everything cost me.” Henry walks past Charlene and outside to the carrier.

Charlene follows behind Henry. She couldn’t believe he had managed to buy five vehicles at the auction. She spotted that he had managed to buy two pickup trucks. One was a Ford F250, and the second was a Ford Ranger XLT. He managed to snag a Toyota Prius as well. It was an older model, but it looked like it was in great shape.

“That’s an old car.” Charlene points towards the Prius.

“I thought you might like driving that one. It’s a hybrid and will help you on gas.” Henry had spotted it and knew it would be perfect for Charlene.

“Thanks. So, what are you going to do with the rest of the vehicles?”

“Flip them of course. I thought I would hire Eddie Crawford to come over and clean them up. After I check them over and make sure they are in good running order.”

“What year is the Prius?” Charlene was curious.

“It’s a 03,’ and it has one hundred thirty-five miles on it. Everything is in good working order and the battery is still in good shape.”

“Cool. I’ll go in and call Eddie.” Charlene turns and walks back into the garage.

After Charlene calls Eddie, she calls a catering business they usually use and places an order for them to cater their Christmas party. She doubled their normal order because she was inviting everyone they were leasing parts of the shop.

Afterward, Charlene looks over all the paperwork and started filing for ownership of the cars. She puts the cars in the company’s name and get spare keys made. She knew Henry liked to have a second set for each car. She registers the Prius as a work car and puts it on company insurance.

Fifteenth of December:
Henry, Mary, and Charlene watch as Tonya’s class takes part in a play. Tonya got a part as an elf in the play. All three were so proud of her when she came out on stage. Mary was recording the whole play. They all head back to Henry and Mary’s place to celebrate when the play is over.

Charlene enjoyed watching Tonya as she enjoyed the holidays. She steps away from everyone and heads towards the back porch. This was the first Christmas her father wouldn’t be with her. Just like Thanksgiving was. She wipes the tears away as she tries to keep from crying.

Mary had noticed Charlene stepping out onto the back porch to be alone. She nudges Henry to get his attention. She nods towards Charlene out on the back porch.

Henry gets up and joins Charlene on the back porch. He knew why she was crying and why she was standing on the porch by herself. He wraps his arm around her and pulls her to his side. She’s been like a daughter to him.

“I miss him as well, Charlene. Your father loved the holidays, and he loved watching your expressions when you opened your presents.” He pulls Charlene into a hug and hugs her. He could feel her crying against his shoulder.

Once she finished crying, she let Henry escort her inside the house. Mary gives her a cup of her homemade eggnog, which is spiked with rum.

Christmas Eve:
Charlene and Tonya sing with everyone else while caroling throughout their neighborhood. It was a tradition that Charlene had always done with her father. Mary and Henry joined them as they sang. Henry was off-key a few times, but no one in the group minded.

The office Christmas party had gone off without any problems. She had to call cabs for several of her people, but they could come and get their cars once they sobered up. There were some leftovers from the party. She let whoever wanted them take them home.

After they finish caroling, Charlene takes Tonya to Henry’s house, where she can open her gifts from them. Mary takes plenty of pictures of Tonya opening her gifts. She also opens a few gifts as well. She knew Mary always picked out the perfect gifts for her.

If it were left up to Henry, she would get work clothes and tools. He was much like her father when it came to buying gifts for girls. He always needed help from his wife to figure out what to get them.

When they get back to their house, Charlene tucks Tonya into bed. She looks down into Tonya’s eyes “go to sleep, and Santa will drop by with your gifts.”

Tonya looks into Charlene’s eyes “why didn’t he ever drop by before?”

“I don’t know, sweetie, but I have a feeling when you wake up, he would have left you Christmas gifts under the tree.” Charlene kisses Tonya’s
forehead and walks out of the bedroom.

She gives Tonya an hour or more before sneaking downstairs and placing all the gifts she bought for Tonya under the tree. She watched Tonya when they went shopping to see what she would like and bought it. She puts some more gifts Mary had wrapped for Tonya under the tree. She drinks the milk they left out and takes a bite out of the cookies.

Before she goes to bed, she takes a picture of everything. A smile appears as she yawns and heads toward her bedroom. She checks on Tonya one last time before crawling into bed.

On Christmas day, Charlene was so happy to see Tonya so happy as she unwrapped her presents. She had never seen Tonya so happy as she opened each gift and saw that she had gotten exactly what she wanted. She knew how Tonya felt because her father always tried to get what she wanted for her birthday or Christmas.

Thinking about her father, she realizes that this is the first Christmas he wouldn’t be with her. Tears form and leak from her eyes as she wishes her father was here. She wipes the tears away as she concentrates on Tonya instead.

Charlene unwraps the gifts Tonya got for her. She looks at the new cell case she has been wanting. It had a picture of her father and Tonya on it.

“I hope you like it.” Tonya looked at Charlene as she held the case.

Charlene looks into Tonya’s eyes. “I love it.” Charlene gives Tonya a huge.

New Year’s Eve:
Tonya, Charlene, Henry, Mary, and some of the guys from the garage drove to the park for the fireworks display that would be taking place at midnight. Mary brought a big pot of blackeye peas for everyone to eat to welcome the New Year. She also made sure none of the guys drove home after drinking.

Charlene had volunteered to drive everyone home should they become too drunk. Which they did, except Mary. Mary ended up carrying a sleeping Tonya back to the SUV. They came in and put her in the back of the SUV under a blanket while Charlene dropped the guys off.

Charlene was so tired that she spent the night at Mary’s and Henry’s. She shared a bed with Tonya and felt Tonya snuggle up against her. She held Tonya against her body.

The next few months, things were slow around the shop. Charlene and Henry had to cut people’s hours. However, they managed to give everyone at least twenty-four hours or more of work.

Around April, business started picking up, and everyone started getting extra hours.

One morning when Charlene came walking in with donuts for everyone, she noticed Henry and Jacob standing in the office. She knew Jacob owned a used car lot because he normally brought the cars he was selling to the garage to get inspected and worked on.

“Your right, Henry. She does buy donuts for everyone.” Jacob spots Charlene walking in with three dozen donut boxes in her hands.

“Told you.” Henry walks over and gives Charlene a hand with the boxes.

“Thanks, Henry.”

“No problem.” Henry sets the boxes down on his desk.

Charlene puts her purse away and looks at Jacob “what’s going on?”

“Well, Charlene, I’m moving, and I want to sell my car lot. I know that you guys have bought cars and flipped them. Also, you’re just down the street from me, and we have been doing business since your father opened this garage. I came down here with an offer for either Henry or the two of you to buy the lot.”

Charlene was stunned. She knew it would be a bonus to the garage, but she didn’t know if they had the money to purchase the lot and the inventory.

“Look, I know you are concerned about purchasing the lot and inventory. What I would do, is let you put half down and pay the rest in installments. That way, you won’t have to fork over the whole amount right away.” Jacob figures he could help Charlene and Henry out with purchasing the lot.

“How long is this deal good for?” Henry was thinking about the possibilities.

“I’ll give you two weeks before I move on to the next person.” Jacob had several people he would sell to.

“Who’s the next person?” Charlene was curious.

“Max Ronald. He’s been interested in expanding his reach.”

“Man, he sells junk cars and would give your car lot a bad rep.” Charlene knew how bad Max’s cars were, because of the work that have been done on them.

“Can we call you tomorrow?” Henry figures he, his wife, and Charlene need to talk about it.

“Sure, but don’t take too long.” Jacob turns to live the office.

Once Jacob walks out of the garage, Charlene looks at Henry. She could tell he was thinking the proposal over about the car lot.

“You’re ready to go for the deal, aren’t you?” Charlene could already see the answer in Henry’s eyes.

“You know me too well. I think it would help business and the customers who are buying the cars would know they are getting good service with us.” Henry could see all the advantages and disadvantages of owning the car lot.

“Talk it over with Mary and see what she says. I’ll go along with what the two of you think is right.” Charlene trusted her godparents.

Two Months Later:
Charlene serves hot dogs and hamburgers to the customers as they walk around the car lot. She spots Tonya giving out sodas to the customers. She was working with Mary as they did the grand reopening of the car lot.

Not only were they selling cars, but motorcycles too. Terry, Tammy, and Ralph were supplying motorcycles to the car lot. They had motorcycles that weren’t selling at the shop and put them on the lot. They would also take trade-ins to refurbish and resell.

As for Charlene and Tonya's relationship, every once in a while, a social worker would stop by to check up on Charlene. They would either inspect the house or ask about Tonya’s grades, medical records, and such. If Charlene wasn’t taking Tonya to the dentist or eye doctor, Mary would.

As for Tonya, she was making new friends at school, and with permission from Charlene, she would have sleepovers at the house or over at her friends’ house. One of her friends was trans and she became her friend. Some of the kids at school would pick on Prue, but she would stand up to the bullies and tell the teacher about them.

Sometimes, Tonya would bring Prue by the car lot or the garage. They liked helping out and Henry would treat them to lunch and pay them for the work they did. Since Henry wanted the car lot, he would work it and he hired a friend of Tammy’s to come in to help out.

March 15, Jacob’s Used Car Lot:
Debbie watches as Tonya and Prue wash the cars out on the lot. It was a warm day and the girls volunteered to help out. She loved when the girls came to the lot to help out. They had so much fun and people stopped to look at the cars they were cleaning and washing.

A playful smile appears on Tonya’s face as she aims the water hose at Prue and squeezes the handle. She loved playing with her friend.

“Eeekkk!” Prue tries to get out of the way of the stream of water coming towards her.

She giggles as she ducks behind one of the nearby cars. She grabs her sponge and tosses it at Tonya. She moves before Tonya can squirt her with the water hose again.

The girls chase each other around the cars, tossing soapy water and squirting each other with the water hose. They are soaked to the skin, with their swimsuits sticking to their body.

“You girls looked like you had fun.” Henry had walked over from the garage to check on the girls.

He saw the mess they made on the car lot and how soaked they were. He just shakes his head, because this wasn’t the first time the girls have done this.

“You can’t blame them for having fun, Henry.” Debbie has been keeping her eyes on the girls.

“I know. What would you girls like for lunch, today?”

“Tacos!” Tony and Prue answered at the same time.

Henry laughs when the girls answer at the same time. He has figured out that Prue has become Tonya’s best friend. Sure, Tonya has other friends, but they weren’t as close as Prue was to Tonya.

He looks towards Debbie “what would you like?”

“Tacos sound good.” Debbie didn’t mind tacos.

“Okay, I’ll go and get everyone some tacos. While I’m gone, why don’t you girls clean the lot up.” Henry looks at Tonya and Prue when he says that.

“Yes sir.” Tonya and Prue get to work cleaning up their mess and rolling the water hose up.

While the girls are waiting for Henry to return with lunch. They change out of their swimsuits and into the clothes they brought with them to change into. Tonya looks at her friend “I’m glad your mother allowed you to spend the weekend with me.”

“My mom likes you and your sister. She thinks it's nice what your sister is doing.” Prue knew her mother liked and admire Charlene for what she does.

“I’m glad, I have her and everyone else in my life.” Tonya finishes putting on the clothes she packed.

“Tonya, can you help me with this zipper, please?” Prue couldn’t reach the zipper on the back of her dress.

“Sure.” Tonya walks over and zips the dress up.

“Thanks.” Prue likes the dress her mother picked out for her.

“You’re welcome.”

Over At the Garage:
Charlene looks at the video of the car lot and saw Tonya and Prue having fun with the water hose. A smile appears on her face as she watches them. She loved their antics and was glad Prue could spend the weekend with Tonya.

She had to look up what transgenderism was and how she should treat Prue. After reading about gender dysphoria and how some transgender children are treated by their peers and recently by the state politicians making laws that affect teens like Prue. She had to give Prue’s parents kudos for standing by their daughter.

She had to give Henry props for having surveillance cameras installed and having a feed they could access from anywhere. This way, when Tonya is over at the car lot helping out, she could check in on her. The new social worker was handling their case. She seemed to be a stick in the mud.

She has made three house visits in the last few months and checked her finances several times. She goes back to finishing up payroll, so everyone could get paid. She also was going to have to make a bank run on the way to work tomorrow, since Henry had to be at the car lot to open the place for the electrician.

Once Charlene has everything is done and ready. She steps out of the office and walks out into the garage. All of the crew were busy with customer cars. She helps out where she could and tries not to get any grease on her outfit.

After work, Charlene looks at the girls and could tell they had fun today. When she stops at a stoplight “how would you girls feel about just grabbing a pizza, instead of cooking?”

“Okay.” Tonya already knew what type of pizza she wanted to get.

“How about you Prue?”

“Sounds good.” Prue liked pizza.

They stop at Papa Gerardo's and pick up an extra-large pizza. Half was veggie and the other half was sausage and pepperoni. Prue and Tonya couldn’t wait to get home and dig into the pizza.

When they arrive back home. They head into the house and grab some paper plates.

“Grab what you want to drink girls. We’re going to eat in the living room.”

“Yeah!” Tonya grabs some paper plates from the cabinet.

“I got the sodas.” Prue grabs a few sodas for them.

The three of them head into the living room and sit down near the sofa. Tonya turns the television on and selects a movie for them to watch. She leans against Charlene as they eat and enjoys the movie.

When Tonya and Prue had had enough pizza, Charlene puts the leftovers away and send the girls off to shower and put their PJs on. She grabs their sleeping bags and lay them out on the floor pillows. Once the girls are done with their shower and had their PJs on.

Charlene lays down on the sofa and watches television with them. She notices after a while, that the girls had fallen asleep. She reaches over to the living room table and turns the television off.

During the night, Charlene hears Prue get up and go to the bathroom. She opens her eyes and watches her. A few seconds later, she hears the toilet flush and Prue coming back into the living room and laying back down.

When morning arrives, Charlene is woken up by the alarm on her Apple watch. She hits the snooze button and falls back asleep. Her alarm goes off a second time. She didn’t want to get up, but Mary was going to be arriving soon to watch the girls.

She gets up and heads upstairs to get dressed for work. Once she is done getting ready for work, she pokes her head into the living room and notices the girls were still asleep. Just as she is ready to work out the front door, she spots Mary pulling into her driveway.

She walks outside “hi, Mary.” As she hugs Mary.

Mary returns the hug “are you off to work, Charlene?”

“Nope, the bank. The girls are asleep in the living room.”

“I remember those days with you,” Mary remembers when Charlene was little and spent the night at her house.

“I always enjoyed waking up to you making me breakfast.”

“I know. You go ahead and do what you need to. I’ll watch the girls and make them breakfast.” Mary enjoyed babysitting Tonya.

“Thanks, Mary.” Charlene gives her one more hug, before getting in her truck and heading to the bank.

Special Note:
I’m going to do a slight time jump in the story.

“Hey sis, can I go with Prue and her family this year when they go on vacation?” Tonya looks at her sister when she walks into the garage office.
Charlene looks up from the paperwork she has been working on. A smile appears on her face when she spots Tonya walking into her office. It never gets old seeing her little sister.

“Yes, you can go with Prue when she and her parents go camping next month.” Charlene knew Tonya would mope around the house while her best friend was gone.

Prue and Tonya were closer than natural-born sisters. Ever since Prue needed a marrow transplant and Tonya turned out to be a perfect match. That had been two years ago and it brought them closer.

“Thanks, sis.” Tonya was happy that her sister was going to let her go.

“You’re welcome. How was school today? Did you have any problems with Steve Miller and his friends again?” Charlene knew since Tonya and
Prue entered Jr. High, a group of guys in eighth grade, started bullying them.

They would come up behind some of the girls in school and pop their bra straps or try yanking the girl's skirts down. Prue and Tonya had been their latest victims. Not only did the boys pop their bras, but yanked so hard on the band that they tore the blouse the girls had been wearing and broke the strap.

The boys got suspended for a month for the prank they pulled. However, when the girls were walking home from softball practice. The boys ambushed them and regretted it. What the boys hadn’t counted on was that Tonya knew how to defend herself. She protected Prue and herself.

“It was fine. As for Steve and his friends, they got their butts kicked by Terry and her brothers. You should have seen it, sis. Steve and his friends needed to go to the hospital.”

“I feel sorry for their parents. They are nice people and work hard to give their sons a good life.” Charlene has met their parents and knew how hard they worked.

“I think if they separate Steve’s friends from him, they would be nicer. Steve is the problem. He walks around as the world owes him.” Tonya learned a lot from her godfather and godmother.

“When did you become so smart?” Charlene was surprised by Tonya’s statement.

“From you and our godparents.” Tonya loved her godparents a lot.

“Speaking of which, Mary wants to know if you and Prue would like to help this weekend at the bake sale?”

“Yes!” Tonya was excited. She loved baking with her godmother.

She also knew Prue liked baking and cooking as well. Prue has already won a few cooking contests her mother entered her in. The two of them had a part-time baking business they owned and were known for their brawny cupcakes.

They were busy during the holidays with baking orders and special sauces Prue made. The money from the sauces paid for the ingredients they needed for the baking business. She couldn’t wait to tell Prue.

Charlene saw how excited Tonya was. She knew her little sister loved working with their godmother and her best friend.

“Why don’t you call Prue later and see what she thinks.”

“I’m already on it, sis.” Tonya was sending a text message to Prue.

Charlene just shakes her head as she goes back to balancing the books. In the past few years, she took online courses to get her degree in accounting. She got her degree in Bookkeeping first and later took an online course to become an accountant.

By the time five o’clock rolls around. Charlene is finished with all the paperwork she had to do. She was also happy that social services didn’t check up on her and Tonya anymore. Since she turned eighteen years old, she was considered an adult by the law, even though she has been emancipated since her father died three years ago. She still misses him and wishes he was still alive.

Henry was over at the car lot filling in for Mark Walsh. Debbie worked the weekend and Mark worked during the week. Henry hired him because Debbie needed a break and she was a new mother. The father of her baby didn’t mind her working the weekends.

Charlene powers down her computer and goes out into the garage to double-check everything. She trusted Jose and ever since they made him the assistant shop foreman, he has done an excellent job. Once she was done checking everything, she walks back to the office and saw Tonya standing by the door, ready to go.

“You ready?”

“Yep!” Tonya was ready to head home. She had a load of laundry and a project to finish.

Charlene arms the alarm and walks out of the garage. She waits to hear the beeping sound, to let her know the alarm was armed.

“How about instead of cooking tonight, we get takeout.” Charlene looks at Tonya as they get into the truck.

“Sounds good. How about Chinese tonight?” Tonya loved Chinese food.

“Okay.”

Charlene drives to Number #1 Chinese and pickup takeout for her and Tonya. Afterward, she drives home.

“Prue says she doesn’t mind helping Mary out for the bake sale.” Tonya had waited in the truck and texted back and forth with Prue.

“You know, you can also use those phones to talk with each other.” Charlene glances at Tonya.

“But this is much more fun.” A mischievous smile appears on Tonya’s face.

When they arrive home, they walk into the house. Tonya takes her book bag to her bedroom and takes her tennis shoes off and changes out of
her school clothes. She puts on her favorite t-shirt that had a picture of her and Prue on it. She exits her bedroom and joins Charlotte in the living room.

Charlene takes her purse to her bedroom and put it on her desk. She walks back into the living room and sets out their dinner. She spots Tonya walking into the living room “select a movie and we’ll start eating.”

“Okay.” Tonya flops down on her favorite bean bag and selects a movie from Vudu.

Local Teens Cookoff Contest:
Charlene and Elizabeth watch as Tonya and Prue compete against four other teens. Food Network was sponsoring a teen cooking competition. The Burger Queen herself Alissa Spencer was one of the judges, judging the competition. The other two judges were Damaris Smith and Bobby McCord.

Damaris Smith specialized in Southern-style cuisine and has been season fifteen’s Iron Chef winner. Bobby McCord has won several burger competitions and won the last two regional BBQ competitions.

“I can’t believe how many teens have mastered skills that have taken me years to learn.” Damaris was amazed at the three, two-man teams competing today.

“I know what you mean. I was playing softball at their age.” Bobby was watching the teams as they prepared their best dish.

“I was helping my uncle with his food truck and learning my skills from him,” Alissa remembers days when she would help her uncle.

“But were you, their age?” Bobby looks at Alissa when he asked that question.

“No, I was never their age, doing what they are doing.” Alissa had to admit that the teens competing today were young.

“I can say this, those kids are talented.” Christy Garvin with Food Network was the hostess for the competition.

Tonya and Prue looked toward the other teams and saw that they were going all out. They weren’t worried about what they were making. Prue was making French Onion burgers on an onion roll. She looks over towards Tonya she was making beer batter spicy onion rings from scratch. The onion rings were different from the onions used in the French Onion burger.

As for the cheese for the burger, she added melted Gruyère to the top of the burger. As for the condiment, they made sweet pickled shallots and pickles. They knew that the other kids were making pasta and tacos.

When the time is up for cooking. The dishes are taken to the judges, one by one. Tonya had her fingers crossed as Prue described what they made to the judges.

Both girls watch as the judges take a bite of their burgers and onion rings. They saw the reaction on the burger queen's face when she bit into the burger. She seemed to love the burger and the onion rings.

Damaris and Bobby seemed to love their burgers and onion rings as well. They watch as the judges taste the other teams. They talk among themselves and a few times, the burger queen Alissa looks over towards the group and back to the other judges.

Tonya grabs Prue’s hand and holds it. Prue looks at her friend and knew how nervous she felt. They watch as the judges break apart and fill out the cards they were given to record their choices and hand them to Christy.

Christy looks the cards over and a smile appears on her face. She wishes she could have tried the food, but she couldn’t. She looks at the three teams standing before her “the winner of the main meal contest is team Prue and Tonya.”

Tonya and Prue scream and jump up and down. They couldn’t believe they had won. They calm down after a few minutes and look toward the judges.

Charlene and Elizabeth saw how excited the girls were. They knew Prue and Tonya worked hard and were proud of both girls. They knew the girls split the winnings and put half into their business and half in their bank account.

The other two teams did well but scored a point or two below Prue and Tonya’s final score. After the competition, Charlene and Elizabeth take Prue and Tonya out for a winner’s dinner at their favorite place. When they enter the restaurant, the girls are met with huge applause.

Charlene looks at her little sister as the girls take pictures with some of the patrons. The chef of the restaurant brings out a meal that wasn’t on the menu.

“Something special for our local winners.” Chef Brooks smiles at Prue and Tonya.

“Thanks, chef Brooks.” Tonya looks at chef Brooks and was happy she was proud of them.

Chef Brooks has let them use her kitchen when they needed to do a big order and their mother’s kitchen wouldn’t do.

“You’re welcome, girls. I heard about the burger you made and the onion rings as well. You girls need to market those burgers or you could tell
me how you made them.” Chef Brooks wouldn’t mind adding them to her menu.

Prue looks at Brooks “how about we make you one?”

“Deal.”

Charlene just smiles at the girls. Once chef Brooks walks away “I’m very proud of both of you.”

“I have to agree, girls. You did an amazing job during the competition.”

“Thanks, mom.” Prue looks at her mother.

“Thanks, Mrs. Drenner.” Tonya smiles at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth has seen a huge improvement since Prue and Tonya become friends years ago. She loved how their relationship was stronger than her own was with her best friend.

“Let’s eat, girls.” Charlene didn’t want their meal to get cold.

Grease Monkey Garage:
Charlene walks into work yawning. She had a hard time sleeping last night and didn’t get enough sleep. She dropped Tonya off at Prue’s house, so both girls could ride with Elizabeth to school.

Henry walks into the office from the garage area and spots Charlene walking into the office. He noticed she was yawning.

“Rough night?” He walks over to fix himself some coffee.

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep for some reason.” Charlene sits down at her desk and put her purse into the bottom right-hand drawer.

“Mary and I have had nights like that. Is there something you are worried about?” Henry walks over to his desk and sits down.

“No, ever since we got rid of Mr. Popper and got Mrs. Hodgins, things have been nice. I don’t know what is bothering me, but I know something is eating at me.” Charlene couldn’t figure it out.

“Does it have anything to do with work or your private life?” Henry has gone through days like that.

“Nope, everything is fine here at work and my home life is fine. Whatever it is, will make itself known.” Charlene figures whatever is bugging her will make its presence known.

Charlene yawns and stretches as she gets out of bed. She turns the alarm off on her cell phone and stumbles into the bathroom. She does her morning business and steps into the shower to wash her body. She couldn’t believe how quiet it had gotten last night without Tonya at home. She was off camping with her friend Prue for the next two weeks.

As she showers, she enjoys the hot water as it cascaded down her body. She still couldn’t get over the fact that Tonya was going to be gone for two weeks camping. As she washes her body and runs her hands over her nipples, her groin area tightens up. It’s been so long since she has dated anyone.

She was never the dating type, because most boys at her high school were intimidated by how much she knew about cars or how smart she was. Ever since her father died, she has concentrated on running the garage and taking care of Tonya. She hasn’t given any thought to her needs. She fingers herself and before long she is left in a haze of orgasm as her legs give way and she slides to the floor of the shower.

She couldn’t believe how nice it felt when the orgasm traveled through her body. She spends a few minutes enjoying the afterglow of the orgasm she just had, before standing and rinsing off. She pats her body dry and wraps her hair.

She walks back into her bedroom and starts getting ready for work. Her body was still feeling the effects of the orgasm as she put her panties on. Normally she didn’t wear thong panties, but today she decided to wear them under a pair of faded jeans.

She slips on one of the many shop t-shirts she had made for the garage and put it on. She looks at her image in the mirror as she brushes out her shoulder-length hair. She never lets it grow past her shoulders, because sometimes, she enjoyed going out into the garage to work.

Charlene grabs her purse and truck keys and walks out to her father’s old pickup truck. She gets in and drives to work. On the way she stops and buys a cup of coffee and two dozen doughnuts She knew the guys will enjoy them.

When she arrives, she could already tell they were going to be busy with state inspections. There was a line forming outside of bay three. She notices the motorcycle shop was going to be busy as well. There was a rally coming up that Ralph and Tammy were sponsoring.

She thought about going on it but decided not to. Tammy had taught her how to operate a motorcycle, but she only liked to ride it on the weekend. She wasn’t a serious rider like Tammy, Ralph and his partner were.

She walks into the office and out into the garage with the doughnuts. She knew the guys were busy, so instead of putting them in the office, she leaves them there in the garage.

“Doughnuts, guys.” As she goes about making a fresh pot of coffee and straightening up the condiments.

“Thanks, boss.” Stephen smiles at Charlene as he ducks back under the hood of a car.

Charlene just shakes her head as she heads back into the office to order parts and does paperwork. She hears her cell phone ding and notices
she had received several texts with pictures. She looks at them and notices that they were from Tonya. She was showing pictures from where they were camping and swimming. She watched a short video that Prue made of Tonya swinging out into a river from a rope.

A smile appears on Charlene’s face. As she watches her little sister have fun.

“What are you watching?” Henry comes walking into the office with a cup of coffee.

“Prue and Tonya sent me pictures and videos of them having fun.” Charlene shows Henry the videos.

Henry watches the two girls having fun. He lets out a chuckle as he watches Tonya drops from a rope swing into the water.

“It looks like she is having fun.”

“I know. I’m kind of jealous.” Charlene normally took a few days a year off.

“Maybe next year you’ll take some time off.” Henry looks at Charlene to emphasize his words.

“Okay, I get the hint.” Charlene knew when Henry spoke, she should listen.

Several hours go by and Charlene has everything finished. She looks at the time and saw that it was near the time she took off for lunch. She grabs her purse and let Henry know she was leaving for lunch.

“Alright, take your time.” Henry waves at Charlene as she walks out of the office.

Charlene walks towards her truck and gets in. She starts the truck and put it in reverse and backs out of her parking spot. Once she is finished backing up, she puts it in drive and heads for downtown.

She didn’t know what she was in the mood for, but it didn’t matter. Downtown had a large selection of restaurants and food trucks. She finds a place to park and gets out of her truck. She didn’t know what she wanted, but she knew she was in the mood for something.

She starts walking down the street and looking at the different shops and such. She spots a little food cart selling hotdogs and sausages. She walks over to the cart and notices it was operated by a guy a little older than her.

Tom was watching the traffic on the sidewalk. He knew for the next few hours things were going to be slow. As he is watching the traffic, he spots a young woman walking toward him. He hasn’t seen her before, but she was wearing a t-shirt that had the Grease Monkey logo on it. She was too pretty to be a mechanic. He watches as she walks up to his cart.

Charlene notices the young man watching her as she walked up to him. A smile appears on her face as she stops before the cart.

“So, what specials do you have going?” Charlene watches the young man.

“Two hotdogs and a soda for two dollars or two sausages and soda for four dollars. A bag of chips is a dollar extra.”

“What type of hotdogs do you have?” Charlene was looking at the dogs on the rollers.

“All beef hotdogs. We have beef hotdogs with cheese in them.” Tom watches the young lady.

“I’ll have two dogs fully loaded and a bag of chips.” Charlene liked hotdogs.

“What soda would you like?” Tom had both brands of sodas.

“A Pepsi will be fine.” Charlene liked Pepsi over Coke Cola.

Charlene watches as Tom makes her dogs. She liked her hotdogs with everything. She was amazed at how well he made the hotdogs.

Tom makes the hotdogs for the young lady and is careful about how he applied the condiments. He could tell she was watching him. He didn’t mind her watching him as he worked.

“Here you go.” Tom hands the two hotdogs to Charlene.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Go ahead and choose what chips you want.” Tom reaches down into the cooler and pulls out a cold can of Pepsi.

Charlene chooses what bag of chips she wants for the rack hanging on the wind barrier. She chooses a bag of Lay's plain chips.

“Here’s your soda, ma’am.”

“Thank you. And here is a five-dollar bill.” Charlene hands a five-dollar bill to Tom.

“And here is your change.” Tom hands three dollars back.

Charlene only takes one dollar from him “Keep those for yourself.”

“Thank you.” Tom puts the two dollar bills in a jar.

“You’re welcome.” She walks away and sits down on a nearby bench and enjoys her lunch.

As she is eating, she notices how busy Tom gets. She didn’t think just selling hotdogs and sausages would be popular, but it was. She notices that Tom jokes with a few customers as he serves them.

After Charlene finish eating her hotdogs. She walks around some more and when her lunchtime is about up, she heads back to work. When she arrives at work, she gets to work organizing work orders and doing credit card charges.

During the week, Charlene takes her lunch at the hotdog vendor she met. She gets to know him and how he handles his customers. When she appears on Friday, she notices a smile on Tom’s face.

“Back for some more hot dogs?” Tom noticed that Charlene has been showing up all week for lunch.

“I was wondering what you are doing tonight?” Charlene figures she would make the first move.

Tom was a little surprised by the question. He has never had a woman ask him out before.

“Nothing except cleaning my grill. Why? What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I was wondering if you would like to join me for dinner?” Charlene was nervous about asking Tom out.

“Sure, where and when?”

“How about La Quins at seven o’clock tonight?” Charlene watches Tom’s face.

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you there.” Tom knew the chef at La Quins. He’s never eaten there, but he knew the head chef.

"I'll see you there." Charlene turns and walks away.

It’s been a week since Charlene asked Tom out for dinner at La Quins. Since she asked him out, she paid for the meal. He did insist on paying for it, but she suggested that he pays for the second date.

Which there was a second one, along with a movie. Tom took her to a nice Italian restaurant where she tried eggplant rollatini which was something she has never had. She wasn’t much of an eggplant eater, but after eating that dish. She would order the dish again.

When she walked into the office, Henry could tell that Charlene was glowing and just smiles. He hasn’t seen her this happy, since she adopted Tonya. Him and his wife received pictures from Tonya and Prue. They were enjoying themselves at camp.

Henry knew when the girls return from camp, they were going to be busy with their catering business. He has been asked by some of his friends where the girls were. Ever since they won the teens cookoff contest. They have been hired to do a lot of catering jobs.

Henry looks at Charlene as she sat at her desk and worked on paperwork for the motorcycle shop. He knew she took care of the garage first and the motorcycle shop afterwards. Tammy and Ralph have taken the day off, leaving Terry and the two-part timers they hired to help out.

As for the garage, it was doing steady work. They were making a small profit and their customer base has increased.

“I can’t believe how well we are doing, Henry.” Charlene looked up and over at Henry.

“That’s good. How is the auto lot doing?” Henry knew Charlene kept the records for the car lot.

“It’s breaking even. There are a few cars you need to take to the auction. They just aren’t moving.” Charlene knew that the people around town weren’t interested in those cars.

“Well, since I don’t have to much money tied up in them, I’ll drop the price.” Henry bought the cars for cheap.

“I figure you would do that. Let me know what the new price is and I’ll adjust the online price for them.” Charlene has gotten into making web sites for Henry and the girls.

She took a few online courses and watched a few YouTube videos to learn how to make the webpages and site. Now that they had an online presence, it was helping the shop, the car lot and the motorcycle shop. This way, they could offer discounts and cheaper prices on certain services.

“How serious is it getting between you and Tom?” Henry looks across the desk towards Charlene.

“It’s still too early to tell, but I like him.” Charlene hasn’t liked a lot of people.

She knew the real test will come when Tonya comes back from camp. She’ll see how Tom handles seeing her as a mother/sister to Tonya. That will be the true test of their blooming relationship.

A smile appears on henry’s face as he goes out into the garage to help. He knew Charlene had the office. As for her relationship with Tom. That will take some time to develop.

Charlene goes back to work and busy herself with paperwork. She knew she needed to get everything done today. She still had to go and get some parts.

Downtown:
Tom watches as people go about their business. Occasionally, someone would stop to buy a hot dog or sausage from him. He gives a free meal to a veteran that stops by to chit chat with him. The older man was a Marine that had been injured overseas.

He thinks back on his last date with Charlene and smiles. They had gone to see the live version of the Little Mermaid. Tom found out that Charlene has never been to Disney world and liked Disney movies.

He noticed that she didn’t care that much for the movie. As for himself, it was okay, but nothing to write home about. The live version of Beauty and Beast was better.

Afterwards, he dropped her off at her house. The restaurant they went too, had impressed Charlene and he managed to talk her into eating something she would normally not touch. He loved Italian food and he found out that she loved Chinese food.

He liked Chinese food as well. He planned on taking Charlene to The Peking Wall for dinner. He also couldn’t wait to meet Charlene’s little sister Tonya when she comes back from camp. He saw some of the pictures Tonya sent to Charlene.

Around noon time, business picks up and is kept busy. His little hot dog cart was popular with the office staff and some of the businesses around the area he set up at. He knew Charlene kept busy with how many books she maintained for all the businesses she was either a partner or landlord of.

A few police officers Tom was friends of stop by for lunch. Officer Williams has been hearing some rumors about Tom.

“Hey Tom, a little birdy told me you started dating that girl over at the Grease Monkey.” Officer Williams watches as Tom fixes his hot dog.

“We’ve gone on a few dates. Should I be concerned about anything?” Tom looks at his friend.

“Are you kidding? That girl has been a big asset to the police department. Her garage gives discounts to cops and firefighters. You should get to know her better and not let her go. Also, be nice to her as well. Because, a lot of us think of her like a daughter.”

“I’ll do that.” Tom knew his friend was making sure that he knew they were looking after her.

Grease Monkey:
Charlene looks at the time and figures that with all the work they had going on. The guys might not want to take a full hour break. So, she orders six large pizzas and sodas to go with them. This way, the guys could take a short break and eat. She wouldn’t subtract the time for break form their paychecks.

After placing the order, she goes out into the garage to let the guys know.

Charlene was nervous as she prepared dinner at her place. This would be the first time Tom and Tonya would meet. She wanted Tom to meet her little sister and for Tonya to meet Tom as well. She looks at everything as she sets it out on the table.

“What do you think, sis?” Charlene looks at Tonya as she brings in the last dish from the kitchen.

Tonya had helped her sister cook everything. She has never seen her sister this nervous before.

“I think whoever this Tom person is, he is going to love the food, sis.”

“I hope so.” Charlene looks at her little sister and couldn’t believe how much sun she got while she was camping.

Charlene double-checks everything before heading to her bedroom to change her clothes. Tonya had helped her select an outfit to wear earlier. She glances at the clock in her bedroom and notices it was almost time for Tom to arrive. She quickly changes her clothes and rushes downstairs.

Just as her foot hit the floor from the last step, the doorbell rings. Charlene double checks her appearance one more time and walks over to the front door and open it. A smile appears on her face as she spots Tom as she opens the door.

Tom watches as the front door to Charlene’s house opens. A smile forms on his face when he spots her standing on the other side. Tonight, he was going to meet her little sister/daughter.

“Hey, beautiful.” As Tom walks into the house and kisses her.

Charlene returns the kiss. She loved how Tom looked and smelled. She closes the front door behind her and turns to introduce Tom to Tonya.

“Tom, I would like for you to meet my little sister Tonya. Tonya, I would like you to meet Tom.”

Tonya walks forward to shake Tom’s hand. She liked how Tom looked and could see why her sister had fallen for him.

“I hope you’re hungry, Tom. Me and Tonya made a big meal.”

“I’ve heard about your sister and her partner's cooking. I can’t wait to try her food.” Tom had heard about Tonya and her partner Prue cooking.

Also, how the two of them had competed on several kids' cooking shows and won either first place or came in second. He knew they had a catering business in town and that Charlene helped them out. Tom looks at Tonya when he says that.

“I know you won’t be disappointed, Tom.” Charlene starts walking towards the dining room.

Tonya and Tom follow behind Charlene

The Upcoming Weeks:
Tom, Tonya, and Charlene spend a lot of time together. Tom meets Tonya’s partner Prue and her mother. He helps them out with their catering business. They in return help him out with his hot dog and sausage stand.

Tom also meets Henry and his wife, whom he learns is Charlene’s godparents and partner at the garage. He also learns that Henry owns the car lot across the street from the garage as well. He was awe-struck that Charlene handled the books for several businesses located in the same building as the garage.

Charlene introduces Tom to everyone at the garage and where he meets a few members of the motorcycle gangs that do business with Tammy, Ralph, and Terry. He now knows why some of the police officers that stopped by his hot dog stand suggested he treated Charlene properly. Her shop did business with the police force fixing and maintaining their cars, along with a few other city agencies.

As for Tonya and Prue, he is impressed by how talented the two of them are. He has never known any teenagers their age having a business that caters to meals as good as theirs. Not only that, they had a few items that they sold such as their specialized sauces and cookies.

The girls had a stand down at the local swap meet where they sold their products online as well. He was willing to sell some of their sauces at his hot dog stand. Which, when some of his customers taste a sample of them, he sells out in no time. Even some of the restaurants in the area where he sets up, ask him if they could order some of the sauces through him.

The girls, of course, make sure Tom gets a percentage of the sales as well. They appreciated what he was doing for them.

As the months go by, the relationship between Charlene and Tom gets stronger. As much as Charlene wants to have sex with Tom, she wants to save herself for the day she gets married. Which is something her godmother Mary encouraged.

As for Tom, he was slowly falling in love with Charlene. It wasn’t just her dedication to the businesses she ran, but how she cared about everyone that worked for her. She went out of her way to help them and her customers as well.

He knew she cared very deeply for Tonya and there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for her little sister or Tonya’s friend Prue. He knew she donated to the homeless shelters in the area and would volunteer along with Tonya and Prue delivering hot meals to people who were home bound.

Epilogue:
In the years to come, Charlene ends up marrying Tom and having a son of her own, which she names after her father. As for her sister Tonya, Charlene ends up adopting her as her daughter/little sister.

Tonya and Prue end up opening a small business selling their sauces and cookies. Charlene gives them the startup money to start their business. The girls also help Tom upgrade from the hot dog stand to a full fledged food truck. They continue to use the hot dog stand at fairs and special events that occur.