4 – Basic Training And The Trouble With Old Mates.
Will decided that it wouldn’t hurt to spend a few more days staying with his dad, although it may obviously bring back his dads’ perception that Will was a bit weird. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Danny Graves to meet him though, because if that went the wrong way, it would only reinforce those ideas. At least he may be able to avoid any other nut cases that might be trying to get hold of him, although his fears that the biggest nutcase had already done so.
The first thing he would do was contact Simon, and arrange to meet up with their old school mate Neil at the garage.
Simon was certainly up for that idea, and it gave Will a glimpse back into the normal world again, which even after so short a time seemed so far away. Although meeting up once more with Neil again would hardly be most peoples idea of normal.
Simon & Neil decided that rather than phone up first, they would take a trip to their old neighbourhood and call in on Neil with a surprise visit. He hadn’t changed all that much, despite the passing years. He was undoubtedly skilled at what he did, but his basic common sense was still the Neil they knew and sort of loved. It was quite clear that a university education would not have suited him at all, in fact if truth be known, even the latter years of school had been somewhat wasted on him.
When they reached the garage, they peered through the open door to the workshop, and called out.
“Hello, is there a Neil Sutherland here?” Simon called out first, in a slightly exaggerated tone of officialdom.
“We’re here from the DVLA, it would appear your MOT testing license has expired” Continued Will.
From a door across the workshop came a nervous call. “ Hold on, I’ll be with you in a moment.” Then silence. Folowed by a flush, and the sound of a door being unbolted.” I’m sure I can explain,” came back Neils voice, then he appeared at the door, in filthy oil covered overalls, and equally filthy hands.
As he approached, Neil was talking. “I don’t really deal with the paperwork, so I’m not sure what papers you need to see” Then he recognised his old school mates, and greeted them warmly with a dirt encrusted handshake. Will could not hide his obvious discomfort at this.
“Normally, I’d ask if you had washed your hands after coming out of the toilet Neil. But I can see quite clearly that you haven’t”
“It’s OK, Will, it was only a wee, and I didn’t spill any.”
Simon started laughing, at the irony in Wills comment, having already been told the whole story of what was going on. “You’re going to have to be a bit less uptight about that sort of thing Will. I can see you’re really going to struggle with your new project with those attitudes.”
Neil was somewhat bemused, and offered to make his old mates a cup of tea.
“OK, Neil, I’ll explain, but first please wash your hands before making the tea. I may have to deal with is in easy stages, and drinking out of a cup held by your willy fiddling fingers is not in the early stages.”
Once again Will had to explain about his problem, how he was now stuck with writing a book using a title that didn’t belong to him, with a subject that he was rapidly finding was as unsuitable for him as any title possibly could be, and to cap it all with this old guy who was determined to make his life as awkward as possible so that he could use this unsuitable title. The more he thought about it, the worse his situation seemed to be getting.
“Christ, Neil. I mean I’m not a dorty wee shite am I. Simon certainly isn’t, and I can’t imagine you are either. Well not intentionally anyway”. This last point was emphasised pointedly as Will was glaring at Neils still filthy hands, as he handed out equally grubby garage mugs filled with tea. Neil looked guiltily at his hands, then apologised.
“Oh, sorry I forgot to wash my hands again didn’t I?.”
“Really Neil?” said Will sarcastically, “I can’t say that I’d noticed.”
Meanwhile Simon was obliviously drinking his tea. “You don’t make a bad cuppa actually Neil.” Between sips he added, “You know what we need don’t you? We need to track down Jay. If any of us was a dorty wee shite, it was Jay”
Will had to admit, that getting back in touch with Jay might not be such a bad idea.
“He certainly told a good dirty story, and it is supposed to be a work of fiction, and Jay was definitely good at that. All the stories he told as truth were made up anyway. Any ideas on what’s he’s up to these days?”
“I know where he is” said Neil “He works in a shop down in Morden, we can take a drive over there if you like. I can lock up here and we can take the old Montego for a test drive. It needs a good run, I’ve just done the exhaust.”
So once again, they were off to make a surprise call on an old friend. It was quite an exciting prospect to have all four of them back together again after such a long time. In the car they chatted about what life had thrown at them, and Will was at at last feeling more comfortable than he had done for such a long time. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in the company he was around since long before the book idea, before his days in University even, and he had Danny Graves to thank for it, indirectly.
This trip really was like a journey back in time for the three young men. There was no doubt that the exhaust was fitted well enough, but the engine didn’t sound too healthy, and the temperature gage flickered alarmingly indicating that the car may overheat at any moment, or possibly freeze. It was difficult to tell. Despite Neil’s assurances that it was just a faulty gage, that his cousin was due to replace once the spare part had arrived, neither Will nor Simon felt fully reassured. They talked about Simon’s family, how happy he was being married to Lucy, and what a lucky escape he had had, not ending up with the love of his young life Carli, he went on and on about his job as purchasing manager in a well known electronics company. Neil was sharing tales of his work at the garage, and Will was remaining fairly quiet.
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