creative writers: blog 
creative writers' blog
a little more history
by Cuzin LukeyPublished Sep. 6, 2008
A little more history, then on with the story, OK?
I got a job allright. Mr. James Ennis gave me a job at the Gulf Supreme filling station. The place was located on Main Street in Dunn. That was the most popular filling station in town. My job to begin with was pumping gas, cleaning windshields, and sweeping the front and the office. Any monkey could do that. My Pa worked in the mill and he thought I would go on and work there. The mill I am talking about was the Erwin mill. They made cloth. I just didn’t even want to go over there and look at the place. So I went to Dunn, just about four miles from home and got a job at the station.
One day when I had worked there a while James came to me and said he wanted me to start changing oils and greasing cars. I’d still have to air up tires, clean windshields, pump gas. I finally earned enough money to buy a car. I had me a 1955 Dodge sedan. That’s what I drove to the funeral the day Margaret came home. That old thing needed paint and it could use some tires but the motor run good and the seats didn’t have holes in them. I thought I was doing allright. After all, I was saving $15, dollars a week. All this started when I was 18 years old and I still worked at the station. Things had changed a little since I started. I now had grown so well in servicing cars that James rented me the “grease” bay. That’s where all the work on cars was done. Grease jobs, oil changes, tires mounted and balanced, I mounted all tires whether we sold them or not, limited mechanical work was also my job. I installed spark plugs, wires, distributor parts, rebuilt carburetors, and other minor and not to minor engine repairs. I got to where I changed generators, relined brakes, set the timing and just about anything folks needed done to their cars. Pretty soon people drove up to the station and asked for me. Sometimes that was aggravating ‘cause some of them wanted only me to touch their cars. That included wiping windshields, and full service when they got gas. I felt like James and me were partners so to speak. Anyway that ‘s what I was doing and still living at home with Mom and Pop. I gave them $20.00 a week to help out with things.
I only had fifteen minutes before I was supposed to pick up Margaret Suzette for our date. I was hungry and really hoped that she was. Leroy’s had pretty good food and you could eat as much as you liked. This was the only restaurant of this kind for miles around. They might have one in Fayetteville or Raleigh. I never went to those places. Looking back now, I know that was a very slow existence but it met just my need. Back then I dreamed of owning my own garage. And now, I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. This happened to me in just about twenty minutes of my life when I saw her at the funeral.
Copyright © 2008 - Ed Powers All Rights Reserved. The materials on these blog posts are copyrighted by Ed Powers as the author. Please respect my rights. No permission is given to copy or reprint material viewed on these web pages.
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