creative writers' blog

rebuilding a carburetor and building a life

 abuse

Working Like a Man/Thinking Like a Boy

I told you I had to rebuild a carburetor for Terry’s car. As usual I got to the station about 7:30 AM and got started tearing that thing apart. One of the most important things to do when repairing a carburetor is the cleaning process. After taking it all apart you must soak it in cleaner for two or three hours then blow away all the cleaner with the air hose as you remove parts from the cleaner and place them on a clean towel, a white one if possible. The white towel makes it possible to see the smallest parts and there are many of them. This was an excellent carburetor to use if you are interested in speed out of your car. Terry Hill was surely in to speed. He really was a street racer although he did compete at the drag strip once in a while. I had to give him the best job I could possibly do. I got it all apart, put all those tiny parts in the cleaner and went to the parts store to get the kit to make it over. By the way, a new carburetor would cost about $350.00 and this restoration of the one would cost about $85.00. That’s why Terry and others came to see me. To do this kind of work you must have regular habits and patients a bunch. I probably had three of these and other types to do in every month.

While the parts were soaking I helped James on the front pumping gas, cleaning windshields, checking oil and each time I raised the hood on a car, I looked for things that were about to give problems. Like worn belts, cracked hoses, dirty battery posts, and anything that could be readily visible. Sometimes I got a job for the “shop” out of helping James. (I called it a shop because that’s the way I operated in that rented bay at the station. It was my shop.) In that shop I did all kind of small jobs. Brake jobs, air conditioner repair, almost anything under the hood, universal joints and drive train repairs, changed oil and transmission fluid and it kept me busy. While assembling that carburetor my mind wondered. It took the longest time I had ever taken to finish it. I was glad Terry would come tomorrow to have it put on his car. When we changed the carburetors out then I would rebuild the other so he would have a spare.

I really needed to be busy today but you know already what I was thinking about-that date with Suzette tonight. Yep! Tonight I was going to find out just how tangled up she was with someone else. I already knew she had had a boy friend that went to the Navy but did she have another? I’ll know tonight. This was the best feeling I'd known since Lukey was declared dead. This was Friday and I usually went to church on Sunday. My plan was to ask her to go with me. Not knowing what she would think about the type service the Reverend Kirkland had in this small church. You see, this church was in the Pentecostal Holiness church. At twenty-one and a half years old I already knew some things that I didn’t want to ever change.

I believe there are three things that present problems between couples. (1) money,  (2) religion, (3) sex.

There needs to be a budget that is adhered to and wisely applied. This budget must have an item listed for savings, even if it is a small amount each payday. A good budget must allow for at least a week’s salary for rent or house payments. There needs to be some money for recreation. It would be best if that recreation were something both are interested in and participate in. if one is better at managing money then the other shold let that happen.

Religion can cause a terrible upset. If you are going to attend church at all then you aboth must be comfortable with the church itself. Methodist and Pentecostal don’t necessarily blend well. I didn’t know if she even attended church at all. Would I be able to give up Sunday church if she didn’t want to go with me? Could the relationship grow if one went to church and the other didn’t? Or what if they wanted to go to different churches. If the relationship is to go along smoothly then it may require compromising. Who would be willing to “give” the more in this case?

Sex will be very high on the list to cause problems. After all there are two will that must decide to participate. Men, quite obviously, are more than interested I sex than women. The five senses (seeing, hearing, smelling tasting and feeling) are what impress men more. Men get excited by agitated the senses. Women are definitely not excited by their senses for the most part. What get women interested most of the time, are the emotions, and a slow approach to the whole thing. Men usually are interested in satisfying themselves. The two definitely change when they are married. Sex is like anything else. It is better if planned and both are part and parcel in that planning. Sex before marriage is always more exciting for both parties. I told you before that at this time I was a virgin so you must know I got most of these ideas from reading.

Guess what? These were some of the questions I eventually want answers to. Gosh this may take years. I realized that it is important to have patients in getting what I wanted to know.

Think Justin! What are you willing to change to keep her from losing her again. I really don’t know a thing about her. We will have to start from the beginning. It might just be the time to visit Aunt Lettie. You remember her-Aunt Lettie Royal.

A grown man thinking and acting like a thirteen year old. Lunch time came and went and I wasn’t hungry.