FAKE Ficlet: Shared Project

[badly_knitted]

 


Title: Shared Project
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Jess.
Rating: PG
Setting: Before the manga.
Summary: Jess offers Dee the chance to help him work on his new car.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Challenge 281: Restore at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters.
 
 


“Here she is, kid,” Jess announced, swinging the door wide. “What d’you think?”
 

Ten-year-old Dee frowned, disappointed and vaguely disgusted. “You said you were gettin’ a new car; that’s just a rusty pile of junk!”

 
Far from being offended, Jess threw back his head and laughed. “Nothing wrong with your eyesight!” He crouched in front of Dee, grinning. “I know she doesn’t look like much right now, she’s had a rough life, no one’s taken proper care of her, but she’s a classic, a genuine 1964 Plymouth Sport Fury, and like all classic cars, she was built to last. So, how’d you like to help me restore her to her former glory?”

 
Spend time with Jess, working on something fun? That got Dee’s attention far more than the beat-up bucket of rust sitting in the garage. He grinned eagerly, nodding. “Yes!” Then remembering the manners Mother drummed into him… “Please!”

 
“Thought that might appeal to ya. You’ll learn everything you need to know about cars this way. I won’t lie, it’s gonna be hard work and it’ll take time, probably a few years, but it’ll be worth every second. By the time she’s finished you’ll be tall enough to drive her, long as we stay off the public roads.”

 
The thought of helping Jess fix the car and then maybe getting to drive it filled Dee with excitement. “When can we start?”
 

“How about right now? We have to strip her down, clean her up, get replacement parts for the ones that’re too far gone, then build her back up again. Trust me, kid, there’s no better feeling than driving a car you restored yourself.”
 

The years passed faster than Dee could have imagined. Whenever Jess had a few hours free, and Dee wasn’t in school, the two of them would be in that garage, working on the Fury, sanding down rusty metal, oiling parts, poring over schematics… There’d be excitement every time a replacement part was acquired, and gradually the heap of rust turned into a gleaming red automobile.

 
They completed the restoration just after Dee turned fourteen, and he and Jess celebrated by going for a drive. True to his word, at an abandoned industrial estate, Jess gave Dee his first driving lesson, telling the boy he was a natural.
 

But barely a year and a half later, Jess was dead, and the Fury was sold off, along with most of his other possessions. Dee was gutted, but there was nothing he could do about it.
 

Several years later, young Officer Laytner stood looking at another pile of rust, a clapped-out ’69 Dodge Charger sitting up on blocks.
 

“I was hopin’ for somethin’ with wheels, but what’s your askin’ price?”
 

Twenty minutes later, he’d haggled the owner down from a hundred bucks to a more reasonable sixty and was arranging to have the Charger moved to the workspace he’d rented. Restoration was a slow process, it would take time and effort, but she was going to be magnificent!
 

 
The End
 



 
 
 

Comments

[apachefirecat]

<3

[badly_knitted]

Thank you, glad you liked! I love giving the boys classic cars. Ryo has one as well.