by: Kristy Duke
A shrill of excitement abruptly erupts from within me as I take a step back to admire the hard work that I had put into fixing the proud and powerful 1972 Corvette. The dim lights reflect off of the darkly tinted windows while the blue hood lies open the heart of the car, the silver engine shining within the dark garage. “Ol’ Vin is gonna love it,” I laugh out loud to break the eery silence that thickly fills the garage. Silence that is barely known within the busy garage that is normally filled with people talking and laughing back and forth while they nosily work on broken down and damaged vehicles. Now at ten o’clock at night and after closing hours, thick silence captivates the old garage that I had reopened and made it my own only five years ago.
Sighing heavily, I take a last look at the engine before walking over to the nearest desk to pick up the black remote control to turn on the radio that lies on the shelf in the far right corner. Abruptly, an old Waylon Jennings song penetrates through the thick silence and an odd worm of relief crawls through me as I return to the muscle car. Returning to work under the hood, I begin to sing along with Waylon as an old memory flashes in my head of listening to Waylon with my cousin on the often times I had been sent to stay with his family. A small smile spreads across my face at the thought of Hazzard and the times I had spent there while growing up, of the trouble we had created and the fun that we had enjoyed.
“What -“ I slowly start to say as the radio abruptly turns off for the silence to return to spread surprise within me. Taking a deep breath, I slowly glance over the hood to find Ethan McKleen standing in the middle of the room, slowly making his way toward me. “Ethaniel McKleen!” I step back and he abruptly comes to an halt with uncertainty, “Waylon was on the radio, why you go and turn it off for?”