CHAPTER FOUR

-:- MACKENZIE-:-

My temper is going to get me into some serious trouble one of these days. I can’t believe I attacked that guy yesterday. He was trying to help and I lost it over his joke. A joke that was so old it was probably on the Ark with Noah!

The last few months have been hard, but I’ve no right to keep jumping on innocent people. It’s getting to be a habit and I need to control myself better.

Two weeks ago, I almost got arrested when I threatened to spray a guy with gas at the gas station. He came over and tried getting me to go on a date. He wouldn’t take no for an answer until I pointed the pump at him. He shot his hands in the air quick enough then and shut up.

That’s when a cop walked over from the station’s store and asked what was going on, with his hand on his taser. The guy explained to the cop that he was just trying to get me to go on a date with him and that I was nuts. The cop was more understanding of my threat when I told him the guy wouldn’t accept my refusal and sent the guy on his way. I got off with a warning about threatening to douse people in gas!

I lost my shit at the store last week when the woman on the register gave me too much change and wouldn’t listen when I tried to give it back to her. I gave her the right cash amount, and she insisted I was wrong. She kept talking over me and my temper went into overdrive. It was only when the manager came and explained that some of the goods I’d bought were on sale, and that I’d saved the ten dollars. I saw all the people in the queue shaking their heads and tut-tutting.

Since we lost our parents, my brother and I grew closer. We were never distant but having only each other left we spent more time together whenever we could. Flynn’s married to Kayla and they have two brilliant kids, a son called Lynx, and a daughter named Phoenix.

Last year, he got a job offer that he couldn’t refuse. It meant quite a lot of traveling and so I spent even more time with Kayla and the kids. Then, out of the blue, he announced that he was taking an office-based position so there’d be no more time away from his wife, kids and me. Everyone was over the moon until he announced it was in Florida!

Expecting everyone to be as excited as he was, it came as a shock to him when nobody wanted to move. When he said that he’d already accepted the position, it almost cost him his marriage. To say Kayla was furious is an understatement.

I was also totally gutted. When we all sat down eventually and spoke about it, he was convinced that we would all drop everything and move, me included. It didn’t go down well at all when we heard his expectations.

That was the beginning of my temper tantrums. All I saw was his selfishness, and I didn’t speak to him for a month. I still visited Kayla and the kids, but I ignored him if he was home. This caused friction between me and Kayla and escalated my temperament to the next level.

The kids picked up on it and suddenly Aunty Mac wasn’t fun to be around anymore. I had a decent job as a receptionist for a local law firm, but I lost that as my patience with idiots took a nosedive. Having to take a job as a stock clerk in the local store brought me to my senses, as I realized what I was doing was hurting me and everyone I loved.

By this time, the Florida move was upon us and they were gone. It only took me a couple of weeks to know that I couldn’t stay where I was. Too many memories and apart from a few acquaintances, none left that you’d call a friend, nothing to stay around for. I’d spent so much time around Kayla and the kids, my social circle had shrunk to nothing. My bad moods prevented me from rekindling any kind of friendship.

So here I was, sitting in my new condo, in a new town, checking out the local ads to see if I could afford a new vehicle. The condo was a godsend, and I’d dropped lucky on getting it. It was small enough to be at a cheap price, but plenty big enough for what I wanted. One bedroom, one bathroom with shower, toilet, handbasin, and an eat in kitchen that had suitable space to accommodate both cooking and eating. The living room had huge windows and a small balcony, which gave it the sensation of being twice as big as it really was. No utility room, unfortunately, that was its only drawback. It was a good bargaining point in my favor, though. I’ll need to find a laundromat nearby.

I wasn’t short of cash, but I didn’t want to waste it on my junker if I could find something to keep me going. The Golf had served its purpose and I have to admit I feel a vehicle is just something to get me from A to B, and hopefully, back again. That being said, I know what I like and don’t like. The Golf was too small for my liking. I wanted something with a bit more room this time, maybe even a convertible.

I need to get something as it was going to cost me a small fortune in cabs or Ubers to get to my new job. Back to being a receptionist, but this time at a doctor's practice. It is too far to make walking a feasible option and I sure as hell am not getting on a ‘bicycle’. I’m not a two-wheel person. I don’t have the sense of balance for one of those things.

You wouldn’t catch me dead on a motorcycle. People who ride those have to be clinically insane. Who straps a tank of gas on top of a hot engine, puts it between their legs and then drives at speed on roads filled with other vehicles, just waiting for an opportunity to do them harm?

Scrolling through the ads, there’s not much taking my eye, I have to say. Having exhausted the ads from local garages, I take a peek at the private ads. Not much here either. These all seem to be little compacts or pickups. The Golf was compact enough and the photos accompanying the pickups don’t exactly inspire confidence.

Just as I’m about to call it a day, I see what could be my next vehicle. A Jeep Wrangler. Now that’s ticking some of my boxes. There’s certainly more room in that than the Golf. It’s also a convertible. If the soft top is in good condition and it has some service history, this could be a winner!

Dialing the number, I wait for someone to pick up. When they do, it throws me completely. A woman's voice states it’s a costume shop.

“Erm, sorry. I was calling about a Jeep for sale. I must have dialed wrong.” I’m just about to end the call when the woman says, “No, that’s right. It’s my Jeep for sale.”

“Oh, okay. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a costume shop. My Golf’s seen better days, and it's time I got something that I don’t mind being seen in, to be honest.”

“I don’t stock anything in that sport. I mean, I do have some sport-related costumes, but golf isn’t very popular around these parts.”

“What? Oh, no. Not golf the sport. My Volkswagen Golf. It’s a junker now and I want something bigger and better to be seen in. Like your Wrangler.” I’m thinking I should just hang up on this cuckoo.

“Sorry. I was still in work mode. I want to sell my Jeep, but it’s not in the greatest condition. I’ve kept it serviced and tidy as much as I could, but if you’re going to be doing a lot of miles, I wouldn’t feel good selling it to a woman. I wouldn’t like to think it will let you down and leave you stuck at the side of the road or anything.”

She’s not much of a saleswoman, I think to myself.

“Has it ever left you at the side of the road, then?” I ask her quickly. This could be my chance to back out gracefully if she says yes.

“Goodness, no. It starts the first time every time. Drives like a dream. As I said, I’ve spent money keeping it mechanically okay. My garage guys told me to get rid of it as it’s looking rough now. I think they’re sick of seeing it like that, to be honest.”

“Can I make an appointment to come and see it? If I like it, I could take it off your hands today.” I don’t mind it looking rough around the edges. It could give me a bargaining point. I’m always up for a bit of haggling on price.

After swapping addresses, Lily offers to drive to me, rather than her waiting for me to get an Uber and then get to her. She’s two towns over and I accept her offer, stating that if I buy it, I’ll get her home again.

She takes an hour to get here, and I’m just wondering if she’s at the side of the road somewhere when I see a Jeep pull up outside. It wouldn’t make it to a Jeep garage showroom, but it’s not as bad as I thought she made it out to be.

Going out to meet her, I introduce myself, and we shake hands.

“Hi. I’m Mackenzie. Call me Kenzie. Thank you for bringing it over. It would have held you up waiting for me, I’m sure.”

“I’m Lily. It’s no problem. I close early on Saturdays and I don’t have any plans for this afternoon. Well, none that I can remember, anyway. Hop in, and see what you think. We can take it for a spin to see how it feels to you.”

Climbing in the driver's seat feels very strange after the Golf. I immediately love the driving position. It feels much better being high up rather than the low Golf position. Keeping a straight face, I try not to smile and give away my thoughts.

Looking around the interior, it has seen better days. I don’t see anything that screams ‘run for the hills’, though. A set of seat covers and some polish on the dash would certainly make a difference. Climbing back out, I damn near fall on my ass, it’s so high. Hoping Lily didn’t notice, I walk slowly around the Jeep and take note of the overall condition.

“It took me a couple of weeks to get used to the difference in height to a normal car when I first got her. Getting in is fine. Getting out was a bitch. I nearly ended up on my ass so many times. And I always did that thing, you know. Where you look around to see if anyone noticed? There was always some asshole smirking about it.” Lily laughs and I have to laugh with her.

“I hoped you hadn’t noticed,” I say to her, smiling.

“Oh yes. I was the smirking asshole!”

Having been all around and found nothing that I’m unduly worried about, we get back in and I fire her up. As Lily said earlier, she fired up the first time. There's a bit of smoke from the exhaust, but it’s soon gone.

“She’s using a bit of oil, I take it?”

“They always top it up or change it when she’s serviced, but I haven’t had to put anything in. I just top up the washer bottle and check the other water thingy. I haven’t had to put water in there either. Although when I bought my first car ever, I topped up the water thingy with windshield wash by mistake. The garage had to ‘flush it out’, I think was what they called it.”

Laughing along with her, I tell her about the time when my brother, Flynn, tried to prank me.

“He sent me to a local garage to get the tires checked and have them topped up with ‘premium air’. I got the garage to do me a phony invoice for five hundred dollars for filling all four tires, including the spare, with ‘oxygen’. He never tried to prank me again.”

“Oh my God. I would have so fallen for the ‘premium air’ . I can be so gullible sometimes.”

Fifteen minutes later, and on the way back, we pass a laundromat. It’s only a five-minute walk. Back outside my condo, and after haggling for only a few minutes, I get the price down to what I want to pay, plus a bit less, and we shake on it. Paying by wire transfer, I wait until the money shows on Lily’s account, then take her home.

Filling up at a gas station on the way home, I realize I hadn’t given any thought to the running costs of a Wrangler. The insurance had been more expensive when I changed it from the Golf, but that I had expected. The Golf’s gas tank held thirteen gallons when the light came on to show empty. The Jeep was nearly empty, but no light on, when I pulled in to fill up. It must have been running on fumes, as I’ve put seventeen gallons in her.

Ouch. I’m glad I didn’t pay the asking price now, I think to myself.