Marvin roared an F-bomb as his hand slipped off the ratchet handle. The socket bounced twice and with a metallic clank was silent. Son of a Bitch he mumbled the rage coming back. He stopped, jaw tight, staring into the mess. The yellow drop light swung overhead. Not enough reach. Never enough reach. He yanked the cord, stretched it another inch, then another. Still shadows.
The socket glinted at the bottom. Just out of reach. Of course it was. Cursing a longer string he stood back and let his mind drift. It’s a good day for a beer. Then he stopped that thought and decided that Andrew was right, he had a problem and needed to talk to another alcoholic. Stepping into the little office he poured a coffee and picked up the phone. When Andrews voice started to tell him that he was not there he hung up and tossed the phone. Irritation was the hardest part of this crap…. Thinking about the last meeting and then the steps, he paused on number three. Andrew told him many times about how that one had changed his life. “Ask that Higher Power for help” he would tell him. So, “Lord help me get over this moment, I do not want a drink.”
Just at that exact moment he heard the whistle. He knew it well. Suzanne had that come to dinner whistle down, but it was early yet… Walking out the back door of the shop he glanced up the hillside. It was more like a terrace than a hill right behind the shop. As his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight he saw her standing at the gate above the steps. She smiled and with both hands raised her t-shirt high and showed him his “breast friends”. She turned and ran back to the house giggling, and all thoughts of beer were gone. Smiling he went in to get that socket back.
Inside the two-bay shop, he caught himself laughing—just a little—at the lights and shadows shifting along the walls. The drop light swayed in the breeze drifting through the open garage doors. It was a warm day on his mountain. That alone was enough to make him smile.
The office once his getaway… and then his personal hell. The booze had started as a thing. Then the thing became the curse. He stepped in, sat down, and finished his coffee. The view here, out and down not quite to the St. Vrain but all of the near valleys made him smile again. His favorite cup, from a day ending at “The Dam Store.”
He met Andrew at the C-Store one day. He was getting a “six pack” of energy drinks while Marvin was getting the 30 block. They chatted. Andrew had a truck that needed an oil change, and Hedy had told him Marv was the man. They kind of hit it off and Andrew found himself helping out in the shop now and then when Marv would call. Most times it wasn’t really actually helping anything mechanically, though Andrew could do the light duty things. That’s how it ended up being an alcoholic thing. It was never really discussed at first, but Marv went to a meeting and then a few more. That’s where he met her. His person. Having a girlfriend in the rooms wasn’t supposed to work. It did anyway.
He had never really paid that much attention to her around town and was surprised to learn she watched him work at the shop. It was just below the house he now lives in, her house. Waking up and that walk to work is one of the joys he now gives thanks for. The two of them being the strength that each alone never dreamed they could have built those steps. The sober ones and the ones down to the shop. They made a day of it after looking up all the materials online. A trip down into Loveland, Red Lobster, and a trailer full of wood from Lowes. Like two kids in high school, they just melded together. Just the comfort of being together was something that he had never experienced with anyone else. They finished each other’s sentences. they watched the same programs with interest, not just dull senses. He found himself smiling around her. The last three years really were the best of his life. That ninth step promise and the fears just exploded. They both decided they were done. The universe came together with them in their new lives. Almost like it had always been headed this way. Like it was waiting on them to catch up…