It was typical shift at The Dom, slightly busier then usual, yet nothing out of norm. The Dreamer typically enjoyed rotating through his selection of CDs, as he weaved through the city streets to and from deliveries. His 1991 Ford festive had two ten inch MTX subwoofers located in the back hatch, which he made full use of daily. The car only had a 1.3 litter engine, but it's light weight and five speed manual transmission made it a lot of fun to drive.
The job was simple, and being in his car alone with his music allowed him to ease through the long shifts with his attitude in check. He was known at work to be a light hearted person, and the occasional trickster. Once in while his pranks earned him a stern look or two. Like the time the owner stepped out the store just in time to see one of his driver's leaving the parking lot with several plastic bottles tied to a string and dragging behind his vehicle. Shaking his head at the Dreamer, who stood there with a somewhat sheepish yet apologetic grin, he said "please don't do that again." Yet the owner knew it wasn't malicious, and just went about his business, and the Dreamer went back into the store and prepared his next delivery.
Returning from that delivery the Dreamer smiled as he pulled into the parking lot, and saw his coworker Laurie's car parked in one of the spots. She had a young and lively demeanor, and they would often swap delivery stores as they passed each other leaving to or returning from deliveries. He hurried into the store, not wanting to miss a chance at a good startle, from a possibly unnoticed entry, and saw Laurie in the office mid conversation. Yet she seemed frustrated, and frazzled.
Not wanting to interrupt, the Dreamer walked over to the delivery station, and placed his bag. Laurie then looked his way and said "You can take the next delivery. I'm not ready yet." "Okay", he responded and off he went. He could tell she'd had a rough day. Yet he simply hoped her day would get better, and continued delivering.
As the day continued the store got progressively busier leaving little downtime in between deliveries. Yet Laurie's day did not seem be getting any better. In passing he could hear his coworker talking about incorrect addresses, and difficult customers that weren't tipping. The Dreamer tried to cheer up his co-worker with playful antics, but nothing worked.
A few hours into the shift, while returning from a delivery, the Dreamer pulled alongside Laurie's and saw that she had a flat tire. He could see Laurie standing in the front of the store counting her money. As he walked into the store he asked her about her tire. She informed him that not only was it flat, but so was her replacement. She had had enough, and was getting a ride home from one of the drivers.
"What a crummy day she's having", thought the Dreamer to himself. He wished he could help, but he was the closing driver and the store was now down one driver. So all he could do was continue to take deliveries, all the while rolling the situation over and over in his mind. He found himself staring at the flat tire everything he returned to the store. His friend Omar could fix the tire for him, but by this time his shop was closed. The more he thought about it, the stronger his desire to fix the tire became.
He found himself picturing a scene where Laurie returns to her car with family or her husband intending to get the tire fixed, and finding no flat tire in need of repairs. It had just enough of a devious undertone, that he just couldn't resist. Yet he faced some challenges. He'd have to remove the tire without anyone noticing, and replacing it in the same fashion. Meanwhile he wouldn't be done working until 2am and he was scheduled to return around later at 10am. Yet the decision had been made.
The rest of the shift seemed to fly by, with most of his reflection time spent on his newly undertaken task. He'd have to wait for the rest of his co-workers to leave for the night. His co-workers were use to him hanging around sitting in his car listening to music, so no one would be suspicious if he lingered. Yet he prayed that Omar's shop wouldn't be busy early in the morning, or else that would delay him. He was a little nervous about being caught in the act of replacing the tire. He worried that Laurie or some of his other coworkers wouldn't see the humor in what he was doing. This made him a little hesitant, but he had up his mind and there was no turning back.
At about one the store had officially closed, and the Dreamer hurried to finish his last delivery. Sometime after 2am he walked out the doors with along with the remaining coworkers and watched as the manager locked the doors. After a little small talk he said his goodbyes, and sat in his car waiting for his co-workers to leave. Another driver had volunteered to escort the manager to make the nightly cash deposit, and Laurie's car was still there. He'd worried that she might have returned that night to fix it, and his all his mental planning would've been wasted but that never happened.
As the closing manager and coworker drove out of sight. The Dreamer quickly opened his trunk and retrieved his car jack and tools. Luckily he had a tire iron with several different lug nut sizes, and a car stand that he had acquired from one of his adventures. He worked quickly to Jack the car up, and place the car stand under it. He steadied himself against the slight adrenaline triggered by imaginations of being spotted by a police officer and having to explain his actions, or there possibility that someone might drive by and see him. He did his best to work as thoroughly and safely as possible. His plan involved leaving the car on the stand over night, and he took precautions against it taking off the stand.
That night he laid in his bed still a little jittery. His mind still rolling over the different possible outcomes of his actions. He reassured himself that his over all intentions were good, and he had nothing to worry about. The next morning the Dreamer found himself waking up later then he had intended. He quickly jumped off the bed, and readied himself for work almost forgetting about the tire in his trunk. He rushed over to Omar's shop, and found a few customers ahead of him. His nerves were trying to gain control of him but he fought them back.
Omar looked over the tire, but relented that he couldn't patch it because the puncture hole was too close to the wall of the tire. Luckily he had a slightly used tire matching that size, and he quickly changed it. The Dreamer paid the fee, and quickly rushed back to the store. Upon his arrival he was relieved to find the car exactly the way he left it, and proceeded to replace the tire. Yet he had barely gotten the tire on when he saw Laurie's man pulling into the parking lot.
It was moment truth. He'd been caught in act. Taking a deep breath the dreamer took his attention away from the tire, and slowly looked up to meet his gaze. Sheepishly the dreamer grinned, and said," Good morning." "I told her no one would steal a flat tire." Was his response. The grin on his face instantly dissolved all of the Dreamers doubts. "Yeah I'm sorry. I tried to get to up earlier but failed.", was all the Dreamer could say still slightly embarrassed at having been caught.
While the Dreamer overslept, Laurie's man had gotten up early and driven to the store, only to find that the tire was missing. Confused, he called Laurie to ask her where she put the tire. To which she responded that she hadn't touched the tire. This lead to what must have been a pretty interesting conversation, and resulting in his having to leave without a tire to change, and a pretty perplexing problem to solve. After which he returned to the car later, and found the Dreamer in the act of replacing the tire.
Though his scheme hadn't quite resulted in the way he had hoped. Hearing Laurie tell of the experience from her perspective, and then hearing her retell tell the story some time later. Made the event absolutely priceless.
(The above picture is in memory of the Dreamers beloved festiva, it was taken by me the day it was towed away to the scrap yard)