HE USED TO WORK ALONE. 
Nothing personal. He wanted the garage quiet but the low drills of power tools and FM sports talk.
He could tell a lot by the sound of something. 
How the muffler rattled… how the engine hummed.   

The traffic was loud. He hired some help.
 Jim. Part time work. 

Weekends. 
Excitable. Young. Talked too much to start. 
He learned. 

That ‘81 Monte Carlo rolled in. 
A PROJECT. Something always just a little off. 
The transmission – this time – maybe.

He caught Jim beneath the hood, looking at the local legend.
Pulling on his work shirt, the mechanic looked Jim in the eyes and said 

“I do the diagnostics.”

Dead heat. 

You could hear the full page tear when Jim ripped a note from his journal. 

It took gusto to do that. 

 Guts.  Brains.  Self-ignition.

REAL GREASE. 

He turned the key over and heard what Jim wrote.
Right for now.

The kid might make it full time. 

IF YOU GOT IT, YOU GOT IT