Come Tomorrow

I then tell her, “I bled air out of your tire. I'm risking my life by telling you this. The FBI is closing in on Billy. Come tomorrow, Billy will be in jail or worse. You need to avoid Billy tonight. Fake some sort of girl medical problem, stay home and don't answer the phone.”
Laura looks at me and says, “You're serious aren't you?”
“That car that Billy drives is a stolen. It has a fake VIN, Vehicle Identification Number, although it's not just a number. The VIN code contains a lot of identification about a vehicle. The information didn't exactly match Billy's car. I checked and found the secret VIN, that the manufacturer hides. Billy's car was involved in some really nasty crime. We had to report it, it's the law.”
I lecture the lady, “Billy doesn't have the money to buy a car like that. So, he buys a stolen, on the cheap. The car that Billy bought was involved in some really nasty crime. Either Billy takes the fall for the crime or he rats out the people who sold him the car. If he takes the fall, he goes down hard, at least prison, maybe death. If he rats out the sellers, they kill him and maybe anyone who hangs with him.”
Laura looks hard at me. She finally says, “I had no idea. I won't be with Billy tonight. I'm going home, break my date with Billy, fix supper then call some of my girlfriends about my medical problem. Then it's a night in bed, with a book.”
“Laura, I saved you a lot of trouble. All I want in return is a bit of short term memory loss.”
Laura nods and recites, “I had a tire problem. I stopped by the Highway Garage and they fixed it. I then drove home and had a girl medical problem.”
I say, “Have a nice night and there won't be a book report due.”
Laura laughs and says, “Thank God for the small things.”
With that, we go back out to her car and I check the tire. The pressure, of course, is fine and I give her the okay sign (just in case anybody is watching.)
Laura then gets into her car and drives off.
I go back to servicing cars, which is how I make my living. I put in a good day's work and then close up and go off to the Friday night special at the Flame Pit. I eat and socialize a bit, but I leave early, because, come tomorrow, I expect a lot of trouble.
In the morning, I get into work and I have to open the place, by myself, because Wesley isn't there yet. I get the place opened and take in a couple of customer cars. I then get to work.
I'm in the middle of an oil and filter change, when Wesley wanders in.
Wesley says, “I didn't come in yesterday, I was sick.”
“That's strange, the people down at the Flame Pit said that you were down at Lefty's, drinking and shooting pool. Now you can drink and shoot pool full time, you're fired.”
Wesley whines, “A man gotta have a little fun.”
“Just go and have your fun somewhere else. When you didn't even call, I mailed your final check out, yesterday.”
Wesley then tells me to go fuck myself and he wanders off, head down.
I get the oil and filter change jobs done. I then start in on a transmission rebuild.
I get interrupted by a couple of goons. They ask me, “You the people who serviced Billy's car?”
I tell the goons, “We don't discuss the services we provide for our customers.”
One of the goons pulls a gun.
“On the other hand, yes, we did a standard oil change/filter change service for Billy. I also found a cable, with a cracked cover. The cable was sometimes shorting against the intake manifold. I patched it with duct tape, no charge, and I told Billy that he needed to have the cable replaced, before the short stranded him on the highway. However, the cheap bastard didn't want to pay for a real fix. If he got stranded on the road, it's Billy's fault, not the Highway Garage.”