I need a mechanic!

Another excerpt from Uju. Ike needs a mechanic to fix Oga Brian's car. They don't want to upset Dr Piston.

Ike, Jerry and Mwiza’s cousin Jack finally tracked down Dr Piston, the acclaimed mechanic who could fix any off road vehicle. He was not in his ‘office’, a unique architectural masterpiece of rusty zinc roofing sheets balanced atop a disarray of wooden planks that pretended to be walls. It was a mystery how it remained intact as there seemed almost no support structure in place. The planks looked like they had been aligned by a cross eyed carpenter, fresh from a late night of heavy drinking.

Ike, Jerry and Jack waited in the ‘office’ perched on a bench that was probably cobbled together by taking a couple of planks from the ‘wall’ and nailing them together, maybe done by the same carpenter in-between swigs of Mosi. One had to be careful as the bench had some brown rusty nails protruding near one joint.

Dr Piston had been having breakfast nearby when he was told that some customers were looking for him. Unfortunately, breakfast was the one meal Dr Piston did not joke with. He simply grunted and continued his meal until he was finished. He then had made his way back to his ‘office’.

“Good morning sah’s” Dr Piston declared when he saw his visitors. “Can I help you”?          

“Yes sir” Ike replied. “I understand you can fix any four by four?”

Dr Piston balanced himself well on a small bench, shifting his buttocks and rubbing his hands together. He beamed, teeth flashing.

“That’s me” he replied, bending forward slightly, feigning a bow.

He then rattled off a monologue of models, problems and remedies he had sorted, talking rapidly with eloquence and authority. He was in his element, his words flowing, his manner energised until a small calamity struck. Jack interrupted, cutting him short mid flow.

“Ok ok we can see na, please bring your tools Mister Doctor, we need you to go and look at our master’s car.

Dr Piston looked at Jack, his face mutating from elation to venom. He was not happy. When Jack saw this it triggered fear. It triggered fear in everyone. This was made worse when the guide that had escorted him back, scurried away after briefly expressing himself with wide eyed disbelief. It quickly became apparent that nobody interrupted Dr Piston. An uncomfortable silence descended on the ‘office’.

After a life long pause, Dr Piston kissed his teeth and shook his head abruptly. It sounded like an elongated snakes hiss.

“You people can go, I’m very busy today” he spat through his rage, turning then walking out as if to start work on one of his faulty vehicles. But there was one problem. No vehicles waited outside, well… no repairable vehicles. There were a few metal carcases, ones that looked like they survived a nuclear blast. Some were alive, plants sprouting through empty headlight holes, vegetation replacing seats, rust coating carcases. Not even Cinderella’s fairy godmother could have transformed them. They were firmly rooted to the ground.

Ike, Jerry and Jack scurried after him. Jerry warned Jack not to talk again before he pleaded with Dr Piston to relent. He ‘begged’ in jest, knowing full well that Dr Piston was acting up, playing hard to get. That was the way things rolled. At one point he felt like teasing him a little about his busy schedule but he thought twice. He didn’t want to cause any more damage. It didn’t stop him playfully gesturing to Ike and Jack when Dr Piston was not looking.

Eventually Dr Piston relented. He kept hearing reference to hard currency, not Kwacha. He kept hearing that the Muzungu that owned the car was swimming in the stuff, the hard currency. He kept calculating his bill before the diagnosis. It all added up to what must be a good days pay.

“Ok, I’ve heard you, let’s go” he finally replied, forcing himself not to smile, his brain working overtime. All he could see were dollar signs.