VIVIDLY

“That should do it.”

The mechanic slammed the hood down of our navy Ford Ranger. 

“Anything else I can do ya for?” He asked turning to Atzi. 

“Nope! But how much do we owe you for rescuing us out in this desert?” Atzi asked, flashing her brilliant smile behind naturally rose lips. 

“Oh let me go run some numbers real quick.” Said the mechanic rubbing his hands on an oil soaked rag essentially doing nothing for the cleanliness of his greasy hands. He disappeared inside his roadside shop.

“Atzi!” I whispered urgently “What are we going to do? We didn’t budget for a breakdown! We could barely spring for a hotel in Mexico City!”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he will be reasonable.” 

Atzi shrugged, flicking her hair away from her eyes. 

Atzi was the essence of natural beauty both in looks and personality. Where I had to work for every wisp of my straw thin hair to lay in a presentable position and encourage lipstick to stay on through a day’s activities,  Atzi just existed. Her black hair constantly looked as if she had just left a salon with just the right ratio of volume to sleekness. It framed around her face perfectly, extenuating her eyes, which shone like onyx. Her chestnut toned skin gave off a warm and welcoming glow, highlighted just in the right spots with natural tints of pink. 

She was freaking gorgeous and it has driven me absolutely crazy envious for the entire five years I’ve known her. 

I am basically the opposite of Atzi. My auburn hair constantly has a windswept air, my eyes are a non-committal hazel, and my peach skin is blotchy and generally uncooperative with any attempt of foundation to make it appear otherwise. 

And with all this blatantly obvious beauty and beast dynamic, Atzi has been my best friend since we met those five years ago. She has been nothing but kind, supportive, encouraging, and fiercely loyal. She is so wonderful, I could never be bitter towards her, only envious. 

“Alrighty then.”; Muttered the mechanic as he came out the door again, an stained bill in his hands. “… with all the considerations and parts and what not… lemme see… looks like…. Ooh $2500.”

My gasp caught in my throat as a hoarse cough. Smirking my direction, the mechanic puffed his scrawny chest out a bit, adjusted his ball cap, and projected his voice in a matter of fact tone; 

“Whelp, how y’all wanna be squaring that today?”

I grumbled and began to dig for my wallet when Atzi spoke in a clear, cheerful voice. It was the kind of voice customer service representatives use when the customer is obviously wrong, and they are amped up to correct them.

“Oh, I think you should have another look. Labor and parts for this old thing are only worth oh maybe $50?”

I gaped at her, fully expecting the mechanic to start laughing hysterically at her bold haggle attempt. Instead, he furrowed his brow as if contemplating things over and muttered to himself a few times.

“Well let’s put that discount there.” …” Figure that’s a decent write off.”….”Well that’s a pretty obvious overcharge.” 

I now directed my disbelieving gape at him. He seemed to be fully considering her counter offer. He looked back up at Atzi and said; 

“Ya know Miss, looking things over, that seems about right. In fact for the trouble let’s just call it even.” 

He signed the bill ‘PAID IN FULL.’ and with that handed it over Atzi along with the keys. 

“Y’all drive safe now!”

“Oh thanks hun, you’re a doll!” Yipped Atzi, opening the passenger door to usher me into the truck. She skipped around to the driver’s seat. opened the door, and slid in. She cheerfully waved to the mechanic as she brought the truck to life, threw it in gear, and sped off. 

Laughing, she exclaimed;

“See? Not so bad!”

“How do you always manage to do that!?” I demanded. “I mean, I know looks can get you some perks but that was ridiculous!”

“Oh he didn’t care about our looks.” Chuckled Atzi.

She always included me when she spoke about good looks as if I could be considered even remotely equal. I gave up a long time ago trying to correct her. Any time I tried, she would wave off the challenge, saying;

“Only the blind would not be able to see your beauty.” 

At which point I’d roll my eyes but also secretly appreciate the compliment. 

“He just saw the error of his ways in overcharging two unlucky travelers who broke down in the middle of nowhere Texas.” Atzi continued; “And I’d like to think he turned over a new leaf and learned a dose of kindness.”

“Oh yeah”, I snarked; “because he was such a softy.” 

Rolling my eyes, I turned my gaze to the desert expanding over the horizon out my window.

Atzi smiled. “You overthink too much Ruthie. Let a gift be a gift. And let’s get to enjoying this vacation!”

With twelve of the fifteen hours of driving ahead, I settled into my seat and slowly let myself drift off. As I watched the sun start to turn the sky and sand red as it set, I  hoped dearly that a break down on a lonely Texas highway would be the last stress of the trip. 

Part 2 coming soon…