Chapter Seven B: Car shopping

“And then she was just a little old lady again and told me enough about her land and family that I’m pretty sure I can get the original homestead records,” Aaron told the small group around the poker table later that night.

“Well, now you know the reason people call her Mad Aunt Hattie,” Jack chuckled. “Her boyfriend was an alien who flies around in an old church.”

“Shades of Doctor Who,” Arnold Sandusky chuckled. “Now which do you think would be more maneuverable in space—a British telephone booth or an old church?” They all chuckled.

“Unfortunately, it throws everything I’ve learned from her into doubt. I mean, she could have made the whole thing up. I’ve got to see how much of this I can verify from other old people and old records now.”

“Well, you’ve had yourself one heck of a week, haven’t you,” Mike asked. He’d come back to play poker this week and report on the outcome of having met his daughter. He was pretty pleased. “We’re not trying to be father and daughter,” he’d said. “We’re just trying to get to know each other.”

“Well, it has been,” Aaron said. “I have to say that when I pulled out of the Home tonight I was in no way tempted to try to drive by that place again. I came straight up the highway and got my butt into a nice warm chair here at Jack’s.”

“Got a good hot meal into him, too,” Jack said. “You’d think he was a starving child in Pakistan the way Theresa stuffed food into him.”

“You’d think she was a taxidermist when you talk about it like that,” Aaron quipped. “When are you going to get her a restaurant anyway?”

“Do you think I’m going to let all the other old men in town know what a good cook she is? It’s bad enough having her feed you kids all the time,” Jack answered.

“If it wasn’t for her food you know half of us wouldn’t have survived college,” Adele said. Another of Jack’s former students, she ran the classified advertising department at the Fort Wayne Sentinel. It didn’t sound very impressive, but it gave her access to the newspaper’s vast database of information. Searches for obscure information were much faster when you had direct access to the database instead of having to go through the web interfaces to published articles.

“So are you satisfied with the results of your research commission?” Jack asked Mike.

“I couldn’t have asked for better results,” Mike answered. “Do you need a reference?”

“No,” Jack said. “Not a reference, referrals. Since we started this, it’s been our policy to never advertise. We just ask those we take commissions from to refer others to us.”

“I’d be happy to,” Mike said. “Sometimes I hear things, you know. Mostly people want to know about cars, but sometimes. You never know.”

“It wouldn’t be bad if we get questions that concern cars if you could give us a hand as well,” Jack remarked.

“Hey!” Aaron interjected. “That’s stupid of me! I need a car. I hunted all over the south side of town today and didn’t even think of coming up to see you. Think you can fix me up with a new car, Mike?”

Mike hemmed a little, and said “Uh, sure Aaron. What did you have in mind?”

“Oh, look,” Aaron said. “You’ve already paid your fees. It’s nothing like that. But we tend to take our business to those who we do business with. I’m just looking for a late-model used car that will get me around and not make me feel as old as I feel whenever I move at the moment.”

“I’m sure we could find something. Why don’t you come in tomorrow?” Mike said.

“Sure,” Aaron said. “Sorry I didn’t think of doing business with you before now. It’s the drugs that I’m blaming.”

“I think you’ve been giving those drugs too much credit for things lately,” Jack growled. “I’m giving you five more days because I know you’re injured. Then you’re going cold turkey off those Vicodin. You can use Aleve or Advil or something.”

“Damn, Jack,” Aaron complained. “I’m not getting hooked on painkillers. You can relax about it.”

“It’s not hooked I’m worried about,” Jack said. “You’ve got to start thinking clearly if you’re going to go to work for a Congresswoman.”

“Whoa,” Adele said. “What’s this about?”

“Aaron took a new job this week. He has no idea what he’s going to get paid, where he’s working, or what his hours will be. He just needs to get clear-headed before he meets his new boss again.”

The joshing was all good-natured, but Aaron had to admit that Jack had a point. He needed to get his head clear before he met with Pol again. He’d take Jack’s advice and start weaning himself off the painkillers as best he could. As if to contradict him, his side started aching again.

Saturday morning Aaron went to Mike’s Subaru dealership. He parked the rental and strolled around outside looking at cars and stickers before he went into the showroom. There were balloons everywhere and a ten-foot inflatable gorilla sat on top of the awning out front. Mike was just rolling a hot-dog cart out of the back and waved at Aaron. He left the cart where it was and came over to him.

“Good to see you Aaron,” he said shaking hands.

“What’s the occasion?” Aaron asked pointing at all the balloons and the cart.

“It’s Saturday,” Mike answered. “You have to make your own occasion. We’ve got Jim Jerrol from WLOL coming out to broadcast live for two hours this afternoon. That will draw people. We always have hotdogs, popcorn, coffee, and soft drinks available on Saturdays. People seem to expect it and get downright mad if you don’t have something to keep the kids occupied while they test-drive a car three grades higher than the one they’ll actually buy. It’s a crazy business.”

“Well, maybe it would be better if I come back during the week instead of on Saturday.”

“No, no. I’ve got you covered today. I’ve got a new salesperson who needs an easy sale to get started. I promised her you,” Mike answered. “Janice!” he yelled. Janice Linefelter nee Annabelle Monroe came out of the back and waved at Aaron. “Actually, she insisted that I let her help you. She has quite the stubborn streak, I’ll tell you.”

“Hi, Aaron,” Janice smiled as she approached. They shook hands warmly. “I hope you’re ready to spend some money. I promised Mike that I wouldn’t give the shop away on my first day.”

“It’s good to see you, Janice,” Aaron laughed. “You’re going to have to tell me all about how this came to be. I didn’t really imagine you to be the used car salesman type.”

“You mean sleazy like me,” Mike said. “Look, we’ve got over 200 used cars on the lot. Find him one he likes, Janice.” Mike returned to his hotdog cart and Janice focused in on Aaron.

“So, can I interest you in a new Outback?” she asked.

“Too rich for my blood,” Aaron responded. “I’ve been driving the same car for thirty years, I’m not needing anything new.”

“I was really shocked to hear about your accident,” Janice remarked. “I’m glad to see you aren’t injured.”

“Don’t tell that to my ribs. They remind me how much I’m injured every time I inhale.”

“Well, tell me,” Janice asked, “how much did you have in mind spending? I’ve been studying the inventory all morning.”

“$7,604.29,” Aaron responded.

“Is that an absolute or a range?” Janice asked laughing.

“Well, that’s how much I got from the insurance settlement. I could add a couple thou to that if I saw something that really appealed to me.” Janice cocked one eyebrow.

“Hmmm. Well, let’s see what Mike has on the lot. Did you see anything that appealed to you while you were kicking tires?” They proceeded out into the parking lot and checked several vehicles. Finally they came to a 2000 Forrester. “This might be a good one to try on,” Janice suggested looking at the clipboard in her hand. “Five years old, low mileage. New snowtires. Sounds like you could use that.”

“Only driven on Sundays by a little old lady?” Aaron quipped.

“Yeah. Some lady named Andretti.” They both laughed. Aaron had great feelings of respect for this woman from the first that they met, but you had to admit that she was fast on the comebacks.

“Well, let’s take a look at it. I hear that I’m too old to be driving a sports car, but women won’t like it if I have a boring car either. They want stable but adventurous according to my source. Do you think this will fit the bill?” Aaron was enjoying this interaction of being able to deal with Janice when he wasn’t working. He had to remind himself that she was.

“Let’s get the keys and see if it fits your image of yourself,” she said. “That’s what will really count.”

Half an hour later they pulled back into car lot. Aaron liked the car and enjoyed Janice’s company. They sat talking in the car for several minutes before Aaron finally asked what the total price would come to.

“We are not going to dicker around and make deals, or call in sales managers, or whatever else they do in this business,” Janice said. “Mike said to make you the best deal, so I borrowed the stock list from his desk before we came out.” She pulled out her clipboard. “This sheet is the one that the sales people are given with the bottom line prices that they can go,” she explained. “Then if they can’t get a deal, the call in a sales manager. I don’t have a sales manager sheet, but my guess is that it is like this one but has another column here that says how low the sales manager can go before he calls in Mike to close the deal. This is Mike’s list. See here is the column for the Sales Manager and then there’s the one marked Cost. That’s actually Mike’s bottom line and sometimes he’ll go below that if he wants to reduce inventory and doesn’t mind taking a loss on a couple vehicles that are hard to move. I figure if we just use the number from his column, he can’t say anything but that we made a good deal and congratulations.”

“You’re devious,” Aaron said. “I don’t want to cheat Mike or get you into trouble.”

“I have found out so much about this business in two days you would not believe it,” Janice replied. “Believe me, I know that this is not cheating anyone. $8,900 and it’s yours.”

“Okay. It seems too easy. No strings attached?” Aaron asked.

“Well yes, one,” Janice replied.

“Yes?”

“You can take me to dinner tonight. At someplace at least one step above Don Hall’s.”

“Hmmm. I don’t know of anyplace like that that has a child’s menu,” Aaron quipped.

“No child’s menu, no seniors menu.”

“Okay. You’re on. Let’s avoid the clowns and hotdogs and sign the papers.”

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