Chapter 9: I am here to fix your lights
"Thank you for giving me such a wonderful feeling. Sarah is a fool!" she said.
I pulled my hand out of her pants and she buttoned up her coat.
"We should go back. We have been gone for a while," she said.
"I agree," I said.
I fiddled with the light switch until the lights came on. We headed back to my mother-in-law's house.
"I can fix the lights tomorrow during the day. I need to get a couple of things from the drug store," I said.
"Good! I hate not having dependable headlights," she said.
When we reached my mother-in-law's house, the party was still going on and it appeared that no one had even missed us.
I found my wife and told her that I was back.
"Did you get her lights fixed?" she asked.
"No, but I know what is wrong. I need to get a couple of things at the drugstore tomorrow and I can fix it for them," I said.
"It is nice of you to help them. They are a poor family and cannot afford a newer car," my wife said.
"Yes, that car is quite old. If my fix does not work tomorrow, I will have to go to the junk yard out along the highway to see if I can get any parts for their car," I said.
The next day after breakfast, my wife and another of her cousins went to town to window shop. I was fixing the latch on the back door when my mother-in-law came up to me.
"I just wanted to thank you for helping Phil with the car. Did you get her lights fixed?" she asked.
"No, but I know what I need to do to fix them. I am going to the drug store after I fix this door to get what I need," I replied.
"Humm! The drug store. That is a funny place to get car parts. Will you be getting any rubber items while you are there?" Elsie asked with a devilish smile.
"No, I would not do that to Sarah. I need to get a solution to dissolve the junk in the light switch. That should fix it," I said.
"I did notice you left with her last night and I saw when you returned. Did you guys have a nice time?" she asked.
"All car business, Mom," I said.
"I bet you had your hand in it.... the car that is," she said smiling and winking at me.
"Mom, you can count on me. Only the best for you and your relatives," I replied.
When I finished the door repair, I drove downtown to the drug store and got a bottle of pre-electric shave fluid and a hypodermic syringe and large needle. Then I drove to Phil's house and knocked at the door.
When Phil came to the door, I said, "I am here to fix your lights. I see your folks have left the car here."
"Dad walked to work so that it would be here. I hope you can fix it. Mom needs the car this afternoon to get groceries," Phil said.
I headed for the car and Phil followed me. I opened the driver's side door and got down on the floor board, looking up under the dashboard.
Phil crawled into the passenger seat to watch. I injected the pre-electric shave fluid into the light switch. Some of it ran out and dripped on my shirt. There was a lot of dirt and carbon in the fluid.
I asked Phil to pull the switch on and off several times and then I injected some more fluid. Of course more fluid leaked out onto my shirt. I always brought a work shirt with me because my mother-in-law always has things that need fixing.
I got up and said, "That should do it but I think you and I need to check it tonight after dark," I said.
Phil smiled and said, "Yes, we should do that." I walked her back into her house. Her mother came out of the kitchen and thanked me for helping them.
I explained to her that she could have the car but that we would need to verify that it was fixed later that night. I said my goodbyes and returned to my mother-in-law's house. She had a couple more things for me to fix.
That night after supper, my wife and I were watching TV with her parents. Phil came through the front door and said, "Let's go check out my headlights. I hope your fix worked."
I had told my wife what I had done but was not certain that the lights were totally fixed. I leaned over to kiss her goodbye but as usual, she turned her head so that I kissed her cheek. I put on my coat and went to the back porch to get my toolbox.
"I got my tools in case. I will see you all later," I said.
I noticed my mother-in-law had a big smile as we left. I have a feeling that she knows what happened last night. I know that she and Phil are very close and they may have talked about what happened..