Banana Republic


    “We got your maintenance done?”


    “How do you call this Maintenance?”


    “What do you mean? We changed your oil, replaced your brake pads, flushed your radiator and even winterized the thing.”


    “Sure, sure, those are all great. But could you tell me why my daily driver minivan now has a Nitrous bottle and turbos?”


    “I mean, I had to order the brake pads and was at the parts store anyway, so I figured what the hell, should make you popular after soccer practice right?”


    Frequent conversation between a Cape and her Tailor supplied Mechanic.


    By the time Z got back to the house, Nahoa was watching the gate and came out to greet her. "Yeah, just pull up to the house and park in front. Um, I think there were complications."


    Her face went pale. "What complications?" she said looking around for her Banana


    "Um... Yeah, Follow me." After guiding her to where she could park, he took her into the garage, where Marcus and Levi were arguing.


    "You said it was a belt!"


    "It was a belt! Until it wasn''t." Levi came back, failing to notice the newcomers. "The water pump is leaking, so I pulled it to rebuild. I mean, it''s just some seals, right? But I have to wait for the parts, and I figured what the hell, do her a solid and do the oil and fluid changes."


    "All of them?"


    Zoya wanted to rage, but instead she just collapsed in on herself, Of course the car she loved was crap, everything she touched turned into crap. "How long and how much is it going to cost to fix?” She winced a bit as she forced the next part out. ‘And is there any way I can borrow or rent the beetle till you’re done, so I can pay for it, I…can’t really work without the car?"


    "Oh, shit. Hi!" Levi scratched his head, ignoring the oil. "Um, well, the oil I grabbed from our shop, it''s fine and unopened and we got it basically free so don''t worry about that. It''s a cheap oil filter, and I fortunately found out I needed a fuel filter early in the process, so I got that too, but again, not expensive. The gaskets for the pump weren''t cheap but not bank breaking. I mean... call it fifty bucks? It might take a couple of days though. You can use the beetle; we got it for a shop loner. This qualifies as needing a loaner."


    "God damn it, Levi. This is like when I caught you taking the door off the Valiant. I told you the Tailor''s people were going to deal with it. And what do you know, they came and got it two days later."


    "I didn''t want her car to break down! I feel like a jerk leaving those seats in there, as it is."


    “I need those! I can''t drive without seats!" Panic was starting to set in. "Look I know Banana is junk, all I need is for it to get me through work. I don''t care if it''s pretty or comfortable. I just need function. Just, let me know how much and  I can Venmo you the money as soon as I can.”If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "What? It still has seats. I''m just saying they are busted up." Levi said, confused. "Don''t worry about the Venmo, hit me when you have some cash, no big hurry. Seriously though, I could do this thing up right as a sleeper. Ugly as Azteks are, they have solid engines and Pontiac''s always hid power."


    “I can’t afford to do anything like that. Like I told Marcus, I’m saving to get my own place when I turn eighteen. Everything is going towards that.”


    Levi nodded. "That makes sense." he agreed. "Sorry, I got enthusiastic. Don''t worry about the fifty bucks." He shrugged. "Still. I could probably find at least a comfier driver seat if you want. I can even go scrap hunting. The seats are usually the last thing to go at a pick a part place."


    “It’s okay,” she said, “I’m good with making do.” She went to the trunk and pulled out her backpack. “Thanks for loaning me the Beatle. I’ll take good care of it.”


    “Yeah, sure, that’s not a problem. Oh, I also asked my roommate and girlfriend. You can crash on our couch tonight. I know you''ve been sleeping in your car." Levi added. Marcus and Nahoa stopped and turned to look at her.


    She froze not looking at Marcus. “Um. “She didn’t want to owe them anymore but sleeping somewhere with a hot shower sounded nice. “I don’t want to put anyone out.”


    “It’s not a big deal.” The oblivious mechanic said, randomly pulling out a part that she was fairly sure had nothing to do with the repairs he’d talked about.


    “Take him up on it, or Nahoa picks you up and we carry you to Granny.”


    She winced, they’d do it too. “Okay, Thank you.”


    "Eh, I took your car apart. Erica slapped me on the head. God, I love her." He shrugged. "Anyway, I will be done with this probably not tomorrow. Next day, maybe as long as I don’t find any other ticking time bombs? But then she''ll run like a much less old car. No, to hell with it, I’ll do a tune up and timing adjustment too. No, you aren’t paying, and yeah, then she’ll run like a Lady."


    “Okay thank you. Lemme just run a quick errand and I’ll be right back.” She needed to hide her phone somewhere so if her dad got the number, he couldn’t track her to where she was sleeping


    "That''s cool. See you when you get back."


    She dropped her shut off phone about a mile away in a waterproof case, in a weird little bush on a decorative island in the road. She wasn’t quite paranoid to break the phone, even if she bought it from a sketchy hole in the wall in the Bronx for cheap.


    She drove back, finding her car no more disassembled than it had already been. “Okay, so where I’m I am bunking.”


    "Come on, I''ll show ya." Levi said, leading her into the house.


    Qilin was confused for a few moments, as his daughter seemed to be driving in two separate sections of Long Island, but one of the markers disappeared. He’d only been looking for her location for a few moments, so assumed it was just lag in the system.


    “You need to stop stalking her, Q.” Luna Fuego said. “Besides, we’re supposed to be tracking a ring of car thieves, not your somewhat rebellious daughter.”


    “I know, but I don’t understand what she’s doing out in Long Island?”


    “Avoiding parents who annoy the hell out of her sounds like part of it.” She held her hands up at his glare. “Look, I get you’re worried about what she is getting up to, but I’ve met Z. She’s not going to go black cape on us! Grey, sure, but she’s not stupid enough to go out right black.”


    “A father worries.”


    “As they should.” Luna paused, listening to her earpiece, Qilin standing up and tilting his head as the voice of Urban Ranger came through the Manhattan Unmatched comms. “We got them. They’re doing a hit but it’s further from the city than we thought. Luna, see if you can get there and get a tail on them. Q, get in that supped up tuner of yours and get on the highway, maybe we can intercept.


    “Roger.” They both said, Luna disappearing in a cometary trail into the sky.


    The Martial Arts master dropped from the roof, bouncing between two buildings down the alley before landing next to his white and gold custom Genisis G90, with all the special extras his Tailor’s people could put under the hood. It wasn’t as flashy as some, but it was fast, and it was reliable.


    He glanced at his phone, to check where the Ranger had pinned the robbery. He froze, realizing his daughter’s phone was at the same location.


    “Zoya, what are you doing?”