The Archfornicator of Canterbury

41 You ain't seen nothin' yet

Jack knew he'd have to get moving. It was just a question of time when the Company spooks stationed in Transvestitia would come looking for him. If he kept moving, there was a chance that he'd stay ahead in the game.

"Og. Do you know how I can get to the airport."

"There's a bus from Hospodar to Apollinaris. Stops at the airport. I can give you a ride to the bus station."

"Thanks Og. When do you think we could get going."

"I can see you're in a hurry. Let me just go change my clothes and we'll go."

Og disappeared upstairs for a minute and came down wearing exactly the same kind of overalls he'd worn, only this time they were ever so slightly cleaner.

They went outside, Jack following Og's lead. Og opened the doors to the barn. Inside was a car under a brown tarpaulin. Og grabbed a corned and pulled the tarp off.

"Wow."

"1964 Studebaker GT Hawk. One of the most advanced and certainly the most desirable passenger car of its day. Straight-six 3.5 liter engine. Synchronised gearbox. Central locking. Air conditioning. Electric windows. Safety belts. They only made eight after this. Then the whole factory shut down."

Og's Studebaker looked like it had just rolled off the assembly line. The metallic champagne gold lacquer was immaculate. The brown vinyl interior looked like no-one had ever sat in the car. Og got in the driver's seat and started the car. The engine purred like a cat who'd just eaten the biggest mouse ever. Jack got in the car and they drove off.

"You don't see one of these every day."

"Nope. Bought her from a pig farmer years ago. There was barely more metal than rust. Took me ages to get all the missing parts and put her back together. Now she runs better than she did when she was new."

Og pushed a button and the AM radio came alive. It was tuned to an oldies station. Bachman Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" was playing. Jack sincerely hoped that wasn't the case.

The road to Hospodar was narrow and windy. There was no other traffic to slow them down, so they covered the distance in a few minutes. The bus station was a stylish art deco building covered almost completely by vine. A few people sat on a bench outside the station, obviously waiting for the bus.

"Thanks Og. I owe you big time."

"Bullshit. You can send me a postcard when you get home. Just put 'Og, Hospodar, Transvestitia' on there and I'll get it."

"Will do. Take care."

"You too Jack."

Og turned the car around and started making his way back to the house. Jack sat down on a bench and waited.

The Archfornicator of Canterbury by Olli-Pekka Rinta-Koski
is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.