Johnny arrived five minutes late to work. He opened the door to Ray's Auto Parts House and let his four-year-old son Wayne walk in ahead of him. It had been a mild August for south Georgia, but this morning Ray's NAPA thermometer already read 90. The familiar smell of oil, rubber and iron lingered in the deserted front room. Johnny led Wayne over to the sales counter and sat him on one of the tall stools. With his hand he straightened his son's cotton-blond hair.
"Now, you sit right here. Don't go nowhere. I'll put you down, when I'm ready. Okay, partner?"
"Okay, Daddy."
Johnny left his son sitting on the stool and walked around the counter, through the storehouse door, and into the back room. Ray sat at the small desk in the corner next to an aisle of mufflers. The calendar behind him depicted Miss NAPA Parts sitting seductively on a large red toolbox. He punched buttons on an adding machine, and didn't respond to Johnny's entrance.
"Have you figured out how to use that thing yet?" Johnny asked.
Ray looked up and smiled. "Mornin'."
"Sorry I'm late. My wife had a doctor's appointment, and I had to bring Wayne with me. She'll pick him up after lunch."
"That's fine. Where is he?"
"He's out front. I got him sitting on a stool. He won't be any trouble."
Ray reached into his pocket and pulled out some change. He held it up toward Johnny. "Buy the kid a soda or something."
"That's okay. He don't need one. He had breakfast before we came. He'll be all right."
Ray stood and put the money back in his pocket. He was shorter than Johnny, but had a bigger build than his 25-year-old employee. He stretched his arms out to his sides.
"Did you complete that order that White's Garage sent over yesterday?"
"Yes, sir. I've already taken it over to 'em. I did it on my way home yesterday."
"Son, I don't know why you work so hard, but I'm glad you're working for me."
"My daddy raised me right. When I was a boy I had work that I was responsible for, and I knew that if I didn't do it, my daddy would get that ol' peach tree switch after me."
"Well, he did a good job. You're the best worker I have."
"It's just the way I was raised."
Ray sat back down and Johnny excused himself. He went out to the front of the store and swept up while he waited for the first customers to arrive. He would playfully pinch or nudge Wayne every time he passed him. "Hang in there, partner," he would say.
Wayne sat patiently and looked around at the various objects in the store. He spent most of his time staring at the shiny hubcaps that were arranged in a pyramid display next to the soft drink machine.
By 10 am, five customers had come and gone, and Ray had finished his figuring and entered the front room. He told Wayne good morning, but then forgot that the boy was even there. After Joe Gresson left with a new alternator, Ray noticed Wayne sitting quietly on the stool. He walked over to Johnny who was wiping down the shelf that held the air filters.
"Something wrong with your boy?"
"No, sir. He hasn't done anything, has he?"
"That's just it. He hasn't moved from that stool all morning. You sure he's not sick? I've never seen a kid sit still for this long."
"That's because I told him to sit there till I got him down. You could close up this shop ad come back tomorrow and he would still be sittin' there. He minds his daddy."
Ray looked over the shelves at Wayne, who remained on the stool looking at the row of wrenches that hung along the wall behind the sales counter. His hands lay passively in his lap. He sat still and quiet. Ray couldn't even hear him breathing.
"Go over there and ask him if he wants to get down," Johnny said.
Ray walked over to the boy. Wayne shyly smiled as he approached.
"Son, wouldn't you like to get down and run around a little?"
"No, sir."
"There's some neat stuff in this here room. I'll bet you'd like to go back there and look around."
"No, sir."
Ray reached into his pocket and brought out some change. He picked through it and pulled out a quarter. He held it out to Wayne, who didn't reach for it. "Why don't you take this quarter and go over to that machine and get you a Coca-Cola?"
"No thank you, sir.'
Johnny walked around the rows of shelves and stood beside his son. He ruffled Wayne's cotton fine hair and smiled at Ray. "I told you my boy minded me." He patted Wayne on the back. "He knows to do what his daddy says. He's gonna grow up to be a responsible man. Ain't that right, partner?"
Johnny reached into his own pocket and pulled out a quarter. He handed it to Wayne, then picked him up off the stool and sat him on the floor. "Go on over there and get you a drink. Then come back over here and I'll put you back on the stool."
Wayne walked somberly to the drink machine as both men watched. His head gently brushed against a Ford hubcap as he passed the display.
Ray patted Johnny on the back. "He sure is a good boy. He's gonna make a fine, responsible man one day."
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