4-4-2

4-4-2

Chapter Three: Learning the Language

Kagome woke in a bed that felt strange and unfamiliar. As her mind began to work, and process her surroundings, she realized that the room wasn’t hers either. Last nights events poured into her thoughts and she had to lay back down. She sighed. “Too much to process first thing in the morning.” She said to herself and pulled herself out of bed. Classic rock drifted through the house and the air smelled heavy of gasoline and smoke. Kagome followed the music outside and was blinded for a moment by the bright summer sun. She squinted until she could see again. The nose of a red car stuck out from behind the corner of the house. The hood was up and several oil-stained rags hung from it. A toolbox and an old radio were balanced on the front end. She smiled when she heard muffled swearing from around the corner. She walked over and leaned over the grille and looked down at the engine. ‘Oldsmobile 400 cid’ was written on the large round air filter on the top of the engine. “Hey You.” Said a voice from beneath the engine. InuYasha grinned up at her from the empty space around the engine block. “Sleep well?” he asked. His face was smudged with oil and grease. He wore a red baseball cap backward that was tattered and stained with oil. She smiled and nodded. “So what does 4-4-2 mean anyways?” InuYasha clamped a wrench around something underneath the engine and tried to turn it. “400 cubic inch displacement engine.” He grunted and tried again to force the stubborn bolt. “4 barrel Carburetor.” He made a sound that Kagome could describe only as a growl. “Dual exhaust. Can you drop the WD-40 down here?” She nodded and passed the blue and yellow can through the hole. There was a pause followed by another string of mumbled curses then a loud bang. “OW! Fuck!” he dropped the wrench and crawled out from underneath the car. He wiped off his hands, which were nearly black and examined his hand. “You okay?” Kagome asked. He chuckled. “Nothing mixes like oil and blood. Yeah I’m fine.” She looked at him skeptically. “Do you like dogs Kagome?” she nodded, but looked slightly confused. “When a dog wants to show his affection, he licks you. Most people don’t really enjoy getting covered in dog slobber, but it’s the dog’s way of telling you that he loves you. Well, cars bite you instead.” He slid a blue bucket under the car and crawled back under it. “If you say so.” Kagome said skeptically. ‘He really enjoys this a lot. I kind of envy him for that.’ She thought to herself. She had always enjoyed the look and sound of old cars, but never really understood much about them. Her father felt that under a car was no place for a woman, and hadn’t shown her much about how they worked. A loud clank brought her from her thoughts. “Come on, damn you.” He said under his breath. Another clank, and the sound of liquid pouring into the bucket. “There we go. That wasn’t so hard was it?” he crawled back out and wiped off his hands again. “Do you always talk to your cars?” he shrugged. “Working on a car is like raising a child. You have to love it and care for it, and make sure that it gets everything it needs. Classic cars need a lot of attention and upkeep to keep them from falling apart or deteriorating. And the way I see it, the more blood, sweat, and tears you put into something, the more it will do the same for you.” Kagome frowned, thinking for a moment about her own problems. ‘He sees this car as his child. In a way he’s a single parent too. Maybe he would accept me. Maybe he is responsible enough for…’ InuYasha spoke, sounding concerned. “Are you okay, Kagome? Did I say something wrong?” she shook her head, quickly pushing the thought out of her mind. “No, I’m okay. You really love this car, don’t you.” He nodded. “Yeah. She’s my baby.” Kagome Smiled. “Can you teach me some stuff about cars? I’ve always wanted to know more about how they worked.” He smiled. “I’d love to.” He laughed. “You’re gonna steal my heart if you’re not careful, though.” Kagome blushed. “Wow… that came out wrong…,” he said sheepishly… “I just have never met a girl who wants to know more about cars. I mean yeah sure, plenty of girls I’ve met have liked cruising around in them, but to most of them, the car was like a trophy. That’s how it was to Kikyo anyways. She’d always brag about my car to people. You’d think it would be nice, but I don’t know. It was kind of unflattering. It made me feel like all the work I put into it was for just for status or something. She didn’t really understand the connection I have with this car.” Kagome nodded. “It’s kind of like parents who show off their kids grades or sports records. Like it’s somehow their achievement, not their kids’.” He nodded. “But you aren’t like that, are you?” it wasn’t a question. “I understand what that car is to you InuYasha. What it means to you.” He smiled genuinely. “I believe you do.” The liquid dripped to a stop and he crawled back under. There were a few more sounds of metal banging on metal, and he re-emerged, pulling out the bucket, now filled with oil, behind him. He opened up a fresh bottle of oil and poured it into the top of the engine. “Cars are like people.” He began to explain. “They need to eat, drink, and sleep just like we do. And just like us, it matters what gets put into them.” He opened up another bottle and poured it. Oil is like the blood of a car. Without it the motor would seize and die. And if your heart stops working, you die.” Kagome nodded and watched as he worked. He opened a third bottle and poured it in. “Cars need to breathe as well. The air filter cleans the air and the carburetor mixes the clean air with gasoline to be burned as fuel, just like how our muscles need a mixture of food and oxygen to function.” He emptied the third bottle and re-capped the oil fill. Kagome looked on intently. “So then a car really is like a child. It completely relies on you to give it what it needs. It can’t change it’s own oil or fill it’s own gas tank.” InuYasha smiled. “You’re catching on. And just like a child, it doesn’t always know what’s best for it. Using low quality oil and gas is like feeding a kid fast food all the time. It can be unhealthy for the car and shorten the engine’s life span.” He moved his toolbox and the radio and closed the hood. He walked to the driver’s side and opened the door. “Car lesson number one: Listen.” He turned the key and the engine roared to life. It’s deep rumble faltered every few seconds, but kept going. “Your car will tell you what it needs.” He opened the hood again and fiddled with something that Kagome could not identify. The car’s sound became slightly more high pitched and the faltering ceased. “The idle was low, so I upped it.” Kagome cocked her head. “When the engine is turning to slowly, it can cause the spark plugs and the fuel to move out of sync. That little sputter you heard was one of the cylinders failing to fire. By increasing the idle, the valves move more closely in time with the plugs’ firing order, thus all cylinders are being used.” Kagome nodded. “So an engine will in a sense talk to you if you know how to understand it?” InuYasha smiled. “Not many people are as perceptive to how I can understand my car as you are. I’m impressed by how quick you catch on.”