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| Leo prepares to test his homemade "Blue Jay" against the store-bought perfection of "The Vindicator" at the Oak Creek Downhill Derby. |
The heat in Oak Creek was super sticky that day. It was the kind of hot where your shirt sticks to your back right when you walk outside, it felt like a wet towel was draped all over the world. It was the middle of July in Georgia. The air smelled like grass that just got cut and the black road when it cooks in the sun. For Leo Miller, who was twelve, the air smelled like he was gonna lose.
Saturday was the big day. It was the Oak Creek Downhill Derby. Everyone in the neighborhood knew about it; it was a huge deal like fireworks on the Fourth of July. All the kids on the street built carts. They didn't use engines or gas. They used gravity. That means the hill does all the work for you if you are brave enough to let it.
Leo was standing in his driveway. He was looking at a pile of wood that didn't match. He had four wheels that came from an old red wagon and a piece of rope. It looked like a pile of junk. That is because it was a pile of junk.
Then the garage door across the street opened up with a loud hum. Jax Bennett walked out. He was pushing his car called "The Vindicator." It looked amazing. It was painted silver like a spaceship and had real rubber tires. It had a soft steering wheel, too. Jax didn't build it, though. His dad bought a box of computer for a lot of money, and they just put the pieces together in one afternoon.
Jax saw Leo and pulled his sunglasses down. He smiled kind of meanly. "Hey Leo," he said. "Are you building a race car or are you making a campfire?"
Leo felt his face get hot. It was hotter than the sun. "It is a work in progress, Jax," Leo said back.
"You'd better hurry up," Jax laughed, and he rubbed a spot off his shiny bumper. "The race is in four days."
Leo kicked a piece of wood. He wanted to quit right there. What was the point? He couldn't beat money. He couldn't beat something perfect. He walked to the garage to get a big trash bag to throw the wood away. But then a shadow fell on the driveway.
It was Mr. Henderson. He was the old man who lived next door. Mr. Henderson used to fix cars a long time ago. He wore suspenders, and he always had dirty hands from working on stuff. He didn't talk a lot, usually. But he saw everything that happened on the street.
"That seems like a waste of good wood," Mr. Henderson said in a grumbly voice. He looked at the pine wood Leo was gonna throw out.
"It is not a car," Leo said, and his voice sounded weird, like he might cry. "It is garbage. Look at the car Jax has. I can never beat that."
Mr. Henderson took a rag out of his pocket and wiped his face. "Are you trying to beat Jax? Or are you trying to build something real?"
"I don't know," Leo said. "I just don't want to look dumb."
The old man walked over and picked up a board. He looked at it really closely. "Let me tell you a secret, Leo. There are two types of people. Some people buy things. Some people build things. The person who buys gets the shiny thing fast. Everyone claps for him. But he doesn't know how the machine works. If it breaks, he can't fix it."
"So?" Leo asked.
"So the builder," Mr. Henderson poked Leo in the chest, "he has to work hard. He might get hurt a little. He gets mad. But when he sits in the car, he isn't just riding. He is the heart of the car. If you want a plastic trophy, go ask your dad to buy one. If you want to learn who you are, then pick up that hammer."
Leo looked at the wood. He looked at J, ax who was taking a picture of himself with his phone. He looked back at Mr. Henderson.
"I don't know how to make the steering work good," Leo said softly.
Mr. Henderson smiled and showed a gold tooth. "Well, I have a wrench and I have nothing to do until Tuesday. Let's get to work."
The next three days went by so fast. There was sawdust everywhere and lots of sweat. Leo learned that you have to measure things twice before you cut them. It is a rule. He learned that sandpaper makes the wood smooth, so you don't get splinters in your legs. He learned that being patient is hard.
They didn't have fancy plastic for the body. They used wood sheets. They didn't have Chromee. They found a can of blue paint in the back of the shed. It was called "Electric Blue." They didn't have a steering wheel. They used a thick rope and some pulleys. Mr. Henderson said it was "old school cool."
On Friday night, it was the night before the race. Something bad happened. Leo was making a bolt tight on the back wheels. He heard a loud CRACK sound. He turned it too hard. The wood near the wheel split open.
Leo threw the wrench across the room. "I knew it! It is broken! It is all over!"
He sat down on the hard floor. He put his head in his hands. He wanted to cry bad. All that work was for nothing.
Mr. Henderson didn't even blink. He walked over and picked up the wrench. He sat down next to Leo. "Are you done feeling sad?"
"It is broken," Leo said madly.
"It is wood, son. It is not a diamond. We can fix it," Mr. Henderson said, nice and calm. "This is the best part, rt actually."
"The best part?"
"The failing part," the old man said. "If it didn't crack now, it would have cracked on the hill tomorrow. You would have crashed. Now we know where the weak spot is. Now we can make it stronger. We will put a metal plate there. It will be stronger than it was before."
They worked until it was super late at night. They put a piece of ugly metal over the crack. It looked like a scar. But when Leo pulled on the wheel, it didn't move at all. It was solid.
Saturday morning was bright and cool. Sycamore Street had lots of people. Parents were sitting in chairs, drinking coffee. There were balloons on the mailboxes. The air felt buzzing because all the kids were nervous.
Jax was there. He had a bunch of kids around him. His car was so shiny.
Leo rolled his cart to the line. He named it "The Blue Jay." It looked bumpy. The paint wasn't perfect. The metal plate on the back looked rough.
"Nice patch job," Jax said meanly when they lined up. It was the last race. Just them two. "Hope it stays together."
Leo looked at the metal plate. He remembered drilling the holes in it. He remembered the smell of the metal dust. He remembered Mr. Henderson’s hand on his shoulder.
"It will," Leo said. He wasn't guessing. He knew it. He knew every screw and every nail.
"Racers ready!" the man shouted.
"Go!"
Gravity grabbed them. Jax had smooth tires, so he went fast right away. He shot forward like a silver bullet. Leo pushed off hard and put his head down to go faster.
The wind was loud in Leo’s ears. The road was bumpy and shook his teeth. They got to the big bump in the middle of the road. It was a sewer cover.
Jax hit it first. His car was stiff. It bounced really hard. Jax wobbled. He fought the steering wheel. Because he didn't build the steerer, he pulled it too hard. The car slid sideways and slowed down.
Leo hit the bump a second later. He knew his car was stiff, too. So he leaned his body to the side before he hit the bump. The Blue Jay took the hit. The back wheels held on tight. The metal plate worked.
Leo came out of the bump, and he was going fast. He was at Jax’s back wheel. Then he was next to him.
They were side by side. They were going fast toward the hay bales at the end.
Leo could see that Jax was scared in his eyes. Jax was just holding on for the ride. Leo was driving the car.
At the last second, there was a hole in the road. Jax slammed on his brakes because he was scared to flip over. Leo didn't brake. He trusted his machine. He steered right around the edge of the hole. The rope dug into his hands.
The Blue Jay went ahead.
Leo crossed the line just a tiny bit before Jax.
The crowd screamed in happy sounds. Leo crashed into the hay bales. He was laughing. His heart was beating so fast in his chest like a bird.
Mr. Henderson was the first one there. He pulled Leo out of the cart. The old man didn't say anything. He just gave Leo a high-five that hurt his hand a little.
Then they gave out the awards. The man gave Leo a gold plastic trophy. It felt light and cheap in his hand.
Jax walked over. He looked sad. He kicked the dirt. "Lucky run," he said quietly. Then he looked at the Blue Jay. "Where did you buy that steering part? I couldn't get mine to turn like that."
"I didn't buy it," Leo said. He felt warm inside, and it wasn't from the sun. "I made it. With rope."
Jax looked at the rope. He was really curious. "That is... actually kind of cool."
Leo looked at the trophy and then at his cart. The trophy was just plastic. It would just sit in his room. But the cart was special. The cart was smart. The cart was the memory of the garage. The cart was known that when things break, you don't throw them in the trash. You make them stronger.
"Hey," Leo said to Jax. "If you want... I can show you how to fix your steering. It is too jumpy."
Jax’s eyes got big. "Really? My dad doesn't know how to fix it. He just said we would buy a new one next year."
"No," Leo smiled. He patted the rough wood of The Blue Jay. "Don't buy a new one. We can build it better."
The sun was going down over Oak Creek. The two boys sat on the curb. They had grease on their hands. They were taking apart the expensive silver car to see how it worked inside. Leo knew Mr. Henderson was right. The trophy wasn't the prize. The prize was knowing he could look at a pile of junk or a broken part and build his way to the finish line.
He wasn't just a passenger in his life anymore. He was the mechanic.
