Fly the Rain Read Online Free PDF Page A

out loud. But it never
seemed to bother Ed.
    As a child, Greg had been afraid of his
uncle. But there was one thing about him that Greg had grown to
admire. Edsel Torkman didn’t believe in check books and credit
cards. He preferred carrying cold hard cash. And Greg always looked
forward to that crisp new fifty-dollar in each Christmas and
birthday card.
    But that was about the extent of their
relationship—until Greg bought his first car at age 16. He paid
cash for the thing, from his paper route earnings. The big 1975
Ford Thunderbird had 250,000 miles on it, and weighed in at some
5,000 lbs. It got 8 miles per gallon—on the highway.
    Uncle Ed had his own auto repair shop. And
when he heard about Greg’s purchase, he insisted on overhauling the
engine—for free.
    Greg was thrilled—until he
found out that Uncle Ed expected him to act as assistant mechanic.
But he really wanted to get his car running. How would he ever ask
a girl out if he didn’t have a car? And it turned out to be a fun
learning experience. Ed was different—but he wasn’t weird . In fact, he
was the coolest guy Greg had ever known.
    Greg sat down at his
computer, and looked up Edsel Torkman’s
Auto Shop.
    The phone rang ten times. Greg was about to
hang up, when Ed answered.
    “ Torkman’s.”
    “ Uncle Ed?”
    “ Yeah. Greg, is that you?”
He talked so fast and so excitedly that he sounded as if he’d
polished off a gallon of coffee in less than an hour. “I mean, are
you Greg? Greg Tenorly. Are you my nephew Greg Tenorly?”
    “ Yes, Uncle Ed,
it’s—“
    “— so, it’s Greg?”
    “ Yes, Sir.”
    “ Well, what have you been up
to, Greg? Not flipping cow patties, I’ll bet, huh?” Then the
stuttering kicked in. “Not doing that, ah-are ah-are you, ah-are
you, Greg?”
    Then Greg remembered the key to slowing him
down. Talk to him very slowly. “How are you, Ed?”
    “ Doing fine,” he blurted.
Then he slowed his speech just a little. “I’m doing
fine.”
    “ Well, the reason I’m
calling—“
    “— you got another engine
that needs overhauling? We had one trick of a time doing your
Thunderbird, didn’t we? When was that? Two years ago?”
    It had been nearly 20 years.
And Greg had never understood why his uncle used the word ‘trick’
instead of ‘heck’ or something else. He’d say things like: We’d better get tricking . Or, what in the trick are you
doing? Or, I
torn the trick out of my knuckle when the wrench
slipped . It was like the Smurfs. The
Smurfs use the word ‘smurf’’ to mean a lot of different things,
depending on the context. Uncle Ed used ‘trick.’
    “ No, Uncle Ed. It’s been
quite a while since we did that.” Get to the point, Greg told
himself. “Are you going to my dad’s birthday party?”
    “ Well, sure—if somebody
invites me. Oh, trick! That’s right. Norma invited me to the party.
Did you know your dad remarried?”
    “ I just found
out.”
    “ Yeah. I’d like to get
married someday. Someday.” He said the word a second time, as
though he’d forgotten to say it the first time.
    “ Someday? Ed, you’re 50
years old. What’s stopping you?”
    “ Well…”
    “ Do you have a
girlfriend?”
    “ Angie. Well, she’s not
really my girlfriend, but—“
    “ Angie Silverstern?
She’s married , Ed.”
    “ No. She’s not.”
    “ Yeah. Don’t you remember?
That’s why her name’s not Mayberly anymore—she married Clifford
Silverstern. I know you used to have a crush on her,
but—“
    “ No. She’s
divorced.”
    “ Really? Okay. Well, then go
for it, Uncle Ed.”
    “ I will.”
    “ No. Don’t put it
off.”
    “ I won’t.”
    Greg wasn’t convinced. “I’ll tell you what:
I’m coming down for the birthday party, and if you haven’t told
Angie how you feel by then—“
    “— then you’re gonna help
me?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Okay. It’s a
deal.”
    “ And my new wife, Cynthia,
is coming too.”
    “ Oh, yeah. I heard you were
getting