On Sunday May 27, 2007, I was driving my 1997 Ford Explorer from Columbia, MD to Flower Mound, TX. I had been driving for about 3 ½ hours when I noticed that my battery light was illuminated. Suddenly I didn’t have any power steering. I immediately pulled off the highway and drove into a Shell station in Roanoke, VA.
I popped the hood of my car and saw immediately that the fan belt was loose. I pulled the fan belt in an attempt to see how loose it was and the whole belt came out of the car. This was the belt that operated my power steering pump, alternator and water pump. I immediately went into the shell station and asked for a phone book so that I could find a mechanic. The attendant said that it was useless because all of the mechanics in town were closed on Sunday. Since Monday was Memorial Day, I quickly realized that I was going to be stuck in Roanoke, VA until Tuesday! I exited the Shell Station and went back to my car to try and figure a way to get this fan belt on the car.
As soon as I got back to my car, a beat-up pickup truck pulled into the station. Two white men jumped out of the car and walked right up to my car and looked into the engine compartment.
“Looks, like you done lost your tensioner pulley”, said the older man. He looked to be about 60 years old. He had on dirty clothes, a worn baseball cap and had about four or five front teeth. We’ll call him ‘Pa’!
Suddenly, the younger man lay on the ground and began searching under my car. This guy was in his early twenties and was sporting a goatie, several tattoos and a mullet.
“Found it!” he screamed as he crawled from under the car holding what turned out to be my tensioner pulley.
“Cleatus, get my cell phone out da truck”, commanded the Pa.
Obediently, Cleatus retrieved the Pa’s phones and gave it to him.
Pa called some number and began to give the make and model of my car to what I assumed was a parts store.
"Where you coming from?" said Cleatus.
"Maryland", I said out of instinct more than anything.
"Well, this car ain't making it back to Maryland", Cleatus said knowingly.
Just then, Pa closed his flip phone and said “Parts gonna run you about $50. It’ll cost you bout $200 to get’er fixed”.
I must have agreed because Cleatus told me that they lived about a quarter mile down the hill and that I should follow them to their house because my car should make it there with no problem.
I got into my car and began to follow Pa and Cleatus. During the short ride, I called my wife, Monica, and left her voicemail message detailing the situation (as well as the license number of Pa and Cleatus’ truck).
Pa and Cleatus took a left off the main road into a trailer park. (I am not making this up) I continued to follow them to what I assumed was their “house” and parked in the front yard. Shortly after arriving, two women came out the trailer. I would learn that the large woman in the housecoat with missing sleeves was Pa’s wife. The other younger woman, who was not a stranger to piercings, eyeliner and mascara, was Pa’s daughter.
I popped the hood of my car and immediately saw green radiator fluid shooting out of the overflow container. Cleatus was right. I wouldn't have made it home in my car.
I stepped out of my car and took in my surroundings. There was an assortment of single-wide and double wide trailers, seemingly strewn across the bumpy landscape. There were several late model cars in various states of repair. There were quite a few confederate flags hung on many trailers.
Confederate Flags. The Confederate Flag is a very controversial symbol in American history. To some, it is a banner of southern pride. To others it is a symbol of rebellion against the government. Still to others, like me, it is a banner of hatred toward blacks and any other non-white group.
Now to those who don’t know me, I am a black man. Now, I’m not a Daryl “The Rock” Johnson or Barack Obama type black man. At a glance, you might not know immediately that these men are black. No one has ever looked at me and thought, you know he
might be black.
I began to think. “Well, James. It’s been a pretty good life. You married a good woman. You got two great boys. The insurance money should be enough for Monica and the kids. I wonder if Monica will get remarried.”
“We won’t fit in the truck, so we’re taking the Blazer”, Cleatus said, interrupting my train ot thought.
I followed Cleatus to a late model Chevy Blazer. After removing several appliances and various bits of trash, Cleatus motioned for me to get in.
As Cleatus, Pa and I drove toward a destination that was unknown to me. My cell phone rang. When I answered it, I was greeted by my nearly hysterical wife who was desperately trying to tell me to get to safety as soon as possible. I spoke to her in broken speech in an attempt to calm her down while simultaneously not tipping my hosts in the front seat to how truly worried I was about this situation.
After about four miles of driving, we arrived at an auto supply store. As we walked in, the clerk recognized my hosts and pulled out the auto parts he had been holding for them.
Unfortunately, there was a problem. The tensioner pulley that the clerk had put aside for us did not match the one that had fallen out of my car. The clerk called another clerk and he began punching keys on the computer. Despite this clerk’s best effort, the computer still recommended the WRONG part. Luckily, there was another clerk that began manually searching the inventory. After opening a few boxes, this clerk found the part.
After paying for the parts, we began driving back to the trailer park.
Since we had time, I began to talk to the men about their backgrounds. I would learn that both men had lived their entire lives in Roanoke. Pa told me, in his own words, that he had
learnt himself everything he knew about cars. Cleatus was also self taught but added that Pa was much better’n him because he could work on those big ‘ole Mack Trucks.
On the way back we passed a dentist’s office. Pa said that he needed to go to the dentist, but “they want $200 dollars to pull one tooth outta you head”. Pa then turned to me, while driving, and showed me a very loose and dirty front tooth.
“When I was younger, I used to pullem out with plyers, but this one hurts too much!”
When we arrived back at the trailer park, Pa took me on a tour of his estate while Cleatus worked on my car.
Pa owned about 6 late model cars. He proudly showed me each one and told me how little he had paid for them and how he had fixed each one. At the end of the tour, he showed me his most prized possession: A car horn that played Dixie. He said he used to have a car just like that one on the ‘Dukes of Hazzard’. Pa asked me if I remembered this show, which I sheepishly replied, “Yeah, I used to love this show!”
“Finished!”, yelled Cleatus, as we were completing the tour.
I went directly to the car and started it up. My power steering had returned, the car was no longer overheating and the battery life was no longer illuminated.
Pa and Cleatus had fixed my car.
As agreed, I took out my wallet and gave Pa $200. I thanked both men for letting God use them in helping me. I also gave Pa an extra $50 for coming to my rescue as he did.
“You’re a good man, ”, Pa said, “You didn’t have to do that!”
I said, “Hey, just take care of that tooth!”
I left the trailer park and headed for the interstate. I didn’t have any other mechanical failure for the rest of my 1400 mile trip.
I thanked God for sending Pa and Cleatus and for all the other blessing of that trip.
