Suede to Rest Read Online Free

moved slightly, as did the blue pant legs above them. I leaned down, closer to the bumper. “Hello? Can you hear me?”
    I would have walked away if it weren’t something of an emergency. Instead, I crossed the concrete floor and unplugged the CD player. When I turned around, the person under the car was halfway out. Seconds later I was staring down at a woman in a dirty blue zip-front jumpsuit.
    â€œOil changes for twenty-five dollars. Barely pays the rent on this place.” She wiped the back of her arm across her forehead and left a grease stain on her pale skin. “You got a problem with your car or are you looking for directions?”
    â€œMy car. It’s parked across the street. Looks like someone tampered with the electrical while I was otherwise engaged.”
    â€œWhere were you?”
    â€œIn the fabric store.”
    She made no secret of the once-over she gave me, looking at my riding boots, my dirty velvet jeans, my turtleneck, and my oversized man’s blazer. I ran my fingers through my auburn hair, tucking a few tendrils behind my ears while she stared at me. I’d long since chewed off my trademark cranberry lipstick, but at least I knew my eyeliner and mascara had been applied as generously as hers.
    â€œHow’d you get into the fabric store?”
    â€œThe back door.”
    â€œI mean, how’d you get permission? I don’t think anybody’s been in there for ages.”
    â€œI inherited it.”
    â€œWho are you again?” she asked. She sat upright.
    â€œPoly Monroe.”
    â€œAs in Pollyanna?” she asked.
    â€œAs in Polyester.”
    â€œI’m Charlie.” She held out a hand and I pulled her up. Her thick, wild black hair was held in a messy ponytail on the top of her head. Her features were angular but sexy, full red lips and dark eyes. Her eyeliner was heavy on the upper lids, drawn into a point at the edge of each eye, Cleopatra-like. She wiped her hands on an already filthy rag and extended her hand a second time, which I shook.
    â€œPolyester Monroe.” She tipped her head slightly as she considered this. “Related to Marius and Millie Monroe?” she asked.
    I nodded.
    â€œYou say your car was vandalized?”
    â€œLooks that way.”
    She craned her neck and looked outside. “Yellow VW Bug?”
    â€œThat’s the one.”
    She slammed the hood on the car she was working on, unzipped her jumpsuit, and stepped out of it. She wore a faded chambray shirt and jeans underneath. She hung the jumpsuit on a hook by a calendar of half-naked firemen. “It’s time for me to close up. Watch the joint while I take a powder?”
    â€œWhat about my car?”
    â€œI’ll fix it in the morning.” She pulled down the hinged metal doors in the front of her shop and threw the locking mechanism. Before I could answer, she disappeared behind a small door on the back corner of the garage. I stood in the front, not sure exactly what it was I was supposed to be doing. I heard a knock on the front door and turned around to find two men in the doorway. The one in front wore a dirty white T-shirt and faded jeans and steel-toed boots. The second one was dressed the same except his T-shirt was black. They both held yellow hard hats.
    â€œCan I help you?” I asked.
    â€œI don’t know. Where’s Charlie?”
    â€œShe’s closing up. If you want to talk to her about a job, come back in the morning.”
    â€œSure, yeah, that’s why we’re here. About a job.” They laughed.
    The air felt crisp with tension. The two men stayed at the door, but I sensed if I weren’t there they would have come inside. I crossed the shiny garage floor and stepped directly in a trail of oil that led to the drain. The guy in the white T-shirt stood in the doorway.
    â€œLike I said, she’s closed for business.” I put one hand on the door and the other on the frame. I was the same