The Little Mechanic

Phakhui slid underneath the SUV and started turning the nut of the spring pin with a wrench spanner. His scrawny 12-year-old frame made it easy for him to manoeuvre underneath the car but his hands were much too weak for him to loosen the inch thick metal nuts. He steadied himself by placing his foot on the tyre at the opposite side before putting all his weight on the wrench to loosen the first nut. It took him 30 minutes to loosen all the spring pins and U bolts before he could take down the whole leaf spring assembly.

He got out of the car and pulled out the spring assembly that weighed as much as him. This was the third spring assembly he had dissembled that day. He wiped the sweat off his greasy face with his arms before proceeding to fetch the hammer that was laying a few metres away. The workshop where he was working was built completely with tin roofs and looked like a makeshift shelter for old cars. The sound of metal clanking on metal filled the workshop that had more than 10 cars parked very closely together. It had been four months since Phakhui first started working in the workshop. Every day, he still thought about the chain of events that led him to where he was.

His father hadn’t looked up from his plate the whole time they had dinner that night. As Phakhui was about to stand up from the table, his father meekly asked him to stay for a while. He was silent for another good minute or so, trying hard to speak out the words that were breaking his heart:

“Phakhui, you will have to leave home and start earning.”

Phakhui didn’t say anything. Coming from a poor farmer’s family these were words he had always anticipated on hearing. It had just come to him earlier than he thought it would come. He wanted to at least finish high school before he started working but he understood; being the eldest in the family came with his share of responsibilities. He had been called upon by his family and he was resigned to it.

“There’s a very good guy from Ukhrul, a very good mechanic who has agreed to take you in as his apprentice. You’ll eat and stay in his place and he’ll pay you an extra 2000 rupees monthly. We can use the money for your sister’s education.”

...................

“When do I leave?”

“Tomorrow...........

“They’re short on hands and they need you as soon as possible.”

“I think I better start packing then,” Phakhui replied, swallowing his grief.

He went inside the bedroom that was partitioned from the kitchen with just a thin tarpaulin. He sat quietly for a while, trying to let the emotions settle, and heard his father break down on the other side of the wall. They were a family of four, his parents, him, and his younger sister, living in a shabby house that looked more like a shack than an actual house. His parents were farmers who planted potatoes and chillies throughout the year. However, the income from the farm was not enough for them to get by. Then, to add to their already heavy burden, his father had gotten into a freak accident at the fields a year ago, leaving his left hand crippled. He could not work the same again and Phakhui had eventually taken over his father’s role at the fields. But they needed more hands to feed the family and to send the little girl to school. As the eldest son, it had finally fallen upon Phakhui to be the provider of the house.

He hammered the centre bolt of the leaf assembly and the bolt broke in a thrice. The difficult part now for Phakhui was to unhook the rebound clip that held all the leaves of spring together. To do this, he placed a thick metal pin between the wedges of the clip, and holding the pin with his left hand, started hammering. With the hammer too heavy for him and the clip too tightly bound, Phakhui, in trying to hit the pin as hard as he could inadvertently hit the side of his left thumb. He dropped the hammer and recoiled in pain waving his left hand. There was no open wound but blood immediately started clotting by the side of his left thumb. His white cheeks were flushed and the corner of his round eyes watered. He sat down on the dirty floor with his elbows on his knees and waited for the pain to subside. The first day he started working at the workshop, the shirt he was wearing was still pitch black. Now, you couldn’t tell if his shirt had discoloured into a brownish hue or it was all the dust, oil, and grease that had piled up on the cloth.

“Have you hit yourself again?” called out the master mechanic, who was fixing the front brake assembly of another car at the opposite end of the workshop.

“A little bit. I’ll be fine.”

The master mechanic let out a sigh and went back to his work. He was hard as iron but not the kind that could hurt any creature. His hard love yet considerate patience had been rewarded in the way Phakhui expertly picked up the craft in no time after moving in. The little boy still made clumsy mistakes but the master mechanic knew it was the only way the little boy could learn.

“Tea is ready”, called out a fellow mechanic from the small adjoining room that the master used as his office as well as the workshop kitchen.

The call for evening tea came as a welcome respite. Phakhui cleaned his thumb with a wet cloth and gingerly poked open the swelled up blood clot with a toothpick before squeezing out the dead blood. The wound gave out a sharp throbbing sensation; as if a heavy pointed object was jabbing it over and over again. He winced in pain and managed to squeeze out all the blood before wrapping it tightly with a band-aid.

The refreshment was simple red tea and boiled maize cob that had been cut in half. Back at their farm in his village, his father always made sure to roast plenty of maize and potatoes for tea. Phakhui loved the potatoes that had been roasted in the hot ash and often ate it with salt and green chillies. After finishing the potatoes, he’d eat the roasted maize until his jaws hurt from chewing the kernels. As he plucked off the last kernel from his cob, he wished he could at least have a full cob of maize for tea.

Tea break didn’t last more than 15 minutes and he was out working again. This time, after a few hard hits, he managed to unhook the clip and replace the broken spring leaf. Before long, with the help of another apprentice, Phakhui finished fixing the spring assembly and mounted it on the SUV again. It was the last few weeks of autumn and the sun had already set behind the western mountains.

“Phakhui, come into my office.” the master mechanic shouted out from the small room.

Phakhui walked towards the office in his oversized flip-flops that were much too big for his feet to fill. He had struggled to walk in them the first time he wore it but by now, it wasn’t holding him back anymore; he had grown into it.

“How is your hand?”

“It still stings a little bit but much better now.”

“Very good then. Sit down.”

The master mechanic proceeded to take out an envelope from the drawer before handing it out towards Phakhui.

“Here’s your salary for the month. 4000 rupees.”

Phakhui was taken aback. His salary had been set at 2000 rupees from the start. He had received 2000 rupees at the end of the last three months, not a rupee more, not a rupee less.

“I’m not going to hold my arm out forever boy. Take it.”

Phakhui gingerly put his right hand out before pulling it back quickly. He felt disgusted with himself for trying to take double his salary without asking his master if he had made a mistake. Before Phakhui could ask, the master mechanic dropped the envelope in front of him. He then recoiled to his chair and started going through the accounts of the day.

“But I’m only supposed to be paid 2000 a month.” Phakhui mustered to say finally.

“The first three months was your probation period. You’ve done well so I’ve bumped up your salary.” the master mechanic replied without looking up, still flipping through the receipts from the day.

Phakhui sat dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing and stared at the master mechanic without uttering a word. The master mechanic then finally put aside his work, readjusted his seat, cleared his throat, and looked straight at Phakhui.

“You’ve earned it my boy. I wanted to see how you would react. I thought you’d jump for joy but I guess this is also nice.” he said, with the biggest and warmest smile on his face.

Phakhui tried to hold back his tears but they rolled down the side of his face as he smiled and cried all at the same time.

“Come on, take it before I change my mind and go clean up, you’re done for the day.”

“Thank you...” Phakhui just about managed to utter as he took the envelope and walked out of the office door.

Sitting on his small bed, he took out the contents of the envelope and counted the money again and again. Four notes of 500, five notes of 200, and ten notes of 100. 4000 rupees exactly; it was the biggest stash of money he had held in his life. Each month, a day after he received his salary, Phakhui took half a day off and went to the booking counter of his village’s taxi. There, he would take the driver to the local hotel for tea, puri, and gulab jamuns. Each month, he kept 500 rupees for himself and sent the remaining 1500 to his family through the driver who was a trusted acquaintance. Every time, the driver insisted on paying the bill for their snacks but Phakhui wouldn’t allow it.

“Please, for all the trouble you take for me. This is the least I can do.” He would say.

The next day, he scrubbed off all the grease from his face, lathered and shampooed his hair thrice, took a long bath, and wore his best clothes. He finished lunch in a hurry and proceeded towards the town. That day, instead of directly going to the booking counter, he made a stop at the convenience store he had always passed by on an empty pocket. He bought sweets, chocolates, and cakes for his little sister, and a set of batteries for his father’s torch. For his mother, he picked out a big bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo. All of it cost him 400 rupees. He paid the cashier and made his way towards the taxi stand.

“You look smart today.” said his driver friend who was seated by the side of the road adjacent to his vehicle.

“I do? Thank you. Tell that to my family.” Phakhui replied, laughing, as he handed over the plastic bag containing all the gifts he had bought.

“These are gifts I bought for my family. Please take it home for me okay.”

“Of course I will.”

“Let’s go and have tea then.”

“Ah! Phakhui, sorry but not today. All the passengers are already here. I was waiting for you. I have to leave now.”

“That’s a shame. I was so looking forward to having gulab jamuns with you.”

“Not to worry. We’ll have it next time. Is this all? You’re not sending any money today?”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Phakhui took out the envelope from his pocket and handed it over to the driver. The driver took the envelope and saw that Phakhui had written Rs. 3000 on it.

“Wow! That’s twice the amount you send every month.”

“Yes, I got a raise. I wanted to send 3500 but spent the 500 on the gifts I bought for them.”

“Phakhui, I don’t know what to say. You’re still a kid but you are a man beyond your years.

..................

“I must get going then, my friend. I’ll see you next month.”

Phakhui walked with the driver back to his vehicle and stood by his door until he was about to drive off.

“Please take this to have tea along the way,” Phakhui said, as he placed a hundred rupee note in front of the steering wheel. Before his friend could react, Phakhui made a dash to the other side of the road and shouted.

“Take care my friend. Tell my family I’ll be back for Christmas.”

“Thank you my friend. I will.” the driver replied as he drove off.

Phakhui always felt ten feet tall every time he sent money back to his family. Every first day of the month was always the best day of his life. He walked back to the workshop with a spring in his steps and immediately changed into his soiled dress to start working again.

His first assignment of the day was to change the jammed hand brake cable of a car. He went about his work quietly with a smile on his face. He pictured in his mind the joy that would fill the faces of his family when they received the gifts and money he had sent them. If he had been there, his mother would run to him, hug him and say, “Oh my poor little boy! Thank you.”

To his mother, he had always been the fragile baby that she nearly lost to chickenpox when he was still a toddler. Phakhui wanted to go home and show his mother that he had grown into a man like his driver friend said. He wanted to show he had grown strong enough to carry his little sister on his back and work in the fields the whole day. But life wasn’t as simple as that, Phakhui had learned the hard way that strength came in different forms. He knew that the only way for him to show his parents he had become a man was to continue working and sending home the money he earned. And that was exactly what he was going to do to show his parents how he had grown.

His thoughts were soon drowned out by all the welding and hammering sounds in the workshop. By the time he finished fixing the hand brake cable, another car had pulled in for repair. The hands of The Little Mechanic who could fix anything was soon in need again.