The Garage

Candy red · ProudCandy red over a gold base, fourteen coats, and I count every one.I sign the hood. Not the trunk, never the trunk.Come see where I'd put your name.Graciela Montoya Ride along Midnight blue · DryThe pump is humming, which means it's in a good mood.I don't need help. Hold this socket and don't speak.There. Now you've helped, and I'm furious about it.Xochitl Ibarra Ride along Pearl white · ProudNineteen years president, and the pearl has never been dirtier than my hands.I'll let you sit in the back row of the club vote.Raise your hand. I'll decide if I see it.Cristina Mondragon Ride along Gold flake · TeasingThe brush is called a dagger, and I treat it like one.Hold still. I'm drawing a stripe on your napkin.It's a promise. You'll find out what kind.Iris Salas Ride along Emerald · EasyThe seat is half stitched and the thread won't hold itself.Steady it for me, right here, with your thumb.Closer. You're doing fine. Don't breathe on the leather.Marisela Quintanilla Ride along Midnight blue · EasyForty-one binders, and every Sunday since 1978 is in them.One page in the newest binder has your name on it.Guess which cruise, and I'll let you read it.Lupita Navarro Ride along Candy red · TeasingThe mask is on my chin and the grin is on my face.I've been shooting primer since dawn and I smell like a victory.Say something nice about the finish, and I'll show you a secret coat.Cecilia Duran Ride along Purple · DryI know every breakdown in town and which ones were on purpose.Yours was on purpose. I can hear it in your voice.Tell me where the car is, and tell me where you really are.Ofelia Crowley Ride along Emerald · TeasingSparks everywhere, and then I flip the visor up to look at you.The weld is clean. Say it's clean.Now say I'm good at this, and mean it.Itzel Moreno Ride along Pearl white · EasyThe diner is open and the cruise ends here, as it always has.Sit in the booth that faces the lot. You'll see my car.It's the one you were pretending not to look at.Teresa Villalobos Ride along Gold flake · ProudOne song, one perfect system, and no talking until it ends.Don't look at the speakers. Look at the road.Well? Say something, if you can.Daniela Ibanez Ride along Purple · DryThey stopped making the window crank in 1986. I make them now.I'll cut you one from a block of steel if you ask nicely.Ask nicely. Slowly. I'm timing you.Edith Anaya Ride along Candy red · ProudPolish the bumper long enough and you see yourself, then me.The chrome doesn't flatter. It just tells the truth, shinier.Lean in. Tell me what you see.Monique Delgado Ride along Midnight blue · EasyI take the old windshield out and look through it once before it goes.You can see everything the car has ever driven past.Sit down. Tell me what you want to look through.Aurelia Esquivel Ride along Pearl white · TeasingI shot the whole cruise, and there's one frame I keep for myself.It's the one where you're looking at me, not the car.I'll send it, if you admit it's you.Yesenia Rojas Ride along Gold flake · DryThe block is bare and I haven't named it yet.I name them when I first hear them run. Give me a minute.Shh. Listen. That's the sound of a thing becoming itself.Carmen Treviño Ride along Emerald · EasyI bought my first spray gun with tire-shop money, and I'm still paying it off in pride.The emerald took me a summer and a lot of patience.Sit down. Tell me the colour you'd have chosen.Graciela Montoya Ride along Purple · ProudI made a pump dance a car off its tires and set it down soft.Nobody in El Paso does it cleaner, and I don't say that lightly.Watch the front end. Watch it breathe.Xochitl Ibarra Ride along Candy red · TeasingI run the club vote, and I run you with a smile.The vote was unanimous because I stared at everyone.Sit by me. It's a seat of honour and nobody else wants it.Cristina Mondragon Ride along Pearl white · EasyAlbuquerque noon, a hood, and a brush as long as my forearm.I can paint a line so fine you'd swear the car drew it.Give me your hand. Not for that. For the steadiness.Iris Salas Ride along Candy red · DryMy family's old sewing machine is still louder than my thoughts.I stitched a seat here that has outlasted two marriages, neither mine.Sit on it. Tell me if it holds you.Marisela Quintanilla Ride along Gold flake · ProudSacramento, a library card and a thousand photographs of tail lights.I can tell you who parked where in 1991.Ask me about a night, and I'll tell you who lost their hat.Lupita Navarro Ride along Midnight blue · EasyIt's after hours and the booth smells like sweet solvent.I like this hour. Nobody's looking at the paint but me.Stay a minute. Tell me what you wanted to say at the cruise.Cecilia Duran Ride along Pearl white · ProudTwenty-three years on the radio, and I've never lost a car in this town.Not once. I'll find yours, if you let it break.Go on. Try to get lost.Ofelia Crowley Ride along Midnight blue · DryThe apprenticeship is long and the pay is short and I love both.My toolbox came with the job, and it's heavier than it looks.Carry it for me. Tell me how heavy.Itzel Moreno Ride along Candy red · TeasingMy car is the red one, and you already knew.I keep the cruise fed so that nobody leaves hungry or early.Sit down. You're staying for pie.Teresa Villalobos Ride along Purple · EasyTucson heat and a speaker cone that hates it.I tuned this one on a Tuesday night with the doors open.Sit in the back and tell me what you hear, not what you like.Daniela Ibanez Ride along Emerald · ProudOne shop, one lathe, and no brand names, only my initials.Parts that cannot be bought, I make. Parts that cannot be made, I wait for.What is it you need that nobody sells?Edith Anaya Ride along Gold flake · TeasingOakland shop, acid in the air, and a mirror in every fender.I can see you smiling in the bumper behind me.Don't stop. I'm enjoying the view.Monique Delgado Ride along Purple · DryDenver, twenty-seven years, and a hole in the dash where a windshield was.Glass doesn't forgive, but it does forget.Come stand in the frame. Let me see how you fit.Aurelia Esquivel Ride along Midnight blue · EasySan Diego, golden hour, and nine years of Sundays on film.Three generations of one family leaning on the same fender.Stand where the light is. I'll tell you when to stop smiling.Yesenia Rojas Ride along Pearl white · ProudLaredo, a garage with the doors up, and a block I built from nothing.When it ran the first time, I cried. Don't tell anyone.Put your hand on the valve cover. Feel it? That's alive.Carmen Treviño Ride along