Chapter 364 Baba Yaga

As Zoe was driving, she gave Dave a sleazy glance and asked, "Who’s the hottie?"

Dave mindlessly replied, "Someone from my building. I just met her on the elevator on my way down. By the way am I wearing too much cologne?" he asked.

"Yep, like you’re trying hard to impress someone," Zoe answered while raising her brows up and down.

"Guess she was right. Huh," Dave smiled.

"Oh, was lil ol’ Davey trying his best to impress his girlfriend? I feel flattered." Zoe laughed as she veered to the right.

"Well did it work?" Dave asked teasingly.

"Yeah."

The two of them kept chatting as Zoe drove through New York. She had mentioned that she was taking Dave to pick a ride. With his current financial situation, he would be able to buy something decent. And since he was at it, Dave thought deeply about joining college. He was deprived of a full education, and it didn’t settle with him to ignore it. Business Management sounded like a good bet.

After a several minute ride and burning through several red lights, Zoe stopped next to an enormous building with a metallic poster that had the words, "Motor-Cars" written at the entrance.

The building had large see-through windows that showed cars of all kinds and colors, neatly displayed for the customers.

Ferraris, Range-Rovers, Lamborghini, Chevrolets, and many of the world’s best brands were displayed neatly at the front.

"We’re here. The manager here knows dad. I bought all my cars from him, so he should make us a good deal."

"Right, but like I said, I’m not a fan of Super-Cars."

"I know Davy, these cars here are just for show. You know, appeal to the customer." Zoe hopped off her car, and Dave followed suit.

The building itself had a valet, when he saw Zoe, he hurried over and took her keys from her, "Miss Silvana, good to see you again. There is a new entry this month if you are interested," The valet informed her.

"Thanks, Tomas, but I’m not here to buy another car. Today I brought you a new victim," Zoe joked with a smile on her face.

The valet saw Dave and returned the smile, "Justin’s inside. I’m sure you’ll find whatever you like here."

Dave thanked him, and the two entered the building.

Inside, there were some people eyeing cars and inspecting them. Some had car hoods opened and were scrutinizing the car’s builds and asking all sorts of questions about horsepower and torque. Something Dave wasn’t too interested in knowing at the moment.

A man wearing black jeans and a black shirt which was tight around the chest and showed a lot of arm muscles came over toward Dave. His smile was bright enough that he would be perfect for a toothpaste commercial.

The man came toward Zoe and eagerly greeted her, "Zoe, so good to see you! You must be here for a new ride? How did you like the Lambo?" he asked.

"Pretty decent. It has great acceleration but the steering wheel is too tight. Can’t drift well with that," Zoe answered, her smile toned down a bit.

"Ha, today’s cars aren’t made for drifting, you know," The man replied, totally ignoring Dave.

"Anyway, we’re not here for me. You have anything old school?"

The man looked at Dave up and down before he asked, "Hummer guy?"

Both Zoe and Dave frowned at the same time.

"Justin, I asked for old school, why do you think Dave would be a Hummer guy?"

"It was just a joke," the man half ’apologised’ and turned around, "Follow me, I should have some good stuff at the back."

"Hummer guy?" Dave muttered to Zoe in a low tone.

"Yeah, means a new guy to the car biz. You know, big car, to compensate for other stuff," Zoe answered.

"Well, that’s rude. And I don’t need any compensation!" Dave defended his honor.

Zoe smiled; "Yeah, I’ll make sure to mention that to pops, about the rude thing. ... As for the need to compensate, I’ll see for myself," Zoe whispered the last phrase in a lower tone. Dave didn’t pick up on it.

"Why’d he do that to a new customer? Doesn’t feel very professional. I mean, I’m here to buy one of their cars after all" Dave asked, grumbling under his breath as the two followed the man to the back.

"To be honest, this guy’s had the hots for me for a long time." Zoe confessed. "It’s a blessing and a curse."

"Way to flatter yourself," Dave replied with a grin, proud to have what the other desired.

"The guy’s a prick. He is a walking lexicon when it comes to cars but otherwise, he only has his nasty personality. Don’t worry. We’re only here for the car. Once we get it we’ll leave. Seeing you with me must have ticked him off."

"Here we are," The man announced as he pressed a button on a wall. A large garage door rose up revealing a lineup of old cars from 1960 to 2020. They were all preserved in perfect condition.

"This is a 1970 Chrysler Hurst 300, pretty damn powerful with great torque. Under the hood was a three-barrel version of the 440 Chrysler V-8 with 375 horsepower. Was enough to get this beast from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 7.1 seconds. Quite amazing for its time period. I equipped it with a newer Z-800 Engine, and now it could smoothly go to 60 miles in 3 seconds. Just be careful with this beasty, it’s a 4000-pound car with a lot of weight behind it. A crash with this thing over 100 miles per hour isn’t safe, not even for Superman," the man advertised.

Dave didn’t overlook the jab implying that he would crash the car. He shook his head. This was really not the way to do business.

The man kept talking, addressing the leatherwork, the breaks, the year of creation, and how the car had made a name for itself in the early eighties. That was close to a century ago.

"Don’t like it," Dave cut him off.

"Okay." Justin stopped, a bit annoyed about being cut off in the middle of his sentence. He turned his head, pointing at another blue car, "There’s a Barracuda Hemi right next to it. It was made three years before the Chrysler, but it doesn’t fail in comparison...." The man was about to continue with his explanation, but he was once again cut off by Dave.

"Don’t like it, what else have you got?"

The man frowned, this guy was a clear rookie, he probably just wanted to annoy him. Most people didn’t know the real value behind these cars, so he had to explain to them. It was the best part of his job. But this guy kept interrupting his words making him more and more annoyed.

"What do you like?" The man asked trying a different approach.

"You have a car in mind Davey?" Zoe asked. She thought to show Dave some of the cars here. She knew he wasn’t a fan of supercars, probably something classy or old would probably suit him best. Without knowing what he liked precisely, she came to the man who had the best and most unique cars in New York.

Dave calmly looked around and spotted a car at the farthest corner in the room. His eyes lit up for a moment; he pointed his hand and said, "That one."

The man traced Dave’s hand to an old car. It was battered. A lot of its paintwork wasn’t finished. The rear glass was broken, and the front bumper was completely missing.

"Uh, that car is not for sale." The man informed him.

"Then I’m not interested," Dave said nonchalantly and turned to leave.

"Wait, Dave. Hang on. Justin, why isn’t that car not for sale?" Zoe asked, even using Justin’s name, something which he clearly enjoyed.

"It was sent here for repairs. So it’s not my property. C’mon kid, there are a lot of other cars, why do you want that one?" the man asked.

Dave smiled and replied, "Because that’s the One! Isn’t it?" Dave sounded really excited for the first time since they came here.

Justin frowned and then nodded. "How’d you know?" He asked.

"I might not know a lot about cars, but that Mustang was my dream car when I was young. A Ford Mustang 1969 Mach 1, right? Belonged in a movie set of one of the best movies of the year 2014. The wheels on it are still from the original set. They aren’t Mustang wheels but Shelby Sterling. The owner must have liked it a lot and kept it in the same shape; after it left the movie set." Dave said.

"Which movie are you talking about? And that car is like 96 years old Dave. She is ancient!"

"The movie was about a guy who got his dog killed and took revenge. It doesn’t matter if she is old." He answered with a smile. He had decided that he would either get this car today or none at all.

"It’s just as you said. Which is exactly why I can’t sell you the car." Justin sighed at this difficult customer.

"But I can," Another voice sounded behind them.

Dave turned, seeing an old man at the entrance of the garage.

Zoe’s eyes opened up wide, and she yelped, "It’s..."

"Yeah, the Boogeyman himself. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir" Dave greeted the old man.

He had a large white beard and had shaggy hair that draped all the way to his shoulders. The man looked pretty stout as he wore a suit, and the traces of old age only made him look more like a person you didn’t want to cross instead of a gentle grandpa.

"So I gather you like my car?" the man asked.

"Yeah, pretty cool. You kept it in the same condition as it was on the movie set."

"Yeah, but I thought she needed repairs. It would be a shame if she gathered dust all year long. I’ll feel more at ease with a fan like you taking her." The man said.

"Name your price," Dave offered.

"For Mr. Skeletal," the man smiled and said, "A pencil."

"A fucking pencil." Dave smiled at the man, and the two laughed.

"You look pretty fit," Dave couldn’t help but say.

"Yeah, with today’s technology and a lot of workouts it’s easy to stay in shape. Justin, I won’t be taking this car anymore. Get it in shape for our friend here. Miss Silvana, tell your dad I’ll need my gun soon. As for you, Skeletal, put her to good use and keep up the good work. I happen to be a fan of yours." The man turned around to leave.

"Wait, you’re Mr, Skeletal?" Justin asked Dave dumbfounded.

Zoe smiled and said, "Yeah, he is. Soooo about the car?" she asked.

"I’ll pimp it up for you. I’ll make it look the same as it did in the movie how about it?" Justin asked.

"That’s pretty cool. Thanks," Dave replied.

"Right, I’ll contact Miss Silvana when the car is ready, I’ll get my men working on it right away," Justin promised, long gone were the hostile and subtle remarks he made. Now they were full of respect.

The two of them turned and left, leaving the man barking orders through his phone to get some mechanics for the mustang job.

Zoe spoke," Can you believe we met him?! That man is a living legend. Damn, I should have gotten an autograph!" only now did she realise she missed out on an opportunity. At his age he didn’t like to get out in public too much and it was rare to meet him.

"Hah, what autograph? We got his car, Zoe. That’s more than enough," he countered happy that Zoe chose to get his car here..

"I’m starving, how about some steaks?" Zoe suggested on the way to the valet.

"Sounds good, I’m feeling hungry too."

The valet came in with Zoe’s car, cleaned, washed, and waxed. The valet gave Zoe back the keys, and she thanked him with a fifty-dollar bill.

"That’s some pretty cool customer service you got there," Dave praised as he got into the car.

"Hah, with how many cars I’ve bought from them it should be expected. Alright, let’s go eat!" Zoe stomped on the accelerator. The Lambo roared excitedly and zoomed into the busy streets of New York like the king it was.