the bike hut.

the bike hut is a wonderful and miraculous place where two-wheel dreams are realized. i learned of it first from jared a large shinned friend of mine. it is at the bike hut i purchased, what is now known as, "the green streak."
being as that i'm not a very good bike mechanic, i have found myself back at the hut for minor problems. the head honcho at the hut is victor. victor is the kind of guy who decides if he wants to fuck with you after the first glance. in that way he is similar to a mechanic i know about, though only fictitiously. regardless, victor has hooked me up. the 1976 schwinn varsity, victor. the first tube and three free spokes, victor. other repairs, victor.
then one day i hit the hut and victor had called in a sub. he spoke with the same accent as my friend jamie, this was already good news. he continued to talk my ear off about his most recent bike problems; in depth. i wondered if he and james were cousins. his name was monroe and while his story was enthralling, it wasn't something i fully understood. too much bike talk on his end with not enough bike knowledge on mine.
i was barely awake when i asked a question that lit a fire under monroe's ass. "so where's your friend victor?" he stopped working on my bike, looked me in the eye and said, "He ain't no friend of mine!" i dropped the whole talking thing right then and there. just to be sure. plus i didn't want him to f*ck with my bike. it was done five minutes later, i gave him ten bones, a smile and a handshake, out.
two days ago i was back at the hut and monroe was playing mr. fix-it for the day. then the second cat in charge strolled through, i have seen him in the mix before. he is the brains of it all but seems to be lazy. jeff (i could be wrong about the name here), looks like the tinkerer of the three. from what i saw, he can make a bike out of a box of tide. he came into the hut after a fresh sale, all smiles. "two more $50 huffy's out the door for burning man." "it's getting to be that time," monroe replied. for the next few minutes they talked about unloading all their one-speeds to the men and women flocking to america's largest party in the desert.
then victor showed up. like typical hatred in the workplace it was not really discussed at large. or at all for that matter. victor arrived, talked to me for two minutes, then gave he me a new copy of the onion and a pat on the back. he then preceded to strike up a conversation with jeff(?). after stepping over monroe of course. jeff and victor talked about "those two girls who just rode by," $50 bikes and how they don't understand those guys who rent RV's with their friends for burning man but don't bring any girls. victor then grabbed a sweet ride out of the back of the hut and peddled off with out saying one word to monroe.
curious is not even scratching the surface.