Floyd Knowles.”
“I’m Al Joad.”
“Proud to meet ya.”
“Me too,” said Al. “Gonna use the same gasket?”
“Got to,” said Floyd.
Al took out his pocket knife and scraped at the block. “Jesus!” he said. “They ain’t nothin’ I love like the guts of a engine.”
“How ’bout girls?”
“Yeah, girls too! Wisht I could tear down a Rolls an’ put her back. I looked under the hood of a Cad’ 16 one time an’, God Awmighty, you never seen nothin’ so sweet in your life! In Sallisaw—an’ here’s this 16 a-standin’ in front of a restaurant, so I lifts the hood. An’ a guy comes out an’ says, ’What the hell you doin’?’ I says, ’Jus’ lookin’. Ain’t she swell?’ An’ he jus’ stands there. I don’t think he ever looked in her before. Jus’ stands there. Rich fella in a straw hat. Got a stripe’ shirt on, an’ eye glasses. We don’ say nothin’. Jus’ look. An’ purty soon he says, ’How’d you like to drive her?’”
Floyd said, “The hell!”
“Sure—’How’d you like to drive her?’ Well, hell, I got on jeansall dirty. I says, ’I’d get her dirty.’ ’Come on!’ he says. ’Jus’ take her roun’ the block.’ Well, sir, I set in that seat an’ I took her roun’ the block eight times, an’, oh, my God Almighty!”