“So sometimes you say no.”
Mr. Collins nodded.
Jake smiled.
“Frank was right.”
Mr. Collins looked horrified.
“Don't ever say that out loud.”
Frank visited occasionally.
Always in the cream pickup.
It annoyed Rachel.
“That truck is unsafe.”
“It passes inspection.”
“Barely.”
“Passing is passing.”
Jake loved seeing it pull in.
One afternoon Frank parked at pump six.
Jake walked over.
“Need gas?”
Frank opened his old wallet.
“Not enough.”
Jake stared.
Frank smiled.
“Relax.”
He pulled out a card.
Jake laughed.
“You're terrible.”
“I practice.”
Months passed.
Jake turned eighteen.
He graduated high school.
Mr. Collins attended.
Jake's mother was surprised.
“What is your boss doing here?”
Jake whispered:
“Long story.”
Frank also attended.
He stood near the back.
No speech.
No gift.
Afterward, Jake found him near the parking lot.
“You came.”
Frank shrugged.
“Free event.”
Jake smiled.
Frank handed him an envelope.
Jake frowned.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
Inside was information for a community-college scholarship funded through Dawson Retail Holdings.
Jake immediately looked up.
“No.”
Frank sighed.
“Read.”
“I'm not taking your money because I helped you.”
“You aren't.”
“It looks like I am.”
Frank smiled.
“Good.”
Jake frowned.
“What?”
“Apply.”
“Apply?”
“Yes.”
“You aren't giving it to me?”
“No.”
“Then why hand me this?”
“Because you told me you wanted to study automotive systems.”
Jake looked at the pages.
“I could get rejected?”
“Absolutely.”
Jake smiled.
“Okay.”
Frank nodded.
“Better.”
Jake applied.
He wrote the essay himself.
Interviewed.
Waited.
Got accepted.
Frank abstained from the selection process.
Rachel told Jake later.
That mattered to him more than the scholarship.
He went to school three days a week and worked the station the rest.
He learned diagnostics.
Electrical systems.
Fuel injection.
Hybrid systems.
Business basics.
He began helping with station maintenance.
Mr. Collins started asking his opinion.
That surprised them both.
One evening pump three kept shutting off.
Mr. Collins said:
“Call the technician.”
Jake said:
“Give me five minutes.”
Five minutes later he found a sensor issue.
Mr. Collins watched.
“That's annoying.”
“What?”
“You being useful.”
Jake smiled.
“Want me to leave?”
“No.”
Frank's relationship with Collins also changed.
They argued constantly.
Fuel pricing.
Store layout.
Employee hours.
But the arguments became honest.
One afternoon Collins said:
“You know what I hate?”
Frank answered:
“Long list.”
“You always act like helping people is simple.”
Frank shook his head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I think helping people is expensive.”
Collins looked surprised.
Frank continued:
“That's why it means something.”
“Money.”
“Time.”
“Risk.”
“Patience.”
“It costs.”
He looked toward Jake.
“Otherwise everyone would do it.”
Mr. Collins nodded.
A year after the night at pump six, a man came in asking for fuel.
He had two children in the backseat.
Said his card was declined.
Jake listened.
Mr. Collins listened.
The story checked out.
The assistance fund covered fifteen dollars.
The man promised to return.
He didn't.
Mr. Collins looked at Jake the following week.
“See?”
Jake nodded.
“Yeah.”
“You regret it?”
Jake thought.
“No.”
Mr. Collins frowned.
“Why not?”
“Because we knew it might happen.”
Mr. Collins waited.
Jake continued:
“If we only help when we're guaranteed to be repaid, that's not really help.”
Mr. Collins stared at him.
Then smiled faintly.
“Frank's ruining you.”
Jake laughed.
Another time, a different man claimed his family was stranded.
Jake recognized him from a report.
He had done the same thing at three nearby stations.
Jake refused.
The man got angry.
Jake stayed calm.
Afterward Mr. Collins said:
“Good.”
Jake raised an eyebrow.
“That sounded like praise.”
“Don't get used to it.”
Frank had infected both of them.
Two years after the original incident, Jake became shift lead.
Not because Frank asked.
Mr. Collins nominated him.
Rachel approved the training budget.
Jake passed the assessment.
At nineteen, he got his first small amount of authority.
The first week, an employee named Tyler arrived thirty minutes late.
Jake almost immediately said: