Thicker Than Oil - Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – The Meeting

At exactly seven o' clock that night, Rod was at Roseanne's door. He stood outside her door, nervous as could be, hesitating to knock. He sighed, fearing what was to come, and then gently rapped his tire on her door. He heard a faint "Come in", and he allowed himself into her room.

As he entered the room, he realized just as the night before, the only source of light was coming from the foggy glow of the lights that lit the oil rig. The dense fog had not lifted from last night and in Rod's opinion, it was only getting worse.

As he closed the door behind him, Rod could see the shadowy outline of Roseanne as she drove towards him. When she finally came into view, he noticed that her expression was as serious as it had ever been. Her eyes were almost like slits when she looked at him, and her mouth was fixed into a scowl.

"Take off your costume," she demanded immediately, her blue eyes staring sharply at him. Without hesitation, Rod quickly nodded his hood and just as he had done the night before, he transformed himself from Darrel Gremlin to Rod Redline. Standing out of costume now, he was really hoping that Roseanne wasn't going to use this moment to expose him, or was taping him so she could prove to the Professor that Darrel Gremlin was the American spy.

"So, how much have you told me is true?" Roseanne asked him, without the slightest hesitation in her voice as she spoke. She seemed determine to get answers, and Rod had no hesitation giving them to her. Although, in the back of his mind, he was still wondering why Roseanne had not turned him in. He knew that question would have to wait till later.

"Mostly everything. Anything about me breaking down has been bull crap I'll admit, but other than that, I've been pretty much myself," Rod replied, giving his most honest answer. Even though his nervousness was starting to fade, he was dying to have a cigarette. He wished he could have at least some aid in calming his nerves, but he knew that wasn't going to happen tonight.

"Mostly everything? What haven't you told me?" Roseanne responded.

"Well, what you don't know about me is that I am an agent for the CIA. I was recruited back at the end of the Cold War and have been doing it ever since." She also didn't know that he was still technically married and had two kids, but he felt that now was not the time to address such a matter.

"So everything you said about you being a drug dealer, going into the army, you going through a divorce recently…"

"All true, Roseanne. I haven't been lying as much as you think I might have been. See, as a spy you can't lie about yourself too much…when you're doing deep undercover work like I do, the enemy isn't stupid. They can tell when your making things up, because when you do make things up, stories you tell about yourself might not add up and they get suspicious. Best to be as true as you can be, but without giving out enough information to get you caught. That's what has gotten me through all these years in this field."

"Oh, and I wanted to ask about that too…why are you doing undercover work out here? What's wrong with Lemons working and making a living? Sure, it's not in the most convenient of places, but at least once in our lives we are being given a chance. How could you even have the heart to come out here and try to sabotage our operation when it's doing no harm?" Roseanne's voice was slightly shaking. Rod started to think that this was something she had probably had had on her mind since the Professor addressed that spies were nipping at their heels.

"Well, first and foremost, I really had no choice but to take on this mission. Circumstances made it best that I had to get away from…my divorce." Rod shook his hood angrily, trying to shake the memory of what happened that day when he came home from his last mission. Then he continued.

"The director of the CIA had told me about these oil rigs, and gave me run up of who was aiding in running the operation. And after being here and seeing how things are run, hate to break it to you Roseanne, but there is something off about this whole thing."

"Oh? Is there?" Roseanne didn't seem so convinced.

"Yes. I mean, isn't it kind of odd that only Lemons have been recruited to work?"

"What's wrong with that? Maybe someone has finally seen potential in us, that we can work hard and be as worthy as any other car," Roseanne shot back, taking Rod's comment as some sort of offense.

"Or someone is using your kind, because they know no one else will do the work without really questioning what they are doing," Rod replied. Roseanne gave her Gremlin engine a rev with disgust.

"How dare you! Are you saying Lemons are brainless, incapable to think for themselves?!" she snapped.

"Not at all. I'm just pointing out that I think someone is taking advantage of your kind because of your disadvantaged position in society. I mean, do you even really know who is leading your operation? It's not the Professor; he doesn't have the money to pay all of us. Its someone else…I mean, do you even know if your leader is even a Lemon?"

At first Roseanne didn't respond, and her sharp gaze fell slightly. It seemed Rod had struck a point.

"No, I haven't. I've actually never seen him. The Professor mentions him only every now and then, but no one really knows…"

"Doesn't that seem a little odd to you? And my guess is that whoever he is, it's not a Lemon. Not saying Lemons are poor, but whoever this is, they got a lot of money…"

"You just won't stop saying negative things about us Lemons, will you?" Roseanne said, getting tired of Rod's little offenses.

"I'm not doing it on purpose! Geez Roseanne, your making me seem like I'm some kind of Lemon hater," Rod snapped back. He really didn't hate Lemons at all, especially after living amongst them for so long. He was just stating things about Lemons that he had found to be true in most, not all, cases.

"Well, for someone who doesn't seem to mind insulting them, I would say so," Roseanne scoffed. "That makes me wonder, if you think about these things in the back of your mind, how do you really feel about us? Grem and Acer, do you really consider them friends, or are you just using them to gain information?"

At first, Rod had no idea what to say. It was partly true that the friendship he had created with Grem and Acer was to get information. However, he had realized that compared to the "friends" Rod had made on his other missions, Grem and Acer were a lot more than aids for his mission. He never had a dull moment with the Lemon duo, and they almost did everything together when it came to work and hanging out on the weekends.

"I would consider them friends, Roseanne. Genuine friends. I've made other friends on my missions, but none of them I have been as close to as these two." Rod gave a slight smile to reassure her, but the scowl on her face was nowhere near subsiding.

"And what about me?" She paused for a moment, and shook her hood as if she was going to regret the question she wanted to ask. "This whole time, what have I been to you? Was I just a device you used to carry out your…." Rod didn't even let her finish.

"No. Remember what I said last night, before I removed my disguise? I said that I would always be the same car, Gremlin or not. Roseanne, I really do love you, and that is coming from the bottom of my heart. That will never change, even if I do." Rod saw that her eyes softened a bit, and her gaze didn't seem as sharp as before. She shuffled her tire gently across the ground and finally, her scowl disappeared.

"Why me though? How could a car like you ever love…a Gremlin?" Roseanne's question hit Rod hard. After all the love he gave her, how could she think of something like that?

"Well being honest Roseanne, I was not so certain myself when I first saw you. I was so confused…but I've come to realize after being with you, it's not what you see on the outside that always counts. Its what is on the inside. However Roseanne, you are a very dashing little Gremlin if I do say so myself…"

After Rod's final comment the two cars sat in silence. Then Rod finally had to ask…

"So, why didn't you turn me in this morning? I thought after last night you most certainly would have…"

"Because, if you where the same car that I have come to know, I wouldn't have lived with myself if I handed you over to the Professor. Who knows what he could have done to you. I needed to talk to you, find out what was really going on. I'm not one to turn on others that quickly, Mr. Redline, even though you have been lying to me about your true identity this whole time."

"I had no choice but to lie. If I told you who I was right away, who knows what could have happened for my own sake. However, Roseanne, now that you do know who I am, does this mean that you're going to let me carry on my mission since you didn't turn me in?" Rod asked.

"I actually haven't thought that all through. I mean, I can't let you ruin this operation, too many Lemons will have lost the only staple they have in their lives…" She paused, as though a thought suddenly came to her.

"However, if you can prove to me that this whole thing is flawed, I will help you. If what your saying is true, I can't let our kind continue to be taken advantage of this way. Continue your mission as you have I suppose; I'll keep quiet about you. If someone else discovers who you are, however, I won't be able to help you, Rod Redline." She paused briefly before speaking again.

"Also, until you find a good reason that there is something wrong with this operation, I think we shouldn't talk for a while. I don't like how you have been lying to me about who you are, and until you prove your case I think its best we stay apart."

Rod couldn't believe what he was hearing; it was ridiculous. She was breaking things off with him even though they had talked? And Rod had told the truth about (almost) everything and his feelings towards her. He couldn't believe it.

"Fine, if you want it to be that way Roseanne, we won't speak. I love and care about you, but if this is how you want things to be I cannot change your mind. But I want you to know something, Roseanne. The truth about this whole operation might surface sooner than you think. It will only be a matter of time before you come to realize that someone is using all of us for their benefit. And the ones who will get hurt in the end will be us, the Lemons." Without saying more, Rod transformed back into Darrel Gremlin and started to head towards the door. He turned around to look back at her, and her outline was just visible from the hazy glow that lit her dark room. Knowing it was time to go, he pushed open the door and left. As he drove back to his room, Rod could only hope that something would happen to get Roseanne to believe that her job was rigged. Although, after working there for months now, it almost seemed like that would be impossible.