“Hard to believe the last day of school is over,” said Pat, sunning herself in the back seat of Davy's car. “Almost seems unreal, doesn't it?”

Joshua turned to look at her from the front seat. “Summer is always like that; it's kind of a topsy-turvy, mixed-up time of year. Nothing quite makes sense or feels real.”

Karen nodded in agreement as she stretched. “It's always a little strange when you suddenly don't have a formal schedule to adhere to,” she said. “But it'll get filled up with something else.”

“Like work,” laughed Joshua. “I think our summer jobs will keep us just as busy.”

“Not to mention Davy's antics,” added Pat. “I still can't believe he cut the roof off his car again.”

“Speaking of which, here he comes now!” said Karen.

“Boy, today sure was a blast!” exclaimed Davy.

He jumped on the hood of his car and stepped over the dashboard. Then he dropped into the driver’s seat. “I wish every day could be like the last day of school!”

“Every day IS like the last day of school for you,” replied Karen.

“What did you do this time?” asked Pat.

“I got to hold the door open.”

Joshua puzzled over this as he buckled his seatbelt. “And you had a blast doing this?”

“Somebody had to do it,” replied Davy.

“Why?” asked Pat.

Davy stuck a screwdriver in the ignition switch to start the car. “So Pig could ride his dirt bike through the school building.”

“Very nice, Dad,” said Joshua as he admired his father’s new car. “I like the color.”

“Thanks!” Mr. Merrick replied as he held open the driver’s door. “I wasn't too sure about it at first, but this was the only one with a manual transmission. The color grew on me after a while. I like it now.”

“Hi Buckwheat! Hi Dad! Hey, nice wheels!” Davy called out as he wandered up the driveway.  

“Thank you,” replied Mr. Merrick. “I just picked it up this morning.”

Davy promptly hopped into the driver’s seat. “Wow, look at this speedometer! Will it really do one hundred and sixty miles per hour?”

“No.”

“Did you try?”

“No.”

“Can I try?”

“No.”

“I'll let you try my car.”

“Definitely not!”

Davy began to make car noises while Joshua and his father continued their conversation.

“Kind of hard to get a stick shift these days,” Mr. Merrick continued. “They brought this one from another dealership for me.”

“Well, it was worth the wait,” agreed Joshua. “And you got the six-speed you wanted.”

Suddenly Davy let out a series of screeching crashing noises.

“What was that all about?” asked Mr. Merrick.

“The bad guys ran me off a cliff.”

“I thought YOU were the bad guy,” grumbled Mr. Merrick. “Now that you're done wrecking my car, can I have it back?”

“Are you sure you don't want me to fix it first?” asked Davy. “I can make some great tow truck noises.”

Joshua just shook his head and smiled as he turned to his father. “Well, Dad, this certainly is a nice Father’s Day present to yourself.”

This got Davy's attention. “What? Is that today?”

“It is...you forgot?”

Davy got out of the car. “Thanks for the reminder—it nearly got by me. I need to make a call; can I borrow your phone?”

Joshua handed his phone over. “What's wrong with yours?”

“It's for a special occasion,” replied Davy as he dialed a number. “Yeah, hi, I want to place a collect call to Hiram Odell...thanks...tell him it's from Joshua Merrick...OK, I'll wait.”

“What are you doing?” asked Joshua.

Davy just gave him a silly grin.

“OK, thanks. Hi Dad, it's me, Davy. Happy Father’s Day!...What?...Geez, Dad, at least I remembered!”

He looked at the phone in disgust, then handed it back to Joshua. “Boy, what a sorehead,” he grumbled.

Mr. Merrick looked at Davy. “Why would you use his phone—” he pointed at Joshua, “to place a collect call to your father—" he pointed to Davy, “to wish him Happy Father’s Day?”

“The way I figure it, Dad'll appreciate it more if he has to pay for it himself,” replied Davy. “That's what he always tells me. Besides, if he knew it was me, he never would have accepted the call.”

A few days later, Davy pulled up in the driveway in his latest junkyard refugee. He parked it next to Mr. Merrick’s new car.

Davy’s car let out a shudder as he shut it off and hopped out. He slammed the door, and the car let out a groan.

Joshua and his dad were standing on the front porch. He strolled up to them with a huge grin.

“I got a new car too. I'll let you try out mine,” offered Davy. “Then I can take yours for a drive!”

Mr. Merrick looked down the driveway at Davy's wreck. “Absolutely not.”

“What happened to your other car?” asked Joshua.

“Remember that funny smell, the one we couldn't figure out?”

“Yeah.”

“I found out what it was,” Davy said.

“What was it?” Joshua asked.

“It was an electrical short.”

“Did you fix it?” Mr. Merrick sounded shocked.

“I didn't need to—it fixed itself,” Davy bragged.

“How did that happen?” Joshua's dad didn't sound like he really wanted the answer.

“I found out when the car burst into flames.”

“That's too bad," Joshua sighed.

Mr. Merrick just shook his head.

“Yeah it was. I didn't even have any marshmallows. This one will be OK after I fix it, though.”

“It looks a little beyond fixing,” Mr. Merrick said, noting the substantial damage the car had.

“It'll be a quick fix,” explained Davy. “I just have to weld the doors shut and cut the roof off.”