Grease Monkey (Patreon)

"Hey, wake up!"

He snapped his fingers in front of the drowsy boy, who stirred in the worn chair and squinted in the direction of the sound of the snaps.

"Over here!" the man continued. He was a few years older than the boy, with a lean, muscular build, sturdy work boots, distressed blue jeans, a grey "bob bruce" promotional T-shirt, yellow paracord bracelet, and a camo baseball cap. "I want you to look at Jay," he said and nodded to the third person in the warehouse room. A boy that for all practical purposes was identical to the man. A few years younger, similar build, similar clothes. "Sup?" Jay said from a few steps away and nodded to the confused boy.

"So, Jay here used to be.. Jonathan?"
"Jeremy."
"..used to be Jeremy, local real estate agent. We caught him stealing from the front shop, which is bad enough, but even worse he could easily afford it. And not like a candy bar either, like some of the kids. A jug of fucking motor oil."
"Shouldn't have done that."
"Damn right. See what we did to him? Age him down, bulk him up, dumb him down, grease him up."
"Horny me up."

The man rolled his eyes. "Then we put him to work here in the garage. It's our way of solving things quick and quiet. No police, no trouble." He made a short pause. "You aren't going to make any trouble, are you?" he asked the boy.

The boy, still drowsy and if anything more confused, opened his mouth to ask something, but wasn't quite sure what, so he just responded with a drawn out "no".

The man padded him on the shoulder. "Jay here is going to be released today. We want to do our part in helping the economy, so everyone we rehabilitate will be another strong body for the labor market. Show him!" Jay lifted his T-shirt, revealing a muscled torso. "In fact, he's been due for early release for a few weeks now. We were just waiting for his replacement. I have to go back to work now, but Jay is going to sit with you until your memories start to come back, fix you some clothes, show you where you'll sleep, and so on. See you in a few hours."