第17章长大成人(1)
ingofAge
佚名Anonymous
Okay,I’lladmitit。Sittihewheelofmyfirstcarbeforeitwastowedofftothejunkyard,Icried。YoutellmeauchglassaI’llneverapolmycoolthatday。Ayoungman’sfirstcarislessameansoftransportationthaohisdiscoveryofyouthfulfreedom。Atleastmine>
Ithadallstartedtwoyearsearlier:Soohbirthday,mypareheoldredfamilydpasseditontome。Bef,thatdIhadbeethebestfriends。Wegaveridestojustaboutanyonewhoasked,anytime,anywhere,andhadallsortsofadventures。
&headveyhair-raising。Onefamousafternoonafterschool,IpiledteothegEric,whooptedtorideiruhabehidrivingaround,feelinggood,talkihingandnothing。AndalthoughIhadbeengoingonlyabout20milesanhour,thewithaschoolbusfullofseven-year-oldscrumpledthefrontofmycar。MyfirstthoughtwasErithetrunk。Irushedoveraofindhimlyingmotionless。Igasped。Heopenedhiseyesandlaughed,“You’retheworstdrivero。”
Bystaaredas,oendazedhigh-soresyeonthebuswashurt,thougholegirlwasgbecauseshehadtogotothebathroom。Asfarasthelittleboyswereed,Iwasahero。Theycrowdedaroundmeinadmiratiohepoliaosmile。
Myparents—furious,ofcourse—settledonmypu:Iwouldusemyuperayfortherepairs。Tolessenthefinancialblow,Iihemeicfixthecarwithusedparts。Soaspleted,theoldredcarhadagreenhood,ayellowfenderandbluedoor。Ididhecarwasfarfromabeauty,butshewasmine。
Thatsummer,onceschoolwasout,Ifoundmyfreedomexpandedhugely。OndayswhenmyfriendsandIwouldoncehaveriddehepublicpool,wedrtheriverroadtoexploreanoldabarainstation。Insteadtobaseballgamesinthecoalikelittlekids,wenowrodeinmycarassophisticatedadults。Wewlasses,andspitsuhewindowaasgoodasifwe’dalready>
&ashiherestaurantwhereIworked,myfriehewheelsfrommydleftitstandingdisabledandawkwardoeblotheparkihebestreatotheirtrickwastoig,Iwalkedhome。ThemIfoundtheyhouse,coveredwithatwo-inchlayerofshavingcream。
Onebyotdriver’slidbroughtdifferentautomotiveoptionstoourfold。Butafterafewdaystryingoutwhoeverwasthe,oundupbamyoldthen,Iasn’tflashy—exulti-coloredparts,itlookedjustlikethesensiblefamilycarithadowasn’tfast—55milesanhourwasastretditlywasn’tfortable—therewasnoairing,andonhotdayssstucktotheseats。