A Man of His Word (788 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1 on 7 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by <GhostWriter> (View user info) at 2004-07-22 13:59:23 EDT
And there it was. My seemingly new Chevrolet Chevelle LS6 was complete, shining like it did that first day that it hit the showroom floor. Time does wonders to a car, rusting the once metallic body, eating away at the frame, destroying it's soul. This particular car had been trapped in a realm of near-death for nearly 30 years. It's tires not being allowed to roll, not being able to gallop, powered by the many horses which were concealed under the hood. Time is a thing that nothing can escape. Even this once beautiful piece of American iron was refused the fountain of youth.
So there it stayed, locked inside a garage, cluttered with baseball bats, basketballs, old RC cars, lawn chairs, blankets, a few mattresses, a broken television, and many other objects that fall doom to this hell. The body of the car was dying, but the engine, the heart and soul, kept beating, kept breathing. It had not seen the day of light for about 3 decades...until that one day.
The couple that owned the car was having a moving sale. They grabbed every miscellaneous item that they could carry from there garage and put it on there lawn. I lived down the street from them at the time, so I decided to go take a stroll down there with to see if they had anything good that I could grab.
As I came to the house, there garage door was still open. I began looking around at the objects for sale: an inflatable pool with a hole in it, a pogo stick with no springs, deflated tires, a bike with no handle bars, nothing evenly remotely usable.
Not seeing anything of use, I decided to head home. As I was about to leave, I caught a glimpse of something in the garage. It was a broken headlight to a car, but the car was too covered up by the junk in the garage that I could not make out what kind of car it was. I moved around it a bit, searching for a symbol or something that would indicate the type of car.
After failing to make out the rust-covered car, I yelled over to the guy who owned the house, "This your car?"
"It's in my garage, ain't it?" he replied sarcastically.
"What kinda car is it?" I asked anxiously.
"That there car was my very first car. My pop picked it up for me when I was 16 after getting a huge raise and bonus check at his job. It's a Chevy Chevelle."
My jaw hit the floor. Being a huge Chevy fanatic, I couldn't believe I didn't recognize the car. But then again, it is half covered by some trinkets and treasures and coated in rust. Turning 16 a few months ago, I had been saving and searching for a muscle car. But nowadays, you can't find a decent car for a reasonable amount of money.
He walked me up to the car and, with his hand, brushed away some of the dust, only to reveal an "LS6 454." The LS6 is a Chevelle with a 454 big block engine. Rare, expensive, and fast. This particular car is a milestone in the "Muscle Car Era." Putting out 450 horse power and 500 ft lb torque was unheard of at the time it was made, and is still jaw-dropping today. Bottom line is I wanted this car, I wanted it bad. I would do practically anything for this car, but nothing I could do would land me the keys to this once beautiful car I thought.
I'm pretty sure he noticed the expression on my face, because the next words out of his mouth were, "So how much money you got?"
I looked at him cock-eyed, "Umm, I have 5 bucks on me. Why?"
"Give me it" he said.
Me not knowing what he was going to do with it, shoved the creased 5 dollar bill into his pocket. Before I could ask him what he was doing, he pulled out a key and dropped it into my hand.
"Here's the key. You got until sunset to roll that thing out of my garage" he said with a slight smirk on his face.
As he walked away, my emotions were going hay-wire, but I finally managed to yell out to him, "I can't take this, sir. It wouldn't be right. You probably don't know what kinda money that car is worth."
"Kid, this car was mine when I was your age. You don't think I know what kinda power this car has? You don't think I know that I could probably get over 40 grand for this car, even though it hasn't moved in decades and looks like a piece of shit? Of course I know. I would love nothing more than to take it for another ride, but unfortunately, life just doesn't always play out like you had planned. Having a wife and a demanding job forced me to keep this car locked away for so many year. I didn't have the time to play with it. And now I'm getting old, I want to relax and have no burdens on top of me. Trust me, the only thing I want to do is give the car to someone who can bring it back alive. I've seen you around the neighborhood, and you look like someone who can get things done, someone who had dedication. Do me a favor, take the keys and make it breathe again."
My mind was twisting about, not knowing what to make of his sermon.
"I just ask one thing of you" he said, "show me the car when it's alive again and take me for a ride. One last ride."
I nodded my head. He grabbed a pen and wrote something on the paper and slipped it to me. It was his address that he was moving to: 800 Cuin Ct., New York. My eyes widened. New York? New York was on the other side of the country. I was here in sunny California.
"Don't forget, live up to your word boy, I know you will" he said as he walked away.
"Thank you" I whispered out, left speechless.
TBC
User Reviews
Submitted by Spiral_Abraxis (user info) at 2004-07-28 19:51:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Complimentary +2 service of http://www.ubersite.com/m/39658
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2004-07-23 20:48:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Yeah, past tense equates to a bored reader. If that was your intent, congratulations.
-2 Don't Bother...as in Don't Bother writing anymore.
Submitted by jumpinjellyfish (user info) at 2004-07-22 17:41:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this story!
Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-07-22 15:11:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
youre dumber than the old guy
Submitted by plushpeach (user info) at 2004-07-22 15:07:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
So did you fix her up and take the old man for a drive????
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2004-07-22 14:52:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This reminded me that I still have my first car, a '68 Fairlane, sitting in my parents' garage for 10 years now.
Submitted by Freight_Train (user info) at 2004-07-22 14:02:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
not bad