times gone by...

so my car is gone. i sold it.

i was driving my first car, a red 88 nis.san sen.tra from hopewell to richmond, coming from a visit to my cousin's house after dark one summer. you know that sucker cut off on me? i'm on I-95, going maybe 60-some miles an hour, and this thing's engine cut.da.hayle.off. so i put on my hazards, and slowed down, and got over into the shoulder and stopped. tried to cut the engine back on. riiiiiiight. i had to call my dad to come get me. while he was on his way, a virginia state trooper pulled up behind me - i thought, oooh how nice, a caring cavalry! not! he just wanted to tell me to stay in the car (which is dangerous with cars whizzing past) with the doors locked instead of getting out, 'cause they were chasing a suspect in the woods that were on the right side of my car... he directed my attention to the helicopters with search lights and all the marked police vehicles riding on the highway. oh - and then the trooper went on about his business. well dayum! neva mind i was a damsel in distress or something like that. luckily for me, my daddy got there before the bad guy did.

he decided it would be easier on us as a family if he gave me his car and got himself another one. so i became the proud owner of a gray 1991 h.onda accor.d. oh it was sooooooo nice. clean inside and out. so much more comfortable. and hond.as age well, so even though the car was like, eleven years old at the time, the body was still handsome and modern looking. the car was well taken care of and it ran so much better than the sen.tra. my poor baby. engine was done - i donated it to the national kidney foundation. i remember cleaning all my stuff out of it, caressing the steering wheel, thinking about times that have passed and how happy i was when my auntie gave it to me. i knew i was gonna miss that car, and the day i came home and saw that the kidney foundation had come to tow it away, i just paused in mourning for times gone by...

but the ac.cord was hot! i put my sorority frames around the front and back tags, programmed my stations in, and i was good to go. the car's handling and sweet interior and just general handsomeness helped me get over the loss of the sen.tra. and then as time passed, the car got sentimental value - oh the places we've been! the times i changed clothes in the back seat - the jokes people had about how the radio kept going in and out before i had it replaced. then how proud i was of it when it made the trip from virginia with no problem when i moved back to jersey. how it became the poetry mobile over the last year...

but poor thing - it had exactly one full tank of gas and 199,750 miles on it when it decided to act retarded. *sigh* i was worrying about getting back and forth to work, and worse yet, do you know how hard it is to get to poetry in philly from where i live in jersey without a car? do i look like someone who does the bus in the burbs, adhering to a 10:00 curfew? aw naw dawg... so one weekend my cousins and i went shopping, and i found another means of transportation. but i didn't want to part ways with my ac.cord just yet - no, no. my dad LOVED that car. i considered having him come get it, but he has a jillion reasons not to, so i decided to sell it for the money i could certainly use. i'd rather it have stayed in the family, but you know how family don't like to pay for stuff. wanna get that consanguineal discount. if i could pass the consanguineal discount on to my bills, it'd be all good, but no such luck. noone in the family was in dire auto straits (thank God) so i sold it.

some guy over philly saw my free ad on craig's list (yeah i'm plugging them, 'cause they're the hotness) and came and bought my car for his niece/cousin/something like that - even though he said he liked the car so much he just might keep it for himself... we signed papers, and he gave me money. the last time i drove it was from my cousin's house to my house 'cause i'd forgotten the title at home. just thinking about how nice that car was to me. the times i prayed and it started when it didn't want to so i could get to home, work, or school. it was worth way more to me than i sold it for. but it had to go. no one person needs two cars, especially in new jersey, the home of ridiculous auto insurance premiums. i'ma turn the plates in today, and then all i'll have left are the memories and the pictures. oh yeah, i got me some pictures, now. and i won't forget how i cleaned all my stuff out of it, caressing the steering wheel, thinking about times that have passed and how relieved i was when my dad gave it to me. i know i'm gonna miss that car, and the minute i watched that man drive away with my baby, i just paused in mourning for times gone by...

but now i have a new ride. the first car i've ever gotten on my own. the car i joke and say i'll probably be taking my babies to their first day of kindergarten with... and i bet that over time i'll have new memories to help me get over the loss of my car for the last four years...