My Love/Hate
Relationship with Cars
Part 3
We decided to buy a second car. Unable
to afford a newer model and unwilling to make any more car payments, we settled
on a 1939 Chevy for $40. We called it the Sherman Tank. It had a rusty brown
color to the body, running boards on each side and a fox tail flying from the
antenna like a banner shouting “Look at me!” I liked the city and country
horns. By flicking a switch on the dash back and forth gave the horn an “arrugh
arrugh” sound.
The tires looked bald but because of
the large wheels, I couldn’t find tires to fit. I scoured the junk yards but
any tires I found of the right size looked no better than the ones already on
the car. So I drove it on bald tires and as you might imagine, I had a blow out
one day while traveling on the highway, at 55 miles an hour. When that old tire
blew with a loud bang, the car shimmied all over the road. In an effort to control
the car, I steered it on to the median. The top heavy Chevy tipped on two
wheels, balanced for a second, and as if in slow motion proceeded on its roll
over. I tasted grass and dirt in my mouth as the car hit on the driver’s side,
and hung upside down when it careened to its top. The steering wheel held me
firmly in place until the car turned on to the passenger side and threw me to
that side of the car. It finally righted itself on its four very badly damaged
tires. It had made a complete revolution.
I landed with my back against the
driver’s door and I felt it open and two hands catch me.
The man holding me said. “Lady, I didn’t
expect to find you alive.”
I felt myself losing consciousness
until I heard a cry from the back seat. My two children had been tossed around
like rag dolls. Their cries brought me to full awareness and I hurriedly pulled
them from the wreck and examined their heads, limbs and bodies. The ambulance
took us all to the hospital where Michael received stitches in his forehead,
Missy placed into a figure 8 sling for her broken collar bone and I came out
badly bruised with two black eyes. To settle the bill, we gave the Chevy to the
garage that towed it. Now I needed another car.
...to be continued
