Old Green Dodge

We were able to buy our first car about a year after moving to 56 Park Street. This was a huge deal and the thrill we felt is impossible to describe. The car cost $300 and we had to borrow the money from the bank. I remember the day Bobby and Mom were going to pick up the car, Bobby had $300 in his hand and he let me hold it. He made me stand right next to him and not move. I held it in my hand and looked at it and counted the 3 one hundred dollar bills over and over. It was by far the most money I had ever heard of, let alone held in my own hand. Later that day, they came rolling up the street in our new car. It was an old green four-door Dodge and it had electric windows. We were waiting on the front steps when they pulled up and we all went running towards them with out of control excitement.  Mom and Bobby were both sitting in the front seat smiling. We jumped in and were in complete amazement as we examined every inch of the car. Bobby took us all for a ride around the block. We put the windows down and hung our hands and arms out of the windows, feeling the breeze blow a new chapter into our lives. Having a car put us in a whole different category.  We were now among those who had their own transportation!  The interior of the car was an olive green and in no time at all the electric windows, which once were the coolest thing I had ever seen, stopped working. Some in the down position and some in the up position. Unfortunately, the front passenger seat window, where Mom always sat, got stuck in the down position and of course we could not afford to get it fixed. So it stayed that way for a long time.  Until winter came then Bobby taped plastic over it. The car was often needing repair and it had a duel exhaust system which seemed totally luxurious until they needed to be replaced.  Duel exhaust meant duel the price, leading us to be roaring around town for a while until we could afford to replace it. Bobby had NO patience for breaking down, or anything for that matter. When he lost his temper, which was often, the f-word started flying. Fuck this, Fuck that…Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. We had a flat tire once and before he even got out of the car he was swearing. He then proceeded to kick the “fucking” tire repeatedly. Of course it happened on a hill so as soon as he jacked the car up, it slid off the jack…. and came crashing down…..”fucking jack, fucking tire, fucking kids, what the fuck.”  We all sat in silence on the side of the road praying for the episode to be over. I must admit that at times his ridiculous tantrums were hilarious.  He looked like a raving maniac and his false teeth would sometimes dislodge and almost fall out of his mouth. This would stop him in mid-swearing sentence and he would adjust his teeth back into place and then continue on…. fuck, fuck, fuck.. This would be the point where we would start to giggle but we had to do it under our breath because if he caught us laughing at him he would go ballistic! Before long we would be back on the road rolling along to the tune of Bobby swearing his last bit of frustration. “fucking car, fucking tire, fucking life.”