The thought of dying, or someone else close to me dying, scared the crap out of me.
I continued drinking heavily and might’ve even turned it up a notch.
I guess that’s what losing a good friend at such a young age can do to you.
We called ‘emwinter beaters.
He claimed nobody ever sat in the back seat, which absolutely got my attention.
I certainly had mine.
It’s never a permanent living arrangement, and the bathroom is more public than private.
The Impala’s trunk was the perfect solution to my dilemma.
The 14-year-old car was a locking suitcase on wheels, and I could take it everywhere I went.
In its heyday,Thackeray’swas like a crowded bus full of regulars who partied into the wee hours.
We ran up huge tabs, often closing the place.
It was a night like any other.
Their cars were there, but mine wasn’t.
He either took the car or parked it behind the mall just to fuck with me.
I pounded on the door to Thackeray’s until Jimmy, one of the bartenders, opened it.
I explained that my car was missing and I had to call my buddy.
His dad worked nights at UPS, 11-7.
“What the fuck are you talkin’ about, Vin?”
“I know you took the Impala!
Where is it?”
“I didn’t take your fucking car!
I’m going back to sleep.
Don’t call me again!
“Then he hung up abruptly.
It must’ve been stolen.
I shoulda never put the tires and wheels from the GOAT on it.
There was no other reason to steal it.
It was just an old fuckin' car… By the time Bambi gave me a ride back to the boarding house, it was after 2:00 a.m.
I didn’t talk the entire way home.
I was trying to process what had just happened.
All my worldly possessions were gone, and one of my best friends had just been buried.
I was in a dark place and started pacing around the room and freaking the fuck out.
I called Pokey, distraught, and explained what had happened and why I called him at 1:30 am.
I jumped in the cruiser and told Pokey I’d catch up with him later, after the search.
We drove to several spots, but my Impala wasn’t there.
The cop dropped me off at Pokey’s house.
I didn’t want to go back to the boarding house in East Walpole.
I had a new place to live.
To be continued…
*All characters appearing in this work are fictitious.
Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental…
