Vehicles

Reading a friends blog about cars made me smile. Just last week I was hurrying through a parking lot when an old battered Dodge truck caught my eye. It was green, white and rust, identical to hundreds of other wheezing old hulks still managing to stay rolling, but this one still sported the remains of the half dozen pro feminist and out right lesbian bumper stickers I had pasted on it over a decade ago. I'm sure more than a few shoppers wondered about the woman standing in the freezing wind looking at an old truck and laughing.
When that truck and I first crossed paths it was owned by a friend of mines husband and it was the brand new darling of his life. Long story short, I didn't like the guy at all and he was developing both a gambling and drinking problem. Understand I don't drink and I'm way to tight with a buck to do any real gambling, but I'm not above playing with people stupid enough to drink and gamble simaltaneously. A smile, a few stupid questions and a look of innocence can get a gal into a poker game with a bunch of drunk guys pretty quick. Most of the time I just played for a little pocket money, but the night I got into a game with him I was just mean. It took less than two hours before I had every dime he had and the title to that pretty truck. I left him sitting in that bar with no way home and no money to keep drinking.

Mean to him and mean to his wife are two separate things. The guy was a contractor and had to have the truck and all the tools in the back to make a living. I drove that truck straight to his street, parked it out of sight and went in to explain to my friend what had happened. She listened then handed the keys back to me saying, "I want you to do me a favor and keep the truck until I say he's ready to get it back. Drive it, play with it, let all your dogs slobber in it."

I did just what she asked and put the bumper stickers on the back. It was the nicest set of wheels I'd ever owned and with her ok drove it all the way to California to visit family with all three dogs in the cab.

About two weeks in my friend showed up with $500 in cash and bought the truck and tools back. I wasn't going to take the cash until she said he'd sold his hunting rifles to get enough money to buy a beater truck and some basic tools so he could start working again. He'd known all along I would have given it back if he'd come himself and asked, but he wouldn't. My one stipulation for letting him have it back was the bumper stickers stayed on.

I lost track of my friend not long after. They moved to Texas where she had family the last I heard so seeing the truck back here in Oregon was a real surprise.

Sadly I couldn't wait to see who was driving it but I left a note under the windshield wiper. It would be very cool to hear from here again, but if he's the one driving I doubt he'll be passing my note along. Then again, maybe he will since he left those bumper stickers on there for over ten years.