Noah watched as the yellow dashed lines flew past him, each moment taking him further and further away from his home. The now familiar hum of the engine kept him alert to his surroundings. He looked over at his passenger. “You always wanted me to get out of that town.” He let a crocked smile spread across his face. “Now here we are driving to the east coast in my rust bucket. I bet you never expected this.” Noah sighed and watched as the road wore on.
<><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> <><><><><><><>
It took them a few months, but everything was in place, and Noah was ready to get his baby outside. “Get your ass moving, Logan,” He shouted out the window.
“Just shut up.” Logan was taking another look around the car. He walked around to the back of the car, out of Noah’s view. “So, have you got those papers filled out yet?”
“You mean the ones for that college you are going to?”
“Yeah.”
“I haven’t had time to yet. With work and the car, I don’t know if I will be going out of state.” Everyone he knew and all he needed was here. “Can you just hurry up? I want to get on the road sometime this year.”
“I don’t want to get halfway down the road and have this rust bucket break down on us.” Noah could not help but smile.
“If it does break down, I’m sure it won’t be that long of a trip back.” Noah let out a sigh. “Would you hurry up, you’ve been circling the car like a vulture. It’s been like thirty minutes that I’ve been waiting.” Noah checked himself to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. “If you don’t hurry up, I’m just going to go on without you.” He put the key into the ignition. “The key is in, and we’re ready to go.”
“Alright, alright.” Logan got up from the side of the Impala and climbed into the passenger’s seat. “Just don’t blame me if we don’t make it to the corner.”
Noah smiled at Logan. “What’s wrong, is Mr. Badass Joker worried that chicks will love this car?” Logan extended his middle finger. “Watch it now. The little birdie might not like all the attention we will be getting from the girls and try to fly away.”
Noah turned the key and the car started. For the next few moments, they were quiet, while Noah listened to the rumbling of the engine for any rattles of forgotten parts. After a few minutes of steady rumbling, Logan turned on the radio. “Well, it’s not falling apart yet.” Logan turned the knobs, getting nothing but static. “But we need to get a CD player installed.”
“What, and take away the nostalgic feel associated with it?” Noah could not believe his ears. Replace the tape player?
“Nostalgic, what’s so nostalgic about it? Do you even know how hard it is to find tapes to play in it?”
“Well, I honestly don’t know if this car can handle one of those newer CD players. It might draw too much power and mess with the fuses.”
“Noah, do you honestly believe that I would believe that bullshit. I installed the wiring in this thing myself. If you wanted to, you could hook up a TV and a DVD player, so I am sure that it can handle a simple CD player.”
They stopped at a stoplight just as it turned red. “I’ll have to think about it, there are still a few more things we need to do to this baby.”
“You also have to fill out those papers I gave you.”
They started talking about other things they needed to do when two girls pulled up in a dark blue convertible. The passenger got her friend’s attention and pointed at their car, they started to laugh. “Nice car you got there. Is it held together with superglue?” The light turned green and the girls sped away leaving Noah and Logan with faces burning red hot.
Logan straightened up. “Well, okay man… we need to get this bitch painted and looking fine.”
“Yeah, I think that takes priority over a new radio.”
<><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> <><><><><><><>
Noah turned off the radio. “Man, Logan, driving your ass around is putting me to sleep.” He saw an exit less than five miles away and took the chance to stop at a gas station to stretch and get himself a coffee. He noticed a green Kia parked next to his car, and a lady was looking over the Impala. It took her a moment to notice Noah staring at her. “Nice care you got here. I don’t see too many Impalas around here.”
“Thanks. I fixed it up with a friend of mine.”
She walked around to the front, “Nice paint job you got on it. What is the color?”
“It’s Rust Gold. A friend of mine saw it in a magazine.”
“Cool, might steal the color to repaint my Kia.”
“My friend would be honored.”
“How long did it take you to fix it up?”
Noah thought for a moment before he replied. “I got it in August, and finally got the paint job on it in April.” It surprised him for a moment, was it really only seven months?
“Not bad, not bad at all.”
“Thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to do it that quick without my friend.” Noah started to tell her of some about Logan and some of their adventures fixing up the Impala. “You should have seen him when his childhood crush walked up to us and asked about the car.”
End of Part 3
