Posted by AlOmega on February 12, 2001 at 10:04:11:
Its a bit difficult to remember exactly what happened. You’ve heard people having the
experience of their lives flashing before their eyes? This was similar. But when did it
start? I cannot say really. Perhaps with Cindy. Yes it all started with Cindy.
I loved her. I really did. From the first we hit it off. I’d give her only the best and she
would give me the most enthralling experiences.... Of course the first time, I saw her she
didn’t look so good. But when I heard her purr and let my hands feel her vibration and
smoothness. Ahh., appearances didn’t mean nothin’. First thing I did was give her a
makeover. And man did she look fine then. I knew her chassis was fine but this I never
expected. I felt so proud struttin’ around with her in front of the other guys. That’s why
I had to call her Cindy. Cindy was the best mutt I ever had. And this was what I called
her.
Fiery red, she was with one long black stripe down each side. I spent time making her
over, smoothing out the crease some Bozo put in the left side, removing the markings,
and filling in the holes. When I drove her, everyone wanted to know what kinda car she
was. Most got the maker right. She was a GM model. But was she a Chevy or Buick or
Pontiac? That was the fun of it. No one really knew. And though she had sounded
smooth when I got her, a few improvements here and there made all the difference.
Though I’d never race her, I would have put her up against any other the street rods in
the city.
Well I shouldn’t have said ‘never’ cause I did race her once. Jeff Corbin, he was and
with the biggest mouth north of Texas. We hated each other right off. Only thing he ever
did right was to have Beth on his arm. Beth was a fox with long, red hair cascading
down her back and freckles you wanted to count all day and trace to places unseen at
night.
In normal times, Jeff and I might have been buds. Or maybe not. But we never found
out. Like several of the guys in my motor club, he was talking shop. Had a car of his
own that he fixed real good. Shiny black job she was. Quick at the start but not much in
the straightaway. Anyone with an ear coulda told him. Still he thought he had one fine
car. We talked awhile as guys always do. About the gals they were going with and all.
Most were stories that a guy will make up. Most guys are prone to brag about where
their dicks go. To my mind, they got no common sense. Doin’ that makes the gal mad
when she finds out.
At the time I was goin with a broad named Claudette. Well not a ‘broad’ really. She
was nice and all with a passion for the ocean. I found this out one time when we drove to
Lover’s Point. While we never made love or nothin’, we had done a little playing
around. She was cute and I liked cute but she liked the water too much. I can swim
pretty well but she plays games in the water - scary games that bothered me. Like that
time on Lover’s Point when she wanted to go to the base of the cliff and swim.
The path was easy and all but the undertow at the ocean’s edge was quite strong.
There was a sign that told of the danger. She didn’t care. Took off her clothes right
down to her undies and dove in. And she stayed down.
I was scared. She wasn’t coming up. Like I said, I’m a pretty good swimmer but that
water is dangerous. Still I was getting out of my clothes when she grabbed me from
behind. I turned and almost hit her. I was mad. Still she laughed at me as if I were some
kind of dope. I’d never hit a woman but I had a hard time clamping down on my anger.
She saw it and stopped her kidding. Guess that was when we ceased caring about each
other.
Anyway like I said, Jeff had this black job. Now that I wasn’t jealous of. But Beth was
something else. We made eye contact and I was lost. Jeff knew it too. Wanted to fight
real bad he did but the gang wouldn’t let him. That was when he challenged me.
We had a long piece of road that we used at night to race. Only a mile it was but there
was one curve that if taken too fast would have car all over the trees. Since we seldom
raced, we figured the cops wouldn’t be there. Nobody asked why we raced or what the
winner would get. We both knew that and looking at Beth, we knew she wanted the
winner also. Of course both of us thought she wanted us but she had grown tired of Jeff
and I suspected he would have lost out anyway.
And maybe Jeff knew it too cause he didn’t race as fast as he coulda. At the end, I
won easily enough. Heck, Cindy did all the work. And now I had Beth all to myself. Of
course Claudette was still around and I later saw her arm in arm with Jeff. But I paid that
no mind cause I had Beth. She was the best.
It was later that month that Beth and I went to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. She asked
me like I knew she would. We dressed up like hick farmers and danced until eleven. We
had a lot in common. Neither of us had a father and our mothers let us do just about
whatever we wanted. We were careful, however. And though we knew we’d marry after
graduation, we still had safe sex. Neither of us were going to college anyway. Besides I
had a pretty good job with a race team when I graduated. We figured with the job and
all, we’d have a pretty good life.
That’s what we were talking about after we parked at Lover’s Point. And soon I was
kissing her real hard and she was inside my shirt. Fact was I was about to put it in her
when I felt the motion. Somehow Cindy was moving. And it wasn’t in a good direction.
We broke apart as I tried for the breaks. But the damn thinks didn’t work. I looked
around and thought I saw Jeff smiling. But that wasn’t possible. I tried the doors but
couldn’t open them. It was like Cindy was keeping us inside.
What was scary was when Cindy sailed into the air. I thought - I hoped - that like
some cartoon character, we would hang on the edge forever until I could free us. But we
weren’t on the cliff anymore. Beth slammed into me as my head crashed into the
dashboard. As we untangled ourselves from each other, I tried to open the car door. But
Cindy was under water by now and the outside pressure wouldn’t let the door open. We
both panicked as water began coming in. And when the water finally filled the car, I
managed to open the door a bit. But it was jammed against a rock. I looked at Beth. She
was terrified and I could only watch as she clawed at me. Grabbed me. Anything to get
out. Anything to stop the waters from entering her lungs.
She looked so beautiful with her blouse plastered against her body. Even with her
eyes so wide they seemed to swell from her face, Beth looked beautiful. And then I saw
her give up. I wanted her to fight on. We had so much to live for. But she seemed to
relax and accept the water into her lungs. Bubbles started leaving her slack mouth and I
couldn’t stop it.
NOOO, I wanted to scream. But I couldn’t breath either. That’s when I saw it. Saw
my life swim before me. And as the breath bubbled from me for the last time, I seemed
to see Claudette outside my beloved Cindy smiling at my hopeless struggles.
Claudette rose for the surf like Venus arising from the mist. Jeff clasped her close
feeling her wet skin though his dry clothes. They made love that night on the beach at
the foot of Lover’s Point.
AlOmega