I put the car into drive and then stepped on the gas pedal, pushing it all the way down to the floorboard. I could hear the engine growing louder. And then I took my other foot off the brake and the car lunged forward.
I remember seeing in the rearview mirror dirt and gravel flying in the air. I was going as fast as I could with all my swerving through the parking lot heading towards the exit to the main road.
Yes, this was the first time I drove a car by myself. I did have some practice driving the car with my mom in the trailer park. This was common back in the sixties.
My body felt like it was on fire and my eyes were filled with tears. And I had not thought of where I was going. I was in too much pain to think clearly. I made it to the main road, quickly turned onto it, and sped away with the sun just finishing setting behind the mountain profile in the distance.
I knew that this road would take me to the highway and that was the fastest way to escape this horror I was experiencing. Once I made it to the highway I headed west. This direction would take me to the desert away from Las Vegas.
As I was speeding down the highway, I saw that the gas gauge was showing low gas. I then realized that I had only some change on me; maybe 50 cents or 60 cents. I stayed on the highway going west.
It was now dark. My body was tense and my eyes were still filled with tears. I don’t know how much time had passed since I took my mom’s car and fled. Then I saw the lights of a roadside gas station in the distance. I had no money, but I needed gas so I could continue my escape.
Since I was the one to always put gas in the car, operating the gas pump and filling the car would be easy as long as no one was outside providing service.
I pulled into the station and saddled up to the farthest pump away from the inside store. My hands were shaking and I was doing everything I could to look normal. I was just a kid putting gas in the car. I thought to myself, if anyone asks me a question, I will just say that my mom is inside.
Once the tank was full, I quickly replaced the pump handle on the pump. I looked around to see there was no one around watching me.
I quickly jumped into the car and sped away as fast as I could. I looked into the rearview mirror and saw no one coming after me. I push the gas pedal down to the floor making the car go faster, and faster, and faster.
I thought to myself that now I was a thief and a runaway.
I hurt so badly. My body was now more inflamed than before stealing the gas. Who had I become?
As the car went faster, the highway began to shrink in size. My peripheral vision was now very narrow. And it was now pitch-black outside. There were no lights lining the highway.
As my pain grew, I looked at the dashboard to see that the speed of the car was now approaching 120 miles per hour. This was the maximum speed the car could go based on the speedometer. At this speed anything can happen.
And my body continued to hurt inside.
I knew that all I had to do was to sharply turn the steering wheel to the left or to the right and my pain would be over. This thought was growing in my mind. A quick simple turn and that would be it. No more pain.
I didn’t.
I took my foot off the gas pedal and began to feel the car rapidly slowing down.
I was now going around 60 miles per hour, still crying, still in pain. As my thoughts began to clear, I recognized the highway I was travelling on would take me to California. This is when I decided to go find my friend in Beverly Hills.
I had a full tank of gas, and I knew that it would get me to him, if I could find him.
I was now on a mission.
I was going to Beverly Hills, California in my mom’s car which is now a stolen vehicle. I am sure that she called the police and they would be out looking for me. I wondered if I would make it, or if I would be stopped and arrested along the way.
The drive took many hours. During my drive all I could think about was how my mom had lied to me. I was also remembering other things. It was like everything I was recalling now was how adults don’t care about what they say.
Or what they do.
I made it to California and began to look for highway signs that would direct me to Beverly Hills. I knew that Beverly Hills was on the side of the mountains where Los Angles is so that became my focus.
I was no longer crying. But I was incredibly scared now. And it was now in the early morning hours.
I remember seeing a sign that said Beverly Hills next exit. Wow! I made it. But I didn’t know where he lived. I remember the apartment building from his bar mitzvah and I did, believe it or not, find it.
I parked the car and went to the entry. Their name was not on the apartment directory. I was becoming scared again. That moment of excitement thinking that I had found him was gone.
Now what!
I got back into the car.
As I drove around, I found a payphone with a phone book in it. I stopped and began to look for their phone number and address information, but nothing was listed in the phonebook.
It was now around three in the early morning hours, and I was running low on gas again.
I pulled up to a redlight and stopped. While I was stopped, a car pulled up next to me. There was a man in the car. He rolled down his window and motioned for me to roll down my window. I did as he requested thinking that he might be able to help me.
He then tried to convince me to follow him to his place and we could have some fun.
I became so scared that I pushed the gas pedal to the floor and sped through the red light. I was crying again and these tears were rapidly flowing from my eyes onto my face. And I was shaking uncontrollably. The pain returned.
Another adult man on the prowl…
“Follow my website for new story vignettes”
Leave a Reply