Stand by your convictions
With a mellow tone
Face up to contradictions
Without a frown or groan
~ Gemini Joe ~
I’
ve always loved cars and motorcycles, anything with an engine. Everyone at the auto repair shop down the street knew me, because I always hung around to watch them work. Sometimes, they let me hand them their tools when they were under a car. If they weren’t too busy, they’d show me how things worked. I learned every tool and its use.
“You’re mechanically inclined,” the boss said. “How would you like to be an apprentice?”
Little by little, the older mechanics were teaching me brake jobs. They taught me how to repair a clutch and put in a new disk so the clutch would grab. Then they taught me how to put springs on which were very dangerous. They said, “Watch out. If this spring gets loose, your head is going to come right off. I watched and they were really good to me. They trained me well.
That’s how I got to work part time at the garage, changing oil and lubricating chassis. It didn’t pay much, but I learned a lot.
I wanted to drive so I went to the Department of Transportation and picked up a book about getting a driver’s license.
“What are you reading, Joey?” My brother, Victor asked.
“Don’t call me Joey. My name is Joe and if you must know, I’m studying for my driver’s license.”
“Why can’t you just take the train like the rest of us?”
“I’m going to drive.”
Victor laughed. “Did you hear that, Dom? Joey thinks he’s going to drive.”
“You don’t even have a car,” Dom pointed out.
“I’ll have my license by summer,” I boasted, “and a car.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Victor said.
Whenever someone challenged me, it made me more determined.
A few weeks later as we sat at the dinner table, I smiled.
“Why are you so happy?” Victor asked.
“I passed!” I said and waved my driver’s license in the air.
Everyone took turns looking at it.
“What good is it?” Victor said. “You don’t have a car.”
“I’m saving up for an old Ford they have down at the shop. It’s broken down, but I know I can fix it.”
“Tell you what!” my dad said. “I’ll buy that car for you if you promise me I’ll hear that motor purring.”
That week, my father bought me the used Ford. “Don’t disappoint me,” he said.
“I won’t,” I said and went to work under the hood.
Soon the roar of the engine had everyone running outside to see. My father smiled with pride, but my brothers didn’t seem to share his joy.
My friends and I cruised up and down the busy streets looking for girls, smoking, and drinking liquor.
The car broke down more than it ran and we would have to walk home or push it everywhere. I think I spent more time under the hood than behind the wheel. It didn’t even have windshield wipers.
“We need more booze,” Prunes said.
My brother, Dom, usually bought it, but since he’d met his new girlfriend, Marie, we couldn’t rely on him.
Snow fell lightly on the windshield as we drove past the liquor store. There was an old man was leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette.
I rolled down the window. “Hey, could you buy us a bottle?”
“What’s in it for me?”
“We can share it with you,” Tony shouted.
Prunes jabbed Tony in the ribs, but before he could take back the offer, the man ran to the car.
“Okay, you got a deal.” He took our money and disappeared into the store. A few minutes later, he came out with a bottle wrapped in a brown-paper bag, and slid into the backseat. When he’d had his fill, he handed us the bottle. It was half-gone.
“Thanks kids,” he said and stepped out from the car.
“What a jerk,” Tony said. “He hardly left any for us.”
The snow came down heavier, and I had a hard time seeing through the windshield.
“Open the window and stick your head out, Prunes. You too Tony, so you can tell me where I’m going.
Cruising around in the snowstorm, I steered the car as they guided me. The car swerved.
“Keep to your right!” Tony yelled. “You almost hit a hydrant.”
“Watch out for that curb,” Prunes said.
We drove until we ran out of gas.
“I guess we’re done for the night,” Prunes said.
“No, we’re not!” I said. “Help me push this heap to the gas station.”
I walked along the driver’s side with my hand on the steering wheel as Tony and Prunes pushed from behind. The first gas station we came to displayed a sign, Closed Due to Blizzard.
“Now what do we do?” Tony asked.
“Watch this.” I lifted the pump and lowered the nozzle while holding the hose up, a resourceful trick I learned at the garage. There was always a pint of gas in each hose. It was enough in those days because a gallon of gas would take me two days riding around.
“God, Joe, you’re amazing,” Prunes said.
When summer came, me and my friends hung out under the boardwalk at Coney Island. At night, we cruised around the neon-lit thoroughfare and picked up girls. I sat behind the wheel with the radio blasting and a pretty girl in the passenger seat. I felt like the King of the World.
Victor was so jealous that he applied for his driver’s license, but he had nothing to drive. He kept asking if he could borrow my car.
“You can’t keep taking my car,” I said.
“But I always bring it back!”
“Yeah, on empty. You never put gas in it.”
“Please! I have a date with Victoria.”
“Get a job and buy your own car!” Dad yelled from the living room. I felt a fight coming on.
“It’s all right Pop. Victor can borrow the car.”
Victor grabbed the keys and ran out the door. He must have impressed Victoria, because she married him. They moved into the basement apartment and he later bought his own car.
You have to picture that this family was going good. We had a luncheonette. We had our own home and everyone had cars, my mom, my dad, my brothers, and me. I even had a motorcycle. I liked that very much.
