Three Letter Beast

This morning I was pissed. I drove 45 minutes to class – fighting the wind all the while and expecting a test when I arrived – only to find that it was canceled and the test rescheduled. Nothing posted online. No e-mail. Just a letter outside the classroom telling us the dreaded news. Ugh.

I called my parents, who were headed to town for doctor’s appointments, after getting back to my car. They insisted I wait at college until my dad got his flu shot then they would pick me up, bring me out to eat, and finally get me a new jacket (I was going to do that by myself today – hey, they want to buy me a jacket they can sure go ahead). I agreed thinking it wouldn’t be too bad or take too long. For starters, I had to wait almost 45 minutes for them to get the flu shot and come pick me up. I could have had my jacket and been well over half way home had I gone with my original plan for the day.

But, I didn’t.

Instead, I rode with them across town to drop my mom off for her doctor’s appointment. My dad and I headed to Home Depot to pick up some stuff. He couldn’t remember what he needed to get (he’s getting bad about that) so all we walked out with was a new shower head. Home Depot isn’t a place I love to visit, but at least there’s usually plenty of hotties to look at while I’m there. That never hurts. Then, we went back to pick my mom up and headed off to get something to eat. After the typical drama associated with deciding where to eat, we ended up at a pizza place. We enjoyed a nice conversation and few laughs over several slices of pizza from the buffet. After getting our fill of pizza, my parents decided they would go to the mall – my least favorite place to go, especially with my parents. I would have wandered off on my own if I had had my checkbook or more than one dollar in my billfold. I can’t buy anything so why even look, I told myself. So I trudged around with my parents for well over an hour as they looked at every little thing they passed. Finally, they finished looking over everything and left the mall.

We headed back to the other side of town where we originally were. We hit one more store before we went to Target – my favorite place to go if I need almost anything (fuck always-dirty-and-overrun-with-rednecks-and-wild-kids Walmart). After a quick stroll through the store, stopping to pick out a jacket of course, we were leaving the parking lot when I saw it. Yes, it – the Three Letter Beast.

G. T. O.

I’ve been wanting one for a while now. And my parents knew that. And there was one for sell nearby at a very good price. My dad said the car was ugly… until he pulled up near the one sitting in the parking lot. After giving it a quick look-over, he proceeded to leave the parking lot and get into the turning lane that led to the dealership where the one I had been eyeing was located.

When we arrived at the dealership, we got out to look at the car and of course a salesman bee-lined out to us. It didn’t help any that we were just about the only people on the entire lot. He offered to go get the key so we could look in it. We agreed to his offer and he scurried off to retrieve it. After tossing me the key and telling me to crank her up, I hopped in the car and fired it up. Wow. The V8 roared to life with a sweet low, rumbling idle. After checking out the interior for a bit, the salesman asks if I want to take it for a spin. Of course! So my mom hops in the passenger seat while my dad and the salesman decide to stay at the lot (thank god – I hate when the salesmen ride with you).

Shifting into drive, the car squats some in the rear, revealing the monstrous amounts of torque the V8 makes even at idle. I ease out of the lot and decide to take one of the back streets – unfortunately a street I’ve never been down before – since traffic on the main roads was fairly thick (it was around 5). The first thing I notice about the car is how powerful it feels. Just cruising around at 30 mph, it still seems to be oozing with power. The steering is pretty heavy too and takes some effort to turn the wheel – I like that. Surprisingly, the car is very easy to just cruise around in. It has a very relaxed nature… until you stab the throttle. Then, you are pinned to the seat as the V8 screams for mercy. It’s almost a religious experience. And to think, there are cars that are much faster than this thing! It’s an amazing car though and has more than enough power for me. And it's a car I hope to have sitting outside our house with the key in my pocket.

When we return from our test drive, we find that my dad has been talking numbers with the salesman while we were gone. This surprised me. I figured this would just be a drive and run experience with no chance of any type of deal going down. My dad told him about my car, which we would be trading in for the Goat. I didn’t drive my car there – it was still parked over at the college where I left it – and we told him that we would go get it and bring it back (we weren’t far from it). I think the salesman thought we were just pulling his leg and wouldn’t come back, because as I was walking out, he sort of jokingly asked me if we really were coming back. I assured him we were… and we did.

As they were looking my car over, my mom suggested my dad take the Goat for a spin to see if he could find anything wrong with it that I didn’t notice. He took the suggestion and my dad and I left on yet another test drive. I think this drive sold my dad on the car. I’ll ending up fighting with him over who gets to drive it (even though I will be paying for it)! Upon returning, the salesman came back with the quote on my car. They, of course, low-balled the trade-in value of my car. After some talking, the price jumped up $1,500. It still needs to go up at least another $500 or it’s no deal. I think we could work that out later though. The guy probably thinks we won’t do anything now. We left saying we would check with our bank on financing. He probably hears that a lot but never hears anything back from the people who say that. But he may very well hear from us again. My dad’s jumped on the GTO bandwagon with me. He’s wanting me to get it now! My mom has to check with the bank on Monday and if all goes well, I may be driving a Goat come Tuesday!

This evening I am happy and excited! The day ended on a great note after all even though the signs early on pointed to it being a shitty day. And it’s good I didn’t go with my original plan for the day as the Three Letter Beast was nowhere in that plan. Maybe it’s good my class was canceled too – my pointless drive to town may transform into a new ride to town.