Chapter 6

Katie Gets a Car

At school, Monday ... everyone was either talking about the Prom or how they fared after the Prom. There were a few gossipy tales about who lost their cherries and who got the drunkest and puked all over their dates. I'd never paid attention to those things before but I was sensitive to what was being said about Katie and me. Fortunately there was nothing said, at least to me, that implied someone had actually seen us at the motel.

I got a few jibes about having the bad luck to be with a chick who was never going to give it up. Of course, not from any of the guys who ran with Ron. I was sure they knew that Ron was either bullshitting them or was telling the truth about Katie but since they couldn't know which was true and now she was dating me, they had the good sense to not take a chance on ruining the option of maybe getting lucky, themselves.

Katie reported the same. She was very happy and bubbly but still we didn't hold hands in the halls and that was fine with me. Once couples started in public displays, the expectations grew and usually that was the beginning sign of one or the other becoming resentful of the 'you-belong-to-me' syndrome.

And, for the first time in weeks, Ron wasn't hateful towards me. I guessed that Katie had made it perfectly plain ... and possibly Ron really did have something for Cyndy. Katie later told me that Cyndy had gotten sort of lucky. Ron treated her well and she responded by 'letting him' finger her while she jacked him off.

In fact all was well in my little social circle. Ed, my cousin, being the only one to imply I'd hit the jackpot. But that wasn't a problem, he always assumed everyone was screwing. I think just to sometimes be able to say 'Told 'ya' when it turned out to be true.

A few days later Katie called me in the evening and said her dad wanted to talk to me.

"Pete?"

"Yes, sir."

"I was wondering if you'd be free to drive up, with us, to Sidney tomorrow after school. I'm buying Katie a car and I know you know something about them, so it would be a big favor."

"Yes, sir ... I'd be glad to."

"Thanks a lot, see you at four, then. Here's Katie."

"Didju hear that, Pete?!! I'm getting a car!"

"Sure did. What is it?"

"I don't know ... but it's a car. Of my own!"

Next afternoon, I had told dad I couldn't do chores, and we left for Sidney about 25 miles away, right after we got to Katie's. Katie's mom rode along so Katie and I were in the back seat. We held hands and finger wrestled then Katie 'got fresh' and started 'finger-walking' up the inside of my thigh. I shook my head and she grinned broadly, scrunched her face up and shook her head sideways to signal that it didn't matter. But I persisted and she stopped.

All the time she was chattering away about the car, trying to find out more about it.

"You'll just have to wait." Her dad said for about the 20th time.

Finally we pulled into a driveway of a brick house and there were two cars, the oldest a maroon 56 Ford 4 door sedan. Katie's face fell a little. This was a grandpa's car. She didn't glance twice at the other, because it was a shiny '57 Chevy BelAir convertible, in immaculate shape from its looks.

She got over her disappointment quickly, though ... jumped out and ran to the Ford and started looking inside. Her dad looked at her mom then at me and winked. I grinned a little then sobered up and just then the owner came out. McEvers went to talk to him and they walked toward the Chevy.

"Well, come on Katie, what do you think?"

"It'll be just fine, dad." She piped. "The girls will love not having to crawl over each other to get in or out." {See why she was lovable?!!!}

She looked at her dad, who crooked his finger beckoning her over to the Chevy and her jaw dropped.

"You mean ... THAT ... oh, DADDY!"

This was the car any HS girl in the early sixties would absolutely love to have. The year and model because all the hotrodder boys built up 57 Chevvies, though the vastly preferred version for performance was the two-door hardtop. But the classic lines appealed to most girls, too and while they all wanted convertibles, the idea that they otherwise had the same car as the boys did was a conversation ... or flirt ... starter.

She just stood and stared at the turquoise painted beauty. "Oh, it's BEAUTIFUL!!"

She ran over, slid into the drivers seat as her dad held the door and just sat and marveled.

"Oh ... it's so nice. Can we get this ... can we afford it?"

It should be explained to the other generations that in the mid-twentieth century, a six year old car was an OLD car. Sheet metal fascias changed almost every year and there had been 4 major-makeovers since that car was new. And the 57 Chev had not sold well, being beaten in the sales race by Ford for the first time since 1951. It was seen as 'dowdy' in comparison to the flashier and glitzy Ford Galaxy.

But it did not take long for trends to reverse and even in 1962 there were few 57 fords left on the road ... the style trend was fleeting and all makers had reverted to less glitz and chrome and more real classic style. The 57 Chev was more popular than it had ever been, just as it is hugely coveted now. And they went for twice, or three times for convertibles, what later used models went for.

"I think we can afford, it, sweetie ... but that's where Pete comes in. What do you think, Pete?"

I took the cue and lifted the hood where I was surprised to find a six cylinder engine, though the car was plainly marked as a V-8. And there was a gaping hole in the side of the engine block and carrying through the oil pan. Now I understood where I came in, the engine was blown.

The owner explained that his son had just gone into the service and it was his car. That on the night before he left he had gotten drunk and he and his buddies had a contest in some drive-in parking lot to see who could hold their accelerator floored the longest. Sort of a parked in place 'chicken run'. Evidently his son won.

I then looked closer at the hood. The 'V' emblems had been added. the car was built as a Six.

"I dunno ... Mr McEvers. New engine for sure, probably the transmission as well. The Powerglide had a well known aversion to being overrevved while in Park, and I had to assume the kid was too dumb-drunk to know to shift to neutral for that stunt."