The 1985 Ford Taurus had been purchased five months before I moved out of my parents'. I'd bought it from a super-Christian in Carrollton and the first thing I did was re-program the radio stations and rip off the Christ fish. After a while, I found out why the guy had sold the car. It needed new CV joints, new front and rear struts, and was in dire need of an allignment. I never had it fixed while I was living with Cris, and later down the line I was too busy paying off the debts he'd left me to even consider getting the extensive suspension work done.

It wasn't until May of '97 that the problem got so bad I was leary about giving people rides.

A group of us had gotten out of a pool-hall at 5 in the morning and David Smith the younger was getting in the car when I said, "Listen, the car's been making some strange noises. If I'm going to die in this car, I want to do it with a clear consince." He rode with Lila, which was for the better in the long run.

Everyone was supposed to meet at my place for breakfast, so I had people following me when it happened. What I'd like to know is, when I've got 7 people following in 3 different cars, why do I have to wait on the side of the road for 40 minutes?

We were north-bound on central and Frank was in his Geo Metro. He was about to pass me when the Taurus lurched to the left. I swung the car to the right and managed to find a shoulder to park on. I say managed because Central expressway was under heavy cconstruction in that area and a shoulder was rare to find.

Several miraculous things happened when I had the accident.

  1. I did not hit anything. This is amazing considering I barely had control of the car.
  2. I did not hit anyone else. This to, is amazing because rush-hour was just starting.
  3. The axle on the car did not break.
  4. When the driver's side front wheel left the car and flew over the barricade into south-bound traffic, it didn't hit anyone. I am grateful to this fact. If it had hit someone it most likely would have killed them.
As things stood, I was able to go back that night and retrieve the wheel. The rim wasn't even dented.

I made it home in one piece, and I had a nifty rental car until I got my new car.

So far, everything with the new car has been okay. I ususaly don't have much luck with cars.

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