Ride in a vehicle without seat belts.
Seat belts were for race cars, and a few sports cars
I think they were status symbols back then
When I was 10, or maybe 11;
Me and three other kids rolled a '48 Plymouth, suicide doors and all
We were all flopping around the cab like rag dolls
Ended up in a field, on it's side
My buddy's dad watched the whole thing
Said he saw a door creek open like a boat hatch, and four wide eyed boys slowly emerge, one at a time,
It was my buddy's car, and he was rather crushed when his glass pack arrived the next day
We talked about that for awhile, then moved on to other things, like camping out and running around at midnight, and scaring neighbors by climbing trees by bedroom windows, and shining flashlights in our faces
We got our exercise back then, by running
Something about running and laughing that stirs many a memory
When Brad came around, things happened.
Not the best things, but really fun things.
He’d joined our BB gun wars a few times, but he was one to always want something more.
One afternoon we were contemplating what we could do with Ike when Brad thought shooting at the passing cars on the road below would perk things up.
It did.
Our marksmanship was lacking, as most our shots just pinged off fenders and bumpers and the back of an occasional window, but this one time Andy’s shot rang true. Right at the back of this passenger’s gigantic ear.
It was an amazing spectacle to watch take place.
Pap
Whap!
‘AAAAAAH, MY EAR! A BEE STUNG MY GODDAMN EAR!’
He commenced fanning is skunk cabbage sized ear like it was on fire, and I gotta say it wasn’t that great of a shot, ‘cause that gentleman’s humongous ear was a huge target, flappin’ in the wind at 40 mph.
The car came to a screeching halt and he hopped out, dancin’ around batting at the side of his head.
Well, one of his gargantuan ears musta picked up on our rolling on the ground laughter, as he looked right in our direction and started cussing us up and down.
We just flipped him off and invited him up for a chat.
Within 30-40 minutes the town cruiser came barrelling up the road.
We started passing the football around in Andy’s yard, and when they pulled up, we became sincerely helpful as to ‘keep a lookout for those hooligans for sure, officer.’
Eddie
He was the first to introduce Converse Chuck Taylor Allstars, and The Three Stooges, and playing army, so he had a purpose and heavily contributed to our rag tag outfit
Eddie loved playing army, and always had an invisible machine gun, making machine gun and hand grenade sounds, blowing things up, like the family sedan, or the Hansens.
As a matter of fact, he was the instigator of our BB gun wars.
One time I’d accidently shot Eddie in the neck and the BB had stuck under the skin.
When his mom called him in for lunch and saw that little spot, she ‘bout came unglued.
She called us all in, and gave us the shoot yer eye out sermon.
I had the brilliant idea of explaining that we knew about the dangers of head shots,
and just aimed at each other’s testicles, and if Eddie hadn’t been all bent over takin’ a crap in the Hansen’s yard,
well we wouldn’t be havin’ this conversation.
Eddie never got to bring out his gun after that, and his visits became limited, and timed.
Funny, a few years ago I was on a ladder starting a first course of shingles.
My Lady was holding the ladder, gingerly poking me in the hind end (helping) when she noticed a bump on my calf.
She commenced to fiddle with that bump and remarked that something was rolling around inside it.
I handed her my razor knife and she cut out a rather gnarly BB.
Sorry, but I write
I've got other stories parked in a thread somewhere...maybe
days gone by, if yer interested