life of buddy don, chapter 143: buyin a car

round the end of winter quarter of 1983 i gut a big paycheck, witch thats the one add vantage to not bein paid everthang yer owed whenever yer furst owed it: ye end up savin up sum money whuther ye mean to or not. turnt out sum of my students dint lack seein me half to walk everwhar n they cunvinced one of em, a feller name of tucker james, that he orta sell his volkswagen beetle to me.

i larnt bout it frum cassandra n sharon, witch i dun splaind how cassandra had tuck up a claim on a stool in my offus n sharon tride to go everwhar cassandra went. i had gut to the point of leavin my offus open with cassandra watchin thangs whenever i wuz in a class, lessn she wuz in the class, witch i wood lock my offus up. so twood be a reglar thang to cum back to my offus n find out folks had left me messages, lack the time i cum back frum a comp 102 class n cassandra tole me tucker james wuz a'gone make me a offer i couldnt refuse.

'sounds ominous,' i tole her, witch twuz one of the wurds we had cuverd in vocabulairy class. she anserd that it could be 'lucrative.' so i ast her wood it have a 'deleterious' effeck on my life? she laffed n sed it should have a 'most propitious' effeck n possibully lead to a more 'commodious' way of livin fer me. so whut wuz i spozed to do? that made her laff. she splaind i wuz to 'rendevous' with tucker in the late evenin, round 'twilight' time. then sharon cum in n ast cassandra had she tole me yet, witch that made cassandra laff n say i wuz a'wurryin that maybe that 'crazy nigger' tucker wuz a'gone kill me. sharon tole me that 'cassie be trippin, mr d. everbidy know tuckers a big pussy cat.'

twuz near the end of the quarter so i had a huge heap of papers to grade on a counta my lettin folks re-rite thar 'f'' papers. in sum cases twuz a waste of my time, but in otherns, lack in the case of rufus coales frum sum island down in south carolina, ye could see im a'larnin frum one 'f' to the nex till finely he could rite a hole essay without two deadly errs in it. so even ifn twuz drudgry to git thru all them papers, thay wuz moments whar ye could see progress n that wuz my mane reason fer teachin. it sartinly werent fer the money!

innywho, i gut started on that pile n purty soon cassandra n sharon left. i dint generly have inny reason to be in my offus twixt the hours of 4 n 7 pm, so twuz a sprize to hear how quite everthang gut round dinner time. twuz almost as quite as twuz my furst day a'wurkin thar. i wuz headin fer the home stretch on them papers whenever i herd the cracked door to colston slam, witch the reason why twuz cracked wuz how dint seem lack they could ever git it tricked up sos it woodnt slam.

but slam it did that time n two secunts later, thar wuz tucker at my door. he wuz whut they call blue black n had putt sum kinda coconut oil in his hair to make it hang down long n curly. he had been in my comp 102 class n dun ok, witch he wuz a lot older than most of my stoodents n dint never say nuthin, jes writ n re-writ his papers till he gut out with a 'c' fer the corse. i had writ him notes bout how ifn he wonted a lil hep i wood give it to im n mayhap he could git a better grade, but he writ me back bout how he had im a job wurkin as bartender in a jook joint in east knoxvull n he dint have hardly no exter time.

he cum in n shuck my hand n looked me rite in the eye, witch i lacked that but wuz sprized at how few of my stoodents wood look me in the eye. i ast im whut i could do fer im n he tole me rumor had it i dint have no wheels. i sed twuz true. i made the joke bout usin my fiat n pointin at my shoes. he laffed n sed he had im a volkswagen beetle to sell me fer $1,000 ifn i wuz innerested. i ast im did it wurk n all, so he tuck me out on a drive. twuz as white as a car kin git n banged up here n thar, but it run lack a top. the radio had trubles, but the heater wurked bout as well as beetle heaters ever wurk. he wuz a meckanick his ownself n tole me ifn it wuz to quit wurkin durin the furst year, he wood hep me fix it at a fair rate, bettern i wood git at inny servus stayshun.

as we pulld into a parkin space near colston center, tucker ast me did we have a deal. i hadnt sed nuthin to emily yet n figgerd twood be best to check with her furst, witch tucker sed ifn i wood shake his hand then, i could drive it home. i tole im i dint have no insurants, witch he sed i wood half to drive it with no insurants a time or two till i could git me sum no matter whut. i sed i should probly talk it over with my wife, witch he sed he had dun had im a wife n wishd he had talked thangs over with her befor he had made sum big deecishuns that run im into trubles, but ...

but? but ifn i wonted that car, i wood half to take the deal he wuz offern rite then. he had dun gut a buyer fer more money ceptn he lacked how i wuz teachin at kc n figgerd i needed it more. i ast im how much wuz he losin on the deal n he sed he wuznt losin nuthin. twuz wurth the differnts to sell it to me. but he wonted to finish the deal rite then.

twuz one of them moments whenever ye know yer buyin whut could be a worl of woe, but i looked tucker in the eye n in my gut, i jes knew i could trust im. so i putt out my hand n he shuck it n he sed twuz a nuff fer him but could i drop im off at five points? i dint know whar that wuz at the time so he tole me how to go till i gut to a place whar five differnt rodes cum together. i hadnt never been thar before that (lease not that i could member) but twuz a mane spot in east knoxvull, witch mos everbidy a'livin thar wuz black folks.

then i drove with the gratest of keer till i gut home n found me a parkin spot on the street on a counta not havin no parkin sticker fer the parkin spot that cum with our laurel marrd stoodents apartment. then i went up to face the musick with emily.

twuz near 6:30 by time i gut home, witch we used to have dinner rite at 6 pm, so i wuz a lil cuncernd that before i could say nuthin bout the car we wood alreddy be in a fuss n fite bout whar had i been? but she wudnt at home, witch that meant i had a chants to set thangs up a lil better. i had gut pork chops n baked a cuple taters n whipped up sum corn bread on a counta that wuz one of her favert meals. i made sum fresh iced tea, witch i almost never dun that but she always wishd i wood larn how she lacks it, witch i knew how but fer sum reason dint figger i should half to make it on a counta i dint never drunk it my ownself. but i figgerd she wuz a'gone eggsplode whenever she found out i had dun spent $1,000 so i wuz a'pullin out all the stops.

she finely cum in a lil after 8 o'clock n i could see she wuz on the far side of tipsy. i ast her had thar been a change of skedule to whar them histry stoodents wuz drankin thar beer on a differnt nite? she laffd n tole me to guess agin. she cum up close to me n give me a lil kiss, witch i lacked that n frum it i could smell that twuznt beer she had been a'drankin. smelld more lack red wine, so i figgerd she had to be visitin milly. she laffed agin n sed i wuz gittin warmer. she started unbuttonin her flannel shirt n purty soon i wuz follerin along pickin up her cloze as she shagged em – her jacket, her jeans, her shoes – on her way to the bathroom, witch by then she wuz down to her home uniform of a pair of knee socks, a unbuttond flannel shirt, underwired bra n cotton panties. i watched her while she wuz peein n could see she wuz happy as could be bout sumthin, but i couldnt figger whut.

so i tole her i dint know whar she coulda been drankin but i shore lacked havin her home in such a good mood. i menchuned how i had baked taters n pork chops a'warmin in the oven. did she wonta eat? maybe later, she sed after wipin. she tuck my hand n pulled me tords the bed. i dint have no cumplaints bout that, but i did feel a lil cuncernd bout whuther i should menchun the car befor or after takin add vantage of the situwayshun. she tuck off her bra n started undoin my pants, witch that settled thangs. purty soon i pulled off her panties n could hardly bleeve how aroused she wuz, witch she wuz slow to git goin but could keep on fer hours. so fer a cuple hours we dun nuthin but make luv. twuz odd on a counta how much passhun she had n how ruff she wonted it. she had long silky hair n sumtimes she lacked me to grab it n tug her by it, make it sos she couldnt git to my mouth fer a kiss or to force her to do thangs she really wonted to do but dint wonta add mitt she did.

long story short, we wuz occupide till near 10 pm, witch thats way past my bedtime, but by then we wuz bof eggzausted n sweatin. i dint half to wurk the nex day ceptn to grade papers, so we gut up n i resurreckted whut i could of the dinner n we ate. she wuz bout as luvy-duvy as a person gits, hangin on me, grabbin me down thar, sqeezin to the point of pane n then laffin or gittin down on her knees n laffin whenever whut she wuz a'doon got me to fergit whutever i wuz trine to say, witch the mane thang i wonted to know wuz why couldnt we have sex lack that more often, but i dint say nuthin n jes enjoyd whut wuz a'gone on.

but finely she had me rite whar she wonted me, near nekkid n a'sittin in that big wing chair daddy give me with her in my lap a'kissin n squeezin n luvin on me whilst she splaind whar she had been. furst, she went over to find out bout gittin sumbidy fer her to talk to, witch they had em a program whar ye could git ye a graduwait stoodent fer talk therpy n she gut her one. i ast wuz they drankin wine thar, witch she splaind she woodnt git to meet her countsler till nex week. but she did tell me she had run into a ole friend.

i couldnt figger who to guess n she could see the fun had dun run out fer me so she sed twuz sumbidy a'livin rite in our buildin. that give it away, of corse. twuz martha. they had run into each other as emily wuz leavin mcclung tower after visitin with dr morgan. turnt out martha wuz leavin at the same time n they gut to talkin n then deecided to go down to that italian place that on cumberland, witch i never knew witchn she meant. they had em sum appetizers n putt away a bottle of chianti n talked n talked. bout whut? sex mostly. emily sed martha had always wunderd bout how emily felt bout her n emily had dun had jes a nuff wine to tell the truth, that she wished martha wuz innerested in women.

durin all this time, she wuz a'keepin me innerested by grabbin me down thar n squeezin n even droppin to the floor to give me a lil lick or two, so i caint say i wuz cumplainin bout whut i wuz a'hearin, witch i finely gut out the questchun i wonted to ast, witch wuz did they do innythang? she laffed agin n sed twuz sumthin fer her to know n fer me to find out. i dint much lack that n sed i figgerd twernt the way marrd folks is spozed to do. she dint git the lease upset n sed she knew i wuz hopin that sumthin had happend. dint i?

i dint have no anser fer that. i wuz glad she had sumbidy else to talk to, meanin the countsler, n i half to add mitt, i couldnt hep but wunder bout whuther she n martha coulda dun sumthin. corse, whut i really wonted to know wuz whuther i wuz a'gone be invited. i hate to add mitt that since twuz lackly part of whut emily wuz a'usin to keep frum thankin her life wuz jes too borin n reglar to be lived, witch that wuz one of her generull cumplaints bout thangs, but i couldnt hep but wunder.

but by then she had deecided we should go back into the bedroom sos i could tell her a lil story bout whut i wuz maginin could have dun alreddy happend twixt her n martha or mayhap witch mite could happen twixt em or, n she paused long a nuff to tell me she lacked her evenin lollipop n show me jes how much before sayin, or whut mite happen ifn we wuz to have her over fer a lil after dinner wine.

i shoulda tuck add vantage of the situwayshun n jes had me sum fun, but insted, i figgerd i could use that moment to splain bout the car. twuz a huge miss take, witch by time the shoutin wuz over, she had cunvintsed martha to let her sleep on the couch down at her place.

twuz a long nite of lil sleep. i wood drift off n have bad dreams n wake up to find the bed empty n that wood make me mad to whar i couldnt sleep n had to read fer a while till i couldnt keep my eyes open. by time twuz over, i wuz wore plum out, but i gut up, fixed my coffee n drove my car to kc. gradin papers tuck my mind offn my other problems fer a few hours. then i seen cassandra a'walkin cross the yard frum the beveridge dorm n i figgerd twuz moren i could handle then. so i gut in my new car n went home. i had dun graded a nuff papers.

emily wuz home when i gut thar, sittin on her chair, wearin her flannel shirt n knee socks n underwear, with iced tea n lit cigarette at her elbow, a book in her lap, n tuggin on her hair. as soon as i cum in, she jumped up n run to greet me, witch that dint happen much. she pall gized bout how she reackted to the car n ast me could i take it back. i sed i had dun give my word n i woodnt go back on it, so the car wuz ours. then i ast did she wonta see it?

thank god fer curiosity. we drove out chapman hiway to the krogers thar n gut a lode of grossries n by time we gut home n she wuz heppin putt away the grossries, witch she wuz glad we had them grossries without havin to have eli over, i could see she wuz dun fitin bout it. i had been trine to cunvints her durin the hole ride, splainin how i woodnt half to walk over to kc in the dark no more n how we woodnt be beggin rides all over the place n how we wood be able to go to the alcoa hiway flea market everday. i could tell she had quit the fite whenever she ast whuther did i thank it could git to looseburg n back. i tole her thay wudnt but one way to find out. did she wonta try durin the sprang brake? i could see she wuz thankin bout it, but she sed she had a lot of thangs she needed to look after n couldnt go jes then.

i wonted to ast did she mean her countsler? or martha? or whut? but i dint say nuthin.