Steve gets his First car



Looking back at my childhood I find it's no wonder my Father was an alcoholic . I'm certain that his children had no small part in bringing him to that point.
After I (With much help from Rose ) ruined the red car with comet and a healthy dose of sos pads , Dad went out to buy a new car. Dad was working steady at the time so he figured he could go to car lots and find something only a few years old. So we all piled into the old station wagon we had and went shopping for cars.
Dad was very picky and looked at many car dealers. Many times Dad would go out into the lot looking at cars with the salesmen while leaving the rest of us waiting inside the building. At one dealership my brothers (Steve age 14, Geno age 11,and John age 10) began to talk quietly amongst themselves. Devious little smiles spread on their faces. Steve and Geno went toward the front of the building. John began to slip more towards the back. I sat in a chair next to Mom wondering who washed all these cars.
Suddenly Steve was yelling at Geno. Geno began to yell back. Before anyone knew what was happening my two oldest brothers were rolling around apparently trying to beat the shit out of each other. Everyone rushed over to see what was happening and to break up the fight
Everyone but John.
Mom grabbed Steve and Geno by their collars and told them when their Dad came back in they were in big trouble. They both protested with a "But he started it". John came back over and smiled at Steve. A few minutes later Steve asked Mom if he could go across the street and get a bottle of pop at the gas station. Dad was out test driving a car , so Mom,happy to be rid of one of the kids for a little,told Steve ok. Mom even give Steve a little money to buy some extra candy. In the time it took Steve to get his "bottle of pop" Dad test drove 2 more cars. Mom looked a little worried about what was taking Steve so long but a quick look showed her he was back and just walking around looking at some cars on the lot. He came back in and Mom asked him "See anything you liked ?"
Steve smiled and nodded. He called John over and gave him a few pieces of candy. John moved towards the back of the building and Geno asked "Where's my candy?" Within seconds the two were rolling around on the floor fighting again. Before Mom could move over to break it up Dad came back in from his last test drive. Dad grabbed both and threw them out of the dealership and told them to get into the car. He yelled at the rest of us kids to run out to the car as well. Rose and I ran out followed in a little by John.
All the way home Dad yelled at everyone about how embarrassed he was by us. When I tried to point out I was being good he shouted that if it wasn't for me to begin with we wouldn't have to be looking for a car .
Strangely Steve ,Geno , and John all had little smiles on their faces.
Within a few days Dad found a car(blue) and everyone seemed to forget about the fighting at the car dealership. I remember a little over a week and a half later Steve got in trouble when he was caught sneaking back in the house after midnight. After that it seemed Steve was never home. Geno and John were always wanting to go out with him and it seemed Steve was always sneaking out at night .
Finally one night ,well after 1 in the morning, the phone rang. It was my Mom's brother Kenny. Steve had called Kenny needing help. He told Kenny it was very important not to call Mom and Dad . He also told him he was calling at a phone booth in a local park. Steve asked if Kenny could come pick him up. And please don't tell Mom and Dad.
So Kenny being a loyal and loving Uncle (and also drunk out of his mind) called Mom and Dad.
I woke up when Dad came bursting into our room to see if Steve was really gone. He stormed out swearing that Steve was a dead man. Geno and John were sitting up in their beds .
"what's happening?" I asked.
"Steve stole a car . He's been out riding around in it every night this week."
My two brothers told me that when Steve and Geno got into the fight in the dealership ,John stole a key from the wall. Steve went across the street to the gas station had a copy made. Steve came back walked around the lot until he found the car matching the description on the key ring. He came back in and promptly got into another fight with Geno. That's when John put the key back.
"That's so cool" I said.
Dad did not find it quite so cool. We waited well over an hour for Dad to come back. When we did we could hear him before he got into the door.
"YOU STOLE A CAR!"
Mom was sitting in the living room waiting to know what had happened. Dad yelled at her to get Geno and John. She dragged them out for Dad to yell at.
" DID YOU HELP YOUR BROTHER STEAL A CAR?!!"
"No Dad" they cried together.
" STEVE TOLD ME YOU DID! IS STEVE A LIAR?"
"Yes Dad, he's a liar!"they cried together. "He's also a thief!"
"What happened" Mom demanded.
Steve had been out driving with two local boys , the Pena brothers,(who always seemed to be in as much trouble as Steve) and Dad's two twin youngest brothers Tom and Tim. All of these kids were around 3 years older then Steve. Yet they seemed perfectly happy to let Steve drive them around in a stolen car.
Until Steve drove the car into a lake.
Scared and wet and not knowing what to do they called Uncle Kenny who wasn't much older and asked for help. He promptly ratted them out . So it was a total shock to see my Dad drive around the corner to pick them up. The Pena brothers not being idiots promptly ran into the woods. Steve , Tom, and Tim stood there like deer in the headlights afraid to move. Dad dropped his brothers off at his Mom's where they were yelled at until 6 in the morning.
Dad was so mad he yelled all night. When he couldn't yell anymore he had Mom yell. About every 10 minutes he'd shout out "MY SON'S A GODDAMN CAR THIEF! I SHOULD CALL THE POLICE!!" Dad yelled until he had to go to work . He came home and yelled some more.
But he never did call the police.
And he was finally more upset at someone else then me.
I know in reality that the car was probably found the next morning , and fished out to be returned to the dealership. Yet in my mind that car is still sitting on the bottom of the lake with what's left of a case of beer. The radio turned to a loud rock and roll station. The drivers side door open, waiting for Steve to come back and drive off in it.