America 1982-Chapter 76 - 31: Knocking on Heaven’s Door
"Are you sure this thing can make it to Stanford in California? That’s nearly five thousand kilometers across the entire United States," Tommy said, standing in front of the Chevrolet Corvette C2, which had been covered in various graffiti and had its original color obscured. His tone was somewhat uncertain as he called out to Tony, who was giving the car a final inspection under the hood.
Tony lowered the hood and looked at Tommy, "You can trust my skills; Mr. Anderson said I’m fully trained."
"It’s not you I’m doubting; it’s this car. A ’63 Stingray, older than both of us. I did imagine driving across America by myself, but I never thought it would be in a car like this," Tommy said hesitantly as he circled the graffiti-covered car.
The car was a gift from his family to prepare him for university, and according to Tony and his father, a man should drive a high-powered sports car to cross the United States and arrive at his dream university for enrollment.
The idea was wild, but the problem was that a month ago, the car was just a shell. Most of the parts had been taken off other similar cars and slowly pieced together by Tony.
His father helped Tommy put his luggage in the trunk and added an old-fashioned shotgun, cautioning Tommy, "Don’t play with it unless you run into trouble. If the police question you, just say it’s my gun, and I forgot to take it out. If you encounter some scum, pick it up and pull the trigger two feet above the guy’s head. Trust me, eighty percent of the bastards will piss their pants and run away scared."
"And the other twenty percent?" asked Tommy.
"They’ll not only wet their pants, but also lose control of their back door," his father affirmed. "Remember to call home every time you reach a city, so we know where you are." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
"I will," said Tommy, patting the car body before turning to his family.
Bessie rushed over to embrace Tommy, "Tommy, I’m going to miss you."
"I’ll miss you too. I’ll come back to see you during the holidays and bring you a gift from California," Tommy said as he picked up Bessie. "You’ve been saying you wanted a gift from California, but first you have to let me get there."
At this moment, Tony, their father, Melanie, and Ashley had all gathered around to say goodbye to Tommy with a hug. The neighbors also slowly came over to bid farewell to the first young man from their neighborhood brave enough to venture to California.
There had been a lot of changes in the Hawk household that year. With the money Tommy earned, his father brought back Bessie and even started his small ship dismantling yard. Dismantling ships was a physically demanding job. The major cost was the purchase of scrap ships. His father wasn’t unfamiliar with this line of work as he had done odd jobs at a ship dismantling yard before losing his employment. The way to earn money was simple: take old ships that seemed beyond repair and tear them down completely, selling the hull, steel, machinery, cables, etc., to scrap traders and the other miscellaneous items like radios and light bulbs to the second-hand market. All in all, his father, now the boss, was just about managing to recover the income level he had before unemployment.
Tony had completed his apprenticeship in a car repair shop, but he wasn’t planning to continue working there. Now that Bessie was back home and his father had stable work, he didn’t need to rush to bring money back home. So he wanted to go to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Connecticut to find work in a tuning garage and try his hand at repairing and tuning race cars.
Aunt Melanie had also become a teacher at Sinclair Elementary School, and she held Tommy in a reluctant embrace, "Remember to call us, tell us whether you’re happy in California, and if you’re not, remember you can always come home. Your family will always be here waiting for you."
"I will, Aunt Melanie," Tommy said, patting her back to comfort her.
Ashley said to Tommy with a smile, "There must be a lot of pretty girls in California, show them the charm of an East Coast hunk."
"Don’t worry, although Tony wanted me to take pictures of California girls and send them to him, I refused. You can always trust me, Ashley," Tommy said as he hugged Ashley.
"F*ck you, Tommy," Tony said, flipping him off from the side.
His father took out a piece of paper and said to Tommy, "Son, before I say goodbye, I want to read this list of people who gave you gifts."
Then, opening the paper, his father read out loud: "Morin, two dozen beers and a box of Trojans; Green, a dozen beers and two boxes of Trojans; Hurl, two cartons of milk and two boxes of Trojans; Big Phish, ten gallons of gas and two boxes of Trojans; Rogers... What the hell is with Rogers? Just two tires? No Trojans? Doesn’t he know those things run out faster than food for college students? If I become a grandfather before fifty, it’s all Rogers’s fault!"
"Tony said the car needed two newer tires," Wilson added from the side. "So I went... I mean, Rogers gave Tommy two tires without his knowing; he probably forgot about getting Trojans."
"Anyway, you heard it, we’ve packed enough Trojans in the trunk to last you four years, so don’t be stupid. I don’t want you to become a father without thinking it through, but I also don’t want you to spend four years in university without getting a girl into bed. You know what I mean?" After reading the list, his father put the paper away, walked up to Tommy, and gave his advice.
Tommy shrugged, "I’ll try to make it last, old man."
"Good, I... am happy, Tommy, your mother is happy too. A Hawk going to college, off to California no less—that’s somewhere your old man, your granddad, your great granddad never even set foot. You’re like a pioneer for our family, son. Go conquer the West!" Colin Hawk said, embracing his son firmly by the shoulders.
Tommy hugged his dad back, "I will."
In the distance, a roaring sound approached, and then, a black and red brand-new Dodge muscle car appeared at the roadside, Dennis and Pam stuck their heads out of the window, looking towards Tommy.
The new car, bought with Dennis’s earnings, was now the most eye-catching among the youth of Warwick City, with countless girls willing to ride shotgun in it.
"Heard you were hitting the road today, heading for California," Dennis said, wearing a pair of sunglasses, to Tommy: "Pam and I were thinking of joining you for the last stretch of road within Rhode Island, buddy."
Tommy glanced at his father, brother, sister, aunt, and others, then cocked his head towards Dennis and Pam, "Ready to eat my dust?"
After that, Tommy turned to get in his car, started the engine, and with a growl from the "Barracuda," he charged forward.
Dennis let out a howl, floored the gas pedal, and the Dodge quickly caught up with Tommy’s Barracuda, the two cars speeding side by side on the highway.
Just like Dennis had said, when they left the Rhode Island stretch behind, Dennis and Pam rolled down their windows, looked at Tommy, and Tommy turned his head and shared a smile with them.
"Hope you enjoy college life—asshole!" Dennis and Pam yelled, flipping off Tommy before gradually slowing down.
Tommy, gripping the steering wheel, looked at his friends disappearing in the rearview mirror and softly turned on the car stereo.
The "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door" that Dennis had recorded started to play inside the car: "Come wipe these tears from my eyes, I won’t weep again, the sun sets in the western sky, I feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door..."
In the sunlight, the song accompanied Tommy as he drove towards California.
(End of Volume 2: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door)
Author’s endnote: This is probably the toughest time I’ve been through—I got sick, and so did my family. I wanted to write an absurd comedy for the second volume, but a sudden fever totally threw me off, turning the absurd into a mess, with ongoing effects. It’s like since the fever began, my brain’s been fried, and every day I sit in front of the computer clueless about what to write.
The outline is just there, normally something that I could expand upon according to plan, but while sick I couldn’t even do that simple task. I don’t know if my brain got cooked or what.
Even my wife advised me to take a break until I recover to write again, but I said no. I don’t want to stop typing now. I want to keep updating, to finish a book. If it’s of poor quality, I can revise it thoroughly after completion. I’m aware of my condition, though—if I stop now, chances are I’ll stop for good. I must force myself to complete a book, starting with finishing the first one. I don’t know how many words this one will have, maybe over a million, maybe two million, but anyhow, it should at least be a complete story.
Let’s leave Volume 2 as it is. When I feel more at ease, I’ll come back and do a major rewrite, but I’m not in the right mindset to approach this style for the time being.
Volume 3 is about college life and the protagonist’s entrepreneurship. It’s my first time writing about a university and legitimate business ventures. My wife and I chatted today, and she was shocked. She couldn’t believe someone with only a middle school education, who never even stepped into a Chinese university, is about to write about American college life. The difficulty of this endeavor is perhaps greater than for Pu Songling when he wrote "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio."
Thank you all for your patience during this time. I’ll try to adjust my mood and write a good new story.
Welcome to Volume 3: My Days in the Fraternity.
