The Jeep

When I was in High School, I wanted a car, having no money and parents that didn't believe in buying me a car I got a job. With my first paycheck I bought a Jeep. Sort of, it was an old Mail Jeep. It was the ugliest vehicle I've ever owned, but it only cost me $100 to buy and a mere $15 a month to insure it. The only thing I did to it was replace the starter $40, flush the radiator $10 for anti-freeze, and paint it $100 for paint and a rented sprayer. Granted, it still wasn’t the most attractive vehicle, but it got me from point A to point B. I even put a seat in the passenger’s side. All in all, it was a usable vehicle.

Now, being a Mail Jeep it had sliding doors that locked back in the open position. I loved driving around with them open. I’d even drive down the highway like that. Well, it was mid-April now; I’d had the Jeep the whole school year and never had a problem, because I figured out really quickly how driving it differed from other vehicles. It was top-heavy, having a steel body, including the roof; I knew that I couldn’t take a 90-degree turn at any more than 20 mph without tipping it over. So I drove it that way, I drove fast, like any teenager will, but I drove ahead of the vehicle and slowed down in time for the corners.

There was one corner that I would take at around 35 mph, which was the posted speed limit. It was a corner much like that of a racetrack. As it turned, the outer edge raised, so the road was slanted. Well, coming from both directions were straight sections just as the road turned. These were side streets to access the Roller Rink and the small community of houses next to it. Most people however, would follow the turn in the road.

This corner had significant meaning to me now, because exactly one year before, on the exact day, at the exact time of day, I was heading home from my girlfriends birthday party in my brother’s car. I stopped at the light about 300 yards before the corner and got this overwhelming sensation to open the windows and the sunroof, even though it was raining. Well, when I got to the corner by the Roller Rink I saw a car coming at me and turned the wheel and then blacked-out. I ended up crashing my brother’s car into the telephone pole at 50 mph. An investigation revealed a leak in the car’s exhaust and the carbon monoxide was leaking into the car. If I hadn’t opened the windows, I would have passed out sooner and most likely hit the other car.

Now, back to the Jeep part. I was at that same light, I had been driving with my doors open because it was a nice night. Then I got this feeling to shut the doors, but I really didn’t feel like it so I ignored the feeling. Then I heard this voice from the passengers seat tell me to shut the doors. I looked over at the passengers seat, there was a kid sitting there, he looked to be about 15. His eyes were a cold icy blue and he had no color to his face whatsoever. Then he spoke again.
“Shut the doors!” he demanded.
His voice sent chills up my spine and I turned around for what was no more than a second to shut my door, when I turned back he was gone. I reached across the Jeep and shut the passenger door when I noticed a house in the woods; it was abandoned and almost completely hidden by the trees. Just then the light turned green, I sat there for a second before I continued to drive. Which was a good thing, because a woman in another car ran the red light at the crossroad and turned down the road in front of me. She was doing the speed limit, but she was swerving a lot. When we got to the turn she started to take the straight road, but at the last second, she turned back onto the main road right in front of me.

I slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting her, but when my brakes locked, my wheels slid, the Jeep spun and started to slide down the slope in the road sideways. Well, being a top-heavy vehicle, it tipped over and I was sliding along on the side. When I finally came to a stop I looked around at my situation. I noticed the engine was still running, so I shut it off. I then unhooked my seat belt while holding on so I wouldn’t fall sideways. I stood on my window; I could hear the gravel under the glass. I instantly thought of all the major repairs I was going to have to make. Then I thought, I better get out of here. So I slid open the other door and climbed out, using the seats as a ladder.

As I emerged I heard a lot of cheering, I looked around, there were about 6 other cars parked along the side of the street, everyone was out of their vehicles and looking at me. I just stood up on top of my Jeep and waved to the small crowd. Then a group of them ran over to me and helped me down off the vehicle. They all asked me several times if I was alone in the Jeep, and even after telling them I was a few times, several of them went around to look in for themselves.

We noticed my Jeep was blocking the road, so we stood it up and it rolled off the street into the field along the side. Which was a sight I cringed at as I realized it was still in gear. I went over to my Jeep and put it in park and applied the parking brake. I looked up at the passenger side of the Jeep and saw that kid standing there smiling at me, I shut my eyes tight for a second, and when I opened them, he was gone.

A few months later, after I’d done the minor repairs to my Jeep, (replaced the mirror that had broken off. That was all; it didn’t even scratch the paint. I’d put it on pretty thick). I did some research on that corner, and discovered that two years prior, on that very night, a 15 year old boy was hit by a drunk driver while walking home from the Roller Rink. He lived at the house by the stoplight, 300 yards away.