(Before I start this post, let me just say the title has nothing to do with the character from the 1984 novel, as some smart asses would probably say)
The phone rings, my brother on the line.
I head over and pick up the receiver,
he explains that today he was going to,
the unveiling of the Spyder.
The Porsche Boxster Spyder.
He would pass by the house,
on his way there, and so he asked me,
if I would like to go with him, knowing
I had an interest in these things.
So I got ready, and I waited,
and when he got home,
I was greeted by the usual,
words I cant include
in this poem.
He gets ready shortly,
We leave, not in a fancy car,
but a practical Outlander.
Turns on the radio, and
the last station comes on,
music that both of us listen to,
even with a 10 year difference.
We get there, and first take
some time to see how his
car was taken care of,
when he asks me if I
admire his car, I say “yes”
for the hundredth time.
Words I meant every time I
said them. He’s proud of his car,
custom rims, never generic ones,
and a rack on the top,
efficient and nice looking.
Decals on the sides of the car, Cayenne
TranSyberia S. The only one is Panama,
another fact he’s proud of. Its an elegant occasion,
I can wear dark jeans, and a dark button-up shirt,
because I’m a kid, he can wear what he wants,
because he wears it with style. We go in and he orders a red wine, and orders me a Coke, shaking his finger at me mockingly, playfully as he gets his wine.
Then later, tells me to get in the Boxster, and then he becomes a mentor,
cool, calm showing me all the functions, telling me things about the
engine, and chassis, explaining it with detail, in case I don’t understand.
Tells me I have to hurry,
and learn stickshift in time to drive these cars,
cars that have to be driven in stickshift,
classic ones, that need skill, and control.
The other car we are looking at,
he says will come out in 2013,
by then you can drive,
legally, he says with emphasis
on the last word, knowing that
I drive now anyways, he is my
teacher too, in the passenger seat, making me drive
him to the deli, pushing me to learn.
Then we leave, and as he turns on the radio,
Hotel California comes on,
and he hums along softly,
and I mumble the lyrics under my breath.
Then I press the mute button, catching him
in mid-sing. Then he laughs, and turns
the radio back on, and keeps singing
off-pitch. Thankfully the car’s windows didn’t break.





