Circa 1979

Ford Galaxy

I am standing on the asphalt drive on the other side of the fence at the Chaddock Boys’ Home for juvenile delinquents.  My friend Lisa and I are using bright DayGlo paints to draw designs on my family’s white 1965 Ford Galaxy 500.  The paint is washable so I’m sure my parents won’t mind.  We are painting swirls and the names of our favorite rock stars—Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix.  Actually, I don’t listen to those guys.  But they sound cool.  We paint orange tiger stripes on the chrome bumpers.

Some guys from the boys’ home come out to the fence to see what we are doing.  They can’t believe we are painting up a car like this.  We must be pretty cool.  Actually, that is why we came here—to be all cool in front of some cute boys.  Later, one of those boys would get my sister pregnant.  And also the paint never actually fully washed off the car, but my dad drove it to work anyway.