Childhood Memories

Standing in front of the poo-car looking at the interior. It’s the morning time and it’s just before we need to go to school. Mums’ locking the house and Meg is complaining as she walks down the garden path. It’s a summers morning and the sun is already becoming hot and I can feel it on my bare legs. I balance on the bluestone curb waiting for them, trying not to fall and touch the car. I can see the cobwebs piled up along the mirrors of the car as well as the rust stain above the wheels. I really don’t want to fall and touch the car but I really want to balance here, tough call. The sun is beaming down and I begin to regret not wearing sunglasses. I wanted to but I’m sure my sister would tell me that year 8’s are not allowed and I look stupid. I can hear her voice getting closer behind me. I can’t move, I want the front seat, I’m here first, I was ready I deserve it.

I’m in the back seat. She beat me, she is older and mum wasn’t ready for a fight so I gave up. The radio in this car is broken, we only get AM and I hate listening to these old men talk about nothing. A wave of relief washes over me as mum shares my opinion, adding “god your father listens to some crap!”. We continue driving, chatting away about who has netball training tonight, who will pick us up and from where and what we need to start to prepare for dinner before mum gets home. We go through the traffic lights and begin the drive up the steepest hill in Newtown, all 3 of us willing the old rusty car to make it. As collective sigh of relief is expelled as we turn left and continue the journey.

Meg begins to shuffle around in the front seat putting her school bag on the floor. I begin to do the same, now thankful that I am in the back seat with enough room to spread out. “Girls what are you doing!?” asked mum, hands clasped on the extra large steering wheel. “Mum I’m not letting people see me in this car, especially the college kids” “oh crap Mum please don’t drive past college, go the other way” I plead from the back seat. “Girls you are lucky to be in a car, I could have made you take a bus, I know it’s not the flashiest car but it’s a car none the less.” Our old poo car stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the Mercedes and BMW’s that glide through these streets.

We approached the crowded milk bar where people from the 3 surrounding schools gathered in the morning to catch up on gossip, share a cheeky kiss but above all, judge. We slid onto the old sticky leather with a squeak, letting our eyes pop over the door frame to see if the coast was clear. Feeling generous Mum drove 400m from the school, giving us enough distance to get out of the car undetected. Peeling ourselves from the leather we approached the school gingerly, we looked at each-other and without speaking said “I hope we mum takes the red car tomorrow”.

**Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on which way you look at it) I cannot find a picture of our poo car but thanks to Google this is close enough. Ours was brown with a white bonnet.