FADED RED or The Story of a Man and His Truck

Needed wax.
Needed a paint job.
A square key for the ignition.
A round key for the door.
Needed to pump the gas pedal and step on the clutch before it started.
The original clutch, never replaced.
Chrome cursive writing model insignia on both sides between the door and wheel well.
No air conditioner.
Jagged crack in the center of the dashboard.
A blue number 2 NASCAR sticker on the right, Rutgers, and University of Tennessee decals in the center of the back window.
Maroon seats with a three inch rip by the maroon seat belts.
A Hammond Road Atlas, a white terry towel, a tire iron, and a jack behind the front seat.
Black stick shifter with the direction diagram that spun around on the head of the stick.
Worn gray mats on the floorboard that slid when you stepped on them.
A hole worn into the rubber floor cover.
A rust spot growing in the same place where the left foot sits on the floor of the driver’s side.
A bright, shiny, clean bare ceiling on the inside above your head.
Red vinyl covering on the left and right doors.
Arm rests stained with grime and sweat.
Used Pioneer radio with a broken cassette player.
One Sparkomatic speaker on the left side.
Torn steering wheel cover.
A blue oval with white cursive writing in the center of the steering wheel.
A one inch symbol of a bugle on the left and right of the center section of the steering wheel.
Ash tray filled with coins.
Glove box filled with free maps from rest stops, napkins from Mc Donald’s, and extra fuses.
A fluorescent orange ice scraper under the seat.
An 18 inch iron bar under the seat.
A 24 inch rusty and nicked machete with a worn wooden handle behind the seat.
Extra socks, t-shirts, and baby wipes on the center of the bench seat.
Seven long scratches on the right side of the truck bed.
A puddle in one corner of the scratched bed.
Little bits of rocks and twigs in the bed.
A soda can or candy wrapper thrown in by a stranger.
White lettering on the tail gate.
A silver latch that creaked and stuck.
Three fifty pound bags of sand in the back for the winter time.
A rusted dent in the tail gate.
Black plastic grill with a blue oval logo.
Square headlights.
Moths, gnats, and dead hornets crusted on the radiator.
Four white wall Firestone tires with little round silver hubcaps with a red circle and line through the center.
A gray car seat with pretzels, juice box straw wrappers, and cookie crumbs under the padding.
A diaper in the cut out shelf of the dashboard on the passenger side.
An odometer that reads over 140,000 miles.
A six inch square door on the side that opened on a hinge to reveal a gas cap on the left side of the bed.
A gas tank that holds 14 gallons of gas.
A carburetor that was rigged and adjusted by an inventive three fingered mechanic.
A muffler shield that rattled like pots and pans.
Cracked and fogged dealer label that read Parkway Pontiac, Morristown, Tn.
Black paint chipping off from the molding around the windshield.
Two wide black square side view mirrors tied with rubber bands to keep from swiveling in currents of air.
A front license plate with Go Big Orange.
A white license plate with the Circle and Three Stars for Tennessee and Cocke written on the bottom for the county’s name.
A light blue New Jersey plate with pale tan letters and numbers, Garden State. Registration stickers in the upper left and upper right corners.
Rearview mirror with a soccer ball air freshener hanging with an elastic black string.
A mesh net bag with seven or eight size 3, white, green, and red soccer balls in the bed.
Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers, and “The Joshua Tree” on the dash.
Sometimes a parking hangtag hanging from the rearview mirror.
A green square New Jersey Inspection sticker with a large 6 on it.
A red “rejected” sticker.