Not until its engine died did I realize what had made the car so special. While most of my friends invested in car stereos that could rattle windows a block away， I stuck with the old original radio that barely picked up two stations on a good night. Mostly， we just left it turned off. There were no bored silences or demands that I buy a better radio， though. We filled the musical voice by arguing about girls， making up silly songs about one another， or telling stories.
But the moments that truly stand out were more sober. I’ll never forget the silence as we drove home from the play-off game in which our team was eliminated. Nor the nights when Chalie talked about his parents’ financial troubles， Tom spoke sadly of his father’s absence， and Eric told us of his dream of playing professional hockey.
Since we graduated from high school， my friends and I have spread out across the country and grown into adults. Yet I’ve never forgotten my youthful emotions that day when the mechanic delivered his sad verdict. In that old car of mine， we had stockpiled memories like firewood， knowing that someday， somewhere we would gather as grey-haired man to relight the blaze of our friendship.
是的，我承認，我的第一輛汽車要被拖到舊貨市場時，我坐在方向盤前哭了。你會說不就是一輛有玻璃有輪子的車嗎，不至於那麽難過吧，而我永遠也不會為那天的失態辯解。一個年輕人的第一輛車，更多的是年輕自由的紀念碑，而不是簡單意義上的交通工具，至少對於我來說是這樣的。
一切都開始於兩年前：我剛過完16歲生日，父母就把家裏那輛紅色的舊車淘汰給了我。沒過多久，我就和這輛車成了最好的朋友。我們會在任何時間、任何地方讓想搭車的人搭乘。而且我們駕著這輛車，冒了很多次險。
有些冒險是令人毛骨悚然的。最有名的一次是在一個下午，放學後我召集了10個朋友坐上我的車，其中包括埃裏克，他寧願選擇坐到後備箱裏，也不願被落下。我們隻是開著車四處逛，無所不談，感覺很不錯。盡管我的時速隻有20英裏，還是與一輛校車相撞了，那輛車上坐滿了七歲的小學生。我首先想到的就是後備箱裏的埃裏克。我跑過去，打開後備箱，發現他一動不動地躺在那兒，我上氣不接下氣。他睜開眼睛，大笑道：“你是世界上最糟糕的司機。”