The Journey of Chevelles and Angels

I’m sitting at a stop light on South Lamar Boulevard and I can hear the engine rumbling under the hood. The entire car is vibrating because of the power of the 454 Chevy Big Block. I have my hand on my baby bump smiling. I look down at the steering wheel of the Chevelle and realize exactly where I am. I look to my left and see Baptist Memorial Hospital. The memories are starting to flood in. I look in my rearview mirror and can see my five year old daughter’s Simpson racing seat. I’m now taken to another world.

The contractions are getting more frequent. Michael is running through the house throwing everything we could possibly need into the bag now. The pain is starting to get ravenous. I am holding my stomach now nearly in tears. Michael sees this and throws the heavy, bulky duffle bag over his shoulder and picks me up. He carries me to the truck and buckles the seat belt under my baby bump, which I am still holding. He’s speeding down the highway now rushing to get to the hospital. We arrive. As soon as the doctors see me, they have me in a wheel chair rushing me to the delivery wing. When we get there, we pass fathers and families waiting anxiously in the hallway. I look to my left and see a glass room with little bundles of joy wrapped in warm pink and blue blankets. The babies’ family members are peering in the glass like people at the zoo peering at animals; lost in awe and fascinated.  Michael is worried now, afraid that I will be in even more pain if we don’t get to the room. The doctors then give me a shot of morphine, calming me. My husband, now twenty-four, is in a room with me filled with nurses who are asking me a million questions a minute. The doctors are crowding me and asking me how I want to go about doing this. A few hours later, my husband and I are sitting on the bed together holding our newborn baby girl.

“What will we call her,” my husband asks curiously.

“Hm… How about Trinity?”

“It has a nice ring to it,” my husband comments in a very adoringly tone.

“Trinity Elsie Orman, the most beautiful baby girl ever to see the light of day.”

“Hey Angel,” Michael says in a loving voice.

“Yes my lovely husband and father of our baby girl?”

“She looks just like her mother,” he responds with tear felt eyes.

I turn onto the highway now. I know exactly where I want to go. As I throw the Chevelle into third gear, I head to Como. There’s so many memories engraved in my mind that happened there and I really miss it.

“I think I very well might go see if there are any houses for sale in the area of where Michael used to live. I think it would make him ecstatic to see his baby girl grow up near the house we spent so much time in, Where we had our first fights and we  solved so many problems with just an “I love you.” Who knows, maybe Trinity would love it there. I know Michael and I did in our hay day.”

I turn off the highway now and take the Como exit. I spend maybe 10 minutes driving down the main road when I see the dirt path ahead. I turn onto it and drive to the part of the path where I am completely surrounded by trees and just sit in the car. The motor is still rumbling, but it’s peaceful. There’s almost a nostalgic feel out here.

We’re leaning on the Chevelle. His hands are wrapped around my waist. The feel of that warm, familiar touch calm me. I’m gazing into his soft, blue eyes with my dark, brown, captivating eyes. My thoughts are racing.

 “Oh my god. Is he going to kiss me? This is so scary. Our first kiss. Why am I so nervous? Why do I not just kiss him? Why don’t I just do it already? Why do I not just do it already? Should I kiss him? What do I do?”   

Truth is I’ve never really kissed him before. The thought is making my hands sweat and my heart pound. Now he is pulling me in close to him.

“Angel,” Michael asks in a whisper.

“Yes, dear?”

“Why are you so nervous? You know I love you.”

He puts his hand on the side of my face. I can hear the sounds from the drunken people at the bonfire in the distance. Now he’s leaning in to kiss me. He presses his lips to mine lightly. His lips are soft against mine. I can taste the barley, wheat, and hops from his Bud Light on his breath. Though he’s only had one, the taste is virgin to me and is overwhelming. I slip my hand behind his neck pulling him closer to me. Focused on this moment, everything else is fading. Everything from the way he kisses me to the ZZ Top in the background and the cold metal from leaning against the passenger’s side door is making this moment perfect.

           

It was this path where he proposed to me. Where we had our first kiss. Where the beginning of forever started.

He and I are walking side by side. Holding each other’s gloved hands. There’s a light dusting of snow crunching under my feet. I look down and see his DC’s in the snow and smile. My gaze turns to mine. I’m thinking.

“We’re soul mates. Everything from music to cars, to motorcycles, to personality, to our clothing styles. We’re exactly alike,” says my boyfriend lovingly.

Suddenly, he stops. He then he pulls out a beautiful, breathtaking ring. It’s a huge black pearl! There’s three silver bands connected to the pearl with diamond inlays. I’m so excited now. Everything around us seems to slow down now. Next thing I know, he is kneeling on now knee, with his somewhat holey jeans hovering over the ground.

“Angel”

I’m still don’t understand the point of him calling me this. I am not an angel. If I am, my halo is crooked because is it being held up by my point, long horns.

            I reply questionably, “Yes dear?”

            “Do you love me?”

“Yes.. More than anything.”

“Forever?”

“And ever.”

His grin has turned into a huge, mischievous smile.

“Angel.. I love you. I never want to lose you. Will you marry me? Let me be the one to make you happy. Let me be the one to care for you when you’re sick. Let me be the one to get my coat on when it’s thirty degrees outside to go get your medicine and soup. Let me be that rockin’ chair beside you someday when you’re old and gray, I look ahead to my future and all I see is you. I see me driving OUR Chevelle and driving us away from this place.”

My thoughts are racing just like my pulse. And now, I’m trying to find the strength to answer, but all I can choke out is a measly “Yes.”

He’s grinning from ear to ear reminding me of that cheesy smile the Cheshire Cat has. He’s picking me up now hugging me like Poseidon stirring up the waves such as he would the clouds if he was going to create a tornado. He puts me down now, seeing my face was turning red, and just wraps his arms around my waist. Like a scene from “The Notebook,” we seal this proclamation of love with a kiss.

I turn the Chevelle around now and start driving back into town. There, I see the house. As I’m passing the house, my phone rings with that all too familiar ringtone:” This World Can’t Tear Us Apart” by Trivium his picture pops up as I unlock my phone. There’s the name. The name that rolls off my tongue like honey… Michael. I  pull into the driveway of his old house, burned from some arsonists a few years back. I answer it..

“Hello?”
“Hey Angel.”

“Hey Hun,” I respond looking at my ring.

“Where are you? Your phone is really spotty..”

“I’m sitting in the driveway of your old house..”

“What are you doing there?”

“I’m not sure,” I say telling him a white lie.

“Well I just wanted to tell you not to wait up for me tonight. The professor wants me to analyze someone for Schizophrenia and Hyper- Manic Depression.”

“Ok love… I love you baby. Until my last breath,” I am kind of sad he won’t be home at his usual time, but at least his professor is noticing his ability to examine the human mind.

“I…”

The phone call is then dropped thanks to the spotty cellphone service here in Como. I turn the car door off and swing the door open. Even though the house has a considerably shabby and charred outside, the walls are still standing. Considering the fire department has a master lock on the front door, I walk around to the back, to my husband’s old bedroom window. I punch it in and it instantly shatters, weakened from the heat of the fire and erosion of the protective coating from the elements. I climb in cautiously careful not to cut myself on the shards of glass still in the window frame.

Upon climbing in, I started having these flashbacks that take me to a past world. My mind is taking me to when we used to sleep in this room.

           

The bed is nice and warm. There he is, he has Alice, his Les Paul Custom, in his hands. He lifts Alice up so I can lay down. Me being the weird person I am, I crawl in bed to where I am laying in between his legs with my back against his chest. He then puts the guitar over me and rests it in my lap. Then he starts to strum his pic over the strings and moves his fingers along the neck creating different notes. Suddenly, he breaks out into my “lullaby” Hearts Burst Into Fire by Bullet For My Valentine. I close my eyes drifting into a peaceful slumber. I don’t know how much time passed, but I was woken up by Bear, his pure black cat, he jumped up on my chest. I’m just laying there with my two favorite boys with a huge smile on my face.

I get back onto the Chevelle. I’m pulling out of the driveway now and I look down at the steering wheel. You can see the old Chevy emblem and I throw the car into reverse with tear felt eyes.

I’m sitting in my room with the light off and my headphones in. I’m listening to mine and Michael’s song. Out of nowhere, I hear the rumble of a car outside my window. I look and see the light dancing off the blood red paint and chrome. He texts me and tells me to get my stuff together. I grab the duffle bag out of my closet and start throwing clothes in it. I brag numerous t-shirt with the sleeves cutoff, long sleeve shirts, and regular t-shirts. I move to the dresser now grabbing shorts and jeans. Since I’m not sure where we are going, I throw my flip-flops in the bag and zip it up. I open the bedroom window now and pop the screen off throwing it in the yard. I walk through the house quietly and stealthy searching for my cowboy boots. I find them in the living room and then walk back to my bedroom being extra quiet. My boots are the first thing to get thrown out the window. Next to go is my duffle bag. It hits the ground with a thud. This is my queue to jump out my bedroom window. As soon as my feet hit the ground, the passenger’s side door swings open and I see Michael’s beautiful smile. I throw my heavy duffle bag in the backseat and set my boots in the floor board.

“Hey Angel.”

“Hey Babycakes,” I say with a grin closing the door.

“Are you ready to get the heck out of here…?”

“I am if you are.”

He throws the Chevelle into reverse grinning.

“Just lay back and enjoy the ride love. I’m ready to be on the open road with you,” he says backing out of the driveway.

“I can do that.”
I put my bare feet on the dash and lean back at an angel so that I was leaning against his side. I put my Pantera CD in and crank up the radio. As we ride down the highway, I start to think.

“Where are we going? I want to just lay back and sleep, but I don’t want to miss anything. I’m so nervous… What if I didn’t pack the right things..? What if he looks at me and says that I look funny..?”

I lay down with my feet hanging out the window. My head in his lap and I’m looking up at the roof of the car. I can see where there’s still a wrinkle in the fabric from when we hung the headliner and I smile. Michael’s free hand is in my hair, as his fingers run through my hair, I am calmed. I am happy here in this moment. Here in his arms.

I’m sitting at the intersection of South Lamar Boulevard and Alderson Road now. I’m thinking of my husband and my unborn child. It seems like we are connected by more than flesh and blood. It’s like we’re connected by his father’s arms. A place of comfort and joy... A place where we are happy... A place where we can go to forget the world… A place where everything makes sense and there is no pain... There is only love.