Never the Same IC#10 Kirk’s College Daze Part One

Bug Complications, Dazing College Life, Court Appearances, and Fair Farrah!

Cue: “Wonderwall” https://youtu.be/bx1Bh8ZvH84  

 

Not even going to class yet, Kirk was in a daze. He stood there feeling alone like never before in a different town, different area, and different people�"not knowing a soul. He stood there with his broken VW Bug his only source of transportation that wasn’t going anywhere. The trip there to the college town had been lonely and uneventful giving him time for his mind to percolate on the awkward circumstances between Dee and him, but his present unfortunate circumstance tucked Dee back in a corner of his mind.

So, there he was surveying the situation. The pink Bug sat there, its right front wheel up on the sidewalk with the wheel cocked sideways at an unnatural angle because of a tie rod failure. Kirk had been lucky that if the tie rod had fallen off minutes before he most like had been killed. Now, though, Kirk didn’t think so much about being fortunate because he just felt lost, alone, and uncertain.

Kirk, up to this point in his young life, had lived a rather sheltered life. He always had a home to go to after school or work, unappreciated warm meals but always provided by a doting mother, and a small circle of friends, albeit, not close “bosom buddy” friends. At least in his hometown, they could have probably been depended upon to help him in an emergency such as he was in, but all of his friends were many miles away from where he stood.

He had never spent a single night away from his small, lackluster bedroom.  For Kirk, who desired to be away from home never became involved with any activities that took him away overnight. There were neither Boy Scouts, sleep overs nor anything that kept him away from home. And now, all that inexperience came crashing down on his emotions. Back home, Kirk had considered himself focused, determined, and coming on as a man, but at that particular moment on that busy unfamiliar Main Street, he felt immature, confused, powerless, and very isolated. Tears formed. He wiped his nose.

After scanning the street, what he scanned for he wasn’t sure, he squatted again to study the Bug’s steering problem. People continued to mosey on by until one old fellow actually stopped to ask if he could help. Kirk respectfully declined the help stating that he was a mechanic and could handle the problem himself. That’s right! He was a mechanic (of sorts) and could repair the Bug himself! With sudden motivation, he wiggled the loose tie rod around for a better look. Instantly, Kirk found that the problem was not nearly as bad as he first surmised. 

Apparently, the nut that held the threaded tie rod end to the spindle had unscrewed and had fallen off. Of course, the nut was long gone, lost somewhere between 20 feet when the rod fell off and the last 50 miles. The tie rod could have remained on the spindle without a nut for that trip from home before falling off. Not knowing where a parts store might be in the strange town, he thought about the situation. Kirk took the bug out of gear released the brake, kicked the wheel back to straight position and pushed the car off the curb with a thump. On one knee, he reached under the fender and taking the tie rod, he jammed it back in the socket where it belonged. Kirk pondered that a second.

Opening the door of the Bug, Kirk opened his toolbox and found the hack-mechanic’s favorite tool: Vise Grips! Hesitating one moment due to the possibility of wrecking the tie rod’s threads, Kirk went ahead and adjusted the Vise Grip and clamped it down on the exposed threads anyway. He grabbed the tie rod and shook it knowing beforehand that it wouldn’t fall off. With a double-check for clearance making sure the Vise Grips would clear the Bug’s undercarriage as  he steered, Kirk felt satisfied in his ad hoc fix. He rubbed the dirt off his hands, ducked in, and sat in his car, and slowly but surely progressed to his destination in about 15-20 minutes. He pulled in carefully next to the curb in front of the old weird couple’s house where Kirk had a room waiting for him. Kirk let out a breath in a sigh of relief.

Kirk dragged his meager belongings from the back of the Bug next to his big tool box. He took his time getting to the house’s front door pondering the Bug’s problem and then wondered if he should just walk in the house, after all it was going to be his home away from home for nine or so months. Kirk opted for safety and knocked on the door in case the old weird couple forgot he had rented a room for the school year. The old bent lady answered the door with a big smile welcoming Kirk in by name. She said that he didn’t have to knock anymore because his room was his home there in the college town.  Anyway, he lugged his bags up to his room and dumped them on the floor, not that there was a whole lot of floor space in his rented apartment�"room. He sat down on the edge of the hard bed. Well, he realized he needed to fix his Bug if possible that afternoon because class registration was the next day.

Kirk stepped back downstairs and found the lady concocting some kind of foul-smelling dinner. Part of the deal was that the renters could eat dinner with the owners. The other meals were up to the tenants though he had a little cubby downstairs to store food items. He asked the lady if she knew where an auto parts store was located. She had no idea so yelled out to “her other half.” The old man came wandering in the kitchen. Kirk explained his situation to them as simply as he could. They too were impressed that he was alive. Anyway, the old man knew of a parts store and volunteered to drive him there. Kirk thanked him handedly thinking that maybe they weren’t as weird as he had previously thought.

So, the parts guy turned out to be knowledgeable and found exactly the metric castle nut he needed along with a cotter pin that had to fall out first allowing the nut to unscrew in the second place.  Kirk thanked them both and went to work not that it was such a big job to repair. Kirk knew that he might have really wrecked the threads with the Vise Grips, but they didn’t appear too bad after taking a close look. With a file, he ground a slight taper on the end of the tie rod bolt to help the nut start on the threads. After three tries the nut started and screwed right on. Kirk cinched it down with his handy tools from in back of the Bug, installed the cotter, and bent it over properly so it would never come out on its own.  To be sure, he checked the other side tie rod and found it tight and secure with the cotter pin still in place. He still had to wonder though�"had he been sabotaged?

Cue: “Hello it’s Me”  https://youtu.be/lLeCB7Kn-VE

Well, the next day began the school year at the Vo-Tech College and more or less across the US for all college kids. Kirk showed up bright and early as specified at the mass registration/check in site. Several tables were set up in the college park with relatively short lines at each. Small knots of people stood around chatting and laughing like long lost old friends. Were they old high school friends or those attending longer courses than he at his one year course? With no familiar faces anywhere to be seen, Kirk hesitatingly scanned around to see if he could pick out probable mechanic students but that was an entirely impossible feat. He strolled around for a while. It took a few moments before he noticed “Hello it’s Me” playing from somewhere close. He froze as it sunk into his chest; it stung just a little.

Kirk spotted the table with his course indicated, and there wasn’t anyone waiting there. Providing his paperwork to a college-age girl worker, Kirk patiently waited as she shuffled and pulled an envelope from a box. Without looking at him, she told him that he was all set and everything he needed was included in the envelope.  Kirk thanked her and moved on. A refreshment stand of sorts operated close by and so he bought a drink and sat down to peruse his paperwork. Not much new information was provided except for a map to the town and the locations where the courses would take place. Kirk decided he’d go check out the shop/classroom for his Diesel/ Heavy Equipment Course.

Well, it wasn’t all that far away and basically his course was taking place in a steel pole barn-type of shop. Not very big, his course sat across the street from the regular automotive course though it looked more inviting like an upscale auto dealership maintenance shop. Anyway, his brochure told him that the college facilities would be open for new students on registration day, so he pulled in and went inside.

A couple other students stood around inside speaking to what Kirk assumed were the instructors. He soon found that to be true and after introductions all around he and the other students were given a tour, not that there was all that much to see. Two standard classrooms were situated on one end of the building, pretty much nondescript and alongside was the “clean room” a positive pressure, air-locked room where fuel injection parts were worked on by the students. The clean room proved the highpoint of the place and the instructor, a Mister Blank, explained that because of the extremely close clearance tolerances of fuel injection pumps and injectors that during every step of assembly the injection parts must be kept spotlessly clean, free of even microscopic dust. Again, Kirk wondered why he was there because these concepts of diesel injection just didn’t excite him. He felt totally uninspired and unexcited with the facilities and what the course promised him in his unknown future which was�"nothing at all especially for his current state of mind.    

So, pretty much that was the way Kirk’s college course began and continued. He’d absorb what they taught him well enough so he retained only what he had to for exam purposes. Right off the bat, Kirk couldn’t say if he wanted to stick with the course. Nevertheless, Kirk got into a routine; he stocked up on boxed cereals for breakfasts. He found a sub shop near the classroom/shop and pretty much every day he’d have their special shredded meat sub mixed with a salad dressing and topped with fiery hot jalapeno peppers. Kirk loved those subs. Being a dry town, Kirk pretty quickly found out there was no drinking in and around town, but there was a nightclub outside town limits. Most weekend nights, Kirk would go and have a few too many drinks. This depressing cycle began early and didn’t go away until later in the school year.

After a month or so of the boring routine Kirk had a holiday break and so he decided to go back home. During this particular visit, Kirk went and visited his old high school for some unknown reason. Maybe he had a premonition, a feeling that he needed to address.  It was at this time that he found out that he was considered an unsung hero in his old high school though apparently only remembered by the guidance counselor.  The other thing Kirk found out during the visit wasn’t so benign. Unfortunately or fortunately Kirk couldn’t decide which, he found out that Dee had been vigorously cheating on him while he was away in college, so it followed that they broke up. That didn’t help Kirk’s state of mind one bit.

So. Kirk lost Dee forever; he realized the finality of it deep down when she turned her pretty head and walked away. For a second she glanced back at him, the same time he watched her diminutive figure wiggle and her hair flutter in the breeze in a sensual manner. Way later, Kirk realized he should have treated her more like a person rather than a prize. Sometimes hindsight…

 Though it wasn’t the very last time he saw Dee or speak to her for Kirk would see Dee one more pivotal time that would change his life, in a totally unforeseen decisive way, forever.

But first, beyond a doubt Kirk was demoralized and broken hearted, Dee not so much from his perspective after their breakup. There’d be other girls and women, but it would never, ever be a first love. The whole affair is covered in a previous episode if you want the details.  Kirk’s depression did not improve one iota after Dee’s departure from his life. Despite the conclusive closure on their affair, Dee remained his one and only focus and nothing else really mattered except the constant empty ache in his chest. It goes without saying that Kirk was never the same.

Cue: “Hide”  https://youtu.be/bXiT6RayMCk (Dee resembled the young Tuesday Weld on Matthew Sweet’s album cover.)

So there he was alone, broken hearted and depressed back at the college town, stuck in his little rented room. He struck up connections with the other students in class, but Kirk, because of the way he was, didn’t make any fast or real friends.  Kirk pressed on nevertheless though it turned out to be a very tough time on his psyche.

As autumn fell away and the days got cooler, Kirk readied the pink Bug for winter. Seeing the little VW was air cooled there was no need to check coolant, but also because it was air cooled, the engine heat was the only warmth for the interior. The heater was pitiful, but Kirk was young and strong and had plenty of winter clothes. ON the other hand, Kirk knew Bugs were notoriously well suited for snowy conditions with the rear-mounted engine situated over the drive wheels giving them optimal traction. Kirk wanted to make doubly sure he’d be able to barrel through any amount of snow so he mounted a pair of huge, heavy-lugged, studded snow tires suited for a big Cadillac car on the rear of the Bug. The big tires even changed the car’s profile by making it sit higher in the back.

Being bored and depressed at the dry college town on the weekends, Kirk drove back to the old hometown on a regular basis. There he’d work a little at his vacuforming job to earn a few bucks but overall, being back in his home turf didn’t improve his mental condition all that much. With the loss of Dee in the forefront of his mind, the lack of friends at college, and the scattering of friends in his hometown just provided Kirk too many reasons and too much time to feel down.

Kirk often thought about hurting himself and ending it all while stuck alone in his rented college room. There he contemplated a myriad number of ways he’d accomplish his demise whether they’d be effective in doing the job or not. Over time, he convinced himself that he wasn’t brave enough to do something that decisive. Adding to his other reasons for feeling down, Kirk realized once again that he was just a spineless wimp.  

Kirk pressed on nevertheless and for a very brief time he went out with Linda back home, but she was a domestic middle class girl, and he just couldn’t afford her type of wants and needs. Eventually, through a friend who dated her sister, Kirk made a closer connection with Farrah. They had been casual acquaintances before but never more than a passing chat. After a couple contacts between them, they picked up on a laid-back relationship of sorts. As mentioned elsewhere, Farrah existed as the archetypal gentlewoman: smart, slim, athletic, with a calm, mild personality, and very easy to talk to. Definitely she was a girl for a long-lasting relationship. Farrah was a keeper. They spent most of their time indoors watching TV or just hanging out.

You shall not Pass!

On one of the many visits back home as he tried not to spend a lot of time in the college town, he and one of his old friends headed down the main street in a nearby town.  They drove toward the mall where Kirk probably intended to showcase his car sliding and donut skills in the huge snowy parking lot. As they cruised along, they came up behind a car being driven erratically. The car moved along going less than the speed limit and swerved all about. Obviously, it turned out to be a load of boys who were having too much fun after having too much to drink. Smoke roiled out the open windows as did raucous laughter and shouting.

Kirk wasn’t going to follow that mess so signaled, geared down, and pulled out to pass. With the underpowered bug, as he came alongside the other car the driver speeded up along with shouts of glee from the passengers. Kirk pushed harder on the accelerator pedal, but the other car, obviously with more power than the bug maintained the same speed as Kirk. Kirk’s passenger suggested backing off, so he did but the other car did the same forcing Kirk to remain in the passing lane. They juggled back and forth a couple times like this. The passing lane had been free of oncoming traffic as far as Kirk could see, but now there were headlights bearing down on them. Kirk’s passenger shouted to the other driver to cut it out and gestured at him, but no matter what Kirk did, speed up or slow down, the other driver matched his speed.

As the approaching car neared, Kirk inched over closer to the harassing car that didn’t budge.  The approaching car drew closer and then veered off onto the road shoulder. It was then Kirk and his passenger saw that it was a police car they had forced off the road!

Immediately, the harassing driver took off so Kirk could then slide over in the proper lane while the police car turned on its warning lights and performed a 180 degree turn to pursue. Kirk didn’t think he did anything wrong so just slowed and pulled over. As they did back in those days, Kirk got out of the bug and stood there. The police car pulled alongside and opened the window. Kirk, sounding under duress, told the policeman that he was sorry, but it wasn’t his fault and that the other driver wouldn’t let him pass or drop back. The policeman asked for a description of the other car which Kirk provided quickly.

“Stay here,” the cop’s said, as he sped off with lights blazing and siren blaring. 

For several minutes, Kirk silently sat in the bug with his friend not knowing if he’d be hauled off to jail or just let go. When the cop finally returned, Kirk had no idea what transpired with the other driver. The cop just pulled up behind the bug, asked for Kirk’s license and registration and went back to the patrol car. Kirk and his friend just silently shrugged at one another. After a few more minutes, the cop returned with a citation to appear in court! Kirk’s stomach fell to his feet.

“But it wasn’t my fault, what did that other guy say?”

“Doesn’t matter. You blocked the oncoming lane. Here’s your ticket and court dates.”

With that the cop strolled back to his patrol car and roared off in the direction he had been traveling in the first place. Kirk and his friend didn’t do any donuts in the parking lot after that!

The court appearance took place a couple weeks later at night, so Kirk had to make a special trip back home during the week so he wouldn’t miss class. When he arrived at court, he sat on a bench while a young guy sat on a bench with an older guy further down in the waiting area. They called Kirk and the young guy in at the same time. Apparently, the other jerk had a lawyer!

The clerk read off the charges for Kirk and allowed any comments he might have on his behalf. Unnerved by having a lawyer represent the jerk, Kirk choked up and just reiterated what had transpired on the fateful night saying that the other “young man” had forced him into the dangerous situation. The judge seemed a rather easy going man and kept giving the other guy an evil eye.

“You are charged with passing without signaling your intention,” the judge said.  “How do you plead?”

“But I had my signal on,” Kirk said. “And my passenger shouted for this other driver to yield.”

“Doesn’t matter what your passenger did,” the judge said. “Did you signal your intention�"sound your horn?”

Kirk was dumbfounded. “Sound my horn? Ah, no your honor.”

“All right young man, how do you plead?”

“Guilty�"I guess,” Kirk mumbled to the floor.

“What’s that son?”

“Guilty,” Kirk said louder.

“Case closed. Pay the clerk. You’re excused.”

So Kirk paid the clerk thirty-five dollars and was awarded two points against his license. Sounding your horn to signal your passing intention? What kind of hokum law is that? Kirk thought on his way out of the courtroom.  

 Well otherwise with things pretty much returning back to normal. Kirk and Farrah hung out together that coming weekend and almost every weekend during those cooler winter months. They’d watch TV, she’d fix dinners and snacks for Kirk that he didn’t appreciate like he really should have. Eventually over the course, the couple got a little more serious and their hands began slipping inside shirts and pants. This physical activity proved the first real petting the virgin Kirk had engaged in and Farrah being easy going accepted and imparted sensual physical contact in equal parts with perfectly gentle caresses.

 Kirk thought of her as a royal mistress from centuries ago like the young alluring red-headed beauty in da Vinci’s portrait “The Lady with the Ermine,” Cecilia Gallerani.  Kirk should have fallen head over heels in love with Farrah, but his totally ruined concept of love with Dee still stung and on some depressed days Kirk’s eyes would well up with his lost love. His recall of Dee undoubtedly spoiled his time with Farrah.

Kirk’s college daze continued though he wasn’t all that happy about it.