The kidnapping
One day, two of my best friends, Frank and Brian, decided to wake up early, come to my house, kidnap me and go to the beach. I can’t remember what happened when they got to the house, but something went wrong. I used to live in a room on the side of Mom and Dad’s garage. Either the door was locked or I woke up before they got there or something, but they didn’t get the jump on me they were hoping to. But they told me the plan, I changed into beach clothes and we headed off for adventure.
Our first mistake was taking Frank’s little red Nissan something with T-tops. At least I think that’s what we were in. Anyways, whatever it was broke down around Orange City. We pulled off and got to a car parts store. Frank’s a mechanic, by the way. So he checks it out. I don’t remember what was wrong, but I know I ended up buying this set of giant orange-handled pry-bars, which I think are still in my parent’s garage. So I pried on something while Frank loosened or tightened or replaced something and Brian made phone calls.
What I haven’t mentioned yet, and what they didn’t tell me until we were already on the way, was that Brian had to be at a soccer game that afternoon – he coached a little girl’s team – so we were kind of pressed for time. I’m not sure, but I think we got the car back on the road, then headed to Brian’s to pick up his truck. It must have been a temporary fix for the little red Nissan.
The game was out in the middle of nowhere, Altamont Springs or somewhere like that. We had directions, but as usually happens when you’re following directions and in a hurry, we decided we had gone too far when we hadn’t gone far enough. I’m pretty sure I remember saying we should go farther, but I was shot down. That’s how I remember it. So we turned around and drove a while, then turned around again and drove some more.
Eventually we got to the game. I think we were an hour late. Some of the dads of Brian’s girls were filling in for him, yelling at the girls to move faster and play better and kick the shins of the other team. So we hung out for the rest of the game and never did make it to the beach.
