Seriously, where's the dipstick??Earlier this month, I was contacted by American Honda letting me know that since the Honda payments were two months behind, they were planning on repossessing the car. Eric and I leased a 2006 Honda Civic Christmas 2005. Of course we planned on being married forever, so we thought there'd be no problems leasing a car together. But then we divorced. The divorce decree awarded the Civic and the balance of the loan to Eric. But Honda refuses to take my name off the lease. I panicked of course, knowing what a repossession would do to my already shaky credit. (Divorce is a credit killer.) It took weeks of begging Eric to get him to finally agree to give me the car back. He originally decided he didn't care what it did to either of our credit histories, I wasn't getting the car back.
The Saturday one week before Easter, I was at work eating lunch when all of the sudden I got some very mean and spiteful text messages from Eric calling me names very few people have ever called me before. I still don't know what I did to deserve those nasty messages, but it forced my hand. I called my mom who called Eric's dad to try to get him to stop the messages. It also got Eric talking about the car, and I guess he was mad enough at me to finally agree to give me the car so he wouldn't have to talk to me anymore.
My mom and I got him to agree to meet us in McAlister, OK. It's approximately the halfway point between where I live and where Eric lives now. I had to promise him $20 gas money to get him to come, and the moment I saw the car, I regretted it.
One of the tires had blown, and my mom didn't want me driving back to Dallas on the spare, so she took me to a nearby Wal-Mart to get the tire replaced. After the tire was replaced, my mom and I wanted to check various fluids in the car. We had to completely refill the brake fluid since it was bone dry. We were looking all over the engine, searching for the dipstick to check the oil since the car was nearly 5000 miles overdue for an oil change. We couldn't find it, so Mom stopped a man parked near us and asked for help. He was super nice and tried as hard as he could to find the dipstick. It took quite a bit of time for the three of us staring at the engine to realize the dipstick was that incredibly bright roadside-cone-orange-colored thing in the dead center of the engine. Mom asked me to get some napkins from the other car so she could wipe off the dipstick. I seriously didn't even think about it before I said, "I thought he was halfway back to Arkansas..."
Before picking up the car, I'd asked Eric what kind of condition the car was in. He said, "It's drive-able." What he failed to mention was that it was not stoppable. Whatever accident had nearly peeled off the front passenger side of the car had caused severe brake damage. I had to drive back home using the hand brake-blind on my right side-in the dark... I was singing along to "Wicked" at the top of my lungs so I wouldn't panic. It almost worked...
I have to tell you I know I was being watched over that night. From the time we left the Wal-Mart in McAlister, OK, until coming home, I only had to stop at three stoplights. We made two other stops so one of us (and by that I mean me) wouldn't explode. I was so grateful when I finally pulled into the driveway (on a steep incline) at my mom's. I nearly collapsed as I tried to get out of the car. I still have nightmares almost every night of driving that car down various local highways without brakes. I'll tell you I've never been more terrified.
I was so bummed that I missed church that day. I had to call for an emergency sub, and I really missed my kiddos. The worst part of missing church was that I didn't get to see my friend Jamie or meet her new daughter. I'd been looking forward to seeing them for months, and I missed it thanks to my ex. Jamie and her family are moving home this fall, so hopefully I'll get plenty of time with them then, and I'm excited about that, but still sad I missed them the other week.
The car is being repaired now, and we are trying to negotiate for time with Honda so we can either refinance the Civic or turn it in and get into a new lease so I won' t have to deal with Eric in a few years when it's time to sell the car. I just have to get him to sign a few papers to allow me to turn in the car. Wish me luck.
Seriously, wish me luck. I could really use some about now.
PS, thanks Aunt Mar for the blog title!!
