Under Darryl’s Hood

With Darryl, there are so many possibilities, it is hard to pick out just one from all of the experiences we have had. Let’s go to the early 1980’s. At Clubhouse 41 in Lancaster on the corner of 15th St. west and Avenue J-8. Darryl were 18 and I was 23. Darryl had a white Datsun 510 sedan that usually ran good.
We decided to go out for a few drinks. Why would we let a little thing like being under age get in the way? Darryl drove us to the club and we proceeded to go in. I knew the bouncer at the door (what a surprise) and when he started to check Darryl’s ID, I told him that it was okay because Darryl was with me. The bouncer said okay and in we went.
It seems to me that we had a great time as usual and drank way too much. Danced with quite a few pretty girls and played the fool, by staying till closing time. We went out to the Datsun and it started but would not stay running.
I knew a little bit about auto mechanics and proceeded to try to diagnose the problem. It was the carburetor. The only way to keep the engine running was for me to manually hold the throttle open, which was located on the driver’s side of the car. Darryl and I made the only logical decision we could, and that was to drive home. With me holding the throttle. Sitting on the front fender of the car. With the hood open.
So it was 2 am in the morning, nothing but drunks out and away we go. Now Darryl was having a hard time seeing and not just because he’s drunk. The hood was open and I was sitting on the driver’s side fender. Darryl had to lean half of his body out of the window to see around me so he could drive. The fact that he was very drunk probably made this stunt driving a lot easier.
Across town we went and arrived home without incident. The next morning we smiled at each other a smile that only friends who do the impossible together can know.