23
w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m
I can only paint a picture, but had you seen her, you could only
have said, voice hushed in awe, "That's one hell of a pavement
princess." And had you seen yours truly, her captain, sitting
handsome and resolute in his captain's chair, one hand on the
wheel, the other dipping in and out of a bag of donut holes, well,
your heart would swell.
We sold the Monaco Signature Series only after her suspension
began to give out, and, like having to shoot the proverbial horse,
it fell to us to make her someone else's problem. We listed it on
Craigslist and sold it—to some sucker.
Then we lived, for years and years, a joyless life of drudgery and
toil, until my wife texted me something she saw in a Facebook
listing: a real pavement princess, if you catch my meaning.
I bought her probably a week later, emboldened by the undeniable
fact that my wife had encouraged me to, in a sense at least. I had her
towed home before the wife could ask too many questions.
Having gotten
the rig home
AND ADMIRED ITS
(SOMEWHAT FADED)
BEAUTY A WHILE,
I SET ABOUT TRYING
TO FIGURE OUT WHAT
IT WOULD TAKE TO
GET IT RUNNING.