He played and I use to. He seemed to always give me a fair price, and always let me borrow a car when mine was in the shop.

Then we moved even further up north, away from Raul and a paved driveway, and my husband thought it was best to sell the car. That was in 1999 and I don't recall the "discussions", but I'm pretty sure there were a few. Needless to say I gave in and agreed it best to sell the car. We did, to a friend of ours for $2000. I felt somewhat comfortable, thinking the car was still in the 'family. Now this friend didn't have the same love of the car as I did. He lived in the East Bay, and had that traffic to contend with, and again the car ran hot. He misjudged a turn and smashed up the front end, and then, and then, and then. I stopped asking because it never was an enjoyable story, and then at one point I heard he no longer had it. Secretly I was sad and pissed that I had been talked into letting it go.

On a whim I looked on ebay and found the exact car, only it was baby blue and in Wyoming. I could afford the $2000, but it was winter and having the car shipped from there seemed practically insane. But it sparked a desire to make right what always felt wrong. Having forgotten I heard he no longer

had the car, I called my friend and told him I would buy it back. He confessed that he had abandoned it at a shop in San Leandro, almost 3 years ago.

I sent my husband to go save it. We bought it back for $500, $300 to clear it with the D.M.V., and $400 to transport it back to Raul's shop in Santa Rosa. I hadn't talked to Raul in almost 7 years, but when I described the car he remembered me.

"Whatever it costs to get the car back in running order", was what my husband told Raul. Everyone thought we were crazy. The car is old, the paint job dull, the interior torn up, but after months of waiting, and a 5 page parts sheet, when I went to pick it up and I turned on the engine and heard that rumble, I knew it was worth every penny. I drove it up HWY 101, and picked up my kids. My daughter,