007: Unlicensed to Drive

2 weeks before I had turned 16, I suffered from a fractured leg because I was dumb enough to slide home in a pick up softball game at a summer camp I attended. I was forced to be sent to a hospital in the middle of nowhere to be casted up and picked up by my mother. The sadness of leaving my favorite place to be in the summer was strong in the heart but I would deal. My lovely mother picked up on my sorrows, and surprised me on my 16th birthday by taking me to get my permit and giving me this:

So there I was, cast up to my knee on the left leg, permit in one hand, keys in the other, and one of the BIGGEST grins I had ever had on my face in my entire life. It was the summer after 10th grade and a legendary class of seniors had graduated. They were bad ass, womanizing, joke-cracking alcoholic assholes and for some reason, I wanted to be one of them. I wanted to be a legend at my high school. When people said the name Frank, I wanted images and recounts of stories to appear in the minds of many. How would I start?

I had  late birthday, being July 17, 1989 (remember the date). Getting my license was a long distance away but I could not wait. Being the leader type, I needed the ability to drive at any hour of the day and night. I somehow convinced my mom to let me drive to the gym down the street alone. I then began driving to school every morning. People that knew I was very young would wonder with statements like, "Frank, you don't even have your license do you?" Of course I replied with the casual, "Nah". This somehow led to me driving all over the Greater Pittsburgh area on late night female conquests with my buddy Ty. For some reason, girls closer to the Pittsburgh area were easier then the girls in my semi-stuck-up suburban high school. So in retrospect, that was where we gravitated towards. A 16 year old boy will do whatever he can to get laid.