So....to kill the kid or not to kill the kid

[US-1]

As if dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike was bad enough (although the lights came on Saturday morning...thank you Georgia Electric crews!) I went to the house early on Friday afternoon thinking I was going to hit HRP for five or six test runs. As I'm loading the trailer with goodies my neighbor strolls over and asks, "Hey....why was your Mustang being towed to your house this afternoon?"



Immediately going to the shop I find oil all over the floor under the car and coating the bottom of the car itself. Grab the key (which was NOT where I left it) and try to crank the car. "Clunk" is the only reply I got from under the hood. Check the oil level.......what oil level? None in the pan. Of course not. It's all over the fuckin' car. Take a breakover bar and 18mm socket to the crankshaft bolt. I can bench press 280 pounds and I could NOT turn that crank one millimeter. Locked up tighter than a nun's ass. Get on the phone and call the 20 year old who proceeds to lie through his teeth about what happened. After informing him that his freedom, as well as his physical health and well being, were in serious trouble he informs me that he did go joyriding in my car and killed the damn thing. Even the drag radials have cords showing. Wisely, he chose not to come to my house over the weekend. Anyone even remotely associated with me and that car knows that it is sacred ground. I was tempted to have a DNA test done to see if he's reallly my kid. My youngest son wanted to know if his half-brother was a retard or just stupid.

The sponsor was not pleased, to say the least, but he understood. We do have several spare 3V engines at the shop in Nevada so he sent one of his OTR drivers to pick up the truck/trailer/Mustang on Monday evening. Looks like we are going to put another stock engine back in the car to finish the season and then go for a forged bottom end setup. We have to run the WCHRA finals this weekend at Sacramento then get the car back here to get ready for the FFW finals at the Motorplex here in Texas. Should be in good shape since the engines we have in stock are all under 20K mile stockers. I don't see why the car won't pick right up where it was running before the retard killed it.

Speaking of which.....do I kill it before it multiplies or just start adding up the repair bill and make the dumbass pay it all out? Haven't really put my hands on him yet (ok...just once but he does have a new-found respect for the impact of his father's right fist) and I don't really see him fighting back so that takes all the fun out of kicking his ass. Plus...if he's too beat up he can't keep working and paying me. But I still want to know:

Should I kill him before he multiplies or will the dumbass outgrow this stupidity?

 

[Dex]

Have you ever done something stupid in your adolescence? Probably... But lets just pray this is a one time fuck up. For his sake...

I say you make the kid work it off with whatever you want. Yard/house work. Fetching you a beer while you watch football. haha

When I did something stupid I always got in trouble but it was nice when my father took a little of the edge off. Like in a few weeks ask him if it was fast. something like that...Maybe you think its too nice to do something like that but thats how I feel.

 

[Herknav]

Can you remove his testicles and keep them till he pays you back? That way if he doesn't, you have removed the genes from the pool.. and if he does, he has some sort of redeeming quality... some...


Although killing him would probably be more immediately satisfying...

 

[Hawgman]

You would be surprised what an unauthorized use of a motor vehicle charge will do to change his outlook... Just sayin'.

Realistically, is there any way he is going to completely pay you back? How do you put an actual value on the parts that are being given to you? If he does pay you back, is that money going back to the sponsor? Just points to ponder.

I say it's a tough one. Don't know your relationship with him. If it is good, then this certainly damaged it. If it is bad, this damn sure didn't help any. What would your father have done? Sometimes that is a good place to look back and think of your response reaction to him before considering what you are going to do. Mine... unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. My response at the time.. PISSED. My attitude toward it now, probably one of the better decisions he has made.

 

[US-1]

Have you ever done something stupid in your adolescence?

Some....but nothing as stupid as this.

Hawg,
He can pay it back. Engine money would go to the sponsor with the rest being mine. And yes, we're grossly overpricing the engine.

If he wasn't already on probation for beating the crap out of someone I'd have called the police in a second. However, he has been working and paying his fines, doing his community service, paying his own phone bills/gas/spending money/etc. He was doing pretty well.....looks like a momentary lapse of reason. I blame his mother. She's totally fucked up in the head. My dad told me to take the crank out of the engine and beat him with it.....then keep parts of the engine around and throw them at his head from time to time to remind him of what happens when you're stupid and fuck up someone else's stuff. Especially something that has not just your father's money invested in it but five or six companies money invested in it.

 

[Dex]

When I was 14 I would take my parents car out at 2am and pick up girls.

Now my parents and I can laugh about how dumb I was. At the time when I was caught by a parent of a girl I had to sleep in my parents room for a while. lol

 

[Herknav]

I woulda had the fuck beat out of me.

 

[MSgt46270]

When my kid was a teenager, I let him take the 87 mustang conv. told him not to put the top down. I had a window installed after replacing the top and it had to be adjusted for the glass window.
He went with his friends and sure enough they tried to put the top down and broke the glass window (it was gone). It cost $250 to replace it with a plastic window and the money came out of his saving he had in the bank.

MAKE HIM PAY FOR IT, OR HE WON'T LEARN A THING.

 

[SixtySix]

Reminds me of someone who wrapped a 66' GT around a HOUSE at the ripe old age of 15. (Yeah, it was me)

Guess what I did that summer? Got a job with the city measuring sewage flow.

All my money went into fixing the car, and it got fixed and we made it faster to boot.

The look in my Dad's eyes when he came on scene.... The cops had to restrain him.

I lived, I payed.... valuable life lesson!

 

[DirtyDeedsInc]

So WTF did he do to destroy it? You didn't have the option in the poll but I say make him pay for it then take him either hunting or offshore fishing so it will be an "accident". It's one thing to screw up as a kid but to be over 18 and steal your parent's car, trash it, then try to hide it is another.

 

[Pumpkinfish]

My opinion, you should be happy he recogizes the car as fast (probably was bragging about it and took it out to show off) and has interest. I would teach him how to drive it properly so that maybe you can share in the enjoyment and possibly build a car up for him and get him involved in one of your passions. Don't get me wrong, I'd be pissed about the money and sponsor commitments, but finding positive time to spend with YOUR child can only be beneficial. Let the negatives go, life is too short.

 

[stkjock]

SD - IMO he's gotta pay and face any other consequences you feel appropriate.
he basically stole the car.... he's not 15.... he's gotta feel it!

 

[US-1]

On a side note......the driver left here Monday evening at 7pm. As of fifteen minutes ago he has not arrived in Carson City, Nevada. Sponsor said he should arrive late this evening. Forty-eight hours to make a 26 hour trip. Fuckin' wuss...I knew he was going to do that. He was whining about the trip before he ever made it here.

Now we won't be ready for this weekend in Sacramento and I won't have the car or truck back here until late next week. Add the rental car bill to the kid's tab.

 

[C-Liz-Go]

Shoulda hired me to make the trip, I'd have done it in 24 hours just because it would have been fun.

You already know my response to this....cooler heads will prevail, although killing him was my first gut reaction too. Making him work it off will be the wiser choice in the long run, and maybe hold one testicle hostage for good measure.

 

[MSgt46270]

On a side note......the driver left here Monday evening at 7pm. As of fifteen minutes ago he has not arrived in Carson City, Nevada. Sponsor said he should arrive late this evening. Forty-eight hours to make a 26 hour trip. Fuckin' wuss...I knew he was going to do that. He was whining about the trip before he ever made it here.

Now we won't be ready for this weekend in Sacramento and I won't have the car or truck back here until late next week. Add the rental car bill to the kid's tab.

It never stops adding up. Make him pay for it too

If you don't then he'll think you can shit money out all the time

.

Does he have internet, cable TV in his room, anything that cost you money. Take it away till the money has been paid back.

Ed

 

[SixtySix]

He's not 15.... he's gotta feel it!

Good point, at least I was younger and dumber. Not much excuse for someone who is 20 to be pullin that shit

 

[blacknlte]

take him out to a remote area and threaten to beat him and leave him for dead. kick him out of the car and drive off then go back and get him a few minutes later.

 

[Steedman07]

I would have taken a beating if I did that, And pay as much of it back as I could...its not like he killed someone, but if it was MY car, doing what he did. its a close 2nd to murdering someone..i was an a-hole growing up, thats why I went in the Navy 2 weeks after I graduated High school...

 

[SixtySix]

I was an a-hole growing up, thats why I went in the Navy 2 weeks after I graduated High school...

+ 1

 

[lostsoul]

Your headed to Sacramento? You might have a chance to meet me and kick my ass. That will make you feel better