by C. L. Stone
“Why didn’t you say no?” I asked them.
They didn’t answer me. Instead, Gabriel kept crying, and Victor started to cry, too.
“Sang’s mad at us,” Gabriel said.
Victor couldn’t answer. He just coughed and cried. He tapped at his throat and looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“He probably needs water,” Luke said. “Cotton mouth.”
I assumed it meant dry throat. I checked around me, finding a single water bottle stored away underneath my seat. I handed it to them. They had trouble opening it so I opened and returned it.
Meanwhile, Luke was fuming and drove slowly around the coliseum until we found the likely spot Silas was talking about. I didn’t recognize any other cars along the way but the hill with the gate was very clear. Luke backed into it, threw the parking brake, and turned the car off. Trees surrounded us on either side of the lane, with long branches and plenty of leaves to obscure our view of the parking lot a bit.
Luke folded his arms across his chest and sat back quickly, staring out the windshield. “I don’t know what’s worse, that they did it without telling us what was going on, or that now I feel like North, and I hate it.”
Gabriel widened his eyes and pointed at Luke, laughing. “North! He’s the new North!”
Victor rolled in his seat, giggling.
There had to be a good reason for this. “You said Jay was there?”
Gabriel chuckled. “We were fitting in.”
“We had to,” Victor said in unison with Gabriel talking.
They talked over each other more, and I couldn’t understand them. Luke shook his head, pursing his lips. He seemed as perplexed as me.
“If they had to or not, they’re useless right now,” Luke said.
Outside the Jeep, the spot we were in was dark. In the distance, the view was a portion of the back end of the parking lot framed by trees. With the lights of the Jeep off, it was questionable if we could be noticed.
I sent a quick text to Silas that we were in position.
I just got a thumbs-up emoji in return.
“So what are we doing here?” I asked Luke.
“Victor’s trunk,” he said. “Mr. Buble is making the purchase to re-secure it. We’re just backup. We don’t go in unless they say.”
“Yeah!” Victor said. He pumped his fist. “Going to get that...” The rest was a smattering of mumbles.
“Calm down,” Luke said, using the rearview mirror to glance back at them. “You don’t have to be sober, just be quiet.”
Gabriel breathed in deeply, and pinched his lips shut like he was going to hold his breath.
Victor followed quickly. They lasted maybe a minute before they released, sputtering and giggling. One of them snorted.
Luke leaned against the steering wheel, placing his forehead at the top and moaned. “Why now?”
Gabriel snorted again. “Victor, switch places with Sang.”
“No, you should do it.”
“I’m not moving,” I said, folding my arms and sinking down in the front seat. “I’m still mad.”
Gabriel started to cry again but I could tell it wasn’t real this time. “Don’t be mad.”
“I have to pee,” Victor said.
“You were just in the bathroom,” Luke mumbled against the steering wheel. He hadn’t moved.
“I didn’t go. We just met Jay and Rocky.”
“I have to go, too.” Gabriel said.
“I should sic North on both of you.” Luke snapped upright and struggled to get his seatbelt to release for a moment. “I’m going to take you out there and you can go on a tree.”
“We can’t do it in view of Saaang,” Gabriel said. “She’ll see.”
Luke turned to me and held my arm to collect my attention. “I’m not going far. I’m just going to go with them so they don’t...”
Without warning, both Victor and Gabriel hopped out of the car on either side, one walking one direction, the other walking in a completely different one beyond the tree line.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Luke said. He got out of the car. “Call North but stay in the car.” He bolted after Victor, who was already around the side of the building and out of sight.
I breathed in deeply and groaned. Why now? What could have happened in that bathroom that made them want to smoke pot, and so much of it that they were so impaired? It had to be something important, but with the state they were in, it was impossible to get it out of them now.
I dialed North.
“Hey, baby,” he answered.
“We have a problem,” I said. I tried to explain what happened. “Luke went after Victor. I was watching Gabriel from the car but I think I lost him. He’s just wandering back toward the coliseum.”
“Shit,” he said, along with a long slew of choice words and some I only half heard as I thought he pulled the phone away from his face for a minute. He returned quickly. “I’ll be right there. Hang on.”
It was only a couple of minutes before North appeared. He got in the driver’s seat, sitting there with the door open. He scanned the perimeter. “Where are they?”
“Luke took off that way following Victor,” I said, motioning. “And Gabriel’s in that direction last I saw.”
North grunted, shaking his head. “Silas is the only one watching Mr. Buble’s back now.” He motioned to a car, just out of view until I leaned forward and could catch the corner of some black car, although I didn’t recognize the vehicle. “Mr. Buble’s hanging out with Mrs. Ruiz for the trade.”
“What should I do?”
“Remember when I said I was going to teach you how to drive?” he asked.
With my lips pursed tight, I nodded.
“Crash coarse starts now. Slide over.” He got out on the driver’s side and patted the seat, indicating to take the spot.
I collected myself up and wedged over into the driver’s seat, the cloth material still warm where he’d been... a minor comfort in the moment.
He leaned against the door of the car and motioned to the pedals. “Put your foot on the brake.”
I did, and he immediately reached over and started the car, lights off, and put it into drive.
My heart pounded. Panic ensnared everything in me.
“Shit gets weird, I want you to drive straight into that damn truck that shows up.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if there’s more than you think Silas, Corey, Mr. Buble and Mrs. Ruiz can take care of and they threaten them, then you ram the shit out of the truck. They should scatter after that.”
“Who is Corey?”
“You might know him. He’s in the...you know what.”
Academy. “Aren’t they going to be in the middle of it?”
“They won’t be,” he said.
He reached out, grabbing me by the chin and forced me to stare right at his face.
“You do not hesitate. You don’t back down. The moment it starts to roll, you jump the fuck out. Tuck and roll, baby. I know you know how.”
This suddenly got way more serious and intense in just a few minutes. I breathed in, holding it, trying to hold on to every frayed nerve. I only hoped I didn’t have to do this.
He kissed me once, briefly, strongly, while still holding my face.
Then he let go and headed around the door. He didn’t close it.
I instinctively thought not to. I would need to jump out.
Don’t think. Don’t think...
I sat in silence, pressing the break hard fearing it’d release without me wanting to do it.
Kota’s car and how it had felt to be driving it flashed into my mind.
Cabaletta
(The concluding, rapid, audience-rousing section of an aria)
Sang
I listened to the Jeeps’ rumbling engine, anticipating it’d blow up like the last one. Or maybe the battery would die like Dr. Green’s car.
For a while, there was silence.
I hadn’t even paid attention to where North had gone off to because I was so fixated on the car and not screwing up.
I hoped Luke got back. Or North. Anyone...
In front of me, suddenly, lights from a car turned on. In the beams, Mr. Buble took center stage, alongside Mrs. Ruiz.
From the edge of where I could see, there were more people. I caught legs, about three pairs.
And then the edge of a large, four-door truck crept backward, on the other side of the group.
Tentatively, in anticipation, I turned the wheel until I thought the wheels would face right where the truck was. With the hill, and pushing the gas just before jumping out, I pictured it like the movies. The Jeep would roll into the truck.
Both might explode. Like those movies...
I shook my head, worried. North’s Jeep...
With the door open, I could just barely hear talking in the distance, although what was being said, I was unsure.
Mr. Buble moved forward, toward the truck.
The three people who were in view, they came to him.
There had to be at least four. Someone had rolled the truck back into position.
At first, I thought maybe they were stepping closer to talk, but suddenly the three were too close to Mr. Buble. Mrs. Ruiz rushed at them. Then, Corey was with them. I recognized him, and knew he was on our side.
And then Silas appeared, joining in.
With all of them in the middle of it, I hesitated. I wasn’t sure if they could handle what was happening. Were they fighting? Were they just arguing? There was no way to tell.
Not until I saw Mr. Buble land on his back, just in view, glasses flying off his face.
I knew it and I still hesitated.
Only for a second.
Mostly because Mr. Buble was on the ground.
I had to trust Silas would know this was coming and could carry him off.
I let go of the break and immediately the car started to move.
I didn’t have to hit the gas. The slope of the hill was enough to start it going quickly. I was going to crash along with it if I hit the gas, too.
I jumped, although instead of rolling, I landed on my side. The hill caught me sooner than I anticipated.
I remained on the ground, watching the black Jeep, with the door open wide. It rolled toward the group. I couldn’t really see them now, but the Jeep picked up speed, out of control, aimed right at the truck.
Voices shouting.
Lots of running footsteps.
I got up on my hands and knees in time to witness the Jeep taking a nosedive into the back bumper of the truck, bouncing back, and engine still running. It slowly moved backward before it started rolling forward again. It didn’t hit anyone.
My heart still pounding, I didn’t notice my phone buzzing in my bra until just that moment. I checked the screen, Victor.
I answered. “Where are you?” I asked.
“I have the V28. Where are you?”
Was he driving? I didn’t understand. “Where are you?” I asked.
“Go behind the maintenance building. Meet me. Keep me on the line.”
He didn’t sound like before. I scrambled to get around, scooting through trees and trying to keep out of view of whatever was going on at the Jeep and truck crash.
I only hoped I did it right, that they were okay.
There was no way to tell.
Fortississimo
(As loud as possible)
Victor
Driving the V28 was harder than it appeared, as Victor wasn’t totally used to shifting. The car groaned a few times as Victor got used to how to use the clutch and where to hold his arm in order to get the shifting stick to move where he wanted.
He was surprised it was in the back of the parking lot. He thought Kota had it for the night. What happened to Kota?
His heart raced, partially that he’d smoked pot and that he would likely get into so much trouble. Part of it was that he was driving this new car and every time he hit the gas, it shot forward.
Focus. Focus now.
He repeated this through the fog in his brain. They hadn’t taken that much, or so he thought. He even had tried to hold the smoke in his mouth more than his lungs, but still, the effect was so strong.
But now, he had to get Sang. Get her and get out.
He waited on the other side of the maintenance building. Luke had gone to get Gabriel, telling Victor to wait here in this car and don’t move.
But orders changed once he got the emergency call from North, telling him to get Sang and drive off.
“Don’t go far,” North said. “Just find a block you can hide in and sit. And go slow. Wait until you sober before going further. Spend the night in the car if you have to.”
What happened to the others that they were all too busy? Why did that seem to happen? Everything fell on him.
Victor thought he was doing much better. He managed to get the car this far.
Victor put the call in to Sang and waited for her where he said he’d be.
Sang appeared, her hair disheveled and her clothes dirty. She ran to the car once she spotted it, opening the passenger door. She peered in. “Victor?”
“Get in, we have to go,” Victor said.
She hesitated. “But...”
“Unless you’re driving!”
She shook her head slowly and took another minute, but then got in.
“Buckle in,” Victor said. “I’ll try not to kill us.”
Focus. Focus. Focus. Don’t even look at her.
She was saying something, but with the pot fogging his brain and trying to figure out how to drive the car, he tuned her out. Just for now.
“Don’t talk,” he said. “Let me focus. ... Focus...”
He talked to himself now, loud, about the steps he needed to take. “Push the gas. No, too much. Brake. Release brake slowly. Turn the wheel.”
The car coasted a little while idling but didn’t go too far. He followed the road until he realized it was a dead end behind the coliseum, however, there was a field and he pushed the gas this time, going over it.
“Maybe we can just park it in those trees,” Sang said, holding on to her seat and still bouncing a bit as Victor drove through the grass.
The bottom of the car scraped a few times against rocks and debris. For a moment, he thought it was going to be stuck, but it pulled away with a bit more push to the gas pedal.
“We have to find a...” Victor wanted to try to remember what North said but he was sure trees weren’t it. “We have to hide. Until I sober.”
“Go over there, maybe?” Sang pointed.
It was a spot between two trees, like she’d said before. Yet the location didn’t seem right.
Victor found a single lane on the other side of the wide expanse of grass and followed it. This led to a bigger two-lane road.
He didn’t know where they were. He didn’t really have a location in mind. Once he was on the road, he slowly pushed the gas more. A bit too fast at one point, to where the car zipped forward and he feared it was much too fast. The police would pull them over.
“Victor...” Sang said.
He sighed when she said his name. “I wish we could run off, Sang.”
“Maybe you can just pull over now,” she said.
“I do love you, you know?” Victor asked. “You didn’t say it back. I know I was drunk.” It hadn’t really bothered him she didn’t say it because it was so sudden and he blurted it out. He just wanted to tell her.
She hesitated. “Victor...”
His heart was beaming. He was alone with her. They were safe together. They just had to get away for a while. Maybe they could go to some motel for the night. North did that with her once. He should be allowed. “Let’s go to the beach.”
“Can you pull over for a minute?” she asked. She sat back, bracing the seat, like he was going too fast.
Was he?
The speedometer was so bright, he wasn’t sure what it wa
s saying. Or were his eyes watering? Was the window open?
Pull over. She asked to pull over.
He turned the wheel, what he thought was a little bit.
And suddenly, out of nowhere, the car shifted hard to the right. Like a rollercoaster out of control, the whole car tilted right, not just turned.
Tilted all the way over.
There was a blankness. Darkness. His face smashed against something both hard and pillowy. The airbag had deployed.
It wasn’t until the car settled, upside down, that he opened his eyes back again. He hadn’t even realized he closed them. Had he been knocked out?
The airbag seemed to fade away after a few moments. Where before he felt smashed in, now he hung loose.
He could see Sang, her hair standing up on her head, until he realized it was only because she was hanging upside down, like him, still strapped to her seat.
The bracelet he’d given her dangled from her arm, the heart drifting across her skin.
The horror welled up in him, but he couldn’t move. He didn’t know why.
Something blurred his eyes. Warm. Wet.
Her door opened. She was removed. A voice. A strange voice.
Like multiple voices at once.
But Victor was left behind.
Left in the car.
Hanging upside down.
Alone.
Lasciare Suonare
(Let ring, do not damp)
Sang
Strong arms lifted me from the car but couldn’t carry me completely.
“Give me a hand.”
It was a familiar voice to me. But in my dazed state, I didn’t know who.
I let myself be carried. Not that I could have stopped them. Working my limbs seemed too difficult.
Across a hard surface, and then a soft one. Suddenly there were trees above, and it had grown immensely darker.
“What about the other one?” a voice asked.
“Not him.” Again, this was familiar, and I wasn’t sure why, because the voice was distorted.
Panic seized me. Victor. They were leaving Victor!
This time I tried to wriggle, trying to find the air in my lungs to call out Victor’s name. I wriggled, more violently, determined to be set free.
