by James Tow
I looked across at Gabriel and he was also smiling. At this speed, everyone smiles.
I glanced in my rear view mirror to see nobody was following us…not that they could. We began to slow down when we got within a mile of the Wal-Mart Chris was at. Once we pulled into the parking lot we saw the trucks lined up at the left entrance of the supercenter.
“We got here fast…how far did we just drive?” Alyse asked and I just shrugged as I continued to smile.
“Where have you guys been?!” Chris asked.
“Busy. Let’s just get the hell out of here,” I said and we all followed Gabriel to our next mission.
20. The Feeling of Hope
We’ve been on the road for a couple hours now, and my ass was killing me. Maybe I should have taken the Cadillac, I kept thinking, but once I thought of the Cadillac I thought of that senile old man. It made me shudder.
Having Alyse in the car with me is as if I am here by myself. So far, she has slept the entire time. I kept trying to think of something funny to say, but I’m horrible with women—so I remained silent.
I realized how tired I was when I was having difficulty holding up my head. I tried sticking my head out the window, but that didn’t help in the least. I tried slapping myself, but then I started to think of how much of an idiot I was for doing so. I grabbed the CD’s which lay next to Alyse. I started putting in random CD’s because they didn’t have any markings or notes indicating what was on them—except for the occasional ‘My Mix’ which didn’t help. To my dislike—they were either country or pop. Disgusting. With each CD I didn’t like, I threw out the window—which, so far, happened to be every one of them. I didn’t feel too bad about littering either. There were five abandoned cars on the side of the road for every one CD I threw out. There was also the sporadic car sitting in the middle of the interstate every other mile or so.
A stroke of luck hit when rap music started emanating from the speakers, and I immediately turned it up. Alyse started fidgeting in her seat, and eventually sat up.
“Oh, you hit the jackpot,” she said as she started bobbing her head back and forth. Say something, say something. Ask her what other music she likes. Something.
“You know, Gabriel’s car isn’t that bad. It’s actually quite beautiful,” she said. Or you can be an idiot and wait for her to talk.
“Yeah it is. It’s quite deadly too,” I said.
“Deadly? You think it could take the Mustang?” She said smiling. The song came to a close, and more heavy bass pounded from the cars subwoofers. I started smiling big—Alyse gave me an idea.
She took notice, “Oh God. What’s that face?” She asked with curiosity and worry.
I punched the gas pedal to the floor. The force of the acceleration pushed Alyse and I deep into our seats. I pulled up next to Gabriel, and started revving the engine. He had his left arm out the window just cruising comfortably—heavy drums could be heard thudding from his car. He turned his head to me and started smiling.
“Wha…” Alyse started to say, but jerked her head toward me and hissed, “No! We’re gonna hit one of these cars on the side of the road!”
I revved the engine several more times, and Gabriel did the same. He downshifted to second gear, and I followed. We were coasting at ten miles per hour, and he held up three fingers. The three trucks that followed us pulled up, side-by-side, and several of their passengers were hanging out the windows whistling and cheering. Gabriel must have flipped the switch to open his cut-out because the car became deafening loud.
The radio cracked and a voice leaked through the open line, “You want to play?” said Gabriel.
I picked up the radio, “Whenever you’re ready,” I taunted.
He honked once, then held up two fingers. I could hear Alyse next to me breathing heavily while holding the leather seat with vice grips.
“Calm down,” I told her chuckling. I looked ahead and the interstate roads were full of curves, hills, and trees on both sides—complete with the random cars sitting here-and-there. “This should be fun,” I mused aloud to myself. The second honk rang through my ears and I looked up at Gabriel who was now holding up his middle finger. My feet trembled on the clutch and gas pedals. My hands itched with excitement as one gripped the wheel and the other rested on the shifter.
Gabriel sounded the last honk, and I slammed my foot on the gas. The drag radials gripped the road and threw Alyse and me harshly into our seats. All I could hear was wind rushing all around me and all I could feel was blood rushing to my head as the smile crept its way back on my face. Though the roar of his engine out blasted mine, our cars stayed even within the first couple of gears. I started to inch away from our even start. The Goat was no match. Then a light tap in my right rear bumper sent the Mustang wiggling down the interstate. Alyse started squealing and I started to laugh.
“It’s going to be like that?!” I yelled to myself. I got control of the car, but Gabriel was already flying by—his head tilted back, laughing.
He cut in front of me and would not let me pass. With every sway I made, he quickly adjusted to block. I got tired of trying to pass and I rode his bumper. I was within inches of his rear end and Alyse started yelling, “Oh my God! How’re you that close?!”
“I got skills!” I joked. Then the GTO’s bright red brake lights brought me back to focus. I ran into the back of Gabriel’s Pontiac, and I was forced to tap my brakes. The roar of his engine told me he floored it, and within seconds he was several car lengths ahead.
“Oh thank God,” Alyse said. I continued to accelerate—gaining, ever so slightly, on Gabriel’s lead. I felt the nimbleness of the Mustang every time I had to dodge a car on the road. I recovered quicker than Gabriel did and gained even more so each time. The trees from the left side of the interstate cleared, and the roads for oncoming traffic were visible. I took my chance—for there was a break in the median’s metal railings. I crossed over, into the grassy median, and onto the opposite road. The maneuver put me further behind, but I was clear to pass.
Alyse finally loosened up, and was now on the edge of her seat with a huge smile on her face. I slowly passed Gabriel, but the difference in acceleration was nonexistent for we were now pushing the cars top speeds. In this case we were on par, but I already had the four car length lead on him. The jet engine sound of his turbochargers were now a decent ways behind me. I found another break in the median and quickly cut across to the other side. Gabriel was forced to hit the brakes when I cut him off—barely missing his front end. I looked in my rear view mirror to see his car out of control, and eventually spinning out down the interstate. I let off on the gas and let out a triumphant yell. Alyse did the same. I picked up the radio and said, “How does the back end of my car look? Or are you too far behind to see it?”
Alyse rolled her window down and stuck her head out to look behind us, “He’s trying to catch up,” she said sardonically and slouched back into her seat. I looked in my rear view mirror and in the distance Gabriel’s headlights were facing forward again.
“I’ll rub it in,” I told Alyse and had the gas pedal slammed against the floor. My celebration quickly faded when I noticed Gabriel was closing in at an incredible rate. The engine was screaming RPM’s and I put it in fifth gear.
“What the hell?!” Alyse yelled.
“Nitrous,” I told her. Gabriel was gaining on me as if I were parked.
The radio cracked and Gabriel said, “Your rear end isn’t half-bad. How about mine?” As the GTO screamed passed, Gabriel held his arm out the window with his middle finger pointing up at the sky. I could only laugh.
Gabriel said through the radio, “Now, isn’t that the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen?”
I let go of the gas, and watched the speedometer fall behind the ‘100’ mark. Gabriel was a tiny spec in the distance, but we quickly gained for he was parked on the shoulder.
“You’ll never hear the end of it,” Alyse said.
“Gabriel isn’t the type to boast,” I told
her. “He’ll have one remark at most—then he’ll probably mention how we shouldn’t have done something like that, ‘We need to conserve gas Paul, what were you thinking?”’ I said in a mocking voice.
We skidded to a stop behind Gabriel as he stood leaning against the rear of the GTO. I cut the engine off, and Alyse and I stepped out to meet him.
“That was fun,” he said grinning. “I just about pissed myself when I spun out back there.”
“That’s when I started laughing my ass off,” I told him.
“He was,” Alyse said and nudged my arm.
“Tell me, were you still laughing when you saw this?” he asked and held up his middle finger.
“Actually, I was,” and I tried to kick his hand. He caught my foot and pushed me onto the hood of the Mustang.
“Those with the bigger weapons always win,” he said and curled his arms—showing his biceps. “How could anybody win with those?” Alyse said teasingly.
“Ouch,” Gabriel said while rubbing his arms.
He looked down the road, “Now, we just have to wait for them to catch up. And we should stop for gas soon.”
“You mean, stop and start looking for a working gas station,” I corrected him.
“That too,” he said and walked to the passenger side of the GTO—grabbing an orange from the plastic bag. “Want one?” he asked, but Alyse and I just shook our heads. “This is my fourth one,” he claimed and
