Chapter Text
I tapped my fingers against the smooth steering wheel. I was still parked in the abandoned storage yard I hid my car in. A fifteen year old shouldn’t own a car, let alone be driving it. I took a breath before turning the key in the ignition. The familiar roar of my fathers 1990 Jaguar XJS filled the yard.
I found a sort of comfort in the growl of the V8 engine. My fathers dream had always been to modify the car to pass down to one of his kids, and I had always seemed to be interested in cars. The vehicle had been specifically redesigned for street racing, as Noah had been a street racer himself. The last thing he’d wanted to do was upgrade the stereo, though he passed before he had the chance, and I was a broke teenager who could hardly afford to fill up the bloody thing.
I pressed play on my ipod which was connected to a small speaker I had tucked into the centre console of the vehicle. Kickstart by Mötley Crüe met my ears and I smirked. I moved the car into drive and crept out of the storage yard and onto the empty road. I started off slow, building up speed as I sped down the straight. I had two options when I hit the end of the road, which was rapidly approaching.
The options were rather simple, left or right. I chose left and spun the wheel, drifting the car around the corner and down the next street. I gripped the wheel with both hands, keeping my eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“Focus can be the difference between life and death” Dad had always told me. “Take your own advice next time dad” I muttered to myself, tearing around another corner. The backroads were abandoned at night, used for larger companies during the day. Though from time to time, I would sign up for races against other teens and even adults.
“Your thoughts are drifting, focus on the road” Sirens suddenly broke out behind my car. I glanced into the rear view mirror and saw a cop car not far behind. “FUCK” I cursed. As Kickstart my heart came to an end, the best possible song for this moment came on. My ears were met with Free Bird. “Spotify, I love you” I laughed and gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. I sped up, urging the cop to chase.
The cop began to speed up a little, though I kept going faster. I pulled around one last corner onto the next straight. I slammed down on the accelerator and took off. The cop sped up even more, though was clearly unfamiliar with these roads. I swerved the car around the corner with a practised spin of the wheel. Despite the high intensity of the situation, I drove with complete confidence and full control over the vehicle.
The lights of the cop car flicked in the rear view mirror. My phone suddenly rang in my pocket. “AH WRONG TIME YOU IDIOTS” I turned down the music before I grabbed my phone and answered without checking who it was. I put it on speaker and set it on my lap, looking back up to the road. “Hey Sunny” “Oh hey Fal, whats up” “Nothing, I’m here with Sammy, we’ve been trying to find you for half an hour, where are you?” “Uhhh”
I checked my rear view, the cop was really close behind now. “Can I hear the Free Bird guitar solo?” Sammy piped up, “And are those fucking sirens?!” Both ends of the call fell silent for a moment. I tore around another corner, tires screaming against the asphalt. “Sunny, are you in the middle of a god damn police chase?!” “Maybe”
The other end of the call broke out in Fal yelling at me and Sammy cheering me on for some reason. I swung my car around one final corner before the last straight on the backroads. “I gotta go call you back soon!” I hung up and threw my phone onto the passenger seat. I pressed down harder on the accelerator. In exactly forty five seconds, there would be a break in the traffic lights ahead where I could make my getaway.
Only problem was, it was gonna take me a minute to get down this road. “I can shave off fifteen seconds, surely” I slammed my foot down as hard as I could. I was sailing down the straight now, the cop car now struggling to keep up. Twenty seconds til the break in the lights. The engine roared as I pushed the car to its limit. Five seconds til the break in the lights.
Three seconds… two, and one. I sailed through the gap in the traffic and out the other side, with moments to spare as cars began flowing. The cop car would now be delayed by the traffic. I cheered and ripped around another corner. I began slowing down as I reached the residential area. I’d done a loop of sorts. I lived right behind the storage yard I kept the car in.
I stayed in a small apartment with Sammy, my brother Tommy, and my little sister Bumblebee. I pulled into the apartment driveway and drove around the back. I got out of the car and unlatched the fence between the apartments and the storage yard. I drove the car back to its hiding spot and tugged the huge drop sheet I’d stolen from a construction site over my car. Ispun the keys around my fingers and made my way up to the apartment.
I pushed open the door and was immediately bombarded by Fals yelling and Sammys questions. “Woah woah woah! I just got back! Chill out” Sammy backed down while Fal kept yelling. “You could’ve died! You broke so many laws, what if you got caught! You can be such a goddamn idiot-” “We do illegal street racing for a living” “You could’ve been arrested!”
“Yeah but I wasn’t” I set my keys down by the door and turned to face Fal. “Here's the difference between me and other teens who drive, I know what I’m doing,” I walked into the kitchen, continuing to talk. “I make practised and well calculated decisions on the road” I leant on the bench, “And unlike most teens who drive, I don’t get caught”