Gruff Times

“Make sure your seat belt is tight,” I said, measuring the distance between us and an alley a little ways down the road. “Why?” she asked with a squeak as I put my foot on the accelerator and pushed it to the floor. Pulling my car to the right I nearly hit two other cars. I flew towards the alley and jerked my car into it with a hard left. I drove dodging trashcans and dumpsters trying to focus then realized I was having trouble doing so. Upon consideration of why, I realized Nikkie was screaming at the top of her lungs and not just one long scream. She screamed until she ran out of air then she would take in another lungful of air and scream it out. After a moment of ducking and weaving feeling like my eardrums were about to burst I yelled at Nikkie, “Mrs. Rhodes, I understand that you may be scared but please SHUT UP!” I said this as she was scrambling trying to find somewhere to go that was safer than her seat. She finally stopped and looked at me. She did her best to hold on for the rest of the ride. I came out of the alley barely missing a bus full of passengers. I got across the first half of the street and looked to my left just to see a car and a taxi racing to see who could hit me first. I realized in the instant before they blew behind me that it was the same taxi driver from yesterday. All this passed before my mind’s eye, and I realized I should focus on driving; I entered the next alley and saw a bus-boy dive back inside the doorway he had walked out of right before I hit the door and slammed it shut with the car. I risked a glanced in my rearview mirror and saw the SUV driving across the street trying its best to catch up with us. I brought my eyes back to the alley in front of me. Just as it ended I pulled left onto a street in an industrial sector of the city. Oftentimes most people believe a car chase is all about who can drive the fastest. They are dead wrong and following the error in reasoning will end up with them just being dead. The truth is usually it just comes down to patience and luck. With enough of both you can wait for the perfect opportunity to make your move. I saw what looked like some kind of plant with pipes and big silos and even bigger buildings. I turned into this opening, sliding on the gravel driveway. I drove between the buildings without taking much notice as to what they were. I set a goal in my mind as each building passed by. I determined Nikkie couldn’t take much more of this so we had to end this quickly. Kicking up dirt and gravel, I slid to a stop out of sight of the main road and helped Nikkie get out of the car. Of course by “helped her get out” I mean I pulled her out before she knew what was going on. I pulled her towards the building as quickly as possible, all the while listening for the sound of approaching vehicles. I was not disappointed and found myself increasingly surprised by how good these guys were.