113 MPH, Pt 1.
November 22, 2010 12:09 am StoriesI don’t condone speeding. It’s really never a good idea. However, I often wonder the fastest people have gone on four wheels. On a public road.
…
Saturday afternoon in the summer. Nothing to do but play video games, talk on the phone, run around outside, hang out at each others houses. And get bored of it all.
Then the phone rang.
Blood pressure rising. Yes. Excitement. Pavlovian. Phone calls meant excitement. Something was about to change. What could it be? He waited for his parents to answer.
Whenever a girl called the house, his mother would yell it out in a sing-songy manner. It really embarrassed him for some reason. Probably because whoever the young lady on the other end could hear the whole affair and in his mind it killed any chance, however remote, he could have had with her. Teenage social castration. The worst thing imaginable. His mother was simply excited that girls were calling him.
“PhooOOOOOhhhOOOOohhhhoone! Iiiiiiiit’s Miiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!”
Mia, one of their friends had called. She knew how much the boys loved Hummers. The vehicle made by AM General, you freak!
“My grandparents just called and said they saw a HUMMER IN COQUILLE! A REAL HUMMER! At the GROCERY STORE!”
She was squealing with delight. This was a big deal and she had a hard time containing her excitement.
He had collected toy Hummers during the past year. Brian collected toy Ferraris. Chris? Well, he didn’t collect anything.
It was a bit of obsession really. Whenever the three went to any retail store they’d spend all their money on tiny cars for their collections. It became a friendly competition between who had more Hummers and Ferraris. Chris would egg them both on for entertainment purposes. He loved watching the monkeys dance.
But here they were talking about seeing a real Hummer, which was a big deal to all of them. He and Chris both had proper off-roading vehicles and were true off-road enthusiasts even at an early age. They’d taken their vehicles into the forest, onto the dunes, onto the beach, into wetlands and into mud bogs. No, their parents didn’t know about this. Yes, they had always managed to drive out just fine. Well except that one time, but that’s another story. Ooooh boy. The parents found out about that one alright…
Hummers were the champions of off-roading. There was no doubt. A truly legendary machine. Something to admire. A human marvel.
The problem was, they didn’t want Mia to go. It was true, she was giving them the sweet tip on the location of an actual Hummer, but she and Chris had just gone through a really weird break-up. Plus, they were all in classes together and still friends to some degree. She also had his father for a teacher. And she was a little crazy. Bi-polar crazy they predicted. It wasn’t as easy as snapping some fingers and she’d just go away. She would exact revenge, probably both emotionally and physically. Girls could be mean, especially this one.
He tried to hide his enthusiasm. Cover. Don’t blow your cover.
“Oh! Cool. Well. Huh.”
“So are you guys GOING TO GO SEE IT?!”
“Ummm… maybe. Let me talk to the guys and see…”
Tens of thoughts ran through his head simultaneously. Panic nearly set in.
Was she trying to get back with Chris? Was she just trying to be friends again? We kinda haven’t talked in a while…she was friends with all of us anyway, but not so much Chris now… but what if it’s weird? She did tell us about the Hummer after all… maybe she should go? She might know where we can find it…
Always on his toes, he started pumping her for info.
“What color was it?
“Green!”
“Was it a slant back? What about the…”
He called Brian next. He’d be the one to drive anyway. He almost always drove. He didn’t know why he bothered calling him about this first since he knew the answer. Really, it was more of a procedural gesture.
“Hey, so Mia just called. She said her grandparents in Coquille saw a Hummer… no, not a Humvee…. civilian…. yeah… no…. I can come over now… I gotta call Chris… you wanna call him?… No… I don’t care if she goes…”
He called Chris next. He tried to set up the uncomfortable conversation in a lighthearted manner.
“Yeah, so good news and bad news. Someone saw a Hummer in Coquille and Brian is willing to drive us there now.”
“Let me guess, Mia told you?”
Ouch. That response had some edge to it. The jig is up.
“Yeah…”
“Yeah she already called me. I’m not going with her.”
Awkward pause.
“Okay, we’ll we’re still looking for the Hummer right?”
“Yep.”
Relief.
“See you in a few.”
…
Part 2, in the works.