2014
I’ve always been known as being a bit of a careless, maybe even reckless driver. Basically because I’m in a hurry most of the time. This time is no different. I thank the heavens that I didn’t forget to put fuel in the car the night before and without minding the speed limit, I cross the big road that leads out of town. Indiana is three and a half hours away from the God-forgotten town we’ve chosen to reside in in South Wisconsin. There’s no way I can make it in two hours, but I can try and get there in three, if I drive fast, and if I don’t get pulled over. Luckily it’s Sunday, luckily on Sunday, there are not a whole lot of people on the road. The big highway that stretches in front of me is nearly deserted, apart from the occasional Sunday-drivers, typically driving five miles below the limit. I make a big deal out of getting them to get the hell out of my way, that unlike them, I do need to be somewhere.
Need.
AJ said they needed me. They have never actually needed me before. Not in these type of situations. Alright, it’s not like this situation happens to us all the time, but, when they do, Kevin usually makes sure I keep quiet and don’t get involved, if it isn’t about me. That never works out for the best and now that I actually did manage to keep myself on the outside, they suddenly need me.
I feel kind of special.
The smirk on my face slowly fades as I recall AJ’s exact use of words. There’s no way back now. I slow down just a few miles and wonder if I really want to get myself involved in this. Sure, they can handle a little conference without me? What the hell am I doing here driving fifteen miles over the limit, just to get sucked back into this mess again? Sure, life with mother and brother wasn’t my very first choice, but it was better than the alternative, wasn’t it? Or was I just making a statement by shutting myself out of the entertainment world?
Carter is done, Carter will not come back, unless you really need him, of course, because if you do, he’d be happy to come back as soon as he can.
More than a little conflicted, I pick up my again, vibrating phone and rasp a rushed, ‘What?’ into it, trying to keep my main attention focused on the road before me. The scenery has changed from dull, highway characteristics, to the amazing wide-open countryside road. There’s not a soul in side for as far as I can spot, and I kind of like it that way. Peace, quiet, tranquillity for the first time in…
“What the hell is taking you so long, Nick?” a normally soft voice, blares through my phone.
“Dude, chill out, no one can drive from Wisconsin to the middle of Indiana in just two hours,” I try to reason with an obviously freaked out Howard Dorough. “I can be there in like, 45 minutes from now,” I say glancing at my watch.
If Howie ever bothers to respond, is not a real issue at the moment, because I drop my phone immediately when I return my attention to the road. With a mighty pull at the steering wheel, I only just manage to dodge the short man that has suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. The car screeches loudly and turns dangerously close to the edge of the road. I try with all my might to correct the drifting car back onto a straight path, like I’ve done on Need for Speed a thousand times before. There proofs to be a real big gap between virtual and actual reality the car crashes into the guardrail with a sickening slam.
Author's Chapter Notes:
stupid cliffhanger is stupid...
