by C. L. Stone
“You’re in the concert?”
“Yeah. Where are you?”
“Outside the concert,” he said. “With North.”
“You’re here?”
“We don’t have tickets. We’re scoping out the trade spot. It’s on the far side of the parking lot.” There was a deep voice, North’s, that came across on the phone but I couldn’t actually hear what he was saying. “He wants to know if the concert is over.”
“I have no idea.” I listened and the band was still playing. “I guess not yet.”
More North talking. Silas relayed, “When it is, get them to drive by here but don’t stop. It’s around the back of the building you’re in. There’s a small hill with a single lane nearby that leads to a gate. Have them back up to the gate, like they belong there, park, and wait. Looks like some maintenance shed but there shouldn’t be any traffic there at this time of night.”
The girls’ line was getting shorter but still no sign of Luke and the others. “Okay…”
“Just wait inside there. Make sure we don’t get our butts kicked.”
“Is it just you two?”
“We’re not going in. It’s Mr. Buble and he’s got another… person. I haven’t seen who it is yet.”
Academy person. Did we owe a favor for this? “So we’re all monitoring?”
“North and I will go in if there’s more than two people,” he said. “We don’t want to be outnumbered here. We assume it’ll go smoothly, trading cash for the trunk, and we get to identify who is there, ask a few questions. This is just if things get out of hand.”
I had no idea what to anticipate. With so many of us here, and likely witnesses as there were bound to be people from the concert in the parking lot as well, how would this work?
I was going to say something else when Luke reappeared, half carrying Victor, whose eyes were rolling into the back of his head and he was grinning.
Gabriel attempted to help, but he was laughing too much to do so.
“I can’t believe you do this now,” Luke said. He waved to me. “Give me a hand.”
“Gotta go,” I said to Silas.
“Don’t let them get into any trouble,” he said and hung up.
Might have been a bit too late for that.
I walked over to Luke and Victor, only the smell of something rancid, like a skunk smell, was so strong near them. I waved my hand in front of my nose. “What happened?”
Luke contorted his face. “They were smoking who knows what…”
“It was just fucking pot!” Gabriel corrected.
“With a bunch of idiots…”
“It was Jay!” Gabriel said. “And Rocky!”
“They’re here?” I asked.
“They were in the bathroom,” Victor said and stood up on his own, tugging his arm away from Luke. “Stop dragging me.”
“Was Karen with them?” I asked.
Gabriel shrugged, but grinned as he did so. “Girl in the guy bathroom? No waaaay.”
Luke closed his eyes and pinched at the bridge of his nose, “I can’t believe I’m the one dragging you two out… you… ugh.”
“Hey,” Victor said, and giggled. “Don’t… you shouldn’t be rude.”
“Let’s get them out of here, Sang,” Luke said. “Get Gabriel, make sure he doesn’t wander off.” He took Victor by the hand.
Victor tried to take his hand back. “We don’t need to do this.”
“Oh yes I do,” Luke said, reclaiming Victor’s hand. “I don’t care if people think we’re a couple. We are for ten minutes until we get to the car. I don’t want you wandering off.”
I did the same for Gabriel, only Gabriel didn’t complain. They did want to let go a lot, getting distracted by people they thought they wanted to talk to, the food section, wanting to go back to the concert.
It was better out in the parking lot. Most people were inside and we only had to direct them down the row of cars. They kept trying to get into different ones.
“Well, I can’t remember which car we brought,” Gabriel said. “There’s too many of them. Fuck. Do we own a Corolla?”
“It’s the Jeep,” I said.
Gabriel laughed. “Oh yeah.”
Progress with them was so slow. It took ten minutes simply because they kept changing their minds about what to do or just stopping and not wanting to go.
It was like Victor was drunk all over again, only now there were two. “This was pot?” I asked. I had seen TV shows and movies and a few kids at school high on pot, and they didn’t act like this.
“They’re lightweights,” Luke said, still hanging on to Victor’s hand and guiding him down the rows of cars.
“No, we aren’t!” Victor insisted.
“Yeah,” Gabriel said. “We’re not!”
Luke rolled his eyes.
At the Jeep, Victor and Gabriel collected in the back seat. I sat in the passenger seat.
“I… can’t believe…” Luke got in the driver’s seat and inserted a key to get the Jeep started.
“We have to stay here,” I said. I told him what Silas said.
“We can’t do that,” Luke said. He motioned with a hand at the back. “Look at these two!”
With that, Gabriel and Victor burst out laughing, with Gabriel doubling over until he nearly slid onto the floor.
Luke whipped around, pointed a long finger at them. “I can’t believe that you two… of all people…”
I was getting a bit flustered, too. “Yeah!” I said. They knew better! And at such a critical time. “I can’t believe this.”
“You’re going to make us parent you two,” Luke said to them. “When we finally get time off…”
“Smoking pot on a job,” I mumbled, shaking my head. I was completely stunned this happened. It wasn’t like them.
Gabriel took one look at me and instantly his expression changed until he was crying. “Fuck me. Sang, don’t look like that.”
“I’m mad,” I said. “We went all this way. They got us concert tickets. You dressed us up. And you two—We didn’t even get to stay for the whole concert.”
“You’re hanging out with Jay and Rocky in the bathroom smoking pot until you’re like this,” Luke said. “I didn’t even see them in there. They left before I got to you.”
“Why didn’t you say no?” I asked them.
They didn’t answer me. Instead, Gabriel kept crying, and Victor started to cry, too.
“Sang’s mad at us,” Gabriel said.
Victor couldn’t answer. He just coughed and cried. He tapped at his throat and looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“He probably needs water,” Luke said. “Cotton mouth.”
I assumed it meant dry throat. I checked around me, finding a single water bottle stored away underneath my seat. I handed it to them. They had trouble opening it so I opened and returned it.
Meanwhile, Luke was fuming and drove slowly around the coliseum until we found the likely spot Silas was talking about. I didn’t recognize any other cars along the way but the hill with the gate was very clear. Luke backed into it, threw the parking brake, and turned the car off. Trees surrounded us on either side of the lane, with long branches and plenty of leaves to obscure our view of the parking lot a bit.
Luke folded his arms across his chest and sat back quickly, staring out the windshield. “I don’t know what’s worse, that they did it without telling us what was going on, or that now I feel like North, and I hate it.”
Gabriel widened his eyes and pointed at Luke, laughing. “North! He’s the new North!”
Victor rolled in his seat, giggling.
There had to be a good reason for this. “You said Jay was there?”
Gabriel chuckled. “We were fitting in.”
“We had to,” Victor said in unison with Gabriel talking.
They talked over each other more, and I couldn’t understand them. Luke shook his
head, pursing his lips. He seemed as perplexed as me.
“If they had to or not, they’re useless right now,” Luke said.
Outside the Jeep, the spot we were in was dark. In the distance, the view was a portion of the back end of the parking lot framed by trees. With the lights of the Jeep off, it was questionable if we could be noticed.
I sent a quick text to Silas that we were in position.
I just got a thumbs-up emoji in return.
“So what are we doing here?” I asked Luke.
“Victor’s trunk,” he said. “Mr. Buble is making the purchase to re-secure it. We’re just backup. We don’t go in unless they say.”
“Yeah!” Victor said. He pumped his fist. “Going to get that…” The rest was a smattering of mumbles.
“Calm down,” Luke said, using the rearview mirror to glance back at them. “You don’t have to be sober, just be quiet.”
Gabriel breathed in deeply, and pinched his lips shut like he was going to hold his breath.
Victor followed quickly. They lasted maybe a minute before they released, sputtering and giggling. One of them snorted.
Luke leaned against the steering wheel, placing his forehead at the top and moaned. “Why now?”
Gabriel snorted again. “Victor, switch places with Sang.”
“No, you should do it.”
“I’m not moving,” I said, folding my arms and sinking down in the front seat. “I’m still mad.”
Gabriel started to cry again but I could tell it wasn’t real this time. “Don’t be mad.”
“I have to pee,” Victor said.
“You were just in the bathroom,” Luke mumbled against the steering wheel. He hadn’t moved.
“I didn’t go. We just met Jay and Rocky.”
“I have to go, too.” Gabriel said.
“I should sic North on both of you.” Luke snapped upright and struggled to get his seatbelt to release for a moment. “I’m going to take you out there and you can go on a tree.”
“We can’t do it in view of Saaang,” Gabriel said. “She’ll see.”
Luke turned to me and held my arm to collect my attention. “I’m not going far. I’m just going to go with them so they don’t…”
Without warning, both Victor and Gabriel hopped out of the car on either side, one walking one direction, the other walking in a completely different one beyond the tree line.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Luke said. He got out of the car. “Call North but stay in the car.” He bolted after Victor, who was already around the side of the building and out of sight.
I breathed in deeply and groaned. Why now? What could have happened in that bathroom that made them want to smoke pot, and so much of it that they were so impaired? It had to be something important, but with the state they were in, it was impossible to get it out of them now.
I dialed North.
“Hey, baby,” he answered.
“We have a problem,” I said. I tried to explain what happened. “Luke went after Victor. I was watching Gabriel from the car but I think I lost him. He’s just wandering back toward the coliseum.”
“Shit,” he said, along with a long slew of choice words and some I only half heard as I thought he pulled the phone away from his face for a minute. He returned quickly. “I’ll be right there. Hang on.”
It was only a couple of minutes before North appeared. He got in the driver’s seat, sitting there with the door open. He scanned the perimeter. “Where are they?”
“Luke took off that way following Victor,” I said, motioning. “And Gabriel’s in that direction last I saw.”
North grunted, shaking his head. “Silas is the only one watching Mr. Buble’s back now.” He motioned to a car, just out of view until I leaned forward and could catch the corner of some black car, although I didn’t recognize the vehicle. “Mr. Buble’s hanging out with Mrs. Ruiz for the trade.”
“What should I do?”
“Remember when I said I was going to teach you how to drive?” he asked.
With my lips pursed tight, I nodded.
“Crash coarse starts now. Slide over.” He got out on the driver’s side and patted the seat, indicating to take the spot.
I collected myself up and wedged over into the driver’s seat, the cloth material still warm where he’d been… a minor comfort in the moment.
He leaned against the door of the car and motioned to the pedals. “Put your foot on the brake.”
I did, and he immediately reached over and started the car, lights off, and put it into drive.
My heart pounded. Panic ensnared everything in me.
“Shit gets weird, I want you to drive straight into that damn truck that shows up.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if there’s more than you think Silas, Corey, Mr. Buble and Mrs. Ruiz can take care of and they threaten them, then you ram the shit out of the truck. They should scatter after that.”
“Who is Corey?”
“You might know him. He’s in the…you know what.”
Academy. “Aren’t they going to be in the middle of it?”
“They won’t be,” he said.
He reached out, grabbing me by the chin and forced me to stare right at his face.
“You do not hesitate. You don’t back down. The moment it starts to roll, you jump the fuck out. Tuck and roll, baby. I know you know how.”
This suddenly got way more serious and intense in just a few minutes. I breathed in, holding it, trying to hold on to every frayed nerve. I only hoped I didn’t have to do this.
He kissed me once, briefly, strongly, while still holding my face.
Then he let go and headed around the door. He didn’t close it.
I instinctively thought not to. I would need to jump out.
Don’t think. Don’t think…
I sat in silence, pressing the break hard fearing it’d release without me wanting to do it.
Kota’s car and how it had felt to be driving it flashed into my mind.
Cabaletta
(The concluding, rapid, audience-rousing section of an aria)
Sang
I listened to the Jeeps’ rumbling engine, anticipating it’d blow up like the last one. Or maybe the battery would die like Dr. Green’s car.
For a while, there was silence. I hadn’t even paid attention to where North had gone off to because I was so fixated on the car and not screwing up.
I hoped Luke got back. Or North. Anyone…
In front of me, suddenly, lights from a car turned on. In the beams, Mr. Buble took center stage, alongside Mrs. Ruiz.
From the edge of where I could see, there were more people. I caught legs, about three pairs.
And then the edge of a large, four-door truck crept backward, on the other side of the group.
Tentatively, in anticipation, I turned the wheel until I thought the wheels would face right where the truck was. With the hill, and pushing the gas just before jumping out, I pictured it like the movies. The Jeep would roll into the truck.
Both might explode. Like those movies…
I shook my head, worried. North’s Jeep…
With the door open, I could just barely hear talking in the distance, although what was being said, I was unsure.
Mr. Buble moved forward, toward the truck.
The three people who were in view, they came to him.
There had to be at least four. Someone had rolled the truck back into position.
At first, I thought maybe they were stepping closer to talk, but suddenly the three were too close to Mr. Buble. Mrs. Ruiz rushed at them. Then, Corey was with them. I recognized him, and knew he was on our side.
And then Silas appeared, joining in.
With all of them in the middle of it, I hesitated. I wasn’t sure if they could handle what was happening. Were they fighting? Were they just arguing? There was no way to tell.
Not until I saw Mr. Buble land on his back, just in view, glasses flying off his face.
I knew it and I still hesitated.
Only for a second.
Mostly because Mr. Buble was on the ground.
I had to trust Silas would know this was coming and could carry him off.
I let go of the break and immediately the car started to move.
I didn’t have to hit the gas. The slope of the hill was enough to start it going quickly. I was going to crash along with it if I hit the gas, too.
I jumped, although instead of rolling, I landed on my side. The hill caught me sooner than I anticipated.
I remained on the ground, watching the black Jeep, with the door open wide. It rolled toward the group. I couldn’t really see them now, but the Jeep picked up speed, out of control, aimed right at the truck.
Voices shouting.
Lots of running footsteps.
I got up on my hands and knees in time to witness the Jeep taking a nosedive into the back bumper of the truck, bouncing back, and engine still running. It slowly moved backward before it started rolling forward again. It didn’t hit anyone.
My heart still pounding, I didn’t notice my phone buzzing in my bra until just that moment. I checked the screen, Victor.
I answered. “Where are you?” I asked.
“I have the V28. Where are you?”
Was he driving? I didn’t understand. “Where are you?” I asked.
“Go behind the maintenance building. Meet me. Keep me on the line.”
He didn’t sound like before. I scrambled to get around, scooting through trees and trying to keep out of view of whatever was going on at the Jeep and truck crash.
I only hoped I did it right, that they were okay.
There was no way to tell.
Fortississimo
(As loud as possible)
Victor
Driving the V28 was harder than it appeared, as Victor wasn’t totally used to shifting. The car groaned a few times as Victor got used to how to use the clutch and where to hold his arm in order to get the shifting stick to move where he wanted.
He was surprised it was in the back of the parking lot. He thought Kota had it for the night. What happened to Kota?