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The last time I’d lost someone important was a decade ago. I’d been a bad influence, one he was smart to stay away from. He’d pushed me away and kept me at arm’s length ever since.
But I’d changed. I’d grown.
I’d fallen deeper for him every day since.
And yet he still didn’t want me.
Closing my eyes on a sigh, my thoughts drifted back to the night that had changed the direction of my life.
I exhaled slowly, smoke from the joint curling around my face. I was mellowed out, calm and floating. Ironic considering the speed Andrew was driving at. Stealing the car was his and Murray’s idea. He’d wanted to get high. He wanted ice.
They’d waited for the owners to go out.
Andy had gotten into the house easily enough. He’d thrown a brick through the glass sliding door, retrieved the keys, and exited through the garage.
Muz had bragged that Andy was in and out in less than two minutes.
They’d swung by my place on the way to get Muz’s stash. I’d piled in, lit up a joint, and enjoyed the buzz as the smoke hit my lungs. I couldn’t bring myself to care that I didn’t recognize the car, and I cheered Andy on when he sideswiped another car.
Andy chugged a bottle of Jack and revved the engine harder, daring the blokes in the car next to us to race. They’d been down for it, and Andy had taken off like a bat outtahell.
They’d turned off, and Muz leaned out the window, shouting at them. Andy swerved, and Muz squawked, gripping onto the door to stop himself from falling out. I snorted out a laugh, cackling at how much of a dumb-arse he was. Who the hell nearly fell out of a car?
I closed my eyes, inhaling another hit of the pungent smoke. I floated.
The car jolted, mounting the curb.
My eyes sprang open, and I gripped the dash. “Fuck,” I screeched.
My breath caught, my heart rate instantly doubling.
Time slowed to a crawl as my pulse pounded in my veins.
A six-foot, double-brick fence was directly in our path. In the beam of the headlights, I could make out the flecks of darker brown and red against the light beige.
The back end fishtailed, wet grass providing no traction.
Andy’s laughter bounced around the car.
I couldn’t tear my wide-eyed stare from the wall.
The headlight beams narrowed before my eyes. Dad’s voice was in my head. “Tristan, you’re good for nothing. Useless. You’ll end up dead or in jail at this rate.”
I was a disappointment. He disapproved of everything I did.
He had a point.
Fear reached out its bony, clawed fingers and wrapped them around my throat. I exhaled on a rush, a whimper of terror escaping me as instinct drove me to bring my arms up and protect my face.
The collision was like a bomb going off. Metal scraped on brick. The squeal from the car grinding against the fence, demolishing it and crashing through the wall of the house, was like fingernails on a chalkboard.
I watched in macabre horror as the front end of the hatchback crumpled like aluminium foil.
The wall folded, teetering for what felt like an eternity, before breaking apart.
Bricks collapsed around us, raining down on the busted-up bonnet.
Glass shattered. Tiny pieces flew at me like miniature missiles.
