Bean Road

Shane takes a shot from behind the three-point line. Brick! He grabs the ball, takes another shot. Brick! Once again, another shot.

“Brick!” Byron yells from the sideline.

Shane can’t help but laugh as he retrieves his ball once more. He dribbles it out to the top of the key. Everyone is leaving practice. Only he and Byron haven’t yet put their regular clothes back on.

“I got to end the day on a high note!” Shane yells out. He positions himself behind the line, takes another jump shot. Swish! “And now I’m done.”

Shane and Byron exit the gym and the frosty air hits their chests. Byron immediately zips his jacket up. Shane relishes in the cool air on his hot skin after a hectic practice

“10 minutes after every practice working on that jump shot.” Byron chuckles.

Shane checks his cell phone. 9:09 P.M.

“No, only nine minutes.” Shane smirks.

A slight wind rustles through the naked branches of the leafless trees. The two exchange goodbyes as Shane finally zips his jacket up. He approaches his car and sees that familiar light blue pickup truck parked next to him. Pat and DeAndre get out and greet him.

“What the hell are you guys doing here?” Shane laughs.

“We’re going to Pat’s place tonight.” DeAndre says.

“Come over. I got a fifth of bourbon in the trunk.” Pat smirks, pointing at his trunk.

“How did you get…” Shane stops himself mid question. “We got school tomorrow. I’m not drinking tonight.”

“No, tomorrow’s President’s Day.” Pat reminds Shane.

“Plus, Carlos is actually coming over. So, you have to come!” DeAndre eggs him on.

“Really?! He is?!” Shane is genuinely shocked.

“He’s just getting out of work now.” Pat responds.

“Well, in that case…” Shane pretends to be deep in thought and then dashes for his car. “I’m gonna get to your place first!”

Shane jumps into his car, turns the key and roars out of the parking lot. Pat and DeAndre jump into Pat’s pickup truck and gun it after Shane.

Shane gets a good head start pulling onto the road well before Pat can. But it’s not long before he sees Pat catching up to him. Shane turns onto the main road and Pat turns on soon after him. It’s fairly busy and cars roll by on the opposite side of the road every few seconds. Pat takes racing a little too seriously, as he keeps drifting over into the other lane hoping to pass Shane. But he’s not too crazy, he keeps falling back into the lane with all this oncoming traffic. There are not too many windows of opportunity.

Shane keeps a steady speed, somewhat above the speed limit. Nothing extraordinary. With the oncoming traffic, he doesn’t have to worry about Pat passing him. But here comes Bean Road, a neighborhood road that stretches for miles and leads past Carlos’s street, up to Pat’s place and then even farther along towards the grocery store where all four of them work. And there would not be much traffic, if any, on Bean Road. This is where Shane would really have to pick up the pace if he wants to beat Pat.

He turns sharply onto Bean Road and immediately mashes the gas pedal. Pat turns onto the road behind him and begins flashing his headlights at Shane. Probably DeAndre’s idea. Shane can hear the roar of Pat’s old pickup truck approaching from behind. Shane presses down harder on his gas pedal. A speed limit sign zips past him, reminding him it’s a 30-mile-per-hour zone. Shane checks his speedometer. 45… and climbing.

A bend in the road approaches. Shane lets off the gas a bit and screeches through the turn to the left. The road zags back to the right, Shane knows it all too well. He could drive this road with his headlights off… not that he would.

The road straightens out. Shane sees the longshot of straight road ahead of him. He mashes the gas pedal again. This is where Pat could, and likely would, try to pass him. No cars in the distance. Far up ahead is the next bend in Bean Road. Shane needs to reach that bend without Pat passing him and then there are no more long stretches of road until after Pat’s house.

Shane checks his speedometer, 50 and rising. Pat is closing in on him from behind. Shane keeps pushing down on the gas, 55. Pat is still closing in quickly. Shane contemplates if he should keep accelerating or if this is too much. He hesitates. And then the roar of Pat’s old pickup truck is in Shane’s ear as he swerves to the side and guns past Shane.

DeAndre hangs out the passenger side window screaming obscenities. Pat is accelerating well past Shane even as Shane keeps steady at 55. Pat swerves in front of Shane and keeps on accelerating. He clearly doesn’t want to leave any room for Shane to be able to retake the lead. Shane smirks, unsure if he will even punch it past 55. Pat continues to create separation and Shane is already admitting defeat. This is getting a little too fast for him. But he has to keep his time respectable.

Pat approaches the bend ahead, now a good 100 feet ahead of Shane. Suddenly, from behind the trees shrouding the bend, a car emerges on the other side of the road. Instantly, Shane notices the black and white paint job and the light on top of the roof. Ahead, Pat slams on his brakes, the red of his brake lights lighting up the dark neighborhood. Shane smashes on his brakes too as the cop car has now passed Pat and is coming right for him! His heart sinks and the heat of guilt overcomes his entire body.

The red and blue lights flash on. The red of Pat’s brake lights disappears. The roar of his old pickup truck sounds again, bouncing off the leafless trees and neighborhood houses. Pat’s pickup truck disappears around the bend. Shane has slowed to about 10 miles per hour as the cop car cuts quickly into the middle of the road, 50 feet in front of him.

The cop car stops in the middle of the road.

It reverses slightly.

And then it screeches on the pavement as it takes off towards Pat’s car.

“Thank God!” Shane breathes a heavy sight of relief. And then, after his own selfish needs, the rest of the situation sets in. “Oh shit. Pat.”

Shane doesn’t know what to do. He was going to head to Pat’s house. But maybe Pat won’t make it there. Or maybe he does. And if Shane drives there and goes up Pat’s driveway, he risks the cops seeing him do so and remembering his car. And what if the cops called in for another cop car to come around to find him while they go after Pat?

Shane mashes the gas pedal again, cruising up the straight stretch of road. The next turn off into a neighborhood to the right, he takes it sharply. He skids into a neighborhood with a couple streetlights at the beginning. None down at the end of the road. He races down the road, steadily heading into deeper darkness. He lets off the gas as he approaches a large oak tree, covering the driveway following it. He slows down and cuts into the driveway, pulling up as close to the oak tree as possible and stopping.

His car is probably hidden from anyone looking from Bean Road. Shane peeks through the branches of the oak tree. He can only see pieces of Bean Road from there. He turns his headlights off but leaves the car on and sits in this driveway to this random house.

Shane realizes his heart is pounding and his breathing is heavy. He feels like he’s about to have a heart attack. He tries to slow his breathing while he ponders what he should do. He’s afraid to head back out onto the road in case there is another cop out there. And he is praying that Pat gets away. If he gets caught, it is so much worse since he tried to escape. Should he just go to Pat’s place? He can’t wait in this random driveway much longer. Should he just go home? Should he text Carlos and ask what he thinks?

BANG!

A screen door to the house Shane is parked in front of gets kicked open. A shirtless man with wild hair exits, big gut, sinewy arms, and a shotgun in his hands. He marches right towards Shane and starts loading shells into the shotgun.

“Fuck!” Shane throws his car in reverse and peels out of the driveway onto the street, slams on the brakes, puts his car in Drive and stomps on the gas pedal.

BOOM!

The shotgun sounds off as Shane screeches back towards Bean Road.

“You don’t scare me!” The crazy man yells out as he jumps into an old maroon Chevy Nova.

Shane flies down the street back towards Bean Road and sees the maroon Nova back out of the driveway and follow after him.

“This guy is really gonna fucking follow me?!” Shane yells to himself. He pulls up to the stop sign before Bean Road, now in a pickle.

A man with a shotgun is following him and actively shooting at him. If he goes to the left, there is that long stretch of road he just drove down, and he would be giving the featured extra from Deliverance back there one too many clear shots at him.

If he goes to the right, there are more bends and turns in the road and it would be easier for him to lose this crazy asshole, but he will be driving towards the direction of the cop and into… who knows what?

BOOM!

Another shotgun blast from behind him misses his car, but just narrowly.

To the right it is.

Shane guns it towards the bend and whips his car to the left. He is shrouded in darkness from the night sky and all the tall trees surrounding the road. He realizes his headlights are off. He goes to flick them on… and then he doesn’t. He knows these roads.

He sees the maroon Nova come around the bend from behind him. He accelerates towards the next bend and takes it without slowing down, his tires screeching all the way. The road straightens out. He pushes harder on the gas.

The maroon Nova appears in his rearview mirror again. He approaches a sharp curve, lets off the gas and coasts through it to the left. It quickly whips back to the right, and he takes it like a pro. It’s so dark around here, but he knows these roads.

He keeps playing the gas and the brake and the steering wheel like his own personal orchestra. Zipping through bend after bend. His right wheels start to go off the road slightly into the loose gravel and dirt and he yanks the car back onto the road.

Another straight shot. He guns it, there’s Carlos’s neighborhood to the left up ahead. Too wide open. Shane speeds past it. Another slight bend to the right. As he rolls through the bend, he sees the maroon Nova pop up in his rearview mirror once more. This guy is persistent.

He’s going to have to shake him soon. The trees grow heavier and more dense. Houses are separated by a few hundred feet in this area. Pat’s house is coming up.

Oh yeah. He hasn’t seen Pat’s pickup truck or a cop car anywhere. Maybe Pat made it home. And there’s Pat’s house, about a thousand feet ahead. Shane scorches down the road. He notices a tan car pulled off to the side of the opposite side of the road with its lights off and the trunk popped open. It looks like there’s someone fishing around in the trunk. Maybe they needed help. And Shane would love to help… on any other day.

He guns it towards Pat’s house and smashes the brakes as he approaches his driveway. Thankfully Pat has a long driveway that sneaks into the heavy trees, hiding most of the property from Bean Road. Shane cuts the wheel and peels into Pat’s driveway. He turns back to his right to look down the stretch of road where he just came from. He doesn’t see the maroon Nova… yet.

He accelerates up the driveway and into the shroud of the trees. He lets off his gas slightly so that he isn’t roaring up the driveway and calling attention to Pat’s parents inside the house. He pulls all the way up to the end of the driveway, fully hidden from Bean Road, parks, and turns the car off.

He looks around. The garage doors are open. Inside are Pat’s mother’s and father’s cars. Pat’s brother’s car is in the driveway. Pat’s pickup truck is nowhere to be seen.

A large crash from the street makes Shane jump. Then, the sound of a car turning on and screeching away. What was that? Was that Pat?

Shane texts Pat. “Where are you?”

He quickly texts DeAndre. “Where are you guys?”

He waits. Nothing.

A knock at his window. Shane jumps and see it’s Pat’s mother.

Shane opens his door.

“Hi.”

“Hi Shane.” Pat’s mother smiles, slightly confused. “Pat’s not here yet. He said you were all coming over tonight, though?”

“Oh uh, yeah I think so, maybe.” Shane is unsure what might’ve happened and feels he needs to keep a sense of ambiguity in his answer in order to protect Pat from any possible situation he may have found himself in. “I wasn’t totally sure what everyone was doing… so, I just came here. But I’ll uh, I’ll give him a call.”

“Alright.” Pat’s mother looks a bit skeptical and returns into the house. Shane pulls his phone out and pretends like he is going to make a call but doesn’t. Just in case Pat and DeAndre are hiding somewhere, he doesn’t want to alert their whereabouts to anyone. Maybe he should call Carlos instead.

*******

Pat and DeAndre sit in Pat’s pickup truck. DeAndre has his feet up on the dash, reclined all the way back. Pat is texting on his phone. He puts it away and sees DeAndre and his complete lack of respect.

“Come on!” Pat swipes at DeAndre’s feet, knocking them off the dashboard.

“Oh, what? Your high-class, expensive pickup truck can’t have feet on the dashboard?” DeAndre’s question dripping with sarcasm. “You have no power steering, no power windows, and one hubcap.”

“It doesn’t mean you have to mess up the dash too!” Pat can’t help but to laugh a little.

“What did Carlos say?” DeAndre changes the subject.

“He’s going to come over. He’s closing tonight, but once he’s done, he’ll head over.” Pat rechecks his phone to see if he has any other responses. He doesn’t.

“Sweet. I haven’t seen him in weeks.” DeAndre peers out the window towards the school. A dozen kids exit the gym and stroll through the parking lot, heading for their cars. “What happened with his brother, anyway?”

“OD.” Pat says quietly. “Looks like he’ll make it but, maybe we shouldn’t bring it up tonight. Give him a night free from all of that.”

DeAndre nods. He watches the kids all driving off in their cars. It’s silent. Only a couple other cars remain in the parking lot. He checks the time on his phone. 9:08 P.M. And then it changes to 9:09 P.M.

“Where the hell is Shane?” DeAndre asks. No sooner than when he finishes his question, Shane emerges from the gym with Byron.

Shane approaches his car and Pat and DeAndre get out of the truck and surprise him. They tell him how they’ve got a fifth of whiskey and how they’re all going to Pat’s place. Even Carlos.

And then Shane jumps in his car and takes off. Pat and DeAndre have to jump into Pat’s old pickup truck and chase after him.

They follow Shane down the roads as Shane speeds along. Pat keeps approaching closely as cars zip by on the other side.

“Pass him!” DeAndre shouts.

“There’s too many cars on the road!” Pat yells back.

Pat veers onto the other side of the road a couple times but is forced to keep veering back into his lane what with the oncoming traffic.

“You keep missing your windows.” DeAndre says impatiently, head bobbing and weaving as he examines the roads ahead. DeAndre seems to think he is in charge of the show here.

“I’ll get him on Bean Road.” Pat responds.

Bean Road eventually comes up and Shane turns quickly onto it. Pat accelerates as he turns onto the road.

“Flash your lights. It will disorient him.” DeAndre says as he reaches over and starts flicking Pat’s headlights on and off.

“Disorient him?” Pat swats DeAndre’s hand away. “What kind of headlights do you think I have?”

“He’s speeding up! You gotta get him now!” DeAndre says pointing ahead at Shane’s car accelerating away. Pat accelerates in response, keeping close, and then beginning to close in.

“I’m gonna wait until that long stretch to pass him. Then, he won’t be able to pass us again.”

Pat follows Shane through the bends and turns and then there is the long stretch of road he was waiting for. Pat smashes the gas pedal in with his foot. Shane is accelerating ahead of them, but Pat is going faster. They’re closing in. Pat checks ahead of Shane. Straight road and no cars in sight.

Pat swerves into the other lane as he guns it. His truck pulls up alongside the back of Shane’s car. DeAndre furiously rolls his window down and throws his upper body out into the cold night air. Pat keeps pushing the gas pedal down. They ride up alongside of Shane, now even with his car.

“Ha ha asshole!” DeAndre screams out the window at Shane. “We got you mother fucker! You’re about to lose this to this fucking heap of shit!”

DeAndre ducks back into the truck as Pat accelerates past Shane and swerves in front of him. DeAndre rolls the window back up, as the frigid air invades the inside of the truck. Pat keeps pressing on the gas pedal. 60. 65. Climbing steady.

They both look back. Shane is far behind. They are creating separation. Pat and DeAndre are going to beat Shane in this race. It is a very important race. Bragging rights and all.

Pat and DeAndre turn back around just as a car comes out from behind the bend in the road in front of them. Pat’s headlights bounce off the shiny paintjob of the black and white monster on four wheels. Pat slams on his brake pedals and they immediately slow down.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” DeAndre howls.

“It’s a cop!” Pat responds, as the cop passes by him.

“You’re not going 15 over dude! You’re going 30 over!” DeAndre shouts.

“What do I do?!” Pat shrieks. The red and blue lights flash on behind them.

“Gun it!” DeAndre yells. Pat doesn’t hesitate. He smashes into the gas pedal and speeds towards the bend. He cuts the wheel and disappears behind the trees. He can hear the siren blaring. It starts to get quieter.

Pat doesn’t let off the gas. He keeps on it as he navigates the windy road.

“Cut your lights off so he can’t see us!” DeAndre shouts as he reaches over and turns Pat’s headlights off for him. Pat nods. He isn’t fazed. He knows these streets.

He won’t let off the gas for fear of the cop catching up to them. His old pickup truck jostles as he turns the steering wheel, the wheels squeal on the pavement as they veer around another bend.

A quick straight shot and Pat slams the gas pedal down harder. 70. 75. The sound of the sirens grows louder behind them. Pat squints through the darkness, eyes staying on the reflective yellow lines in the middle of the road. The moon provides little light. The streetlights are sparse. But he knows these roads.

He cuts the wheel to the left and takes them squealing around another bend. The road behind them disappears. They can still hear the siren. It’s even louder.

“Go, go, go!” DeAndre is rocking back and forth in his seat.

Pat doesn’t speak. He blocks out DeAndre’s erratic behavior. That won’t help him one iota. He is practically standing on the gas pedal. He lets off a slight bit to take a tight bend in the road. It almost feels as if one side of the truck is lifting up. He doesn’t press the brake pedal at all.

The road straightens out and Pat’s truck levels out. Another straight shot in the road. The sirens are just as loud as ever.

“Fuck, I don’t know if we can make it to my place.” Pat panics.

“Go to Carlos’s place!” DeAndre shouts, pointing at Carlos’s upcoming street.

Pat slows down just enough to take the tight turn onto Carlos’s street. Thankfully, Carlos’s house is the second one on the left and has a bit of tree cover. Pat speeds up the road and slams on the brakes as he cuts the wheel and skids into Carlos’s driveway, parking next to the basketball hoop. There are some trees directly to their left, seeming to cover them from Bean Road.

Pat cuts the engine off and they jump out of his truck, slam the doors shut, and run up to Carlos’s open garage. They sprint through the garage and reach the door that connects to the house. They don’t even knock, they just quickly open it and duck inside.

They close the door to find themselves in Carlos’s living room. Carlos’s mother and father are watching TV.

“Whoa, hey guys!” Carlos’s mother is surprised. “Carlos isn’t home…”

“I know.” DeAndre reacts quickly. “We’re going to hide in his room and surprise him.”

Pat nods, thankful DeAndre had such an excuse prepared. Carlos’s parents nod and whisper “okays” as if Carlos would hear them. Pat and DeAndre sneak off to Carlos’s bedroom and shut the door. They peer out the window onto the street.

“If he turns down this road, he’ll see your truck in the driveway.” DeAndre states.

“I don’t think he saw us turn here though.” Pat is optimistic. “I think he’ll keep going.”

They wait in silence, peering out the window. No activity. Not yet.

*******

Carlos plops the loaf of bread on top of the other groceries in the paper bag. He sets the bag carefully in the top of the shopping cart and looks to the woman.

“Bread’s on top. Have a nice day.” The sentence kind, but Carlos lacking in much charisma.

The lady nods and pushes her cart off. He looks at the cashier. She chews her gum with an obnoxious open mouth and stares off into the distance. Carlos sneaks a peek at his phone. He sees a text. He looks up quickly. No managers around.

He opens the text. It’s from Pat, asking him to come over.

“I’m not sure.” Carlos texts back.

“We got whiskey.” Pat texts back immediately.

Carlos thinks for a moment. It has been a while since he’s seen his friends. “Alright. I’m closing tonight. I just got to go home and change and then I’ll come over.”

He puts his phone away. Maybe a night with his friends is what he needs. Or maybe whiskey is what he needs. He looks up at the clock. 8:59 P.M.

Carlos sees the last customer go through the other register. Thankfully he doesn’t have to feign kindness with another person. He sighs. He looks at the bracelet with his brother’s name on it. He starts to feel tears well in his eyes, so he looks away. He needs to busy his mind.

Okay, checklist. Carlos is closing tonight so he has a lot of responsibilities. In fact, he should just get to them now. He’ll need to dry mop the floors. Then, he’ll need to clear out the egg case. Probably help the meat department with their inventory. And then he can reassess and go from there. He should start with the dry mop first.

He leaves the register and doesn’t say a word to Dazed and Confused Diana, chewing loudly and staring off into the distance. She’ll figure out we’re closing once we turn the lights off. Carlos grabs the dry mop and starts pushing it through the store. He starts on the produce side and does his usual routine.

Mopping all the floors and getting all the fallen berries, the corn husks, the inevitable half-eaten apple. Crazy Mary was here again. Carlos thought he saw her in the store about an hour ago.

He finishes with the produce section and starts mopping up and down the aisles. Carlos gets to the cleaning aisle when he sees his manager, Mr. Bartel.

“Carlos, get outta here.” Mr. Bartel says plainly.

“What? I’m closing tonight… I… I got to dry mop and then…” Carlos is confused, trying to lay out his plan for the night.

“It’s fine.” Mr. Bartel smiles. “Diana can do all that tonight. I’ll tell her once she wakes up from her open eye slumber, dohhhh!”

Carlos cracks a smile. That classic Mr. Bartel ‘Dohhhh’ laugh. It was famous in these parts. These parts being… the grocery store. Mr. Bartel always thought his jokes were the best because of the laughing response he always got. 80% of the time it was in response to his own immediate laugh at his own joke.

“Thanks.” Carlos appreciates it. Mr. Bartel has been very kind what with everything Carlos has been going through. Carlos has appreciated the extra hours at work so he can take his mind off things. But getting out of work early, especially tonight, this means a lot. Carlos will get to meet up with his friends sooner!

Carlos collects his stuff from the break room and heads outside. It’s brisk outside. Carlos realizes he forgot to take his thicker coat. This jacket doesn’t cut it in February weather in New England. He speed-walks to his car. He flings the door open, plops into the driver’s seat and slams the door shut. He turns the car on. Near-full tank of gas. Heater’s blasting. 9:09 P.M.

Perfect. He lets his car warm up a bit. It isn’t the newest car. It needs a brief warm-up period on cold days. He’ll head home, change, and then he can zip over to Pat’s. And no school tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow he’ll go see his brother in the hospital.

Carlos begins thinking of his brother again. Here come the tears again. Carlos is about to let them fall freely, and then he notices some of his other coworkers exiting the store and approaching their cars which are parked right next to him. He buries his thoughts deep beneath his heart, throws his seat belt on, shifts into drive and takes off.

Carlos putters along the main road. He hits several red lights along the way. Normally quite annoying after a closing shift, but when he gets off early and has time to spare, he doesn’t mind at all. He turns the volume up on the radio. A catchy song he isn’t sure he’s heard before is on. He bobs his head along and taps his hands on the steering wheel.

He finally makes it past the streetlights and intersections and starts cruising. He sniffs the air. Something stinks. Oh God. What stinks?

He looks down and finds the culprit. Cheese! Melted cheese that smells like it’s gone bad, plastered all over his pant leg. It must have been on a box that he leaned against. Or in someone’s bag. Who knows? But it is all over his pant leg. He can feel it seeping through. He pulls his pants down a bit and sees that the nasty cheese has seeped onto the skin of his leg!

Oh putrid, nasty, rotten cheese! He’s going to have to shower before he heads to Pat’s house. Now, he just lost time again. He needs to hurry home.

He pushes on the gas pedal. No one is ahead of him, so he keeps speeding up. His first night hanging out with friends in weeks, he doesn’t want to take forever to get there. Plus, he knows himself. If he takes too long, he’ll give himself too much time to think about this and might change his mind. And right now, Carlos does not want to change his mind.

There’s Bean Road. Carlos turns left sharply and steps on the gas again. He accelerates more and more. This stretch of Bean Road never has anyone on it at this hour. Not until he reaches the area where the homes are, that’s where he might start to see some cars. Maybe he’ll slow down around then. But he keeps pushing the gas. 55. 60. Climbing.

He starts to pass some houses. He still sees no one. He doesn’t need to slow down just yet. Maybe after Pat’s house. Once he passes Pat’s house and then it’s just a little farther up until he gets to his place.

Pat’s place approaches and Carlos wonders if maybe Pat and everyone is already there. Maybe he can see them. As he continues speeding along, he glances over. All he can see is trees really. He can barely make out Pat’s house behind all the trees. Of course, you can never see anything up there from Bean Road.

Carlos turns his eyes back to the road and suddenly, a cop car comes screaming around a bend and up the road! It’s coming right towards Carlos with the lights on and the siren blaring. Carlos glances at his speedometer. 63!

“Shit!” Carlos’s instant reaction is that this is for him. He slams on the brakes in hopes he can disguise the speed he was just traveling at. As he brakes his car pulls to the right. He tries to correct his car with the steering wheel, but he swerves right off the road and into the loose gravel and dirt! He loses control of the car and skids off onto the side, somewhat managing to keep his car faced straight ahead. He slams to a stop, his car tilted off the road, half in the dirt. Dirt clouds billowing up everywhere!

The cop car presses on from ahead of Carlos, zooming right at him. The lights and sirens grow louder and louder. Carlos squints as the bright red and blue lights come right at him.

And then the cop car speeds past him and disappears off in the distance behind Carlos. Carlos tries to catch his breath. Not sure what the hell just happened. He realizes the angle he is at. And a noise that sounded like a tire popping echoes in his memory.

He hopes that he didn’t blow a tire. But he better check. Carlos pulls himself out of the car and onto the road. He sees his headlights are shining straight ahead, illuminating the darkness and projecting his position. For some reason, it feels wrong. Like he is calling attention to himself. What if that cop comes back? And he is just sitting here, half off the road, clearly from his own erratic driving. He is not sure why, but he decides to turn the headlights off. So, as not to call attention to himself while he inspects his car. He closes his door and notices a black scrape along the tan coloring of his car. Probably someone with a shopping cart at work. Assholes.

Carlos goes around the back and opens the trunk. He starts searching for the jack in case he needs it. It always takes him forever and a week to find this thing underneath all the trash in his trunk. His backpack, notebooks, loose papers, receipts from the body shop, his bowling bag, tennis rackets, tennis balls, tons of empty soda bottles and tinfoil used for makeshift bongs. It's a lot to search through.

He pushes his way through everything and feels something metal in his hand. He has located the jack! That must have been record time. He gets both his hands on it and tugs. It’s stuck. Lodged underneath something. He keeps tugging and tugging. He feels it give a little bit but it is really wedged. He grasps it tightly in both hands and prepares to give it a big tug when a car races by in the dark, no headlights at all, flying right past him!

The sudden whoosh of air scares him and he pulls backwards quickly, tugging the jack out of the car and flinging it off into the road as he falls backwards. Carlos lays on his back in the dirt for a moment. He is breathing heavy again. He catches his breath. Then, he pulls himself up off the ground.

He looks back behind him and the car is gone. It either zoomed off somewhere or turned off into a driveway. Why was that person driving with no headlights on? Well, Carlos doesn’t have his headlights on either. It evens out. They’re both at fault.

He peers out into the darkness, trying to find the jack. He scans and scans and thinks maybe he has found it. Is that it in the middle of the road? Carlos squints more and can then start to make it out. Yes, that is the jack! Right in the middle of the road! He can see it very clearly now! Too clearly. The jack is engulfed in light. Carlos is confused and looks back the other way down Bean Road and sees a maroon Chevy Nova hauling down the road. It races along and then drives right into the jack!

The loud clang is a horrible sound. The Nova screeches on the pavement. It swerves off the road. It tumbles off the side of the road into the dirt and flips over, landing right on the roof! The trunk busts open and things go flying everywhere! A bunch of metal things, tools, car parts, other objects. Brown bags cascade down onto the pavement and scatter all around the overturned car.

“Holy Fuck!” Carlos screams out. He stands there, frozen.

It’s silent. One of the wheels on the Nova is slowly spinning in the air. Carlos hears one of the doors being jostled from the inside. He sees his jack, still in the middle of the road. He sprints towards it, grabs it, tosses it into his trunk and jumps into the driver’s seat.

Flat tire or not flat tire, Carlos is getting the fuck out of here! He squeals off down the road. The ride is smooth. His tire seems to be perfectly fine. He motors along the road, driving fast, but not too fast, careful if anyone else should pass him. He sees no one else the whole way.

He turns off Bean Road onto his street. He pulls up to his driveway and sees Pat’s truck parked in the driveway.

“What the hell?” Carlos parks next to Pat’s truck and rushes inside.

As he rushes in, he feels his phone buzz in his pants pocket. He pulls it out. It’s a message from Shane. “Hey man. Where are you right now?”

*******

Pat, Shane, DeAndre and Carlos sit quietly in Carlos's living room. After that ordeal, they refused to go back to Pat's place. Carlos checks his phone. 11:09 P.M.

“My parents are probably asleep by now.” Carlos says, and Pat sneakily pulls the fifth of whiskey out of his backpack. DeAndre, Shane and Carlos all hold their cups out towards Pat. He pours them splashes of whiskey. He pours one for himself and sets it down on the coffee table.

Carlos quickly scampers towards the doorway leading to the rest of the house. No movement. His house is silent. Carlos returns to the couch. Pat grabs the remote and turns the TV on.

“Put ESPN on.” DeAndre demands, taking a swig of his drink.

“My heart is still beating so damn fast.” Carlos says. He takes a slow sip of his whiskey.

“Yeah. Um, sorry about that.” Shane says, fighting a smile. Carlos snorts a laugh.

“But we can’t tell anyone about that. Not for a while, right?” Carlos looks to everyone. Shane and DeAndre nod in agreement. Pat is fixated on the TV.

“Not for a really long time.” Pat says.

Everyone looks to the TV. It’s on the news. A reporter at a scene. The scene, Bean Road, just outside Pat’s place. His driveway in the background. The overturned car in the foreground. Police arresting the crazy man from the Nova, all cut up and bleeding.

“Police found multiple guns, knives, bulletproof vests, and several bags filled with heroin.” The reporter states. “Police believe it to be upwards of 20 pounds, making this the largest drug bust that the town has ever seen.”

Pat, DeAndre, Shane and Carlos all stare at each other wide-eyed. Everyone swigs the rest of their whiskey. Pat pours another glass for each of them.

Pat changes the channel to ESPN.

“Cheers to President’s Day?” DeAndre says with a grin, holding his glass up.

They clink their glasses together. They sip slowly. They turn the lights off in the living room. They close the curtains to the windows that face out towards the road. That’s Bean Road out there. They know that road.