The wind blew through Patrick's hair as he flew down the highway in Raoul's convertible, who was driving at a hundred miles an hour. Patrick sees his disinterested face look back at him while he stares tiredly into the side mirror. They've been on the road for hours now thanks to Raoul's poor directional skills through the East coast. If he takes the wrong exit one more time, Patrick thought to himself, I'm going to- and that's where he's stopped. Over the past hour, he's been trying to decide on what he'd do if they got lost again. The Rolling Stones blasts from the car radio. Despite the energetic atmosphere it brings, Raoul isn't singing or humming along. He was when they began their trip, but after hours of listening to the same CD on repeat, it loses its magic and just becomes background noise.
"Hand me another cigarette!" Raoul shouts over the wind and radio. Patrick, pulled out of his daydream, leans over to open the glove box. When he opens it, papers burst out and soar into the air. He lets out an 'ack' as a paper hits him in the face. Raoul quickly leans over and grabs the cigarette box, swerving on both sides of the road. "Raoul, look where you're going!!" Patrick shouts, throwing the paper off his face and reaching over to turn the wheel, putting the car back on the right side of the road. Too occupied to look, Raoul was attempting to light a cigarette, but the flame kept getting blown out because of the wind. Raoul quickly sat back up, grabbed onto the wheel, and swerved into a large dirt patch on the side of the road. Patrick ducked and covered, bracing himself to be flung out of the side of the car. The tires squeal as Raoul hits the brakes, stopping the car and throwing it into park. Patrick slowly eases up and looks at Raoul. "What the hell was that all about?!" He shouts with a panicked expression. Raoul doesn't turn to look at him and lights his cigarette. After puffing on it he shrugs, "I really needed a smoke."
Patrick throws his hands in the air and turns away, crossing his arms. Raoul turns to stare at him. Patrick can feel the weight of his eyes on him and turns to him. "What?!" Patrick shouts. Raoul smiles. He grabs his shoulder and starts to shake him. "Hey, man! Don't worry! I'm a professional driver. Now," He says, jumping out of the car instead of opening the door, "I need to grab something from the trunk real quick." Patrick grunts and grabs a cigarette out of the box. He begins looking around the car for a lighter when he hears Raoul yelp from the back of the car. He turns his head to look at him, but the open trunk is blocking his view. "Patrick, get out of the car," Raoul says, calmly.
"What, why?" Patrick replies.
"Just do it."
"I don't really want to..."
"Just do it, dammit!!!" Raoul shouts, slamming the trunk shut. Patrick rolls his eyes, opens the door, and steps out of the car, taking his time. Raoul runs over to him and grabs him by the wrist, pulling him along as he runs away. "Raoul, what- what are you doing?" Patrick asks, feeling very confused.
"Don't question it, just keep running!!" Raoul replies, shouting. BAM!!! Flames burst from the car and reach high into the sky, the heat of the explosion burning the hair follicles on Patrick's face. Colorful blasts shoot out from the trunk- red, white, and blue. Fireworks shoot into the air, their popping echoing through the mountains as their messages paint the sky- "Patrick, marry me!!!" "I love you!!!" "I heart you!!!" "Nice butt!!!" "you got any mescaline? I can pay good- I have a rich boyfriend... wait, are you still writing this down?" Patrick stops and turns to Raoul, who is standing behind him. Raoul chuckles nervously and smiles, "Uh..."
Patrick is too stunned to even speak. He can't even hear his own thoughts over the utter fury he feels. He clenches his shaking fists and hurls a punch at Raoul. He misses. "Hey, man!! Calm down! It was an accident!" "How. Do you accidentally BLOW UP YOUR CAAAR?!?" Patrick screams and starts pacing around in circles. "How are we going to get home...we're stuck in the middle of West fucking Virginia!! Because you, you- what did you even do to blow up the damn car?!" "I, uh," Raoul said nervously, "dropped my uh, cigarette. In a can of gasoline. Which, I guess...Set...off the...fireworks..." He admitted, his voice fading out into a whisper. He put his hands in his pocket and dropped his head. Patrick groaned and crossed his arms. "Ugh. Let's just start walking. We need to find a phone. Don't say ANYTHING and don't even get me started on those fucking fireworks." They both began to walk, following the road.
