Dirty Drivers

Chapter 4

Gon's POV

Outside the rain drizzled through the worn roof, dripping delicately into a tin pail that echoed plip plip. No birds were chirping, only the peace of the rain lingered through the room. The soft hum of the fans churning downstairs could be heard through the thin walls, accompanied by the ever so slight sound of rain hitting the windows, jerking me out of my daydream.

I had been laying in bed for quite a while now staring at the peeling paint chipping from the wall that I stared at every morning. The dim light that leaked from the curtain tinted my room a grayish blue. An eerie color that felt like weighted hands pushing my shoulders deep into the comforter, forbidding me to sit up. I peek at the glowing alarm clock that read 6:57 AM. Groaning, I pushing the hands off my body and shuffle in my sheets to reach to my side table to pick up my phone. The screen lit up a dead battery image and I sigh. Fuckkk I forgot to plug it in.

The hands grasped desperately at my frame to pin me down again, and succeeded.

I flop back into my queen sized bed and toss my phone on the stiff sheets. I lay for a bit then decide to I roll out of bed and slip on a large t-shirt that had been crumpled on the wood floor. I trudge downstairs and shuffle into the kitchen over to the phone hanging on the wall. I grab it off it's stand and lean against the wall, dialing a number, yawning as the phone rang, waiting for the other end's voice.

The dull ringing of the phone was almost immediately cut off by a groggy voice on the other line, "Gon? Why so early, what's up?" Ashton replied sleepily.

"Hey, thank god you answered. Wanna run some errands with me today? I need car parts from Netero's," I say into the phone.

"Sure thing, I'll pick you up at 7:45. Make me some coffee though, would ya?" Ashton smiled over the phone.

"Sure man, see you then," I reply, hanging up the phone. Trudge over to the coffee pot to preheat then shuffle back upstairs to straighten myself up.

I decide on a pair of loose sweats, a tight, compression shirt, and Berks and hustle back downstairs.

I finished pouring the creamer into two thermoses just as I heard honking coming from outside. I waddle to the front door with my hands full and lock the door.

"Mornin',"

I greet Ashton with a smile and noticed he got out of the car and opened the passenger door for me, "Thank you Ash, I couldn't of gotten the door myself."

He nodded and turned on the car as I shut the door behind myself. I blow onto his cup of coffee and hand it to him.

"So off to Netero's first?"

"yeah,"

As we drove off, a sudden wave of dread flooded over me. I felt the hands press my shoulders into the car seat, slowly squeezing the air out of my lungs. I gripped my hands around my mug and tried to focus on controlling myself while Ashton rambled on about irrelevant things. I was paralyzed, stuck in a state of a solid, unable to forcefully rip myself from the hands' clutches.

——————

A bell jingled overhead as the both of us walked into Netero's, at the end of an ancient strip mall.

Netero's was an "unpopular" car shop to the public run by a crazy old man; but to many street racers, it was the real deal, the place to be, especially before races. Despite being literal centuries old, the place was a hit. When you walked through the door, a scent of old wood, metal, and dust pounds into your lungs. A few steps forward there was one checkout counter that was chipped and had a small stand offering lighters and gum.