A Rush of Summer

Beat Two

Nathan:

Jake hands me yet another beer, I think I’m on my fifth one, but it could be my sixth. Who knows? The music pounding through Jake’s new speakers is electrifying. I can feel every single fiber of my being, become exhilarated with each second I spend in his truck.

                “Dude, you know what we should do right?”

                I tip the bottle back and look at him over the end of it. “What?”

                He sticks his bottle into the cup holder and shifts into drive. His hands shake as he grips the wheel, and he looks over to me with a lopsided smile before pulling onto the road. I can feel his exertion on the gas pedal, the hum of the engine purring louder with each second that passes.

                “J, what’re you doing?”

                “Just having a little fun, Nate. No big deal.”

                I lean my neck over to see the speedometer at seventy-five, eighty-five, and ninety-five­my heart beats a little bit faster each time I see the needle lift around the curve. Thud. Thud. Thud. What the hell is he doing?

                “I think you’ve had one too many,” I yell over the blaring music.

                “Chill out, watch this!”

                I turn my head to look at what he’s referring to. A black SUV makes its way towards us. It’s only a small speck in the distance, but it’s there. Jake chuckles before swerving into the opposite lane; leaving us face-to-face with the other car. Horns start blaring, the SUV as a warning, Jake as a threatening response. The distances between our vehicles vanish within seconds at the rate that Jake is going. I can see the smile still plastered on his face as he uses one hand to brace the wheel and the other to take a swig of his beer.

                “What the hell man! Move!”

                Yards. Feet. Inches. The other car swerves into the opposite lane, our rightful lane, their horn blaring the entire time. The oxygen feels limited in the cab of his truck so I roll the window down. The thwomp, thwomp, thwomp, of my pulse echoes in my ears, vibrates through my entire being until I am nothing but a shell full of adrenaline and shock.

                “You could’ve killed us, you’re such an idiot,” I shout at him, smacking him upside the head causing him to swerve. He goes to hit me back but loses control of the steering wheel instead. I try to grab hold of it, but I’m too late and we go tumbling into the shallow ditch a couple of feet away.

                Jakes’ head slams into the wheel, and mine hits the edge of the window frame. The tires fill the empty space of the grassy ditch bouncing the truck back up; but still leaving us stuck at the same time. I tug at my seatbelt but it doesn’t budge, it seems to have gone into lockdown mode. Reaching down into the door pocket, I grab Jake’s extra pocket knife and slice the seatbelt in half.

                “Nate, you going to cut mine too?” I look over at Jake, wondering how many brain cells he actually possesses. He lifts his hand up and smears the blood on his forehead. Totally wasted.

                “No, I am not going to cut your dumb ass out of the accident you caused.”-I place the pocket knife in the inside door handle on the passenger side before finishing-“When you sober up, find a way to cut yourself out,” and with that I start walking home.