Volume VI: And Introducing Harley Morrow As - Herself

14. Initiation

        It was raining on the way back. Naturally, I drove. Shaking and everything, I drove. I wasn’t going to let that psychopath back behind the wheel. He sat there in silence, smoking idly. I couldn’t understand it. I had been here from the start, who the hell did he think he was? He was staring at me for a period of time, smoke sneaking out of his mouth.

        “So you want the terms?”

        “Fuck you.”

        He chuckled, smoke coming out in bursts. “Ouch. Come on kid - hear me out. I had to see what kind of heart you had in you. You’re on the same channel as the rest of us.”

        “Yeah? What’s that?” I glanced over at him to see him glare and creep closer to me.

        “You don’t have one. At all. Like I said, welcome to the family.”

        “Everyone does this?”

        He laughed. “This predates you kid. I went through it with Serkis.”

        “What the hell are you ranting about over there?”

        “You didn’t just think that this was a clever idea that they came up with at random? This is a circus kid. The show travels. And the actors with it.”

        “Grey, can you be a jerk some other time? I’m driving.”

        He crept back to his side of the car. “Yeah, yeah, so I see. But don’t you want to know the real story? Don’t you want to know how Mr. All American got caught up with street trash like us? Come on. I know you’re just itching to know.”

        “Am I that transparent?”

        Grey laughed nonchalantly, he was curled up on his side of the car. I glared over at him, his eyes averted elsewhere...

        Crash.

        Fuck.

        Hello Mr. Policeman.

        I slammed right into a police car. I put the car in park immediately, killed the engine, and took my hands off the wheel. Grey smiled wider, puffing smoke in my face.

        “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.”

        How the hell I managed to get into this mess, I’m not sure. But I did. I sat there shaking as the officer stormed over to my window, his body fuming. You could feel the anger from him. But he tried to stand firm and calm, eyes hidden behind dark glasses. I looked up, seeing only my own miserable self.

        “Can I help you, officer?”

        “License and registration. Now.” I started fumbling through paperwork, killing time as Grey slipped out of the passenger side. I heard the officer address him - I heard a brief dialogue. And another cop surfaced from the patrol car. Damn.

        Grey and the first cop moved off to the side to talk. The other one came over to my side again, looking idly at where his partner had sauntered off. I looked at the new guy, younger, darker...sketchy. He asked that I step out of the car. Which I did. Stupid.

        “So who let a fool like you get behind the wheel, huh?” His voice was arrogant, a tone that condescended on my entire generation. I put my eyes to the ground. He kept talking amd I kept shaking my head in regret.

        “You busted up our car real nice, you know how much that’ll cost the state? You know how much of my time you’re wasting? You kids don’t have any respect for authority these days. I don’t know what the hell it is anymore. I was raised with respect, with morals. You never undermined the law. Never. And you’re wasting my time. You owe me.”