Ride or Die

Chapter 14:Will i see you again?

Looking in the mirrors, I press the car gently. I see the lamp posting on my right. I turn my wheel, swinging the rear of the car right so I orbit around the post.

"I did it!" I Shouted happily. "I will be a professional driver again!"

"You're on your way. That's for sure." Said Peter. He bites his lip and looks out of the window. "Look I didn't mean to shut you out like earlier."

"It's okay. I just get the sense that you don't want me to get the real you."

"Because I don't, Bailey." He Said. "Look at you... then look at me. You're gonna be valedictorian. I never even went to high school." He admitted. "Bailey, I was born in prison. Those bars were the first thing I saw when I came into the world. Hell, I don't even know where my mum is now. Probably still there." I wasn't expecting him to have such a cruel childhood. "I didn't have anything and I was anybody, and I knew that. I always knew that." He admitted.

"Peter, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I hate that. I don't need you to pity me. I'm just trying to make you understand how I grew up. Who I am. How I survive."

"I really don't want to mess anything up for you." I mumbled.

"But don't you see that's what's driving me crazy?" He Asked. "Some part of me really wants you to mess things up for me." I lean across the console and take his hands in mine.

"Hey, come here." I Said to confront him. I kiss him, but he doesn't react at first. Then he kisses me back hard, his hand rough and callused against my face.

Suddenly, he reaches over and pulls me from the driver's seat into his lap, his fingers finding my bare skin on the small of my back. I pull back, leaning my forehead against Peter's.

"I know it's moving too fast." He Said.

"I'm starting to like fast things." He reaches up to kiss me once more. I give myself into it. Then, Peter, pulls back, his lips against my neck.

"What are you doing Bailey? What are you doing in a car with a guy like me?" He Asked and his doubts made me think that he is somehow trying to protect me, trying to send me away because I will be hurt. "You outta be a million miles from here."

"There's no other place that I'd rather to be." We kiss again. After a while, I pull back, apart. Peter climbing back into the driver's seat. He starts up the car again and puts it into the gear.

"Not bad Bailey, soon enough you'll be one of us." He Said. One of them?

"One of us? What does that mean?" I asked him and Peter doesn't say anything for a moment. His face is stone.

"I just meant a good driver."

"No you didn't!" I Said, struggling to keep my voice quiet. Peter's smile flickers.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know, okay? I know you're not just a bunch of street racers. Not some auto shop crew. Not some dropout who runs from the cops, after a party." I confessed. "I know where you get these cars for Jace. I know what you do Peter, I know what you are."

"And what's that?"

"You're career criminals." I Shouted. "I'm not stupid or naive or whatever you think I am!"

"I never thought any of that."

"I'm not saying you're a bad person. And your crew, they seem like good people too. Except from the crimes, I guess."

"I never have a choice. If I did, it was between this and living in a box under an overpass." He Said. "Me, Ralph, Sydney... the world never gave us a chance. Why would we give a damn about it's rules?" He Asked exasperated. "This is the only way we get to live in our own terms, the way you and everyone else take for granted. But at least we try to be careful about who we hurt!" He pauses for a while. "When we boost cars, it's not from regulars folks. It's big businesses and rich assholes."

"You're doing it for yourself and that doesn't make it right."

"No, but it makes me feel better about it."

"I understand why you feel like you have to do this." I Said.

"You do?"

"The world hasn't treated you fairly. If I were you, I wouldn't feel any obligation to treat back fairly, either."

"You're right." He Mumbled.

"I guess, I just wish you'd have told me sooner." Peter is quiet for a long moment, strong off to the horizon.

"Because I thought you'd leave, because you saw anything worth a damn in me." He sighed. "Besides, everyone has a secret."

I think about what he said, if he knew my father was a detective investigating them. I try not to let my face, betray me.

"Yeah, everybody does." He meets my eyes. We both fall silent, just gazing at each other. I swallow and then look away. Suddenly I notice the color of the sky begging to change. "Is that the sunrise? What time is it?" I Shouted. "My dad will be back from his night shift before I get home!"

"You sure about that?" Peter speeds down the streets. I roll down the window, letting the wind blow through my hair. As the sun peeks over the horizon, Peter slows down in front of my house.

"His car isn't in the driveway yet. Thank you, thank you." I Said.

"No sweat." I practically jump out of the car before he completely stops. "Bailey, Wait. Will I see you again?" I pause looking at him back.

"Peter, I just need some time to think." Peter nods, understanding. Then he guns away.