Eye Contact by Heron Djenne Canvasback

Chapter Four: Animal Instinct

(Week four)

"Wasn't that fight wicked?" Chanel exclaims on their way to the pay-off boat for their rule-breaking; the driver greets them with a silent shrug.

Khan: "Yeah! That dude got knocked the fuck out."

Chanel laughs.

Khan: "He was even bleeding underneath his fingernails."

Chanel: "What's your favorite thing about fighting?"

Khan: "I'm addicted to the adrenaline. You?"

Chanel: "I like the cash flow when I win."

Khan: "How do you feel when you win?"

Chanel: "Like I'm on top of the world."

Khan: "Does anything else give you that feeling?"

Chanel: "Nothing else that I've tried."

Khan: "What have you tried?"

Chanel: "Some of everything."

Khan: "I stay away from shit that'll mess with my motor skills. I got to be on top of my game."

Chanel: "Do you fight in school?"

Khan: "Yeah, I've been expelled from five schools."

Chanel: "That's adrenaline, for sure."

Khan laughs.

***

"Whoa, the wind is killer!" Ado says entering their pay-off boat; the driver nods at them.

"Everyone else is asleep, right?" Octavius asks.

Octavius: "As far as I know. I wasn't followed. "

The bribed driver drives off.

"This is perfect weather for a race," Ado comments.

"Yeah, the motorcycles are at the drop-off," Octavius says.

Ado: "You scared?"

Octavius: "Most of my team stayed up. I had a hell of a time."

Ado: "Since I'm team captain, I made a curfew."

Octavius: "What took you so long then?"

Ado: "Sophia was having trouble sleeping."

Octavius: "What'd you do about it?"

Ado: "I knocked her out. She won't remember a thing."

Octavius laughs. "Are you going to do that every time?"

Ado scowls. "If she keeps this up."

Octavius "What if she wakes up before you get back?"

Ado: "She'll think that I had to take a piss or got some fresh air."

Octavius: "You don't think that she'll tell?"

"She's not a rat." Ado scoffs. "She's here for not being one."

Octavius: "Everyone is going to be on a motorcycle."

Ado's eyes light up with anticipated thrill. "How fast are these?"

Octavius: "They're for motocross."

Ado: "Good, because that's what we're doing."

Octavius: "We can bring weapons."