“It’s time for Chaos!” Dex shouts.
We stealthily leave the van, closing the doors quietly.
Josh is Richard Nixon, Trevor is Ronald Reagan, Zeke is John F. Kennedy, and Danny is Jimmy Carter. We ease into the unlocked Subaru, cat burglar like, to avoid detection. Zeke is the driver for tonight’s episode of Chaos. Josh sits in the passenger seat beside him. Danny and I sit at opposite ends in the back seat, which is a good thing, because I don’t want to be hit with an attempted murder charge for throwing the fucker out of a moving vehicle. With the four of us it’s a tight fit.
Zeke hotwires the Subaru then zooms out of the parking lot.
“Woohoo!” Josh shouts with his head hanging out of the window.
The deputy runs out of the diner and chases after his stolen ride. “You fucking kids! I’m going to kick your asses!”
“There you are Deputy These Nuts. We were looking for you. Thanks for letting us borrow your ride!” Danny yells.
Zeke is doing at least ninety miles per hour. This reckless shit is right up my alley. I’m prepared to die, but I guarantee they’re not.
“You guys do know that every cop in the area will be on us in about ten minutes or less,” I say.
“Relax, we won’t get caught.” Dex grins.
Josh switches on the radio, turning the volume up full blast. The tires screech as Zeke jerks the steering wheel right to peel around a corner.
Two police cruisers come out of nowhere behind us, sirens echoing through the night.
“Fuck.” Zeke puts the pedal to the metal.
He turns onto a street lined with houses on either side.
“Push it, Zeke! If we get caught, I’m fucked. My dad is going to be beating my ass from now until I graduate college,” Danny yells behind him.
“I’m trying to get us out of this in one piece,” he replies.
“Shit, we’re going to die,” Dex says.
Zeke loses control and crashes into a fire hydrant. Water shoots into the air. The doors swing open and we bolt. The police give chase. I have no idea which way Danny, Dex, Trevor, or Zeke went, but Josh and I end up running in the same direction. I jump over a metal fence surrounding a house and hit the ground running. Josh follows. When I hear a thud, I glance back. Josh is hanging upside down, his foot caught on the fence. I should leave the bitch, but I go back to help him. I jump back over the fence and attempt to free him. His shoe lace is tangled in the metal. The damn gloves make it difficult for me to loosen the laces.Shit.
“Shit, they’re coming,” Josh warns.
I pull the gloves off.
“Hurry up.”
“I’m trying asshole,” I snap.
The sounds of the cops’ footsteps are getting closer. When I release his foot, he takes off running. I lift my leg prepared to hop over the fence, but I’m grabbed by my arm and thrown to the ground.
Damn.
Policemen converge on me and a knee rams into the center of my back. My wrists are twisted behind me and handcuffed.
Ricky is going to be pissed.
Josh storms past my open door. Something is wrong. Ricky left the house in a fit of anger fifteen minutes earlier. I place the book I’d been reading on the bed before going into Josh’s bedroom. I find him pacing, sweating bullets. He’s in panic mode and hasn’t notice me.
“What happened?”
He looks over at me, startled.
“It’s all fucked up, Cin. It’s fucked.”
