Ok, so I randomly put up this poll question on my profile and apparently, this came up on top. SO you asked for it. So this is the incident Holiday mentioned to Six during one of their Conversations.
Do not own.
"Okay Rex," Holiday said in a calm neutral voice. She clicked in her seat belt."Ready for your first driving lesson?"
"You bet, doc." Rex could hardly contain his excitement. He sat fidgeting in the driver's seat of an old Providence jeep. His hands firmly gripped the wheel at 10 and 2 o'clock.
"Rex, you should hold the wheel at 9 and 3." Holiday corrected him.
"But the manual says…" Rex protested.
"What manual?" Holiday frowned.
"This one." He pulled out a dog-eared pamphlet.
Holiday tried not to laugh. "Rex, where did you get this?"
"I found it when I got thrown into the dumpster by that plant EVO." Rex said.
"This is from the 80's. It's outdated." Holiday flipped through the manual. She tossed it onto the back seat. "I'm glad you took some initiative to learn but driving can only be learned by doing."
"Okay." Rex nodded eagerly. He adjusted his hands to the proper positions. "I'm ready."
"First, adjust your seat so that you are in a comfortable position."
Rex felt around for the lever. When he found it under his seat, he gave it a tug. He immediately fell backward.
"I'm not sure that's a comfortable or safe position." Holiday glanced at him wryly.
"I meant to do that." Rex said defensively as he readjusted his seat. "I was just testing the, uh, springs."
Holiday bit her tongue from saying anything Six-like. "Okay, now adjust your mirrors so that you have a clear view of… No, Rex, don't pull…" But it was too late. Rex had yanked off the rearview mirror.
"Ooops." Rex said sheepishly.
0o0
After Holiday had duct taped the mirror back onto the window, they resumed their lesson.
"Now that everything is adjusted…" She glared at him when his hand went up the rearview mirror. He slowly lowered his hand back onto the steering wheel. He hunched over a little. "…gently turn the key to turn the engine on."
Rex reached over and turned the key. The engine roared to life. Rex gave a little start but looked excited. A grin plastered his face.
"Put your foot on the brake… no the other pedal!" Holiday yelled when the engine revved.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot." Rex let his foot off the gas and put it on the brakes.
Holiday took a deep cleansing breath. "Shift the gear to drive and let your foot off the brake…. No Rex, that's reverse!" Again it was too late they flew back and hit a tree. A second later the air bags deployed.
Holiday tapped down her air bag. "Rex! Drive is D!"
"Oh, I thought that was R" Rex said.
"What? Why would you think that?" Holiday asked exasperated.
"I thought it meant run." Rex explained.
Holiday almost face palmed. Clearly, she should have walked him through all the controls first.
0o0
"And this is?" Holiday prompted.
"The signal." Rex said flatly.
"And this?"
"The wipers."
"And this?"
"The headlights. Come on, doc. I'm ready!" Rex whined.
"You're ready, when I say you're ready." She uncharacteristically snapped.
When Rex shrunk back a little, she felt bad. In a kinder tone she asked one last thing.
"Where's drive?"
"The D."
"Okay, I think we're ready." She said not unkindly.
Rex immediately brightened up. He shuffled into his seat and sat up straighter. He reached his hand up to adjust the rearview mirror until he caught Holiday's glower. He instead ran his hand through his already wild hair as if it was what he meant to do all along. He shifted into drive and let his foot off the brakes.
"Wait, you need to check and signal before you pull out." Holiday stopped him.
"What? But there's no one here." Rex complained.
"Yes, but you must get into the habit of always checking. Safety first." Holiday reminded him.
Rex sighed. He turned his head to check his blind spot before pulling out.
"Signal!" Holiday snapped.
Rex slammed on the brakes and they both lurched forward.
He quickly flipped on his signal.
"Wrong side." Holiday told him.
Rex changed the blinker. He checked and began pulling out… in… very… jerky… movements.
"Rex… keep… your… other… foot… off…the… brakes!" Holiday said trying to keep her teeth from chattering.
"Then where do I keep my other foot?" Rex asked.
"Just keep it on the side." Holiday said trying not to sound impatient.
"You know. This shouldn't be so hard." Rex objected.
"You'd think." Holiday muttered under her breath.
"What?" Rex asked.
"Nothing, just put your left foot off to the side. Use only your right foot and… Watch out!" Holiday stomped on the imaginary brake on her side.
"What?" Rex looked at her with confusion.
"Rex, keep your eyes on the road!" Holiday's voice went up an octave. "You almost hit that lamp post!"
"No, I didn't. I was at least 10 feet away from it." Rex scoffed.
"Try 10 inches." Holiday was now clutching the dashboard. "Rex, keep the car straight. This isn't a video game. You don't have to jerk the wheel so hard to… CAR!" She yelled.
"Yeah, yeah, I see it." Rex said nonchalantly.
"Rex. Stay. In. Your. Lane!" Holiday punctuated each syllable.
"I am." Holiday could hear frustration creeping into his voice.
She quickly tried to find something to praise him for. The only problem was that she was in fear for her life. "Rex, that was, uh, good, um good posture." She said lamely.
"Thanks." Rex didn't seem to notice. "This is easy. What was Six all worried about?"
"Rex, keep your eyes on…" She turned to look at the teen when she saw that he was looking out his window smiling at some girls in another car. Holiday sighed and looked out the front window. "REX! HIT THE BRAKES!"
Rex slammed his foot on the pedal. Unfortunately, it was not the right one. The jeep smashed the barricade and zoomed down the rickety old pier.
"Rex! JUMP!" Both she and Rex undid their seat belts and bailed out of the car. Holiday rolled to a stop. When she looked up the jeep plunged off the end of the pier. Rex got up and brushed himself off.
"Who put a lake in the middle of the driving course?" He asked indignantly.
Holiday swore that she would never take Rex driving again. Let Six teach him. He gets hazard pay anyway.
