"Why do I need to though, really? I've gotten this far in life without knowing how, why's that got to change any?"
"It's a valuable life skill, Vince. You might be stuck out late one night with a friend who's too drunk to drive back, then what would you do?"
"Why would I not be drunk as well?"
"You weren't drinking."
"I don't think so, why would I be out late and not drinking?"
"You had a cold, I don't know, just – your friend is drunk what do you do?"
"Catch the tube."
"You missed it"
"Call a cab."
"You're out of money."
"Come on Howard, I don't wanna learn to drive! I'm gonna get all famous and then have a chauffeur, you'll see." Vince crossed his arms and sat down on the couch with a huff. He began to rub his shoe over a spot in the old carpet. Nothing happened.
Howard, meanwhile, had gone into the kitchen to make tea. 'Maybe I'm pushing Vince too far? He was visibly uncomfortable.' Howard supposed he couldn't force him to do something he didn't want to. Pouring the boiling water, some splashed up and scalded Howard's thumb. He didn't seem to mind. Howard brought two mugs out to where Vince was still on the couch, rubbing at the increasingly threadbare spot in the carpet.
"Oh, my Bowie mug. Cheers, Howard." Vince grasped the mug – which featured an illustration of Bowie as Ziggy Stardust – with two hands, holding it close to his face and taking little sips every four seconds. Howard shifted on the couch next to him, just blowing on his tea. After a minute Vince finally looked up at Howard through his fringe. "You don't even have a car, Howard."
"I've asked Leroy if I could borrow his to teach you." Vince scrunched his nose up in response and returned his gaze to the Bowie mug. "You've got nothing to worry about Vince, really. I'll be in the car the whole time, we'll start off slow, in a car park. Lots of people really like driving cars!"
"Lots of people really die in them too."
'Oh.' Howard breathed in deeply, and set his tea down. "Vince – look at me, Vince," Another through-the-fringe stare. "As long as you're careful and watch out for people, you'll be fine. Keep your eyes open, look both ways, that sort of thing. Some people do drive recklessly, but as long as you keep a watch out for them you can avoid getting in accidents."
"...yeah. It's... I..." Vince's voice wavered and he sighed heavily. Suddenly a loud sniffle came from him and Howard realized with a sinking stomach that he was beginning to cry.
"Heeey, little man, it's okay!" Howard shifted over to hug Vince close to him. "Shh, hey, come on, it's alright." Vince was trying desperately to wipe all his tears away, but they were rolling down his face faster than he could catch them. "I'm sorry, Vince, I wasn't trying to pressure you into anything, okay? Are you okay?"
"It- it's not- it's not y-" Vince tried to catch his breath, but was interrupted by small sobs.
"Deep breaths, Vince, can you do that?" Vince nodded and pulled away from Howard so he could sit up. After regaining his normal breathing, Vince looked straight at Howard.
"I'm not upset at you, Howard. I... I'm... I just don't think I can do it."
"Vince, of course you can-"
"No! No, I can't! I can't do it! I can't have that kind of pressure put on me to just go about driving this big metal thing around with people trusting me I won't slip up. People expecting me not to make any mistakes whatsoever. Cos if I do, Howard, if I do I'll end up hitting someone and I could kill myself. Or worse, y'know... I could end up killing somebody else." Vince stood up to take his now empty mug to the kitchen but didn't move. He just stood in front of Howard, shaking a little, trying not to burst into tears again. Howard was at a total loss for words, and simply sat there looking at him, wanting to say something. Vince beat him to it and spoke again. "I know what people say about me, when they think I'm not listening. That I'm slow, I'm thick, I'm a simpleton, a child, shallow. And, really, I don't even think they're wrong. That's all people say about me. Well, that, and that I look like a girl. It's all true. Naboo don't even trust me in the shop by myself. I bet they ain't ever gonna give me a license, not even if you tried to teach me for five years." Vince looked down at the little Bowie cartoon. "What a surprise."
