The radio clock alarm went off. CJ woke up to turn it off. He stared at the time. It was 7:30 AM. CJ looked out the window to find the sky at a nice, bluish-purple color. CJ sat on the edge of the bed and stretched his arms up in the air. He stood up on his feet and curved himself backwards. CJ got dressed in different clothes and headed to the kitchen. He checked the fridge and found a carton of orange juice and a jar of peanut butter. He took them both out, made a peanut butter sandwich, poured a glass of orange juice, and put the carton and jar back inside the freezer.
He took the plate and glass with him to the living room and turned the television on. CJ was lucky it had cable. The first channel the televison showed was Nickelodeon, which featured an episode of Ren and Stimpy showing the two characters getting jobs as fire dogs. CJ was 21 years old, yet he still enjoyed watching cartoons just as much as live-action comedy shows. In fact, the three Nicktoons was the reason he even took an interest in the Nickelodeon channel. CJ was laughing like a lunatic at the antics the two cartoon characters were being involved in.
Just then he heard his cellphone ring. CJ picked it up to answer it.
"Yeah, what?" CJ answered.
"Yo, man, it's Jethro, dude," he heard Jethro say over the phone.
"Hey, Jethro," CJ replied. "Whattup?"
"Well, I was talking to Cesar," Jethro started, "and uh, well don't get me wrong, dude, I mean, you are one out there dude, when it comes to driving, man, but Cesar, he told me how many cars you get through, dude, and me and Dwaine were like, Whooooa!"
"What is your point, Jethro?" CJ asked bewildered.
"No point, man," Jethro answered, "no point. Just that there's an advanced driving school, like, just up the road from the garage, man, like, in Doherty."
"Driving school?" CJ asked. "Man, exactly what you trying to say, man?"
"Nothing, man!" Jethro replied. "Nothing! It was Dwaine's idea. I think you're, like, y'know, cool and shit. I better go, CJ, I'll see you later."
CJ hung up the phone and set it aside as he continued watching television.
Come to think about it, I do need to improve on my driving, CJ thought. Also, it would finally get Ryder off my back from my driving.
So as CJ continued watching the last seconds of Ren and Stimpy, he turned the TV off and decided to head out of the door. He saw the building for the driving school across the street and ran to it while crossing the street. As he entered the building, he met a man in a gray jacket over matching pants.
"Welcome to the Advanced Driving School," he greeted.
"Advanced?" CJ asked doubtfully.
"Hey, this school is pretty special to say the least," the instructor continued. "To pass, you must score bronze or higher in all 12 tests."
"What kind of tests?" CJ asked. "I already know about the parking, the driving, the stopping, all that shit."
"There's a lot more to this school than that," the instructor announced. "To view a demonstration of each level, please use the TV over there."
He pointed at a black television that was adjacent to the back door.
"Passing a test will unlock the next test in the training program. You can come back and check your scores or take new tests at any time."
"Okay," CJ answered walking towards the television. "Whatever you say. Anything to improve on my driving."
CJ looked at the screen and saw the first test on the screen. It was called "The 360", which consisted on turning the car around clockwise.
"Way too easy!" CJ gloated. He walked outside and saw a car outside surrounded by rounded cones. CJ hopped into the car and started the engine. After waiting for a while, he turned the car around and formed a perfect circle.
Next was "The 180", which consisted on driving around through the cones ahead and returning to the starting point. It took two tries, but CJ succeeded. He still had to get used to turning since he struggled miserably with that during his driving experiences.
"Whip and Terminate" was next, which is where the driver must drive from the starting point and to the end without slamming into the cones. Again, CJ took about two tries before he finally succeeded. His turning still needed work.
Next was "Pop and Control", which has the driver drive the police car through spikes while controlling the vehicle to continue at the end without running into the cones. This was tough, as hardly anyone knows how to drive with their tires popped. So CJ had only one chance at this. It took him a while to get started, but once he stepped on the gas pedal, he had confidence. As soon as he ran through the spikes, he kept his control while driving with punctured tires. He struggled to keep from hitting the cones and barely made it to the end.
"Burn and Lap" was up next, which the driver must run three laps around the cone course in a limit amount of time. CJ completed the course in just ten seconds.
"Cone Coil" came up next, in which the driver has to ride past the cones and turn back around to reach the starting point before times runs out. It took CJ a good 45 minutes to get it. He kept on slamming through the cones, and the times he did avoid the cones, he didn't make it to the end on time. After over a hundred times, he finally succeeded.
The next task was "The 90", which is basically the speeding version of a parallel parking. CJ knew this was his main weakness, as he was very terrible at parking. So it took him a long while to finally get it right. After the 50th try, CJ decided it was time to take a lunch break. So he was provided food at the bar adjacent to the building and decided to wait for one hour before going back in.
After the wait, CJ still struggled to perform the parallel park perfectly. After 75 more tries, CJ finally succeeded. It took him very long to do, but he finally pulled it off.
Shit, if this was hard, these next test are probably gonna be intense, CJ thought.
"Wheelie Weave" was the next test, where the driver must continue driving while the car is tilted at a near 90 degree angle to reach the end of the track. CJ can feel his heart pumping for this one. He didn't wanted to get into an accident just for a test. So he crossed his fingers, prayed for success, and drove off the edge of the ramp with all his speed. The car tilted as CJ continued driving on two wheels while reaching the end. He barely made it as the car fell on all four wheels once it reached the end.
Up next was "Spin and Go", where the driver has to reverse and spin around to driver forward to the end without touching the cones. It took CJ around 30 tries to finally get it right, and on the fifteenth try, he was getting very frustrated and took a water break. After a while, he finally completed the challenge and let out a long sigh.
"P.I.T. Maneuver" was imminent, in which the driver must spin another moving vehicle counter-clockwise to stop it. It took CJ a few tries to finally get it right, but he was able to spin the other car around as he rammed through it successfully.
"Alley Oop" was up next, in which the driver must spin over 360 degrees and land perfectly while driving off the side of the ramp. CJ crossed his fingers and prayed he didn't end up crashing the car and killing himself in a car accident. So he let out a sigh and drove with all his speed to the ramp. He drove off the edge of the ramp and started spinning the car in a 360 degree angel as the car soared in the air over the other parked cars and landed in all four wheels. CJ let out a sigh of relief.
The final test CJ was given was the "City Slicking", in which he had to drive through San Fierro and ride back under two minutes. CJ looked at his watch. It was now 1:00 PM, and the streets looked inundated with traffic. So CJ decided to wait until it was late before doing the task. He went home to take a break from the driving school.
After six hours, CJ exited his apartment and looked around the streets. They seemed half empty. So CJ headed to the driving school to complete the final test. Moments later, he was inside the car, ready to finish it off.
CJ started the car and drove off through Doherty street. The streets were almost clear. Very few cars were on the road. The traffic lights remained green.
Oh this could be my chance, CJ thought.
He continued driving through Downtown and through Financial street. As he got to the end of the corner, he made a right turn on the next street and drove straight until he reached Esplanade East. He drove quickly, but carefully. He didn't wanted to get a single scratch on the vehicle. He watched the timer. It was exactly one minute and ten seconds. He had to hurry. Luckily for CJ, every light he passed was green. So it was much easier for him.
By the time he finally reached the end of the driving school building, it was all clear. He had passed the time limit without a single scratch on the vehicle.
CJ let out a sigh of relief. It took him hours to complete, but he got it done.
"Congratulation, sir," the instructor announced, holding a diploma. "You've completed all twelve courses. So here's your driver's diploma."
"Thanks, man," CJ said, taking the diploma out of the instructor's hands, and he walked out of the door. As he walked out, he ran into a slim, Caucasian woman wearing a black tank top over faded gray jeans. Her short, black hair had blonde streaks.
"Hi there, handsome," Michelle told CJ. "Name's Michelle. Heard you got your diploma for this driving school here."
"Yeah I did," CJ replied. "Passed every last test too."
Michelle reached inside her pocket and handed CJ a white card. "Here's my number," she told CJ. "Can I get yours?"
"F'sho', girl," CJ replied as he reached into his pocket for the card with his phone number and handed it to Michelle. "Here my number. Call me whenever you can."
Michelle read the card discerningly. "CJ," she read. "Okay. I'll see you sometime, CJ."
As CJ watched as Michelle walked away, he hopped inside his car and drove to the Doherty garage. As he parked out the gas station and hopped out of the vehicle, he looked around the city and saw the beautiful sunset.
Yeah, that sunset represents the best day of my life, CJ thought. That's why West Coast is the best coast.
As CJ walked into the garage, he saw that it was empty, except for Ryder talking on his cellphone.
"Thanks for the cash, sis," he said. "I know we don't get along very well, but I appreciate this."
CJ heard the familiar woman's voice through the phone. Ryder must be talking to Lisa again.
"I will, I will," Ryder answered in the phone.
The woman continued incoherently through the phone. CJ couldn't quite make out to what she was telling Ryder, but she sounded somewhat strict.
"I told you before, I'm through with the water!" Ryder shouted at the woman. "What more I gotta prove?!"
CJ heard the woman's incoherent babble through the phone. She definitely sounded strongly skeptical.
"A'ight, Lees, a'ight!" Ryder answered, sounding annoyed. "I'll spend my green wisely. I ain't gonna get myself into no trouble."
"Okay. See ya," CJ barely heard the woman through the phone say.
Ryder hung up the phone and turned to see CJ.
"What's crackin' witcha, CJ?" Ryder greeted, slapping CJ a high five. Then he pulled out a stack of cash from his pocket. "Check this out. Lisa sent $500 to me for all our troubles."
"No shit?" CJ asked delighted.
"Jeah," Ryder answered. "Lisa told me that since you, me, and the rest of us are now in exile, we deserve an extra wad of cash for all our hard work. Hell Lisa even told me she'll be here next week."
"For reals?" CJ asked. "She'll be here in San Fierro?"
"Jeah. "Ryder replied. "She still gotta run errands back in Pineland though. So it'll take a while."
"Well that's cool," CJ said. "One more family member to help us out on our dirty work." He then pulled out his diploma.
"Speaking of which," CJ started, "bam! Check it out, Ryder"
"Where'd you get that from?" Ryder asked.
"I took a driving school around the corner and passed every test," CJ answered.
"That a fact?" Ryder asked. "Well get in the car then, nigga."
"What?" CJ asked.
"I didn't stutter, motherfucker!" Ryder replied. "Get in the car. I wanna see how much you've improved since going to that school. No diploma means jack shit to me unless you got the skills to back it up. Show, don't tell, motherfucker! Now get in the car, fool."
"Okay," CJ said as he guided Ryder to the car.
The two hopped into the car. CJ started the engine and slowly backed up on the road. He put the car on drive and drove smoothly through the street.
"You think you can drive around this city without crashing into any cars or killing us both?" Ryder asked.
"I don't think, nigga," CJ replied. "I KNOW!
"Jeah? Well we gonna see about that," Ryder scoffed. "Eyes on the road, fool!"
CJ continued driving until he pulled to a stop behind a traffic light Downtown.
"We ain't in Los Santos, motherfucker!" Ryder reminded CJ. "So no running red lights here!"
After a while, the light eventually turned green, and CJ decided to drive straight Downtown.
"Just flow with the traffic, motherfucker," Ryder said. "You'll live longer."
CJ continued driving straight up the hill, barely missing an upcoming trolley.
"Chill, motherfucker!" Ryder scolded. "You almost crashed into that trolley!"
CJ just continued driving and made a left turn on the next street and later made a right turn on Calton Heights, in which he drove up the hill. Through a few stops behind red lights and stop signs, as well as smooth turns, CJ made a right turn to the next street of Espanade North. He continued driving through Espanade East and straight through Easter Basin. The breeze felt cool in the evening air, and the street lights, combined with the cars' headlights, illuminated through the city.
"I gotta admit, CJ," Ryder told him smoothly, "you really got the hang of this."
CJ continued driving until he made a steady left turn to the right, passing through a railroad track, and through a tunnel.
"Oh jeah!" Ryder bellowed, his voice echoing through the tunnel. "Look out, motherfuckers! Grove Street OGs comin' through!"
CJ just continued driving until he exited the tunnel and made a right turn to Doherty. Just then, Ryder saw two cars parked across the street of the garage and an empty parking space just between the parked cars.
"Hey CJ," he said, "show me how to parallel park."
"What?!" CJ asked, sounded slightly nervous.
"I ain't gotta reiterate myself, motherfucker!" Ryder snapped. "You know you heard me. You showed me how well you could drive. Show me how well you can park. I wanna see you parallel park between those two cars!"
Without another word, CJ let out a deep sigh and drove towards the parked cars. He stopped just right beside the car in front of the empty space, put the car in reverse, and slowly backed up into the spot.
"Don't hit that car behind you now," Ryder told him.
CJ backed up and struggled to straighten out the car. As he finally made it through the space, he put the car in drive and turned the wheel the other way. By the time he stopped, he was amazed at how well he parked the car.
"Jeah," Ryder said. "Looks like you finally got your drive on, CJ. I knew the East Coast was what made you a crazy driver!"
"Hey, I improved in my skills," CJ said as he and Ryder exited the car and crossed the street to head over to the garage. "Look, I'm getting tired, I had a really long day, and I want to get some rest."
"A'ight, CJ," Ryder replied, giving CJ some dap. "Catch you later homie."
He walked away and disappeared inside the empty garage. CJ started walking down the street and into his apartment. As he walked inside, he let out a long sigh and headed to the bedroom. He took off his sneakers and landed into the bed. He had never felt so satisfied in his life, not even in the past five years he was in Liberty City. All he could think about right now was fixing the garage and getting his brother out of jail. CJ eventually fell asleep as he contemplated his next mission by the morning.