I can't remember when Benny said that it was Kevin who taught him how to drive, but I know he did somewhere... I thought it'd be fun to write about!
"Benny, ease off on the gas a little," Kevin told the boy next to him. Benny did as Kevin instructed, lifting his foot ever so slightly off the gas pedal. The yellow taxi slowed, leaving a good ten feet between it and the car in front.
"Good," Kevin cast a glance over at Benny, noticing that his posture was very stiff and his elbows were locked. His hands were gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. Benny's wide eyes were trained on the road in front of him. "Relax, son," Kevin reached over and gave Benny's shoulder a little squeeze.
"Sorry," Benny breathed out deeply. Had he been holding his breath too? Kevin could not believe that this boy, this happy, exuberant, outgoing sixteen year old, was so nervous and uptight. He had never seen Benny like this before.
"Okay, now take your foot off the gas and brake the car," Kevin said, noticing the red light at the intersection after them. They had a green light currently, but if Benny tried to keep going, he would get stuck in the middle of this intersection. That was not a good experience to have your first time driving.
Benny braked so hard that the car jolted and the tires squealed. Benny and Kevin were both thrown forward, seatbelts tightening around their chests.
"Oh, shit," Benny swore, his face a puddle of sweat and despair. Kevin chuckled and heard a sharp intake of breath. The next thing he knew, Benny was apologizing so fast his words slurred together.
"I'msosorrymrrosariothatwashorriblelanguage," Benny got out, all in one breath. Kevin just kept laughing, squeezing Benny's shoulder again.
"Relax, son," he repeated. "It's fine. My cousin taught me to drive, and I don't even want to think about the string of profanities the two of us used." Benny allowed himself a nervous chuckle, but he nearly jumped through the roof when the car behind them honked loudly.
"Ignore it," Kevin said dismissively. "They're just mad because you didn't keep going. But if you had, we'd have gotten stuck in the middle of the intersection and everyone would have been stuck."
"Okay," Benny nodded, his grip on the steering wheel tightening again.
"Don't worry, you're doing fine," Kevin assured him. "You're doing better than Lincoln, in any case," he added, chuckling again.
"Really?" Benny turned a surprised face towards Kevin. He knew that his son did better in school than Benny, so it must be nice for there to be something Benny was better at.
"He's such a slow driver I made Camila teach him," Kevin admitted. "Oh, the light's green. Just go nice and slow through the intersection, okay?"
"You got it, boss," Benny said, neither of them noticing Kevin's new nickname.
((Stoplight))