(Evie - two weeks before high school graduation)
It had been a good night. Evie had gone into the city in order to catch a movie, some B-level sci-fi flick that had been playing in one of the little theaters off the main stretch. The whole thing had been utterly ridiculous, but she loved every cheesy, foam-costume-filled, stilted dialogue moment of it. Her only disappointment was that no one had been able to join her for it.
Happily sipping upon the remnants of her cola, she crossed main drag on the way to her car. She had had to park a couple of blocks over since this theater had what amounted to a postage stamp for a parking lot. As she and a gaggle of other teenagers cross the road, she glances at the line-up of cars waiting at the light, sitting patiently as they await the opportunity to go.
One of the cars catches her attention. It's a beauty. A black and silver 1957 Mercury Comet. a classic antique. Though she doesn't hold the same interest in cars that her father does, she still notices it with a touch of admiration. Her eyes cross the hood and she briefly meets the eyes of the young man behind the wheel. She smiles and nods...
...and stops. That's not right.
Turning to face the driver, she squints into the shadows and see none other than her brother, Ricky, his face a mask of panic as he realizes that he's been made. His hands clutch the wheel, his knuckles white. His eyes dart to either side, looking for a way around, but he is quite stuck. Unless he wants to back into other cars or run over pedestrians...well...he's screwed.
"That is not one of Dad's cars!" Evie whispers, aghast. She smacks one hand down on the hood and calls out, "Ricky! Goddammit!"
"Evie, get out if the way!" Ricky screams out of the window, eager to flee this embarrassing scene.
"Oh, no. No, no, no," Evie storms around to the passenger side and grabs the handle, yanking the door open before he can fling himself across the seat and hit the lock.
By now, a small crowd of teenagers has gathered on one curb, watching and giggling with interest. They have no idea what is going on and assume that this must be some tiff between a boyfriend and girlfriend.
Just as the light turns green, Evie slips into the seat and glares at her brother. Having little choice other than to drive, at this point, the young man steps on the gas and rolls down the street.
"What are you doing?" Evie fumes. "Don't tell me that you stole this for those Scarlet Snake assholes. You stole it, didn't you? Oh, my god...we are in a stolen car!"
"No! No, no...Evie. I didn't steal it. I'm just...borrowing...this one. I swear to God, I'm going to give it back," Ricky stammers as he tries to explain. But, after a second or two, the good, ol' teenage bravado kicks in. Evie is just his sister. It's not like she's an authority figure! "What if I was taking it to the chop shop? It's none of your business what I do. I get good money for bringing in these wheels."
"Yeah, actually, it is my business," Evie snaps. "You're my family and it's my duty to keep you from ruining your life. Why I care, I don't know...but I do. And how long do you think you are going to be able to keep up this life before you get caught? Huh? Are your Snake friends going to come bail your sorry ass out? Nope. That's going to be Mom and Dad."
"Pfft," Ricky scoffs at Evie's words, "Listen to you. You haven't even been accepted into a law enforcement program yet and you are already going full out smokey on me. You're so fucking self-righteous..." He sneers at her.
"Self-righteous?! I am riding in a fucking stolen car with you, right now, trying to scream some sense into your thick head. It doesn't matter if you "borrowed" it. If we get caught in this thing, I am going down with you. Do you honestly think that if I didn't love you that I would even be here, risking my future? No. I would still be walking across that road, drinking my Coke and thinking about how I'm glad that it's not my ass on the line. But I am here. My ass is one the line, too, and...and..." Evie throws up her hands in frustration, at a complete loss for words. She can't even marshal her thoughts into a coherent argument, she's so angry,
Ricky makes a few turns, slipping the car off the main strip and obviously headed for the open road outside of the city. He glares sullenly through the windshield, his joyride completely ruined.
Evie sits in the passenger seat, her arms crossed in front of her. She sits for long moments, stewing in the uncomfortable silence. Glancing out the window, she watches as the buildings fall away gradually and there is nothing outside but darkness and sand.
With a sigh, she turns to Ricky, "You know it's true, right? I do love you. You just...you're being stupid."
Ricky bristles. No one likes to be called stupid, least of all a young man who feels he has something to prove. The problem is that, deep down, he knows she is right and that makes it even worse. He grips the wheel even tighter, trying to think of something to say, anything to refute Evie's words.
She continues, "What are those guys doing with their lives? They're just thugs, Ricky. Just thugs. They're never going to be anything else. All they know how to do is hurt people, to use them, to make themselves feel big and bad and powerful...but they really aren't. Do you really want to be like that?"
"Well, what else is there?" he snaps back. "That's all anyone ever wants! Everyone wants to be rich and powerful. Fuck, even the guy working the cash register at the gas station wants that. And, do you think there's anyone out there that's not willing to step on others to get what they want?"
Evie takes a deep breath and answers, "I don't. You know mom and dad don't. Ian doesn't." She looks askance at her brother, "What about Ian? You know he idolizes you. He thinks you are the best thing ever. Are you going to lead him down this path? You know he has so much more potential than that."
"You...you...manipulative bitch!" Ricky growls. "I'm not leading Ian anywhere. He's free to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Don't you bring him into this! Don't you dare!"
"Yeah, well...it doesn't matter whether you like it or if your little feelings get hurt. It's the truth," Evie snaps in return. "What you do will affect him. Just like it affects me and mom and dad. So get over yourself! Your life isn't bad."
Evie snorts and looks at him, completely confused by all of this, "I mean, what the hell, Ricky? You have a good life. Okay, yeah...we're not rich, but we're not stinking poor, either. We don't have to live on the street or eat from garbage cans. No one beats you. I just...I don't understand. I do not understand where this is coming from!"
"You wouldn't," Ricky grouses, his face set in a dark scowl.
"Okay, then. Explain it," Evie turns to face him, challenging him. "Pull the car over, right now, and explain this shit to me."
"No," Ricky continues to drive, ignoring her. The thing is, he's not sure that he can explain it. All he knows is that it's good to feel like part of a group, to be accepted, to run with friends and not feel alone. He's simply made the age-old mistake of choosing the wrong group to run with and he's not ready to accept that it was a mistake. How could it be a mistake? These are his friends! Asking him to just turn on them would be like asking Evie to turn on Saul.
"Ugh! You are...infuriating!" Evie growls and sits back in her seat. For a few more, long moments she stares out at the darkened desert. The light pollution from the city behind them makes it impossible to see many stars, but the sky is getting cleared the farther they go.
Eventually, she sighs, "Okay, fine. Do what you are going to do. But, right now, we need to get this car back to its owner. Let's get it washed and put some gas in it." She glances at Ricky nervously, "Do you think the owner has reported it stolen, already?"
"Nah," he answers. "It belongs to an old guy. He falls asleep watching Wheel of Fortune every night. You can see him through his bedroom window. Guy probably won't wake up until tomorrow morning. We can have it back, no problem."
He taps his fingers on the wheel and glances at Evie, "I really was going to take it back. It's just...it's a kickass car and I wanted to drive it."
"I know. But you can't keep doing this."
Ricky grunts noncommittally and looks for a convenient place to turn around. The two ride in silence for a long time. Once back in the city, they run the car through a wash and top the gas off. Hopefully, the old man won't question things if he notices. After all, how bad can a person who randomly washes your car and fills it up be?
They swing by the theater to pick up Evie's car and she follows Ricky back to the old man's house. He carefully parks and then joins Evie. Their ride home is a quiet one, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, they pull up in front of the ranch house where they live.
Ricky gets out of the car and stops, looking at the front porch. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and glares at Evie once more. In a whisper, he says, "I guess you are going to tell mom and dad, huh?"
Evie had been making her way up to the porch steps, but she stops and turns back around. She walks up to Ricky and thinks for a second, regarding him seriously. After a moment, she says, "No. This is our secret. But, if mom and dad ever find out on their own...I love you, Ricky, with all my heart...but, I'm not protecting you."
With that, she turns around and goes inside, leaving her brother to think about his path for the future.