Her consciousness began to return with the sharp sound of a deafening ring. She lay there, unable to move her body. Using what little strength she had left, she raised her head to the hot orange blur in front of her, still unable to make out exactly what was happening. She felt cold. Then it all went black.

One Month Earlier*.

Police sirens screech in the distance. Red and blue flash against her mirrors, as rain trickles on her helmet.

"I can't get these guys off of me," she exclaims. "Any longer and they're gonna catch me in a roadblock." She revs her bike and speeds off as the police follow close behind. Squad cars jump in the empty intersection in front of her. Quickly, she banks into an alley; dodging trash bags and a homeless guy. Only a police bike slowly chases her down the ally. She speeds up, but sees a fence in her way. She veers to the right and up wooden planks left on the side of a dumpster. She flys over the fence and loses the police bike. She's turns into traffic and continues down the street but the police appear from an intersection behind her and restart pursuit. She weaves through traffic. Left and right. Around a Lexus that honks at her, and between a Toyota and a Mazda. She quickly approaches an intersection. With the light facing her on red, and cars scurrying through. Surely, the police thought, surely they finally had her trapped, but she revs once again into a wheelie, diving head first into the busy intersection. She leans into a left turn. Water splashes onto her, and as she feels her tyres slipping on the wet ground, she banks her front tyre hard to the right and drifts through the passing cars. Blue and orange sparks crackle behind her as she drifts naturally into traffic. As she speeds away, she looks back to see the police lights fade in the darkness. "Woohoo!" She yells with a fist in the air. She continues laughing in triumph as she turns her head back straight, an old woman with an umbrella stands crossing the street right in front of her. Quickly, she swerves out of the way. Losing control of her bike on the wet ground, she slams on the brakes, swerves into oncoming traffic and runs right into a Nissan sedan and gets launched off her bike into a pile of boxes. She grovels on the ground in pain as the police lights reignite around the corner. She's in too much pain to run away and her bike is nowhere to be found.

"Couldn't run forever, could ya kid?" The officer haggles picking her up and dragging her by the arms.

"This is why you always drive the speed limit!" The other officer joins, grabbing her other arm and dragging her to the squad car.

"Save that driving for the countryside, not in this city."

They harassed her all the way to the car, cuffed her, threw her in, and drove off.

"Let's see…" The monotone and depressing voice of the officer behind the desk was almost enough to put her to sleep standing up. "Ashleigh Toppin, right?"

"Yeah," she replies.

"17 years old… Five foot, four inches… Light blonde hair. Brown eyes…" He flips the paper. "Oh boy… Quite the track record… Reckless driving, evading arrest, excessive speeding, and assaulting a police officer… This is serious shit kid, you could be sent to a juvenile hall or worse."

"Why do you care?"

The officer exhales. "Look, I know you probably don't care, and you think the whole world revolves around you-"

Ashleigh cut off the officer, gripping his shirt and pulling him close. "Keep talking like that to me and you'll find out exactly what I did to that officer I 'assaulted'."

"Ash!" A voice shouts behind her. She turns her head. It's Uncle Mike. "Let go of him before you get into more trouble," he exclaims, marching up to Ash and pulling her arms off the officer's shirt. "Que Merida," he whispers before turning to the officer. "I'm so sorry for anything she said to you… or did."

The officer exhales again. "Just two more hours," he yawns, wiping his face with his hands. "You're her father, I assume?"

"No, I'm her Uncle. Michael Nuñes?"

"Mhm," replies the officer typing on his computer.

"Her father's no longer around."

"Mhm… and I have a couple guesses as to why?"

"He died Asshole!" Yells Ashleigh.

"Mira!" Responds Uncle Mike.

There was a pause from the officer.

"You're not even going to apologize?" Questions Ashleigh with slight determination.

"Well, the way I see it, I'm still waiting for you to apologize for putting your hands on me," says the Officer with a snarky undertone.

"Cabrone!" She yells through clenched teeth, and just as she was about to take a step. Uncle Mike quickly steps in front of her and grabs her arms again. She tenses up.

"Go to the truck… Now!" He demands.

"Well before she leaves," interjects the Officer, "you still need to pay the bail and impound fees."

Uncle Mike sighs. "What's the damage this time?" He asks, pulling out his wallet.

The truck was dead silent. Uncle Mike was pressed up against his window with one hand on his rugged forehead. Ashleigh leaned back into her seat almost wanting the seat to swallow her whole. They hid in the darkness, with the only light being from passing lamp posts and the time that gently hissed off the center console.

2:37AM

"50 thousand dollars… I just lost 50 THOUSAND dollars, because you just can't be a normal kid."

Silence rings in the truck.

"I'm not a normal kid though."

Uncle Mike sighs. "Listen Ashleigh. Stuff happens. Life happens, and most of the time life isn't going to be fair to you. It's not being fair to the both of us right now. You're 17 years old. So right now you can get off easy with your poor decisions, but in 3 months, you're going to be an adult! And- And worse is going to happen to you!"

"Maybe I want worse to happen to me…" She says half heartedly.

At that moment Uncle Mike slams on the brakes and Ashleigh's head bangs on the dashboard.

"Oww," she moans.

"Mira, don't you dare say that ever again! I made a promise that I would raise you to be a good person, and I won't let you end up in a place that will disrespect me or your family," he demands, leaning across the center console. He thinks for a minute. "I'm only gonna do this, because you need to learn responsibility and that your actions have consequences. So, you're going to pay me back."

"What?!"

"Si, every last dime," he says, crossing his arms.

"How am I supposed to make 50 grand?!"

"Get a job! I've only been inviting you to come help me in the garage for years," replies Uncle Mike, resuming his drive home.

"Okay," she thought for a second, "let me work for you in the garage. I already know how to work with motorcycles."

"Hmmm, No thank you!" He replies cheerfully.

"Huh- What?! Why not?"

"That ship has sailed, me amor."

"What? But I could help you. You don't even have to pay me, you can just take my paychecks."

"Ashleigh, I just spent 50 thousand dollars making sure you didn't end up in a jail cell. I even got your bike back for you. I need you to bring in money from somewhere else."

"That doesn't make sense Tito."

"Mira! I used all the money I had left on you, we're all out of money. So unless you start helping me bring an income to our household, then I'm going to have to sell the garage just so we don't end up homeless."

And in an instant, the conversation dies. There was nothing else Ashleigh could say. She lets Uncle Mike's words resonate with her

"Get a job!… We're all out of money… sell the garage…"

She doesn't want her uncle to sell the garage, or end up homeless. Like it or not, she knows she's going to have to be responsible this time. She continues to think as they pull around the garage and into their tiny driveway.

"Get some sleep," he says, shutting the truck off. "Please me amor, I know your capable of great things."

Ashleigh didn't know what to say. "Goodnight Tito," she responds, hopping out of the truck and the both head up the stairs into the house and into their separate rooms. Neither could fall asleep. Each of them stuck thinking about what they will do now. Uncle Mike unsure how he would make ends meet by the end of this month. Ashleigh quickly thinking of places to find a job fast. Eventually the both found sleep, but the problems of yesterday will once again rise with the sun in the morning.