âSafety first. What are you? FIVE?â seems Claudio to me
Johnny folds himself into the passenger seat with a scowl mean enough to spook a Rottweiler and spends about five minutes pointedly adjusting the seat. Claudio pretends to be scrolling his Twitter feed and doesnât even dignify the display with a look. He only glances over when he hears the exaggerated sound of the seatbelt clicking into place. Johnny shifts around, tugging at the belt, trying to get comfortable.
âIf youâre so damn uncomfortable, leave the seatbelt off,â Claudio suggests in what he considers a perfectly reasonable tone, pushing the button to stow away the glass roof and pressing the other button to start the Roadster.
âSafety first,â Johnny replies haughtily, patting his gelled hair and hoping it wonât all go to shit when the wind hit it.
âSafetyâ What are you, five?â Claudio snorts laughter, peeling away from the curb, but without the customary squeal of tires that one would expect. Tesla didnât roll like that. âSafety first. You forget you literally participate in gang warfare for fun?â
âBecause that is fun, idiot. Flying headfirst through your stupid carâs windshield at a cool 80 em-pee-aitch ainât.â
âAlso maybe if you didnât literally eat, shit, and sleep at the gym youâd be able to fit into my fly ass, sleek ass, not-at-all-stupid car.â Claudio pulls up Safeword on the built-in GPS, and no sooner had he mapped the route than he heard reggaeton blasting from a vehicle approaching the upcoming intersection.
âKnew it,â Claudio mutters, âjust fucking knew it. Goddamn Luchadores canât ever take a night off.â
The jeep spots them as they zoom through the intersection, and immediately veers in their direction. Claudio counts five jacked-up Luchadores in his rearview, and heâs more than pretty sure theyâd have company soon enough⊠but not yet.
Claudio sighs, seeing the bridge approaching.âJohnny. You got a rubber band?â
âAnswer the fuckin question.â
âYeah, I got a fuckin rubber band. Why?â
The Luchadores open fire. Claudio veers around a corner and their shots go wide. Johnny, who could sometimes ask stupid questions but usually didnât make a habit out of it, takes off his seatbelt, reaches over, and briskly pulls Claudioâs hair back. While heâs securing it with the rubber band, Claudio seamlessly shifts the Roadster to auto-drive mode, and when Johnnyâs finished he reaches behind the seat and pulls out his sleek new rocket launcher â deep red, to match the car. Everythingâs gotta match.
âUnbelievable,â Johnny mutters as Claudio hops up in his seat and turns around, his back against the edge of the windshield, his butt almost touching the steering wheel but not quite. He plants himself in his seat as the Luchadores start shooting again, and humps the rocket launcher up onto his shoulder.
âIn conclusion, fuck safety,â he cackles as he lets loose.