Joy Ride

Joy Riding

The heavy metal door slammed shut behind us. Terry and I packed in the cell with two other guys covered with tattoos like sardines. Joy riding with friends sounded like fun until we ended up spending the night in jail.

The new car smell filled my nostrils as the summer breeze bristled through my fresh, gelled hair. I felt the hot leather seat under my faded blue jeans. I looked down to see my reflection as I nodded to the Pet Shop Boys blasting from the stereo. The Cadillac Seville was as good as new, except for the broken steering column and all the wires hanging out at the bottom because Terry had hot-wired and stolen it the night before.

We stopped at a red light around the corner from Terry's house. With our luck, two police officers were waiting to cross the street. I leaned over to Terry and whispered, "Be cool and act normal." I slid on my sunglasses and waited for the cops to walk past. Everything came to a stop; the loud music from the car stereo, the children's laugh on the street and the calm summer breeze.

"Don't you think the music is a little too loud?" said the police officer as he walked up to the car. When he looked into the car, the first thing he noticed was the broken steering column. "Turn the car off and let me see your license and registration!" he commanded. My hands started to sweat and my heart was pounding. I closed my eyes and waited for some miracle to happen. All of a sudden, I heard a roaring from the engine and I fell back onto the seat.

When I opened my eyes again, one of the police officers was hanging on the door for his dear life with one hand and trying to turn the steering wheel with the other. The car was racing down the block, shifting from side to side. It seemed just like another Jackie Chan movie, but this was real. I was going into a panic mode. What should I do? Hit the cop and get him off Terry or sit here and do nothing?

The car came to a squeaking stop on the opposite side of the road. The cop was about six inches away from getting kill by a parked car. As I turned around to look behind us, I saw that we had traveled more than half a block, and the other police officer was catching up on to us.

We surrendered ourselves without any more resistance. Three more patrol cars raced down the street while the police officers were putting us under arrest. They