Drift

It's a short episode based story about an eighteen year old boy who gets his first car and who embraces street racing.

My name is Stuart Grant. I’m of British ancestry and the essentially British traditions are followed in my home. I have a sister whose name is Sue. She is older than me but only by a year.  That difference makes her very arrogant. Hmmm…. But I suppose that every younger brother has to grow up under that arrogance if he’s nearing eighteen and is still shorter than his sister. Yea… I am shorter than my sister and Sue almost every day overshadows me with her sarcastic remarks and of course her height. But my last birthday, the day when I turned eighteen was the most memorable day of my life. If you are a normal guy who loves cars and bikes like I do and still don’t have one, you’ll feel jealous. The last birthday is still fresh on my mind. That’s why I’m going to talk about it to you.

 

Capital City

January 1,

The alarm screeched to life even on a Saturday. That really puts my life in perspective. I’m British is the only answer I have for my friends who immediately burst into laughter when they hear my curfew time and wake-up time. You won’t believe that I’m a guy. So I am not going to risk embarrassment and hence I’m going to skip the subject of my alarm time. So I had to wakeup; I opened my eyes and the poster of Manchester United I had affixed to the ceiling of my room comforted me. My room was small compared to the relative luxury of my sister’s room of which I was in constant jealousy. My room was at one corner with the door opening to the hallway of the first floor. Beside the door was my table and chair. On the table stood the possessions I loved and the only thing that kept my pride up. An Apple laptop and a music player which was still connected to the speaker system were the greatest of my possessions till that day. To the right of the desk was a good sized window. At the foot of my bed was the closet which had a few of my clothes. I twisted out of my Manchester United blanket and jumped out of the bed. I was in my shorts. I walked to the closet and took out a jean and a sweatshirt. I was startled when someone knocked on the door. It was my mother.

“Stuart? Get up and come down. It’s time for breakfast. “

I shouted back my reply strongly.

“Yea… yea… I’m coming down.”

Then the same was repeated outside the door of Sue’s room. But this time only there was no reply from her. I was finished with changing and opened the door into the hallway. The hallway was straight with three other doors. We were comparatively well off. But that didn’t make me the guy with the coolest gadgets. The door opposite to mine was Sue’s. The door next to hers was my parent’s bedroom and the door next to mine was the washroom. Ironic isn’t it? I went into the washroom and quickly freshened up and then brushed my already impeccable teeth which were in that condition due to the frequent visits to the dentists. Few minutes later I found myself walking down the stairs to the smell of my mom’s fresh bacon and eggs. The stairs leveled into the small welcome room. To the right of the main door was the living room and the left led to the kitchen and the behind the kitchen were the gym and my father’s home office. I walked into the kitchen. My mom, Cassandra Grant was short and thin and a great cook. She hurriedly put the eggs into the frying pan. The eggs sizzled in a way that made me smack my lips. Quickly, my mom reduced the heat on the stove and ran across to hug me. After all, it was my birthday.

“Happy birthday, Stuart; had a nice sleep?”

My mom’s voice had this extreme sweetness. I smiled as she kissed on both my cheeks. My mind was on the sizzling eggs for which I had an extreme liking even though I prided myself in being a vegetarian. I sat down on the dining table as mom set the table. The dining room attached to the kitchen was pretty large by the standard sizes. It had all the latest appliances and the air of technology surrounded the kitchen. I was deep in thought on what I should ask for my birthday. Maybe, I should ask for an extended curfew, thought my mind. Then mom placed the plate containing the eggs in front of me. I dug into the egg as she went back to cooking. Then the question crossed my mind.

“Mom, where is dad?”

Mom was in the middle of doing something with a huge pot on the stove. She responded to my question without turning.

“Dad is in his office. I think he is reading the newspaper there.”

I was finished. But there was this rule of not asking seconds during the breakfast. So I stood up and crashed my plate into the sink filled with water and washed it. Then I went in search of dad. I crossed through the home gym and knocked on the door of dad’s home office. All I heard was a grunt. I opened the door and stepped into the oak lined office of my father’s. There were books all around except for comfy chairs in front of the desk on which stood a Dell laptop. My father was sitting behind the desk holding the day’s newspaper. He was a lawyer and that I think would explain the amount of books in the office. He looked up from the paper and came almost running to me and hugged me tightly.

“Happy birthday Stuart,” he boomed.

“Thanks dad.”

He let me go and went back to the chair. I walked to the other chairs and sat down on the comfortable cushions.

“So what are you going to do today, son?”

I shook my head, “I don’t know. I haven’t planned anything.”

My dad was silent and then suddenly checked his watch.

“Let’s go.”

I looked confused as the statement was bland. He was quickly off the chair and had crossed the threshold of the room to the door when I found my voice again.

“Where are we going, dad?”

He turned his face to see me and gave a smile and a wink. That threw me off completely on what was going to happen. He walked out and I followed him in a few seconds. He talked something to mom as I stepped into the kitchen. Mom smiled to Dad. Then dad vanished into the living room to pick his coat. Mom didn’t say anything to me and the absence of Sue was conspicuous. I went with him and stepped out of the door onto the sunshine. My dad walked to the garage and took out his Toyota. I climbed into the passenger side seat as the car stood on the door. As soon as I climbed into the car, my father pressed into the throttle and it took off towards the unknown destination.

Author's Note

Bombard me with everything.....