“The Drive”

Adam was not amused by his brother-in-law, not one bit. Not only had he dragged him out of bed much too early for his liking after his late night in Coffs, then insisted he drive him to the solicitor’s office where he had to sit and wait for what seemed like an eternity, only to be dragged to local diner and filled with coffee until he thought he was going to burst. Now, however, was the last straw - Colin had informed him that he was to drive him into Coffs to some fucking clinic for who knows what.

He gritted his teeth wondering when the day was gonna end and he could get some much needed sleep. Dob had phoned him twice already and was most likely on his way to the garage to find him – if he wasn’t there already. Adam didn’t know for sure if Dob had escaped arrest the night before when they were in Crossings pub, but whatever the case, he was apparently free now and looking for Adam.

When his cell phone rang again – for the third time – Colin became suspicious. “You gonna answer that, mate?” he asked Adam as he lit up a cigarette.

Adam cleared his throat, pulled out his phone – yep, it was Dob – again. Shit. He knew if he didn’t take the call now that he’d regret it. He put the phone to his ear, “Yeah?”

“Where tha’ fuck you been, mate?” Dob snarled at him. “Bin tryin’ ta call ya all fuckin’ day! You hole’ up with some sheila you got on tha side?”

“Um... my brother-in-law’s got me drivin’ him ‘round this morning. Not sure when I can get back to work.” He glanced nervously over at Colin, who was listening to his every word.

“If you ain’t back home in the next couple hours, mate,” Dob let out an evil cackle, “well then, you best not come home cuz you won’t like what I got waitin’ for ya.” He hung up the phone and Adam sat there, still clutching the phone to his ear for a moment before he stuffed it back in his pocket.

Adam held his breath, looked grimly at the road ahead of him. Shit. Raine. She was all alone back at the house. If he didn’t get back there on the double then who knows what the fuck that sadistic bastard would do to her.

“Everything alright, mate?” Colin asked, “You look like you might be sick. Need to pull over a minute?”

“No, um...no, it’s...um... nothing,” Adam lied, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.

“Doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Colin told him.

“Look, drop it, I’m fine,” Adam snapped.

“Maybe I don’t wanna drop it,” Colin replied, a bit angrily now. He’d about had his fill of Adam’s attitude and wasn’t going to take any more of it.

“Well maybe I’ll just pull over and leave you along side the fuckin’ road then,” Adam glared over at him, “see if you can find your own fuckin’ way home.”

Colin glared back, “Stop the car,” he said, flatly.

Adam pulled to the side of the road and slammed on the breaks, the car skidded to a stop and Adam jumped out. He ran to the passenger-side door, Colin jumped out, crutches in hand, and was in his face before he knew it.

“You better fuckin’ tell me with what’s going on with you right now or you can start looking for another place to live!” Colin yelled at him.

“Maybe that’s just fine with me!” Adam yelled back.

The two men stood face-to-face, glaring at each other, until finally Colin was able to calm down a bit. “Look, Adam, I know you’ve gotten yourself into something, and you think you can handle it, but mate, I’ve been there. Let me help.”

Adam stood glaring at him, his nostrils still flaring with anger. Things were getting way out of his control, he needed to try and reign them back in again. He let out a sigh, nodded to Colin.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Adam said, finally, attempting to smooth things over, “I guess I’m just under a lot of stress right now... new marriage, new job, livin’ with rellies and all. Sometimes I just need to go out and blow off some steam, ya know? I’m... fine, really. Fuckin’ tired, but...fine. And if you must know, that call was from an old friend of mine, wants to come ‘round for a visit, maybe have a night out at the pub for a few laughs. He’s a hard one to say no to, really. Thought I’d have a meet-up with him for lunch perhaps, depending on how long this is going to take?”

Colin softened a bit, “Shouldn’t take too long, just need to get some blood drawn is all. C’mon, let’s get going.”

Adam nodded, opened the car door for Colin, helped him in with his crutches, then into the driver’s side and pulled the car back onto the road again. The rest of the drive was quiet between the two men and uneventful. Adam waited in the car while Colin went into the clinic. He kept watching his watch every few minutes, nervously ticking down the time Dob had given him to get back home. Finally, after 20 minutes, Colin came walking back up to the car.

“Everything alright?” Adam asked him, as Colin awkwardly climbed into the car.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah, it’s just a blood test is all. Nothing serious.”

“Good, then let’s get back home. My mate should be arriving soon, I’d hate to keep him waiting.” Adam started the car and they sped off for home.