Drive

     One who went from rags to riches must remember that those rags were once his riches.
     My dad told me that quote when I was eight. Just before he passed, he told me to bring someone to a better place in life. You might’ve guessed we weren’t the richest family. We didn’t live in the richest neighborhood. Despite all of this, my dad wanted me to have what he didn’t have. Now, nearly 50 years later, I have all of those things ; a great neighborhood, a great education, and a great lifestyle. But I myself haven’t realized how far I’ve come, until one day, 4 years ago, I left home just for a drive in the hills.
      It was a clear and dry day, which makes great driving weather. I jumped into my Ferrari and headed towards Big Sur. As I neared Carmel, I realized I wanted coffee. Coffee percentage : Dangerously Low, my mind kept repeating. I stopped of at a small general store next to the main road during the afternoon. There was a chilling breeze as I stepped out of my car. The stench of sea foam and salt was in the air. As I entered the store, I looked around. It was a small cafe that had rustic styling and only sold coffee. The brick walls were decorated with inspirational quotes about life.
  “One cappuccino  please, no sugar.”
  “That’ll be three fourty-nine.”
  “Keep the change,” I said as I dropped a five.
As she handed me the coffee, I rushed outside, to find a bulky man in a leather jacket standing next to my car. He had a bandana covering his uncombed grey hair, and a large uncombed beard. In one hand he held a handgun, the other a large cigar. Ugh, I don’t have time for this, I should’ve been in Big Sur by now, I thought to myself.
  Nice car you got here, mind if I take it for a spin?” the man said as he cocked the gun. Dang, this guy means business, I thought nervously.
  “You can have the coffee and some money?” I said nervously, as I set the coffee down on a table. “I’m never generous with my coffee, even if it’s cold.”
  “Huh, you a funny man.”
  “Please don’t,” I muttered to myself as he pulled the trigger.
     Fire. That’s what came out of the muzzle. Fire.
  “No worry kid, it a lighter.”
Yes, because everyone carries a lighter that looks exactly like a handgun, I thought.
  “Well, I best be going on my way,” I said as I reached for the coffee.
He then grabbed a revolver out of another holster on his side, aimed, and fired. The bullet flied out of the muzzle, hit my coffee cup, sending coffee everywhere.
  “Awww, that coffee tasted pretty good” I said in a disappointed manner.
  “Stop yip-yapping ‘bout your coffee an come ‘ere,” he said “I needs to show you something.”
By this time, the breeze had settled, and the ocean had an icy-blue complexion under the mid-afternoon sunlight. The roads were barren, some parts on which were covered in light sand.
  “Meet my buddies : Gruz, Pepper, and Cosmo. I’m Cap’n Crunch.”
That’s when I realized what they were : bikers, my mind thought nervously. 
  “That’s all very nice, but I better get going, it’s starting to get late” I said as I acknowledged the others.
  “Gotcha, nice meeting you kid.”
I then immediately turned around, and headed towards my car. I reached into my side pocket and pulled my keys out, before being tugged backwards.
  “Woah woah woah woah, that you car?” Pepper said as he pointed at my car.
  “Um, yes, it is”
  “No need for the shakies, I just wanna have bet and race against you.”
     I slammed two $100 bills onto the car hood.
  “$200 Dollars on myself!!” I yelled.
  “Still playing the easy game, eh?” Cosmo chuckled. “Yew needa play like a real person. 600 Washingtons on Pepper!”
  “This day ‘ll never end. Best to end it now. 1000 bucks on Pepper!” the Cap’n replied as he threw his money onto the car.
  “Safe game is the best game : 50 on myself.” Pepper said as he easily set his money down.
  “Fair enough, fair enough” I replied.
  “Gruz, your turn.”
  “No way man.”
Gruz was standing five feet away with his back turned.
  “Well, if Gruz isn’t going to bet, let’s start already.
     By now I was back on the main road. Evening had arrived. The roads were empty, with the exception of a car driving by every five minutes. I pulled up at the beginning of the straight, and waited for the others to show up. I was looking towards the ocean, observing its depth and contrast to the surrounding area. Beautiful, I thought. As Pepper and Gruz pulled up, I noticed the amount of focus shown on their faces. Cap’n and Cosmo stood on the side of the road.
  “Three, two one, GO!” Cosmo shouted. The car lurched forward, pouncing past both motorcycles, leaving a trail of smoke and tire tracks. C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. You know you’re not supposed to be doing this, just get it over with already, and beat those stupid bikers, my mind kept repeating. I grasped for the shifter, wrapped my hand around it, until I noticed a sign on the side of the road : ROAD NARROWS.
     “This is bad, this is bad” I muttered. By now I was going over 150 miles per hour. I checked the side mirror, to find that Pepper had passed Gruz and was right behind me. Then everything went wrong : as Pepper passed me, his front wheel hit the barrier, causing him to spin out of control, before his bike hit my rear wheel, sending me into the barrier and off the road.
     You want to know what falling unconscious feels like? Imagine being awake, then all of a sudden, you suddenly fall asleep without dreaming. Anyway, I woke up two minutes later thanks to Cosmo. I collected myself and my thoughts to the situation at hand, before realizing what I had done.
  “You alright?” Cosmo asked.
  “Fine,” I replied.
This car was brand new nearly six months ago, and you already wrecked it. What are you going to tell your family?, I thought. 
  “Your ride’s gotten pretty banged up son. I’ll cost a decent amount of monies to fix” Cosmo stated. I didn’t reply. I went outside to find the entire front portion of the car shredded or broken off. The windshield was cracked and had wet grass all over. Both doors lost some paint, and were barely on the hinges. The rear end had broken taillights. Well, at least I have insurance, I thought optimistically. That’s when I realized Pepper was also involved.
  “How’s Pepper?” I asked Cosmo as he puffed his cigar.
  “He’s okay, just a broken arm, it still could be worse.”
  “Can I see him?”
  “Yeah, he’s on the stretcher near the ambulance, but hurry it up, they’ll be leaving soon.”
I ran over to find Cap’n Crunch talking to Pepper. As I got closer, Crunch turned towards me as said, “Floor’s yours”, before walking away.
  “Pepper, you alright?”
  “I’m ok, how’s you?”
  “Fine, thanks for asking.”
  “Well, I got’s to go to the hospital now, see you around.”
  “Wait!” I pulled my wallet out and placed $2,200 in cash next to him.
  “That should be enough money for your arm” I said.
  “Gee, thanks dude,” he replied before being pulled towards the ambulance.
As the ambulance doors closed, I turned around to find Gruz, Cosmo, and Cap’n Crunch talking together. As I walked closer, they turned towards me.
  “That thing you did for Pepper was mighty kind” Crunch stated.
  “Yeah, I know,” I replied. “It just felt like the better thing to do.”
  “Anyway, we best be going our ways. Here’s yer winnings.”
He then handed me what looked like $2000 in cash.
“Keep it,” I replied.
     All three bikers exchanged confused and surprised looks, before Crunch said, “What you say boy? You won that money, an you given it back?”
  “Yeah,” I replied casually. “It’s your money, I don’t need it. You need it more than me, so take it.”
  Crunch replied, “Well I’ll have you know that - “
“Just shut up and take the money.”
God, this is getting annoying, I thought.
  “Fine, fine, fine,” Crunch muttered. THANK YOU, I thought.
  “Oh, and one more thing, one last thing,” I said.
  “You guys should really get jobs instead of being.. whatever you are.” Once again, the bikers exchanged confused looks with each-other.
  “Yew know what, I think he has a point”, Gruz said.
  “Yeah, I sure will thinks about it son,” Crunch agreed. Job done, I thought proudly.
Then they all hopped on their bikes and sped off.
     That night was nearly five years ago. Things have changed since then. But the biggest change, by far, was what I saw when I was grocery shopping nearly three days ago. I was placing my grocery bags into my car, when I saw Cap’n Crunch driving a brand new Porsche in search of a parking spot. The bright sun brought out the colors of his car. As he parked, I stood beside his car and waited. He hopped out of the car, and looked at me.
  “Huh, you still have the same looks,” he said.
  “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that,” I replied.
He was dressed in light brown khakis and a casual blue polo. His face was shaved, and his grey hair was combed back. He had a rustic, but clear voice. I pointed towards his car and said, “How’d you get one of those?”
  “Once Pepper recovered, Cosmo, Gruz, Pepper, and myself decided to start a motorcycle company.”
  “How did you know the workings of a motorcycle?”
  “We bought one, and ripped it up to see what parts could use improvement to make a better bike.”
  “Well, I’d like to purchase my own, if you don’t mind.”
  “It will arrive in two days.”
  “Don’t I have to pay you?”
  “Consider it a gift.”
  “You sure?”
“Yeah, I have what I want.”
  “Ok, I gotta go now, see you later.”
  “See you around. Oh, one last thing! My name is Hank.”
As I jumped into my car, I thought Hank, that name just doesn’t match really, but I don’t know how.
     Three days later, I was staring at that bike. I never plan on riding it. I keep it in my garage, and every day before I go to work, I look at that bike for five minutes, and think about all the people in the world who live in horrible situations, but manage to stand on their own feet, and leave their home just for the sake of their own life. I never rode that motorcycle. I didn’t buy it for the sake of riding it. I bought it because it taught me a lesson. Anyone in a bad place could get out of that place and stand on their own feet. You just need to follow your dreams to do so.