the kind of place where tomorrow’s gruesome headlines would be made. “I don’t like it here,” I whispered even lower, casting my eyes into the rear-view mirror, looking at our three traveling companions in the back seat. They all looked a little darker and more dangerous sitting in a row like that, illuminated only by the flickering lights from the dashboard, or when a rare street light actually worked and shot a faint beam of light through the window. In fact, with their hoodies pulled down like that, those chains around their necks, those piercings, I began to wonder if these were not in fact the people who helped generate those headlines.
“I have no idea,” Noah whispered back, with the same trepidation in his voice that I was clearly feeling. Noah looked into the rear-view mirror too, acting cool and casual.
“So, uh . . . like where are we going . . . dudes?” he asked.
I tried to stifle a giggle at Noah’s attempt at acting cool. The “dude” sounded so odd coming from his mouth.
“Uh, yeah, we’re, like, going to this really underground club tonight. Like, not a lot of people know about it,” the one with the eyebrow rings said.
“Yeah . . . it’s kind of like, exclusive,” one of the others said, the one whose face I hadn’t seen yet, since his hoodie was so low.
“Like, if you weren’t coming with us, you’d like not be able to get in,” said the third one, the one who, for some strange reason, wore his jeans around his knees, exposing a massive section of his underwear.
“Coooool,” Noah said, forcing a smile. He looked at me and raised his brows, as if trying to communicate something.
“Oh. Yes. Cool,” I quickly added. Trying to play along. Trying to be this cool person who was down for whatever and all good with late-night excursions into dark and dingy places in the city.
“Yeah, there it is.” Hoodie One pointed. I’d had to start calling them Hoodies One, Two and Three in my head to differentiate them, since I was unable to see their facial features. Noah slowed the car down and the two of us looked in the direction he was pointing.
“Where?” Noah asked. All I could see was a row of dumpsters.
“There. You can park around the corner,” Hoodie Two said.
I flashed Noah a look, a question. A “do you think the car will be okay here? Or do you think it will be stolen a minute after we park it?” I think they got wind of what we were thinking, because Hoodie One quickly spoke.
“Don’t worry, there are car guards,” he said.
“Although, like, I wouldn’t steal this car, man. It’s not cool.” The Hoodies all laughed. “Like, if I was an adult, I would not drive a car like this.”
“What?” I swung around. “There’s nothing wrong with a Toyota sedan. It’s a very reliable and comfortable car.”
“Exactly,” Hoodie Three piped up. “Boring.”
“It is not boring. It’s sensible, it’s—”
“A rental,” Noah cut me off. “It was all they had. I would have gotten a mustang if I could, but you know. Last-minute trip. You take what they have.” Noah winked at me discreetly, and I knew what to do.
“That’s right. This was the only car. I mean, if it were up to me, I would have taken a . . . a . . .” My mind was blank. I looked at Noah and raised my brows.
“Porsche. You love the Porsche,” he said to me.
I nodded. “Yes. I do. Especially the red ones.”
“Cooool.” There was a murmur from the back seat. “I bet they are, like, fuck-off fast!” one of the Hoodies said. I was really starting to get them somewhat confused. If they’d just had the sense to wear different-color hoodies, it would have made identifying them a whole lot easier. But they had all insisted on black.
“Totally. Fuck off,” I added, getting the swing of this cool thing.
“Park here.” One of them pointed. I think he was Hoodie Three.
Around the corner, we saw a row of parked cars and bikes. Most of them were black and mean-looking with tinted windows, so when we pulled our pale blue Toyota into the mix, I got what they had been saying. This would be the last car that anyone would steal here, even though it did stick out like a sore thumb. We climbed out of the car, and that’s when I noticed the huge man emerge from the shadows.