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Everyone in the Foxhole Court was a terrible driver. For one reason or another it was as if common sense left them all once they got behind the wheel. The worst offenders by far were the cousins. Nicky could easily shave off a quarter of the drive with his lead foot and Aaron was known to ride the bumper of whoever was in front of him. No one was quite sure how Andrew had even passed his driver’s test with how reckless he was on the interstate. He wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything less than 10 over the limit and if he thought you were going too slow he would weave in and out of traffic without even a glance into the other lane. Not to mention the illegal U-turns, driving on the shoulder to bypass a standstill and always, always double parking.
Dan and Matt weren’t as bad, but could still make someone grab the oh-shit handle with quick merges and hard brakes. They were both more likely to be distracted talking or singing along to music blasted at top volume rather than breaking laws on purpose. Kevin and Allison both had tempers to contend with while they were driving. Where Kevin’s road rage had him honking and yelling inside the car, Allison wouldn’t hesitate to roll down a window to tell the other person exactly where to shove it. Even Renee was known to brake check someone when it was her turn to DD on the way back from a party which had led to a handful of fender benders.
Everyone in the Foxhole Court had been pulled over at least once and no one had a clean record. No one, except Neil.
Neil was an impeccable driver. He stuck to the speed limit, stayed in his lane and always remembered his blinker. While he was definitely the safest to be in the car with, he was also the most frustrating. A fact that everyone knew while he drove his group to Columbia to meet up with the Upperclassmen. They were supposed to be meeting everyone at Eden’s to celebrate their first win of the season. The night of the game there was a small afterparty for the whole team but they all agreed to go out that Saturday to celebrate with just the original foxes. They were supposed to be there a half hour ago however, which is precisely the issue.
“How much longer?” Nicky practically whined from the backseat.
Neil glanced at the clock on the dash, “Another 10 minutes.”
Nicky groaned, “I’m texting Allison to go ahead and order our drinks since we’ll be late. Let’s just hope they don’t drink everything themselves first.”
“It’s not like the bar is going to run out of alcohol,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“They won’t but,” Nicky practically yelled, “We’ll have some major catching up to do by the time we get there.”
“Whatever will you do?” Neil deadpanned, flipping on the blinker and pulling off the exit.
As they continued down the road, an obnoxiously bright green sports car came up quickly behind them. Now off the interstate, it left them on a single lane road with nowhere for the impatient driver to go around. Neil looked up in the rearview to see a teenager, just barely old enough to drive, glaring and inching his car closer to the Mas. Neil turned on cruise control in response, locking in at 45 mph. Next to him, Andrew’s fingers twitched against his leg.
From the back, Kevin huffed in annoyance, “If you’d speed up he’d get off your ass.”
Neil shook his head, “It’s 45 on this road.”
“No one actually goes 45 through here. Everyone always goes at least 55. Hell, I’ve seen Nicky pull 70 on this road easily.”
“And how many times has Nicky gotten pulled over on this road?” he asked, flicking his eyes to meet Kevin’s in the mirror.
An incredulous scoff came from the back, “It’s only been twice!” Nicky cried.
Kevin waved a hand at him dismissively, “I’m not saying go that fast but,” the car behind them revved its engine, “Can you at least speed up so he’s not being so annoying?!” His voice raised with every word, finally turning in his seat to flip off the young driver.
When there was no traffic in the left lane, the green car jerked over the double yellow lines and sped up, passing Neil. The boy was clearly yelling at him as he passed but the words were lost under his loud engine. The car peeled away, disappearing further up the road.
“Fucking idiot is going to cause a wreck,” Neil grumbled. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Andrew’s head twitch in his direction. “What?” he asked, looking over at the man quickly.
Andrew shook his head, “Nothing,” he said in his monotone voice. He said nothing but Neil didn’t miss the way his fingers drummed against the door handle, tapping out an impatient melody.
When Neil slid the car up to the curb at Eden’s, Aaron hopped out muttering under his breath. Everyone got out after him while Neil waited for him to bring back the parking pass. Aaron came around and ripped open the door.
“Out,” he said with a jerk of his thumb.
“I can park the car,” Neil said, trying to grab the parking pass out of his hand.
“No. We’re already late and I don’t want to deal with anymore pissy attitude while you take ten years to park a fucking car,” he stepped to the side, “Now go before Kevin has a stroke.”
Neil sighed, unbuckling. He mockingly bowed to let Aaron in before stepping away. Aaron slammed the door and peeled away from the curb. Stepping up to join everyone, Neil stared after him, “I don’t think he buckled up.”
Nicky laughed as Kevin ran a harsh hand over his face. Andrew pushed Neil’s shoulder towards the door, “Get inside before you embarrass me.”
It wasn’t too hard to find the rest of the foxes despite the dim lights and crowded room. They had claimed a round booth to the back of the club and both Matt and Allison were standing on either side of the seats, looking for their arrival. In her stilettos, Allison was just as tall as Matt. She spotted them first and waved a manicured hand at them.
“Finally!” she yelled as they all slid into the booth, leaving room for Neil and Andrew to sit together at one end. He smiled to himself at the gesture, their seats were easy escapes, not boxed into the middle or trapped. “What took you so long?”
“Neil drives like a grandma,” Nicky complained, grabbing the closest shot he could.
“I do not!” Neil bristled.
Kevin leveled him with a disbelieving stare, “If literally anyone else had drove we would have been here on time instead of,” he checked his watch, “45 minutes late.”
“If you and Nicky hadn’t taken so long to get ready we would have been on time,” Neil said, pointing his finger between them.
Kevin scoffed and turned away while Nicky answered for them, “Perfection takes time Neil.”
“Oh come on,” Dan said, scooting closer to the middle of the booth as Aaron returned, “He can’t be any worse than the rest of you.”
“That’s just it,” Nicky offered, “He’s not. He is an annoyingly perfect driver.”
Matt laughed loudly, “What does that even mean?”
“Have you never been in the car when he’s driving?” Nicky asked. The upperclassmen shook their heads, looking at each other in confusion. “Andrew,” he gestured to his cousin, “What is the speed limit on the interstate?”
“65,” he toned, rearranging the leftover shots on the table.
“And how fast was Neil going?”
“65.” Satisfied with his work, he pushed the glasses to Nicky, Kevin and Aaron.
Nicky nodded, “I’ve also never seen him forget his blinker, cut someone off or even so much as ride too close to someone. If it wasn’t so torturously slow it’d almost be impressive.”
Neil shrugged, “So what’s your point? That I follow the law?”
He wasn’t ready for the burst of laughter that question pulled from the table. He looked around and even Renee was hiding a smile behind her can of soda.
“I didn’t think you knew what laws were, ” Dan laughed.
“I know what they are. I just also know which ones you can break and which ones you can’t,” he bristled. Somehow, that was not the right answer.
“Oh so you can cross borders with fake IDs but you can’t go five over the speed limit?” Allison asked sarcastically.
“Seriously Neil,” Matt said, “Everyone breaks traffic laws sometimes. Even Renee doesn’t have a spotless record,”
She shrugged apologetically but the mischievous glint in her eyes said she wasn’t as sorry as she seemed. “I stand by those accidents. Better they rear end me than someone uninsured or a family. Take it as a lesson learned.”
Matt nodded, as if agreeing with Renee's strange logic, “See? No one is a good driver. You’re telling me you’ve never gotten a ticket?”
Neil felt the lingering fear at the thought of getting pulled over, “Oh god no. Being locked in an encounter with the police is the last thing you want on the run. The best thing a criminal can do to keep from being caught is follow the law when it matters. If you’ve got a body in the trunk, you don’t want to be caught for something as stupid as speeding.”
The table went quiet aside from the pumping bass of the club’s music. Even Andrew turned to look at Neil. To everyone else his face may have looked as blank as always but Neil could see the minute crease between his eyebrows and the quick blink of a squint that let him know Andrew was taking in his response. Though they didn’t play as often anymore, Neil had a feeling they would be trading truths so he could know the whole story.
Nicky was, of course, the first to break the tension, “Did you seriously just say you follow road laws so you won’t get caught with murder?”
“Bodies, drugs, counterfeit paperwork- whatever,” he dismissed with a wave of his hand, “The point stands. If you’re doing something you aren’t supposed to– blend in.”
The corner of Andrew’s mouth twitched, “Because you do a great job at that junkie.”
The conversation veered off from there as the foxes first took shots at Neil’s lack of subtlety while he tried to defend himself before recounting their own driving mistakes. Eventually, they moved on to other topics as they came and went from the table either to dance or get more drinks from the bar. By the end of the night nearly everyone was staggering to the cars.
Once the upperclassmen were safely tucked into Allison’s car with Renee at the wheel, Neil practically carried a wasted Kevin to the Maserati. Aaron and Nicky took their seats in the back and leaned Kevin against the window to mumble incoherent Exy scores to himself. Neil opened the driver’s side door but was stopped from getting in by Andrew’s hand on the doorframe.
Neil looked at him, “What?”
Andrew held out his hand, “You’re not driving tonight.”
“But I didn’t drink?”
“Neither did I,” he met his eyes, the corners tight. Neil studied his face. When Andrew’s fingers twitched against the metal frame, everything clicked.
He almost laughed, “You don’t like my driving.”
“If I wanted to be trapped with those idiots I’d take Nicky up on his ‘family bonding’” The man had often come up with trips and activities for them to do as a family to grow closer. They ranged from mostly harmless movie days to will-definitely-end-in-a-death escape rooms. Andrew turned every idea down.
“What about our late night drives?” he asked, emboldened by the admission that his perfect driving got under Andrew’s skin.
He looked away from him, “They aren’t in the car.” Neil could hear the unspoken words. It’s just us then. If he looked closely under the yellow street lamp, he could just barely make out the pink blush dusting the tops of Andrew’s ears. With a smile that looked less and less like his father’s, Neil handed over the keys and got out. He rounded the front of the car and settled into the passenger seat. Andrew quickly pulled out of the parking spot, engine roaring as he tore down the road.
It was a few minutes into the drive that Neil noticed Andrew’s upturned hand resting against the gearshift, an invitation. He laced their fingers together. Andrew relaxed into the seat while the speedometer climbed higher. There was a firm squeeze to Neil’s hand before Andrew spoke in quiet Russian, “There are no bodies in the trunk rabbit.”
There is nothing left to run from. Neil squeezed his hand in return and settled in for the drive home.