Ignorance - Part I

There was hysterical laughter flooding from the hearse and into the deserted streets. The vehicle was camouflaged by the darkness while the trademarks of the city shone violently against the night sky. Neon signs and frantic, constantly changing images on giant screens were visible in all directions. The city itself was very much alive, but its residents acted as though they were in deep hibernation, at least for the night.

“Driver, Driver, go faster, Driver!” shouted the woman. Her body swayed, as did the drink in her hand, though not to the beat of the deafening music. Vodka splashed onto the black dress she was wearing, which happened to have the price tag still attached, slyly tucked inside and rubbing against the nape of her neck. Two other women jerked their bodies around in similar movements. One of them was even singing loudly and off-key.

“This was a great idea, girls,” declared the woman who had been singing. “Who woulda thought that that little bitch would actually lead to some fun!”

“Yeah, but she had to bite the dust, first!”

There was an eruption of laughter when the fourth woman finally spoke.

“How did you get Samuel to work late?”

“Samuel?” asked the woman with the vodka stains.

“Yeah, Samuel. The driver.”

“Oh. I slipped him a coupla fifties. But don’tcha worry, we’re almost to his house. We’ll take over from there.” She brought the glass to her lips and swallowed more liquor. The fourth woman was silent.

Soon enough, the car slowed and was parked on the side of the street in front of Samuel’s apartment. Samuel jumped out and briskly walked to open the door, motioning for Elle, the taciturn woman, to step out.

“Miss, please drive. Your – friends – aren’t exactly aware of their surroundings.”

“Oh, please, Mr. Driver. Where did you get you go to school? The University of Dumb Driver Men?” inquired Vodka, giggling to herself.

“You see? They can’t even pull a decent insult together.”

“I’m sorry about this. Did they really give you money to keep driving us around?”

“Oh, certainly not,” Samuel insisted. “I had a feeling they’d celebrate, and I’d rather them celebrate while I am the one driving. Now that we’re in the area, though, I trust you can manage from here. You can keep the car ‘til morning.”

“Thank you. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight,” Samuel said before turning on his heel and heading up the few steps to his apartment. He looked back before walking through the doorway and warned, “Be careful.” Elle nodded assuredly and watched the door shut behind him. She glanced toward the sky, only to notice that not a single star shone that night. Even though it’s uncommon to see several stars in a dark city sky, they could usually see a few tiny specs that were dimmed by the outshining city lights. Tonight, however, there was nothing.

She leaned over and looked inside the car, grimaced at the sudden impact of the booming music, and shouted, “I’m going to drive us home!” which prompted Vodka to topple out of the automobile dramatically and respond, “No! I want to drive!” Vodka latched onto Elle’s legs to help prop herself into a sitting position, then proceeded to grab her arms to pull up into a slanted posture. “C’mon, Elle, I’m a better driver. And you have a letter for a name. That’s just dumb. ‘L.’ With such a dumb name, you must be dumb, too. C’mon, big sis. Don’t be mad ‘cause momma gave me the better name!” She drew out and accentuated her vowels involuntarily. Consonants seemed to be the sober sound.

Home’s only a few blocks away, Elle thought to herself as Vodka leaned heavily on her right shoulder. She imagined what would happen if she would drive – her sister would yank her hair; her sister’s friend would cover her eyes; they would turn the music up to an even higher volume and make it a game to scream louder.

“Fine. You can drive. Just keep your eyes on the road, alright?” Elle pleaded.

“Of course,” answered Vodka matter-of-factly, but with slurred speech. She stumbled around to the other side of the car and fell into the driver’s seat. Her right foot jerked down on the gas pedal before Elle had even shut her car door.