Candescent Blooms by Andrew Hook

Author:Andrew Hook [Hook, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Salt
Published: 2022-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

35°44′5″N 120°17′4″W

The coffee was bitter and the donuts were sweet / I wish I could say Rolf and Hickman were arguing about whether I should take the Porsche on the trailer, but we’d already agreed I needed wheel time. I’d only had the vehicle a week / They stopped for gasoline at the Mobil station on Ventura Boulevard / I don’t recall – but I doubt – that we bought any snacks / They headed north on the Golden State Freeway US 99 and then over the Grapevine towards Bakersfield where they were stopped for speeding at Mettler Station / If we were going faster maybe I’d be here right now / They turned left onto Route 166/33, the short cut – racer’s road – for all drivers heading to Salinas, after which they stopped at Blackwell’s corner for refreshments / Reventlow and Kessler were there. They were good guys. If only we’d been able to have that dinner at Paso Robles / Taking Route 466 – I accelerated away from Hickman, I can’t remember the reason – they crested Polonio Pass and headed down the long Antelope Grade. Thirty minutes later a black and white 1950 Ford Tudor made a left turn from Route 466 onto Route 41 heading towards Fresno, crossing the centre line directly in front of them / That guy’s gotta stop … He’ll see us / The cars collided head on / So I tried the side-stepping manoeuvre, racing was in my blood, but I was doing 55 not 85 / Dean’s foot was crushed between the clutch and the brake pedal and his body was shunted into the passenger seat fuelling allegations he hadn’t been driving / (…) / Rolf was thrown from the vehicle / (…) / Dean’s neck was broken and he received numerous internal and external injuries / Ribs like corsetry through greasy fingers / It wasn’t long before Hickman and others were at the scene, attempting to extricate Dean from the vehicle / Cooling in the cradle of a silver spoon / A woman with nursing experience tried to help / Blood-bled fresh / The vehicle was peeled and flattened in the crash / A scrunched up cola can / Dean was pronounced dead on arrival at Paso Robles hospital / A mess … / Hickman confirmed Dean died in his arms / I’m sorry I’m sorry big bastard.

The choice was not mine.

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