Bad Luck

The sky was dark except for the half moon and its accompanying array of pale flickering stars.  They seemed stagnant, even as we raced along the lonely country road in our rusty blue Ford.  I glanced nervously in the rearview mirror and saw the excited faces of my best pals Bryan and Rob, barely alit by the pale moonlight.  They were sitting on either side of the truck bed, a large dark mass between them.

Eddie thumbed lightly on the steering wheel and the soft duh, duh, could barely be heard over the roaring sound of the blacktop rushing by beneath us.  The quiet noise was almost deafening to my adrenalin sensitive ears.

“I think we’re being followed…”  My heart briefly stopped as Eddie muttered those words, and then seemed to race at unimagined speeds.  Red and blue lights flashed from behind us, confirming his suspicion. 

“Shit!”  Eddie’s knuckles turned white as he pulled onto the shoulder of the road.

The officer walked to the driver’s side window, beckoning Eddie to roll it down.  He glared directly over at me.

“Jesus, James!  You stole a Christmas tree?  You know Momma is gonna have your ass for this!  Did you think Ole Man Harris was gonna keep lettin’ people get away with his trees every year?”

“Oh, come on, Bobby…  It wasn’t me them other times.  We were just lookin’ for some fun!  We ain’t hurtin’ nobody…  Cain’t cha just let us go?  Yer my brother!”

“I wish I could, Jamie boy, but he saw ya, and called your name in particular.  Don’t worry.  Ya ain’t gonna get in much trouble at the station… It’s Momma you gotta worry with.”

Dammit.  I got busted the first time I ever broke the law.  Now that is just bad luck.

WORD COUNT: 297