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behind him. “Let’s try and get through this quickly. Why were you driving like you were in the Grand Prix?”
    â€œWe were being chased,” Jack immediately offers.
    â€œBy who?” the cop questioning us asks, although somehow I get the feeling he already knows.
    â€œNo, we weren’t.” I knock Jack’s knee under the table with my own. “I just wanted to see how fast the car would go. It was the first time my dad let me drive it.”
    The cop frowns. He seems a little annoyed that we aren’t in agreement. Jack looks at me with raised eyebrows.
    I attempt a small chuckle. “He just doesn’t want me to get in trouble from my parents. Right, Jack? My Dad can be kind of tough when he wants to be.”
    Dad would certainly kill me, but I have no choice. I don’t want him to know we were being hounded by Ratchet and DC. If they find out, I’ll have to tell them about the money Chase owes. Thankfully, Jack clues in that something is up, and he doesn’t say anything more.
    The cops don’t believe me, though. They saw the Passat take off. They had the license and they are fully aware of Ratchet and DC and their profession. The graying cop explains all this in a calm matter-of-fact voice, but in a way that also makes me feel like I’m just another lying kid who is stupid enough to think he’s smarter than the cops. He says, “So, what we want to know is why they were chasing you. Are you dealers or users?”
    It’s almost funny the way Jack’s mouth drops open. Although I do feel like a piece of scum just knowing that they would think we were either of those things. “Neither,” I tell them. “I told you, I was trying out the car. I have no idea who was in that other car or why they were speeding.”
    â€œAll right.” The cop pulls a pen out of his shirt pocket and begins to fill out a form. It’s a speeding ticket. I owe two hundred dollars. “You can go this time. But I’m going to warn you that you should be a little more careful who you go driving with. You’re really lucky those guys didn’t run you off the road.”
    Jack is allowed to go, but I have to wait for my parents to show up so Dad can deal with the parking tickets Chase has collected. Both Mom and Dad arrive with Chase in tow. One of them needs to drive Dad’s car home and Chase, of course, can’t be trusted to be left alone.
    â€œOh, Gordie,” Mom says. A faint trail of mascara stains her cheek. She looks so disappointed in me, I feel like the worst heel on the face of the earth. “Imagine how we felt when the police phoned and told us you were here. Haven’t we had enough to deal with without this?”
    â€œI’m sorry,” is all I can think of to say.
    Dad speaks to the police officer at the front desk. He pays the fines. Mom drives home with Chase after she drops me and Dad off to collect the Honda. It’s a miserable drive home, to say the least.
    â€œWhat about trust, Gordie?” he says. “I thought that was at least something I could always count on with you. You broke that.”
    â€œYes,” I say, “I know. I just wanted to try it.”
    â€œBut one hundred and forty seven?” he fumes. “What if you’d lost control? You would have been killed. You have no idea how that would have absolutely killed your mother and me.”
    I try to imagine what it would be like for them. They are already so fragile they probably would wither right up and blow away. “I’m sorry,” I say again.
    â€œWell, it’s obvious I am doing the right thing. Selling it. This car is too much of a responsibility for you anyway.”

FIVE
    Steve and Bobby are a little ticked off that we didn’t show up for the practice, until they find out why; then they are both impressed and amazed. We get together later that night at Jack’s house to listen to music.
    â€œYou