Hoonsville

The speedo sat on a steady hundred and sixty kilometres an hour. Jara gave his spliff a final lick, placed his feet on the dash and lit up. He was sucking hard on the sweet weed when Alex floored it. Power gushed from the V8 thrusting them ever faster down the dead straight road. Jara flicked through his phone gave it a tap and via a dogey mini jack connected to a sound sytem held in place by roofing screws and duct tap, hard-core rap pulsed through the body of the car.

On the worn back seats of the old Falcon, Kya pulled off her school tie. Nodding to the beat, she brushed out her long dark hair as it flowed in the airstream from the open windows. Alex held metal to metal, the scorched scrub flashed past quicker and quicker and in no time the Falcon was devouring bitumen at a rate of two hundred kilometres an hour. Alex nudged Jara and pointed to the speedo needle.

‘Sick,’ said Jara with smoke laden in-breath.

Kya tried to appear unfazed by the velocity at which they were travelling. As they hit two twenty five the speedo needle started to quiver and the V8 became a howling wolf to the thump of the music. Alex nudged Jara again, pointing to the fuel gauge, which was visibly falling.

‘Fucking A,’ Jara laughed out loud.

‘There goes ya dole,’ Kya clipped acerbically.

Alex’s phone rang.

‘Get that mate?’ said Alex killing the music.

Jara scrabbled for Alex’s cell phone amongst the empty smoke packets and crushed cans of Bundy and coke, whilst Alex dangled his tattooed arm out of the window and dropped the Falcon back to a burbling one hundred and forty K cruise.

Jara looked at the cracked screen, ‘Our only mate who works,’ he said as he hit the go button and held the phone to his ear.

‘Sim, mate, how’s it going?’ he droned, ‘He’s right here mate,’ he continued and passed the phone to Alex.

‘How’s it going? Umm oh mate? Nah ain’t got it yet, soon mate, real soon. Shit we just did two hundred and twenty klicks. Twenty-two years old and roots like sweet sixteen. She’s a babe,’ Alex laughed at Sim’s reply, Jara grinned inquisitively, ‘Bullshit mate,’ Alex turned to Jara and held the phone to his chest so Sim couldn’t hear, ‘Reckons that Subaru can hit two forty,’ smirked Alex.

Kya saw they were fast approaching the cardboard box factory on the edge of Stanville.

‘What? Fuck mate. They can’t do that, they can’t, can they?’ said Alex with a mixture of indignation and anger.

‘Do what?’ quipped Jara.

‘Laid him off, don’t know when he’ll be back on,’ Alex told Jara.

Jara growled as he threw his roach out of the window, ‘Microwave labour mate, hear the ding and you’re done.’

Kya noticed the approaching factory perimeter and realised Alex hadn’t noticed the metallic green tinge lurking behind the mesh.

‘Oh shit,’ she whispered.

‘Shit happens, eh? yea, we’re right outside mate,’ said Alex as they travelled down the side of the factory fence, at a healthily illegal hundred and twenty k’s. ‘Yeah yeah me brakes are good?’ quizzed Alex.

Instinctively Kya suddenly grabbed seat fabric with one hand, an old seat belt with the other and with her feet against the panel, she braced herself. At that moment Sim’s metallic lime green Subaru WRX flew out of the factory gate, skidded sideways straightened up and hit the brakes. Alex instantly slewed sharp right, hit the brakes hard, swung back left with hard oversteer to find himself in the dirt, sending up a plume of rubber and gravel. Sim’s Subaru sped off into the distance.

‘Fuck,’ exclaimed Kya under her breath.

Jara shrank back into his seat and laughed nervously.

‘Woah, easy Rocky,’ Alex laughed into the phone, whilst steering back onto the bitumen with one hand. Alex then chuckled down the phone, paused for a few seconds, and breathed, ‘Take more than that to scare me mate,’ he growled in a restrained tone, before clicking off his phone.

Alex looked to Jara, then in the mirror he raised his eyebrows to Kya, and he kicked down the accelerator. The transmission dropped a cog, the engine surged and once more they catapulted forwards catching up with Sim in a few seconds. Alex pulled along side and gave a wink to Sims’ passenger, Deano. For a few hundred meters the two cars drove together changing places and dancing around each other, then Sim held up a phone and motioned Alex to pull over. In the road ahead a large gold coloured 4X4 cruised slowly; a top of the range Land Cruiser with blacked out windows. The two cars hammered up to the rear of the Land cruiser and pulled a smart cross over each other.

‘Oh come on don’t hoon him Alex,’ pleaded Kya.

‘If you don’t like the ride don’t miss your fucking bus,’ Alex retorted curtly.

Once again Kya braced herself, Alex pushed his foot down and roared up very close to the Land Cruiser then suddenly dropped left off the bitumen into the dirt and again Kya hung on tight. Staying on the bitumen Sim over took on the right as Alex simultaneously over took on the left. Spinning his wheels and fishtailing in front of the Land cruiser, Alex lurched back up onto the bitumen sending up a fountain of red dust and a machine gun spray of gravel that spattered the immaculate Land Cruiser. Totally ignoring the Land Cruiser Alex and Sim hammered straight on up the road executing several swift crossovers.

A couple of kilometres further on Sim pulled up on the dirt shoulder and Alex pulled up behind him. After Alex & Jara got out Kya got out too but she stood by the rear of the Falcon as Alex and Jara walked over to Sim, who wound down the window and stayed sat in his car.

Alex pulled off his sunnies and shook with Sim, ‘Bullshit about the job eh?’ he commiserated.

‘Yeah,’ replied Sim putting a brave face on it.

‘Sick driving mate,’ said Jara as he and Sim knocked knuckles.

‘Gonna biff some bins Alex?’ Deano squawked from Sim’s passenger seat.

‘They don’t put em out till morning now, or didn’t ya notice dipshit,’ spat Alex.

Kya felt for poor old Deano as dejected he shrank into his seat. Nevertheless all she could offer for sympathy was the raising of her eyebrows before turning away to watch the gold Land Cruiser approach. It slowed down and pulled over twenty yards behind them, the door opened and a tall gaunt fifty something gentleman stepped out, he walked round to his passenger’s side and inspected the doors. Kya watched as Alex and the boys stayed cool and purposely ignored the situation. At that moment, kicking up wind and billowing grit, a massive truck pulling a huge drilling rig hammered past all of them. Kya wiped dust from her eyes and carried on watching the man meticulously inspect his car he found another chip on his bonnet.

After his inspection, the man walked towards them. Kya noticed he was clean-shaven and despite being dressed like a farmer his clothes were top quality, sharply creased and spotless. An RM Williams Shirt, moleskin trousers with buttoned pockets, a very stylish well-polished leather boots by the same firm and all topped off with beautiful wide brimmed Akubra, which he adjusted against the glare of the sun as he walked. He walked past Kya with out a glance in her direction, his phone rang, stopping he answered it.

‘Munroe,’ he said as the boys continued to ignore him.

‘Two three five positive, for sure? Good. Yes, that is not so good, we’ll need a total buy out to secure it. Of course I can arrange it,’ he said curtly and continued to approach the boys.

‘Gud’day,’ he said with a degree of sarcasm as he walked up to Alex, who turned round, leant on the roof of Sims car and sneered, ‘How’s it going?’

‘Going good, till you damaged my car,’ the man replied.

Pretending to be perplexed Alex gave a tiny shrug, ‘sorry mate, you lost me,’ he said placing on his sunnies and standing up.

The man persisted, ‘back there, you over took me in the dirt, and you chipped my paint work,’ he said.

Alex turned to Jara; ‘did we pass anyone back there?’ he asked him.

‘Don’t think so,’ said Jara, spliff in mouth trying to find a lighter in his pocket. Sim shuffled through his phone and Alex asked him too but Sim just pouted and shook his head feigning preoccupation with his phone. Alex turned back to the man, ‘Sorry mate not us, you made a mistake,’ he said with a grin.

Kya watched the man look at Alex long and hard with his deep brown eyes and severely weathered face.

‘I never make mistakes...But you do,’ was the man’s slow and considered reply, before walking back to his Land Cruiser.

‘Dickhead’ muttered Alex with sneering superiority as he shook a victory shake with Jara then Sim.

Alex held the seat for Kya to get back into the rear, ‘What’s 235?’ asked Kya sitting down.

‘What?’ snapped Alex.

‘On the phone that guy was talking about 235 something,’ said Kya.

‘Probably the millions of dollars he has!’ whinged Alex.

‘Do you know who he was?’ asked Kya.

‘Munroe? Rich cunt from West 14 cattle station,’ snapped an indignant Alex, slamming his door and starting the engine.

‘So why did you piss him off?’ snapped Kya.

Alex took the last smoke from a packet and lit up.

‘He’ll get over it, Jesus what’s it matter?’

‘You maybe asking him for a job one day,’ said Kya scornfully as she sat back.

‘Who the fuck told you I want a job?’ grunted Alex and putting his foot down he skidded off the shoulder and back onto the bitumen.

Kya looked out of the rear window and watched the man re-inspecting his chipped paintwork.