Sonny sits at a light

new short thing that combines a couple of ideas I've been kicking around in my head for awhile...
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Sonny sat at the red light, his aged Pontiac rumbling under his bony ass. nothing was more comforting to him than the low steady bounce of that monster engine he had built with his own hands over the years. he would never get the grease out of the creases in his hands, not that he ever thought about it or cared. a sticky strand of his makeshift pompadour fell into his eyes so he slicked it back with his palm and got back to attending his business.

it was just past 3 in the morning, which allowed him to relax some. he hated the daytime. he would sleep all day if he could get away with it. the night was more calm and the early hours of the morning were the calmest of all. he had just exited the highway and sat on the service road at the light, staring hard down into his lap where he held a tiny square of thin paper. scattered across the ZigZag was green shake, crumbled weed leaves that he moved around, carefully arranging them in a line through the center. it was pitch black and no one was around for miles. light beamed from the dashboard. he rolled the paper into a perfect cylinder, licked the edge and stuck it down.

he tucked the joint behind his ear and clicked on the radio. the light turned green but he ignored it. static crackled through the speakers and once again he noted that he was going to need to head to the parts lot to replace them. he had blown these out long ago. scanning to the right, through news, through sports, through some oompah Tejano, he hit on the classic rock station and it was paydirt: ZZ Top's Tush. the light changed from green to red.

he held up the joint between his index finger and thumb and admired his work. he felt this was the most perfect moment. no people, no light, no rules, no laws - just himself, his weed, his car and the open road. he lit the joint and sucked hard on it, the paper and buds crackling a bit in the red cherry he could see through his squinted eyes until he just let them close and titled his head back, laying it lightly against the headrest. he held in the smoke. the light turned green again. he didn't give a shit.

something caught his eye in the rearview mirror. it was headlights. the car was still pretty far off and still on the highway. he exhaled a huge cloud of smoke out the window and turned down the radio. he kept his eyes fixed on the headlights. steadily they got brighter, closer. another motherfucker, he thought, pass on by motherfucker, go on your way.

but the car took Sonny's off ramp and headed up the hill. he hit the joint again hard. the car slowly crept up the hill towards the intersection, for a second the lights going out of sight under the curve of the slope but then popping out again, glaring in Sonny's rear view. the car pulled up slowly behind him. Sonny could hear the driver's stereo. the light turned red.

fine then, Sonny thought, time to move on. but then he heard a honk. he thought the weed was playing tricks on his ears. he looked in the rearview and saw the man in the car behind him leaning forward into his windshield gesturing with his hands and looking to his right then left. the driver had his palms opened upward and after some squinting and focusing with effort, Sonny could see the driver was mouthing the word "GO!"

Sonny looked again at the red light, then back at the driver behind him. "GO MAN" he could see the guy say. this motherfucker was telling Sonny to run the red light. well hell yeah then, Sonny thought, here we go. he set the joint in the ashtray.

Sonny grabbed the shifter, jammed it in first and hit the accelerator. advancing only as far as the other side of the intersection, he slammed on his brakes and came to a stop while shifting his beloved musclecar into reverse. he hit the accelerator harder this time, screeching the tires.

he went straight backwards into the car behind him. bent forward from the acceleration, he hit hard against the seat and headrest upon impact. the crunch and scrape of the crash blasted into the soundless night. Sonny hung his head down, trying to catch his breath after the wind was knocked out of him. the shiny new car he hit was no match for the sheer weight and power of Sonny's classic GTO. a broad smile spread across his face.

he gathered himself for a minute, shaking off the smile. he looked in the rearview and saw a pair of hands flailing around from behind a giant inflated airbag. Sonny waited. he noticed that the joint was still lit so he scooped it up, took a drag and snubbed it out. a loud hissing-steam sound filled the air.

the man finally freed himself from his car, standing with the door wide open, bent over with his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. he stumbled towards Sonny's Pontiac, stammering, unable to make a complete sentence.

"You...my car...you..." He couldn't breathe and speak at the same time. "What! You hit! I can't..."

Sonny pushed open the massive door with a loud creak and stepped out.

"Man, I was sitting right there at the light, you didn't see me?" he said. "Mister, I'm gonna need to see your insurance information. You rear-ended me."