High Speed Chase

Early evening, I pulled my silver colored Ferrari F-50 out of my garage and zoomed towards Park Street. The sun was down and the skyscrapers on the far east of Detroit shone in the evening gloom. I arrived park street at 9.05 pm sharp and parked beside the Blockbuster was an orange Toyota supra that belonged to Chris. Hey man!!! He flashed his teeth. Wassup Yo!!!! Igniting a cigarette I peered down the street to spot any cop car and I inhaled deeply, the evening breeze sweeping my face. Chris remarked, “Hey where’s Carl???”

Exhaling I started “The apparent change in frequency by an observer moving relative to the source of the waves,” when what sounded like a pin drop expanded into a deafening roar and an olive green Nissan Skyline GTR raced towards us and shrieked to a halt. “Is what is known as Doppler’s effect,” I finished. Carl, appearing somber in his Dartboard sunglasses, got out and “Dawg!! Light me one will ya?”

Within the next twenty minutes the rest arrived. Mad throttled his blue Mitsubishi eclipse while Max made his Honda Civic scream like a Boeing 747. He had supplemented his car with nitrous cylinders to boost up the horsepower close to 400. Nitrous cylinders although dangerous to the engine motor can cause tremendous acceleration and enable the driver to achieve high speeds.

On the second Saturday of every month, unknown to the cops, The Chasers, as we called ourselves, gathered to race through the streets of Detroit. Street racing while illegal and dangerous can cause intense excitement and an adrenaline rush to the rider. The racecourse began in Park Street and we had to reach Eisenhower Avenue before taking I-43 where we raced for 20 miles. En route, we travel along the coastline of Lake Huron before taking exit 9 onto Michigan Avenue where the race ends

Soon, the cars were ready and boom!!!! We pulled out of Park Street and slowly accelerated. Careful not to begin fast, I started at moderate speed and entered I-43. Once on Park Street, I gunned the accelerator and the needle strained close to 90 mph. I saw a flash in my rear view and within seconds, racing ahead of me, was a red Mazda RX-7 that for a second made me wonder if my car had stopped.

I was 9^th and had ample time to reach first. The I-43 stretch we chose was similar to a traditional racecourse being tortuous with 4 lanes. I grabbed my steering and slowly gained over the yellow Nissan 350Z and smirked at Red’s face as I passed him. Oops!!! I had to drop into 4^th gear and lower the speed to 70mph to maneuver myself at the bend. My rear wheel didn’t like it much as the tires slightly skidded on the concrete and I struggled before regaining control.

Ahead, passing on the 3^rd and 4^th lane were a silver Dodge Viper SRT-10 and 2004 Chrysler crossfire. Poising myself, I cut across from the 4^th lane to the 2and in an attempt to pass both the cars from the right side. But Reed was smart and immediately jumped into the 2and and Roger closing the gap by getting into 3^rd. Not wanting to brake at those high speeds I tried to race them on the 1^st lane and I almost got them when Reed tried to push me onto the shoulder. Twisting his steering hard he rammed on to my front left and I kissed the shoulder wall as it sparked and consumed my right side view mirror.

Fortunately the momentum caused him to clear off the first lane and I recovered. I over took them both and was now 6^th on the list. I looked at the rearview mirror and swore in all languages and shook my fist. I guess it was now time for me to accelerate and thus, pressed on the nitrous button and gained over other two cars. I knew if I beat Carl and Sonny, I would just have to deal with Silver. Silver had an unbeaten record in our so-called Tour De Streets and it was my deepest desire to get him this time.

After I crossed exit 15, the scene dramatically changed. I saw a couple coconut trees overhanging the expressway. “Hey am I dreaming?” Oops!!! I almost ran over a pothole. “A pot hole in the middle of I-63?? Taxpayers are a bunch of jokers.” The Toyota supra was slowly looming closer and we were parallel. As I tried hard to race ahead of him, I heard a whir. From his left side doors, out came a barrel that vaguely resembled a bazooka that was spinning at 40,000 rpm using which he tried to puncture my wheels. Sparks flew as he hit my chassis. His front hood opened and an automated syringe sprayed 1 liter of black dye on my windshield.

Fortunately, I had jimmied a liquid dispenser onto my front windshield and was able to spray gasoline that dissolved the dye and enabled me to restore visibility. The Supra being a far superior vehicle soon shot black smoke from its tail and I tried hard to concentrate and not get knocked out to the shoulder. I adjusted my front hose and loaded the program on the console. Shooting out from the nozzle, a jet stream at 20 gallons per second punched his wheels and he was forced to stay on the 2and lane. Utilizing this opportunity, I surged ahead and beat him by a fair 20 yards continuing to accelerate.

Phew!!! I shook my head and withdrew the nozzle back into my front hood. Sonny and Silver were fighting ahead as I was rapidly gaining on them. I dodged yet another pothole and entered the Trayham tunnel. I tried to squeeze in between Silver and Sonny when Silver banged hard on to my right side and the momentum sent Sonny to the left walls. Sonny scraped hard onto the walls and his Ford Mondeo caught fire. The whole tunnel was illuminated as the Mondeo successively crashed in to the tunnel walls. The glowing embers receded in my rear view and I had only Silver left for the last 2-mile stretch.

Silver was in a handsome orange Alfa Romeo 147 GTA that streaked ahead of me by 100 yards. Lake Huron gleamed on our sides as we raced at 140 mph challenging the winds. The trunk of the Alfa Romeo opened and out dropped a couple sandbags. I swayed narrowly dodging its corners and stepped on the gas. I shot ahead and butted on his boot and his car careened. He recovered and crunch!!! The side chassis bumped and dented.

From his tire rim, a shaft containing a sharp blade in its end shot out and hit my front tire. My tire exploded and I was now on 3 wheels the car was spinning wild out of control. We were on the Mclean suspension bridge when his trunk opened and emptied his spare can of fuel. At 120 miles an hour I spun out of control and I let go of the steering watched myself heading straight for the girder. I covered my face with horror and as I crashed into the bridge. The air bag exploded on my chest taking my breath away and I was knocked unconscious.

What seemed to appear like space, I saw blackness everywhere with no stars. Within seconds lights flashed on the screen, blaring “Game Over.” Sipping on my coffee, I checked my pockets for some quarters and couldn’t find any. The arcade was unusually full on a Saturday evening and I slowly walked towards the ATM machine.