A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 22

[he briskly walks to the passenger side of the jeep and grabs the case before running over and jumping aboard. The pilot does not hesitate to quickly lift off the ground as soon as Daniels had enough of his body on board to safely fly away. ]

2008

The late afternoon sun is taking the temperature down with it. However, it is remaining very warm as the sun slowly creeps down and across the LA skyline. Nic and his family are coasting southbound down the infamous Crenshaw Boulevard towards the 105-freeway. Nic peers stoically out the passenger window at the passing neighborhood. They approach a red light near the intersection of Manchester and Crenshaw and he watches as people go about their business. The intersection is busy with life. Not the most productive life to Nic's standards though. He counts the number of people who appear to be gang related. Some stare back at him attempting to be intimidating. He shifts his gaze to an old woman on the bus stop. She is disinterested in anything that is going on around her. She is dressed in an old fashioned floral printed dress that hints of days past when LA didn't even know what a gang problem was. She watches the traffic pass awaiting her bus. Her graying hair wisps a little as the hot breeze causes it to shift across her forehead that has the sticky glaze of sweat from the heat of the day.

Watching the intersection go by as Candace drives through the now green light, Nic can't help but feel himself slump with relief as he is comforted by the notion that he will be leaving for college soon. With the new news of his acceptance he was already planning to stay with a relative that lived near Stanford for the summer. Thus shortening the time he has to spend in the venerable hellhole city he called home.

A few blocks later they are cruising up the on-ramp to the 105 to reach freeway speeds. The wind and noise of the highway notions Candace to roll up the windows and take on the added fuel expense of running the air conditioning at full blast as the late afternoon sun can still quickly bring the temperature inside the car up to a sweltering 90 degrees. The traffic is thick but moving briskly. Candace, as the seasoned driver she is, carves her way through the traffic as this is the route she always takes to work during rush hour. She moves with a familiarity of the road like a racer at their most favorite track. Nahlia looks on with disinterest in the road. She ignores her mothers aggressive driving and decides to turn on the radio. The radio is an aging OEM General Motors radio with faded buttons from years of station changing. The speakers in the car come to life with the sounds of Her favorite Hip-hop station. This triggers in her mind that her mom is at least attempting to stay afoot on the latest music and she hence cracks a small smile and emits a low chuckle. Candace looks at her with a grimace and replied to Nahlia's reaction with an "oh hush hon. Let me be". Nic and Keisha Join in the laughter momentarily.