The Flat Tyre

The air cutting past my open window began to slow down as Pho was finally able to put some distance between us and the pack of police cars following distantly behind. The view of the raging bulls began to simmer away after we reached the stretched countryside roads. I could hear my own thoughts again after a while.

‘See that Cam, That’s how you do it. Can’t be getting all choked up and stiff from seeing a few drops of ketchup,’ Pho laughed as he took one last look over his shoulder.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen his eyebrows loosen like that. We had been on a string of tasks all weekend so there hasn’t really been a moment where we were free from unprecedented attacks. I eyed the side view mirror briefly before I relaxed my grip on the duffel bag in my lap and carefully moved it to the rear seat's floor as I felt my body take in some air. After it left my peripheral, my vision finally steadied.

‘Do you think they’ll carry on chasing us?’ I asked softly.

‘Hell nah. This road goes on for miles across these plots. They’ll try to figure out where we’re heading instead and track us down in other ways, probably,’ he said.

‘Probably?’ I jumped in.

‘It’s fine, Cam, relax. Look. Do you see ‘em behind us? No. Are we gonna slow down? Not me. So, we’re good. We’ve escaped okay and unharmed. Be a little grateful that you didn’t get an arm ripped off or something ‘kay’.

I was thankful that we didn’t get hurt. It saves us from having to keep swiping bandages and plasters at corner shops and slipping them under the sleeve of our jumpers while buying a packet of wotsits. I’m not good at it like Pho is. When we would reach the checkout, the fear always showed on my face, but he’s good with that sort of thing. With his level of sleight of hand and acting, Pho could probably work as a magician if he ever decided to retire from all this, not that he would.

‘Will we have enough petrol? The next city is pretty far away and we were cruising around a lot yesterday too,’ I said after a short while. ‘One of the headlights doesn’t come on anymore either. It’s going to get dark soon so-’

‘Cam,’ he groaned out in a tired drawn-out voice. ‘Don’t you ever feel the natural urge to just not give a shit about anything for a minute? I get this was a close call but just relax for once. What? Was it shooting the banker? You couldn’t help it, okay?’

This was the first person I had ever shot. The reverberations from the gun had rattled across my frame, loosening my muscles and joints from the built-up tension of the scene. The shot swallowed the room into a familiar echo that dulls the senses and wiped my consciousness for a moment until Pho swiftly grabbed me by my arm and jumped out the window we broke in from. Someone must have seen me do it. Being anxious was only natural.

‘I filled her up this morning and I’ve got a can in the boot just in case,’ he reassured me, while deeply sighing. I glanced at him and gave him a soft smile. Pho has always been my rock so I’ve never doubted him. He knows exactly how to calm me down when I got restless or start to panic.

We’ve been together since our time at Aunt Mary’s Orphanage so I suppose it’s only natural. We spent every hour of the day with each other back then too but it must have been after our parents’ death where we began sticking to each other like glue. I had remembered it quite vividly in the past but as time passed, it had gotten bleaker. All I can recall from that night was the muffled movement of our parents’ struggle, the sharp clicks of firearms, flashing shadows that projected onto the living room wall which I could see from my hiding spot and the soft buzzing of the radio in the back on a lost channel. Pho was making a fuss at the far end of the room, trying to draw the attention away of the robbers in an attempt to save them. It wasn’t any use. He was lucky that the police came in time before he got shot too. The sound of those bodies hitting the floor would torture me relentlessly, obsessively every night and every moment of the day. The swirling of a vacuum, sucking the life out of me and leaving a cast of trembling chaos for my soul to inhabit was a regular visitor I received when Pho was away. The feeling which I was so sick of I would much rather have shot myself in that instance too if I had known it would haunt me in such a merciless way. It’s the main reason why I began going with Pho on our tasks. He knew the way out.

I started to rest my shoulders and release the strain I forced on my temples. I sank a little into the leather seat, gently placing my hands in my lap before releasing my thumbs from picking at the sides of my nail. I had drawn a little blood. Then, the air snapped. A tire had burst. The sound pierced my whole body and rang in my head like an alarm. My lungs and stomach both jumped up in unison as the car shifted its weight to one side and we started to turn left. I shut my eyes tightly while holding my breath, trying to keep my organs in place while gripping the bottom of the seat, with my nails digging into the seams. I felt the world swerve and halt harshly pulling me forward and straining my grip. I released my breath reluctantly.

I heard Pho yell in the background as he opened the door to check. I opened my eyes when I heard him leave and saw him rush past the front in a blur. I looked over my shoulder quickly before stepping out to see the front left tire flat. It was getting darker.

‘D-do you know how to change a tire?’ I questioned, staring at the sagging rubber.

‘Haven’t got a damn clue,’ Pho replied, squatting to examine the damage.

I suddenly became uncomfortably aware of where we had broken down. A great and vast open space, surrounded by grass and violets, with a black-tinted Toyota right in the centre; the perfect bullseye. Anyone could come from anywhere, or everywhere. I can’t run very fast, or for very long. Ill be caught. I have a revolver on me so if worst comes to worse… Pho is with me. I’ll be fine.

‘What should we do, Pho?’ I asked, eagerly waiting for instructions.

‘We have a tire in the boot but the car didn’t have tools to change it with when I found it’. He answered casually.

‘And you didn’t buy any knowing there were no tools?’ I asked, raising my voice.

‘You tryna pin this on me? I can’t be ready for everything Ca-‘

‘No, but it’s such an obvious act that you should have done after you found out’. What an idiot. He was never this spontaneous during any of the other jobs.

‘That’s fucking rich coming from you. What the hell have you done huh? I’m sure hiding in the base taught you everythin’ you need to know about this job, right?’ He snapped back. This was ridiculous. Pointless. We’re being hunted here for god’s sake!

‘Pho, let's take the money with us. We won’t be able to get anywhere at this rate so let’s just walk it,’ I told him as I opened the rear door to pull out the bag.

‘No way we’re doing that. Do you even know how far we have to go? It’s not a few blocks down y’know and that bag is heavy heavy. I know for a fact your noodle arms won’t be able to carry that shit for more than 10 minutes so then I’ll have to carry your weight again but what’s new, right?’ He marched his way over onto my side and threw the bag back. ‘We’ll just wait till someone drives past and ask them for help, okay?’ The sun had set and left the sky, leaving us with the mere glow of blue fading after it.

The air was completely still. We had been stationary for a whole minute. Nothing had happened yet. No one talked, or had a plan, or knew where to go from here. Pho walked around trying to waste time thinking, when we should’ve been moving by now. That’s what we should do to stay alive. He walked back to his side and stared at the silent road behind us while occasionally reaching to check he still had his gun on him. I gently pushed the car door in, hearing it not quite lock into place as I watched the sky desaturate...slowly.

The breeze got thicker and built its weight as it started circulating around us. It wove through the low bushes and trees and crawled under the car, wrapping my ankles in a cold clutch. The ground quivered a little and static started fizzing around us. My face wasn’t covered when we broke in. No one’s here yet but…someone knew where we were. And they were on their way. The viscous gravity held me in place for a moment to contemplate. I saw the intense flash of headlights pierce my eyes as the vehicle drove into view.

I flung the door open, throwing the bag over my shoulder and sprinting. I made sure to dispose of the baggage before I left, of course.