12 midnight. The watch on his wrist had just reached the highest point and Brian wasn't tired at all. Tomorrow was Saturday and he didn't have to work. So he had a lot of Cokes and some popcorn while he was watching late night shows all by himself. Mia was out and about so Brians only entertainment were Buster, the unnamed puppy and his TV. he had told himself to stay out of trouble and not go to the race tonight.

"Fuck it." he tossed the remote on the sofa next to him and made his way upstairs where Jack was sound asleep in Brians bed.
He flicked the light on, tossed his jeans at Jacks had and said rather loudy. "Enough beautysleep. Get up, brother. We're going for a ride."

Jack's dream about finally finding some change was rudely interrupted before it had a chance to get to the better part. With dazed eyes he sat up and looked from the jeans, that had been thrown at his head, to his brother. He couldn't quite make out what he had just said since he was still drowsy.
"What the hell.. "
His brother better have a good explanation for this. While he sat on the edge of the bed he eyed his brother in annoyance. "Is the house on fire or something?"

Brian shook his head and jingled his keys in front of Jacks eyes.
"No. Let's go for a ride."
While he tossed some more clothes at Jack he asked. "How old are you? Why are you sleeping Saturday night? It's time to play."
With that he grabbed a black hoddie out of his closet and pulled it over his head.
"I'll wait for you in the car."

Without waiting any longer he left and made his way downstairs taking two stairs at a time. He was antsy without his weekly dose of adrenalin.
Outside he opened the hood of the Nissan with a small flashlight between his teeth and checked the oil and coolant just to be on the safe side.
With a bit of admiration he looked at his car, which had been put together again by Letty's long lost sister.

Shaking his head, Jack couldn't believe his brother played the age card on him. But then again, he was sleeping on a Saturday for god knows what reason so it was kind of legit.
When he realized what his brother was proposing he wondered why the hell he was still siting on the edge of the bed and suddenly he was wide awake.
With much haste, he slipped in to some clothes, moved a hand through his messed up hair and made his way downstairs and outside. There he found his brother gazing with pride at the Nissan and with a smirk he asked. "Is that what you woke me up for? So I can watch you stare at your car the whole night?" Then he slapped his brother on the shoulder and added. "Not my idea of fun, bro."

"Well then, get in!" He tossed him the keys and jumped into the passenger seat.
"I figured instead of holding up gangs you might as well get some money in other illegal ways."
He opened up the glove compartment and pulled out a cb radio.
"Let's see where our friends are and where we can practise a little."
Fiddling around on the old fashioned buttons he tuned into the local police wave length.

When he sat behind the wheel, Jack smirked at his brother.
"What? You don't enjoy holding up gangs?"
For only a couple of seconds, the memory of that night flashed through his mind and caused his smirk to fade a little. If that guy had chosen to pull the trigger instead, he'd been 6 feet under now. Not a happy thought.
He glanced at his brother while he fired up the engine.
"Practice? Who needs practice? You? Because I'm a natural, bro!"
With that he revved the engine before he pulled the Skyline on to the road.

Brian quickly buckled up and remarked. "Easy, man! Warm up the engine a little."
While Jack was speeding through the dark streets of Brians neighbourhood with only a few street lights here and there Brian was trying to listen to the police calls.
He pointed at a sign. "Go towards Monterey Park on highway 10. It's usually pretty good out there."
Then he watched how his brother was using the clutch for a bit.
"Are you sure you broke your hand and not your foot?" He grinned.

While Jack followed the directions Brian gave him, he nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Unless you want me to test my foot on your ass later."
When the Skyline finally hit the highway, leaving the streets behind, he kicked it up a notch. With very little traffic ahead it was just one big invitation to speed and he just couldn't resist.
It was definitely something he could get used to if he was given the chance.
As the Nissan breezed over the road, Jack glanced at his brother.
"So what was this about practice? You'd actually let me race again?"

Brian looked at Jack and opened his mouth as if to say something but then just raised his eyebrows. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the speedometer. he didn't really need to see it. Brian could tell how fast they were going blindfolded but it was definetly way over the limit.
"Yes." He simply stated and leaned back in his bucket seat.
"Show me what you got."
He was curious to find out whether his brother had taken after him and developed the same taste or maybe even skills for gasoline.

With the stunt Jack had pulled after the drag race, he didn't expect to receive this answer. At least not without maybe some groveling and making promises he would have a hard time keeping. If kept at all.
"Are you pulling my leg here or what?"
He glanced at Brian again searching for a reaction but as far as he could tell his brother seemed pretty serious. In that case, who was he to argue?
Then he shrugged and asked. "What do you want to see?"
He'd already shown he knew how to exceed the speed limit. Hell, that was easy not to mention fun.

Brian smirked. "What you got! Do I need to spell it out? Do whatever floats your boat!"
He trusted Jack with his car. Brian was pretty sure that his brother knew what it meant to him and that he couldn't just replace it easily.
Licking his lips he added.
"Show me how you take curves on a winding road, do 180s, drift...you know, bro, whatever you can do."
For a moment he wondered. "Can you do anything?" Maybe his brother was more into his guitar or polishing his nails than driving.

For a few seconds, Jack contemplated. There was enough room and he'd done it enough times before for fun back in the day. He wasn't sure whether he knew the Skyline well enough for this yet though, but then again, his brother did ask for it.
"You wanna know if I can do anything? We'll find out soon enough. I just hope you have a good insurance." He smirked while his heart started pumping faster from excitement.

After passing a car and reaching a section where there was no barrier between the opposing lanes, he checked for other cars. Seeing none, he declutched and while pulling the e-brake he quickly steered the car into a u-turn. With squealing tires, the car slid over the tarmac. Then after he straightened the Nissan out of the slight oversteer, he shifted into the right gear for the current speed and let the clutch back up before accelerating again, now driving on the opposite lane. He let out a short sigh of relieve. It wasn't a perfect 180 but atleast he hadn't wrecked the car.

For a short moment Brian wondered why the hell he had given the keys to Mr. king-of-the-srew-ups. But when he saw how Jack handled the Skyline even thought it had the steering wheel on the right, which took some getting used to, he relaxed and was starting to have fun.
"Good." He mumbled when the tires got some grip again and they headed into the opposite direction.
"You're a natural." He had to give him some credit.
Then he rubbed his hands together. "Shift down a little earlier and bring her back a bit faster. Allright, show me more...and no, my insurance sucks. They never pay nearly enough."

"Show you more?" Jack raised his eyebrows at his brother. He had just pulled off one of his better stunts and he wanted more?Aside from this little trick, speeding whenever he could and the occasional drag race, most of his activities involving cars back in Barstow were burn outs and donuts, just messing up as many tires as you could. There wasn't much else you could do with those old cars.
He figured Brian would rather keep his tires in one piece.
"I said I was a natural. I never said I was a pro." He smirked.

"Allright, Mr. Natural."
Brian looked around. Ahead of them were a couple of cars and the exit to one of the more winding roads that lead towards the hills.
"Let's go up there and drift a little."
Maybe Jack wasn't cut out for the quarter mile. Maybe his talents were elsewhere.
Brian watched his moves carefully and listened to his Nissan.

"Fine by me. It's your car." Jack grinned while he took the exit Brian was referring to.
He knew the basics to drifting and once you had those down, it was pretty simple. However, that didn't mean you couldn't screw up though. He'd seen plenty of guys put pretty big dents and scrapes on their cars because they misjudged a corner.
He glanced at his brother while he took the first curve in a normal fashion. It was one thing to fuck up a good for nothing rust bucket, it was another thing to fuck up his brothers pride.
Especially if he was sitting right next to him, preventing him from coming up with any excuses on why the car looked slightly different if he'd be so lucky to mess up.
"You're sure you want this right?"

Brian got a bit nervous with Jack behind his babys wheel.
But he put a brave face on. "I don't happen to own an old fucked up car and how else are you going to learn?"
Wondering whether the recent events had loosened up one of his screws he tried not to hold on to the seat.
Maybe being fired at made him appreciate his brother a bit more than usually.
"Maybe Mexico screwed me up and made me like you."
He watched Jack take the first curve all the way on the outside.

"Not sure how I'm supposed to take that one but uhm.. thanks?" Jack shrugged while he put his focus back on the road, reciting every step before the next corner in his mind. One mistake and Brian would not be a happy camper.
While the next corner was coming up, he half heartedly joked. "You might want to take one last look while the Skyline is still intact."
Then he took in a deep breath. This was it.
He quickly tapped the brake before he turned the wheel, clutched in and pulled the e-brake for a short moment sending the Nissan into the drift. Now all he had to do was counter steer just enough and hope for the best. But while the wheels slid over the tarmac he could already see that he'd taken the corner too wide and in the rearview mirror a lamp post was closing in in quite an uncomfortable way. The trunk only missed the damn thing by as much as a hair.
As the corner was ending he straightened the car out again while he released the breath he'd been holding the whole time. That was not funny.

Brian couldn't help but clutch the seat when he saw the guardrail of the narrow road coming closer.
Despite the fact that the Skyline almost lost its taillight Jack did a pretty good job. So instead of giving him tipps Brian just let him get a feel for it. He tried as hard as he could to keep his mouth shut and nodded. "Not bad. I'm sure you can afford a new light."
The road went along the flank of a pretty steep hill. Underneath them the hill ended on top of a cliff with dark waves braking against it. So there was no room for errors.
Brian fixed his eyes on the road scouting out every inch of the next turn. "You got this? I'd hate to see our reunion cut short by...40 years."

Jack let out a short nervous laugh while he followed the upcoming turn and what came after with his eyes. "You actually plan on living past your 70's, huh?"
This one was a little more unnerving considering the possible outcome which would break just a tad bit more than just a taillight. But then again, it was just a matter of changing a few details up. He just had to focus. Turn the wheel a bit sharper, pull the e-brake a little faster and they should be fine, right?

When they entered the corner, he pulled the Skyline in a tighter drift this time thanks to the minor changes, leaving the car sliding through the middle of the road. Still not as tight as he wanted it to be, but atleast it didn't end badly.

He smirked while the Nissan came to sliding stop. "Now that was fun!"
He was glad he'd taken the corner, but he wouldn't be doing it anytime soon again. He figured it was better not to tempt fate too much while he was still ahead.