Sharp turn right, push on the brake then shift to the gas. Ease into turning, keep your speed steady and your head back. Don’t let them realize you don’t have a license, play natural.
You know enough to do this, you’ve been practising for months, the only thing holding you back is the lack of a license and if you don’t get caught, then that can be fixed with a simple test.
Lani breathes in, then out, she smiles once she looks in the mirror twice, and then switches lanes. She’s sixteen, old enough to have a license, old enough to earn one, she just hasn’t yet.
That can be fixed, but for now, she has to make do and do this correctly like her mother taught her.
Her heart beats fast within her chest as she passes another cop, she does her best not to look too much at him when she doesn’t need to. She needs to keep aware of the road around he, but too much awareness will make her suspicious.
Just breathe in and breathe out. Focus on driving, remember what your mother said, proceed carefully, stop early, and stay at a consistent speed or they’ll think you’re drunk.
Lani knows what to do and knows she can do it, so she switches lanes again, keeps her blinker on, and turns onto the highway, consistently lowering her speed so as not to flip over on the turn.
Her heart kicks up again, fluttering fast as she remembers the last time she drove on a highway. You didn’t fail that time, she tries to console herself, and you won’t fail this time.
Highway driving is hard, dangerous, and more likely than not to end horribly. It terrifies her, truly and deeply, but she doesn’t have time for fear, of highways or death so she will go this way anyway.
Because it’s fastest, and she’s capable, and if she doesn’t there could be worse consequences.
So she doesn’t close her eyes or hesitate when she switches lanes. She holds her head high, looks both ways, makes sure her blinker is on and that she’s going at the correct speed, and then she goes.
She worries the entire time she drives through the highway. Even as she keeps a lookout for the correct sign to go through, even as she glances behind her in the back seats, empty for once. She keeps calm even as she needs to switch lanes again and someone is in her way.
She doesn’t panic, although her heart may race faster, her eyes may shift, and her hands may grow cold.
Lani doesn’t panic because panic is death, panic is failure, and Lani can’t afford either.
Turn on the blinker, switch lanes, and keep an eye out for cars increasing or decreasing speed. When it comes time, decrease your speed carefully, so you don’t flip over on the turn.
Lani finally gets off the highway and breathes a sigh of relief.
Just a little left to go.
There are fewer cop cars on this side of the highway, Lani notices this with only slight relief because that doesn’t mean there aren’t any cameras or hidden cops. So she stays careful and alert, but she breathes easier because she feels less likely to slip up.
The speed limit sits at thirty-five over here, and then twenty-five as she moves to the more residential areas. It’s annoying going so slow, but Lani can only push it to the sevens or risk suspending her non-applicable license. SO she keeps it low although it makes her want to hit her head on the wheel.
Her hands still don’t shake when she pulls into the driveway, careful of the telephone pole. Her breathing stays even, and maybe her speed a little less constant.
But Lani is home. She’s safe, and soon everyone else will be too.
So Lani puts the car in park, turns the key, sits in silence, and doesn’t cry, even as her hands shake and her breathing stutters.
Because she’s home and everything will be okay.
It needs to be.
