***
The weekend before Memorial day, 1992, Shannie duped me into a third trip to Atlantic City, this time with Ellie in tow. Traffic on the Atlantic City Expressway was heavy. "Goddamn Shoebees," Shannie bitched.
"What's a Shoebee?" I asked.
"Tourists." Shannie snapped. Her hair fluttered in the wind. "Don't you do it. Don't do it. He did it, You asshole!" She flipped off the car who pulled in front of her. In the back, Ellie paced back and forth on the seat, occasionally nudging her nose against the windows.
"How long have you been seeing Genise?"
Shannie looked at me from behind her sunglasses. "A year next month. Why?"
"Why haven't you brought her home?"
"What's it to you?"
"Just curious."
"In case you haven't noticed, she doesn't drive," Shannie flipped through the radio pre-sets.
"She could take Greyhound." I said.
Ignoring me, Shannie focused on the traffic. Her knuckles white against the black steering wheel. "I'm moving to Atlantic City for the summer," she said.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"I didn't give you permission," I cracked. My heart fell into the bucket seat. My ass throbbed in panic.
"Fuck you," Shannie smiled.
"If you did, we wouldn't have this problem.
Shannie punched my arm. "You're an ass."
"JESUS CHRIST! WATCH OUT!" I braced myself against the back of the seat. Shannie slammed on the breaks; the nose of the GTI dipped and its rear end rose as it squealed to a stop. Ellie slammed into the back of my seat. The smell of burnt rubber drifted through the moonroof. The GTI rested inches from the blue Cadillac in front of us.
"What the fuck?" Shannie laid on the horn. "ASSHOLE!" Shannie yelled at the driver in front of us. "Why's the asshole stopped in the middle of a highway?" Shannie questioned.
Around us drivers stared. In front of us cars weaved back and forth, queuing into lines. "It's a tollbooth stupid." I turned my attention to Ellie.
"Oh My God," Shannie mumbled.
The driver of the blue Cadillac, a little old bald man, shook his head in his rear-view mirror. He kept a wary eye on Shannie until he was through the tollbooth, when he sped off.
Silence fell over us as we dodged stares. When we got through the tollbooth Shannie spoke. "I could have got us killed."
"Look at the bright side, the three of us would be together forever."