Page 56

A solid four to five seconds passed before Ella squealed. “Whaaaat? Here? Now? Which one? What?”

Sophie pointed to #16 at the edge of the lot and hopped in the passenger seat.

Ella sat in the driver’s seat and ran her hand across the steering wheel. She thumbed her glasses back up her nose. “I don’t even know what to do.”

Her voice contained all the excitement Sophie hoped it would. “Okay, accelerate on the right, brake on the left.”

“I mean, I know that…”

“Just turn the ignition to ‘on’ and push the gear here to drive.” She tapped the gear button. “Then press the pedal to change how fast it goes. Smooth and slow at first until you get comfortable.”

Ella nodded at the instructions, reminiscent of her first week at work. But this time, her nods contained a smile that Sophie wanted to remember forever. Ella’s tongue swept her lip, and her eyes furrowed in fierce concentration. Her left hand’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the key and pressed the pedal.

Sophie flew back. “Whoa!” She flew forward when Ella slammed on the brake.

“Ah! Sorry. Shit!” Her hand fumbled and she twisted in the seat. “Okay, okay, I got this.” She eased them out of the parking lot and followed Sophie’s instructions to the end of the pavement.

A few minutes into it, Ella’s knuckles returned to a normal color and soon she squealed. “I’m driving!” She screamed intothe night air as she reached a max speed of maybe five miles an hour. She turned in a large circle, returned to the lot, and accelerated.

Yes, Ella was not supposed to drive. But Sophie figured the risk was pretty low in a golf cart, when the max speed was twenty miles an hour and there was no one else around. If Ella had a seizure, Sophie was pretty confident she could get them to safety.

“I’m fucking driving! Whooo!” She screamed again and increased the speed to about ten miles an hour. She looped the lot and after a bit loosened up. She turned, looped, reversed, looped again, while bouncing in her seat and yelling.

The rush was obvious. Ella’s body lifted, and she yelled with such animation that Sophie felt Ella’s joy in her soul. Meadow smells filled the breeze and the bumps in the pavement were no match for Ella. She gained more confidence and completed the slowest doughnut known to humans. “I’ve always wanted to do that! Do you think I left skid marks?”

Going the speed of a sloth, Ella absolutely had not created any marks. Sophie nodded anyway.

Ella bumped them down to the edge of the parking lot when shouting started behind them.

“Hey! Stop! Hey!” A man with a polo shirt boasting the name of the golf course ran toward them, waving.

Ella slammed on the brakes. “Oh my God, what do we do?”

Sophie turned around. The man inched closer, his yells stronger. “You speed it up and outrun him.”

Ella’s eyes turned as wide as Sophie had ever seen, before she pressed on the pedal and floored it. They bumped over the parking lot, swerved in between cars, and Sophie clasped on to the rack with both hands.

“Go! Go! Onto the greens.” Sophie glanced over her shoulder as the man dug out keys and hopped in a cart, chasing after them.

The cart jolted over the lip and they went down the green. “Ahhh!” Sophie yelled, the elation filling her belly. “You got this! Just circle around, bring us back to my car, and we’ll make a run for it.”

“Got it.” Ella’s chest rapidly lifted in quick, sharp inhales. She firmed her grip and swerved down the meadow.

The man screamed. “Stop! You two! Stop. I’m gonna call the cops!”

Over the hills, to the left, on top of a few lone branches crunching beneath them, Ella navigated the cart. “Over there!” Sophie pointed to the right exit. “He’s gaining on us. Can you go a little faster?”

Ella pushed down, and the golf cart trudged up the steep hill. “Is he getting close?”

“Yep, but we got this.”

The sound of sirens rang in the background and Sophie’s heart thudded. “Come on, almost there. Once we stop, hop out and run like hell.”

“Okay.” Ella navigated to the right, down the slope, and to the exit.

“The sirens are getting closer. Get ready to run.” Sophie shifted her legs towards the opening, ready to bolt the second the cart slowed. “Hundred more feet… fifty… twenty… okay, stop! Get out, go!”

Ella pushed on the brakes, Sophie threw the gear into park, and they both leapt out.