The music starts to the black screen that is the back of your eyelids. Your own personal movie preambled by the logo of ownership by a multinational media corporation. In this circumstance it’s Universal with its orange sunrise giving birth to the planet Earth, turning in time to the pulse of the beat.
You hear the sound of an engine revving; your mind turns the logo into the centre of a chrome hubcap and it spins into oblivion as you feel yourself tearing towards your destination; the adrenaline jumping in your veins.
The truck stops and your eyes snap open. Instantly alert, you jump to your feet, grab a traffic cone and join the others as you play your part in the action; stamping the cone down onto the tarmac alongside the ‘Road Closed’ sign that grins its false truth out at passers by. With a clap of hands accompanied by someone’s whoop of joy, you jump back into the truck and the wait begins again.
This time you travel with your eyes wide open, savouring the scene around you. The roadside filled with souped-up cars; crowds of people waiting around, casting euphoria off their bodies as they anticipate what is coming, their hands grasping onto plastic cups filled with beer. The sound of their conversations deafens out the music and, as you reach your goal, it is all you hear alongside the sound of engines.
The truck stops. You jump to your feet and grab a cone, ready to slam it down against tarmac next to another ‘Road Closed’ lie. You do this and turn back to the truck. Your role is played and the scene cuts to:
A man with an afro and the ludicrous name of Tej Parker talks into his phone. ‘Yo, Jimmy man, gimme the status. Tell me we’re good.’
A voice murmurs a reply in the positive.
‘Beautiful. It’s gonna be an all-timer tonight.’ He snaps the phone shut as he walks out of the door and addresses the crowd. ‘Alright, alright, alright. Fire them up.’ The assorted crowd cheers. ‘We go live in five. It’s time for ignition.’
Everyone continues to cheer and you join them. The energy rising off you like strobe lights flickering across the sky, weaving their way through the crowd and across the tops of the revving cars. You close your eyes and watch the lights dance and slow, burning themselves into the name of this moment of your life’s film: 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS.
0:00 – 1:45 is taken from 2Fast2Furious: An Anthology, published in 2014 by Deckfight Press.