400 - The Error Error that Changed Everything

"Sir, the bags are in the car."

I nodded and slid down off of the bar stool. The bar was all but empty, as I didn't really frequent bars, and that made my exit easier.

I walked out of the bar into the warm California air and saw the black SUV waiting for me by the curb.

I dropped into the backseat, a little too quickly, I thought. I felt my stomach lurch a little bit. I hadn't eaten today, hadn't even had coffee yet. I shrugged it off and looked over to see who was driving.

"Good morning, sir," said an unfamiliar voice from behind darkly tinted windows.

"Who are you?" I asked sharply. "Where's Henry?" Henry was my usual driver. He had been driving me for years now and knew how to keep his mouth shut.

The man didn't answer me. Instead he pulled away from the curb and brought us onto the highway that would take us back to my home on the outskirts of Los Angeles. I watched him carefully as we drove down the highway but could not get a good look at his face or figure out how big he was under his suit jacket and hat. The only thing that would give me a hint were his hands as they gripped the wheel with an iron grip while staring straight ahead at the road without so much as a glance at me in the rearview mirror. He wasn't being rude per se; it was just obvious to me that he wanted something more than to drive me back home safely after a night of drinking.

"So what is it?" I asked flatly after a minute of silence passed between us in the car. "You're going to make me pay you off? You can forget it, buddy, Henry doesn't work like that."

The man again did not respond to my questions, but this time instead he took his right hand off of steering wheel and put it in his pocket. As he did so I saw a glint from within his jacket pocket where I assumed he kept whatever instrument he planned on using to threaten me with later tonight as soon as we ended up back home alone inside my house somewhere deep in suburbia where no one would hear my screams if he decided to make them loud enough for that reason alone.

I decided then that it was time for drastic measures, so I leaned forward toward the driver's seat and grabbed for the wheel with both hands before yanking it hard towards me and turning sharply to my left which caused the SUV to fishtail wildly on the highway before spinning its tires loudly along the asphalt surface before screeching to a stop against concrete barrier separating freeway traffic from oncoming traffic at another lane of traffic going in either direction depending on which direction you're traveling in on this particular freeway segment of California state highway 101/405/110 away from downtown Los Angeles far enough away from thirsty bars like "The Three Vultures" where people like myself can get drunk enough to forget about all their problems for a few hours if only until they got home when things like this happened when someone was sent out by someone else who wanted something from you but weren't willing to simply ask for it politely because they knew you'd refuse if they did that so they sent someone else instead who's willing to do whatever they have to do to get what they want but if there's one thing people like myself know how to do well is handle situations like this where someone is trying to strong arm them into doing something they don't want or need them and are willing to fight tooth and nail tooth against everything else that tries force them into doing anything they don't want unless you're good enough at fighting tooth & nail tooth against threats like these which this man clearly wasn't because there's no way someone like him could threaten someone with pinning false charges against them or making sure their businesses close down or any of those other kinds of threats given how smart I knew myself to be under normal circumstances anyway so long as you're sober which is why people like myself tend not to drink because getting yourself drunk makes you stupid which is why people like myself always drink in places like "The Three Vultures" where drinks cost $9 each unless you have friends who own bars where drinks cost $100 each but even that's worth it if it keeps people like this man from acting out whenever they want because otherwise where would we be without places like "The Three Vultures" keeping men like him occupied while everyone else gets drunk enough not to care about how much money their drinks cost since there's more important things than money anyways especially when your life is threatened if you don't do something right now so there's nothing wrong with spending $10 per drink on drinks that cost $300 dollars each so long as people leave you alone when all are sober while places like "The Three Vultures" keep men like these busy while everyone else gets drunk enough not care about how much money their drinks cost since there's more important things than money anyways especially when your life is threatened if you don't do something right now so there's nothing wrong with spending $10 per drink on drinks that cost $300 dollars each so long as people leave you alone when all are sober while places like "The Three Vultures" keep men like these busy while everyone else gets drunk enough not care about how much money their drinks cost since there's more important things than money anyways especially when your life is threatened if you don't do something right now so there's nothing wrong with spending $10 per drink on drinks that cost $300 dollars each so long as people leave you alone when all are sober while places like "The Three Vultures" keep men like these busy while everyone else gets drunk enough not care about how much money their drinks cost since there's more important things than money anyways especially when your life is threatened if you don't do something right now so there's nothing wrong with spending $10 per drink on drinks that cost $300 dollars each so long as people leave you alone when all are sober while places like "The Three Vultures" keep men like these busy while everyone else gets drunk enough not care about how much money their drinks cost since there's more important things than money anyways especially when your life is threatened if you don't do something right now so there's nothing wrong with spending $10 per drink on drinks that cost $300 dollars each so long as people leave you alone when all are sober while places like "The Three Vultures" keep men like these busy while everyone else gets drunk enough not care about how much money their drinks cost since there's more important things than money anyways especially when your life is threatened if you don't do something right now so there's nothing wrong with spending $10 per drink on drinks that cost $300 dollars each so long as people leave you alone when all are sober