Kia Boys- Life in the Fast Lane
They call us the Kia boys. You've probably heard of us before. We come to your neighborhood looking for a nice set of wheels to steal. Whoever designed these Kia cars sure didn't know what they were doing cause there things are so easy to break into. All you need is a screwdriver to pop open the ignition panel and a USB to turn on the car. That's all there is to it.
I never thought I'd end up riding with the Kia boys but that's where I am today. It all started one day when I was walking home after track and field practice. I only ever went because my parents practically forced me to. I was the only fat kid on the team and I was always dead last whenever we raced. You know how embarrassing it is being the slowest and fattest kid around? I always feel like a laughing stock. My parents thought being in the track team would help boost my self esteem but all it did was make me feel like crap.
On my way home, this blue kia pulled up to me and the driver rolled down the window. The guy looked to be around my age with light brown skin and a dark fade cut.
" Aye Jayden, that you?" He said.
" How the hell do you know my name?"
" It's me, Dante! Don't you remember?"
I looked him dead in his eyes and slowly his face became more familiar. He looked a lot older than I remembered, but that definitely was Dante.
" Dante? Man, I haven't seen you since fourth grade! What're you doing back here in Chicago? Heard your family moved up to Florida."
Dante is an old childhood friend I met all the way back in kindergarten. He was always the class clown who tried getting a laugh out of everyone. He was a cool dude, but he could hardly go a week without detention because of all his dumb pranks.
" My dad recently got a pretty good business deal in Chicago so we all moved back here a few weeks ago. Crazy how life works."
I was amazed. I never thought I'd see Dante again so it was nice that he was finally back home.
" Dude that's awesome! Did your parents buy you this car to celebrate?"
" Nah. I got this beauty for free. Nobody had to pay a dime for it, except for its original owner of course."
Dante cackled a wicked laugh and smiled at me.
" I'm a Kia boy. I stole this thing last week and been riding it around ever since. You need a ride?"
I didn't know how to respond at first. Dante was talking about stealing a car like it was the most casual thing in the world. I got into the car and he told me all about how he had been a Kia boy for a few months and how he was making a good profit by selling these stolen cars. I was shocked by how brazen he was, but then again, he was always like this. Dante did whatever he wanted without caring what others thought. He was the complete opposite of me. I hated how self conscious I was, how it always felt like people were judging and mocking my every move. Even though he was a criminal, I thought it was cool how Dante was brave enough to do his own thing. I wanted a taste of that freedom he had.
After we spent a few days making up for lost time, I asked Dante to teach me to be a Kia boy. Track wasn't getting me anywhere. I wanted to do something with my life. I wanted to be cool for once. Dante was happy to take me on as his partner in crime. We went patrolling around neighborhoods looking for the best cars to break into. Like I said earlier, you only need a screwdriver and USB stick to get the job done. I got nervous and fumbled the job the first few times. Even ended up activating the car alarm system. Thankfully, practice makes perfect and I was eventually hacking into cars in 45 seconds or less.
Driving around the city in a brand new car made me feel like I was on top of the world. I wasn't just some nobody anymore. No one could touch me and try to throw shade at me again. I was finally somebody worth respecting. Sometimes kids from school would come up to me and ask if I was rich or something 'cause I was always rolling around with new cars. I just laughed it off and told them they were gifts.
Dante introduced me to some of his friends who introduced him to the hustle. They were a bit older than us and had much more experience as Kia boys. They were on a completely different than what I was used to. These guys were using Kias to go street racing and rob stores. They were dressed to the nines in namebrands I could never afford. They were true gangsters and that scared, but they also had power. They commanded the streets in way I couldn't help respecting. They didn't have to worry about fading into the background when they were ones leading every scene.
The first time I robbed a store with them it felt like the entire world was watching. Our bags were growing heavy with jewelry and luxury items most people could only dream of owning. There were so many times where we got got and just barely managed to avoid getting tackled by security. We felt untouchable. Sometimes we'd even go to other cities where no one knew us to cause more mayhem in the streets.
Everything changed one winter night. We were breaking into a car as usual when the owner came rushing out his house with a gun pointed right at us. We barely managed to get inside before he started emptying his rounds. Dante was in the passenger seat leaking a puddle of blood from his right arm. I tried driving to the nearest hospital but everyone was telling me that was bad idea. The police were probably already looking for us so we had to lay low. One of the guys in the back said we should go to the next town over where he has a cousin who can patch Dante up.
I looked over at Dante who was clutching his bloody arm for dear life. Warm tears slid down his face. It hurt to see him in this much pain but the other guys were probably right. It was too dangerous to go to any hospitals.
About 21 minutes into the drive, a couple of police cars pulled up behind us with their sirens blaring. My heart plummeted and we all looked shook. I began speeding down the road and took as many turns as I could in an attempt to lose them, but it didn't do me any good. They were still hot on my trail no matter how much distance I tried to put between us. My whole body was ovetaken by fear. To make matters worse, the darkness of the night and icey roads made it hard to control the car. I was stuck between wanting to speed off into the night and keeping the car at a manageable speed.
The police shouted from their microphones for me to pull over but I was too deep into this race to stop now. My friends shouted at me to go even faster despite the danger that would bring. I hoped that I would get lucky and manage to escape the police.
I was so wrong. My car swerved in a patch of ice and went crashing into a ditch. The last thing I remember before blacking out was the sounds of breaking glass and metal clamping down on my body.
I woke up in the hospital two days later. My body was connected to a whole bunch of tubes and wires and most of my skin was covered with bandages. My parents looked at me with tears in their eyes, thankful that I was still alive. It didn't take them long to switch up on me and tell me what an idiot I've been. I was the only survivor in that car crash, which meant that those guys I called my friends, their blood was on my hands. The news called me the Kia Killer and the families of the victims cursed me out in the courtroom like their boys were so innocent. None of us were victims that day. We were just a bunch of dumb kids trying to live life in the fast lane.
Now I'm a paralyzed dumbass stuck in a jail cell until my time is up. So for those of you who think going joyriding in a stolen car is a good way to kill time, don't do it. You'll just end up killing yourself.
