“Heard what happened to your Cobrasnake.” he said as Jim was pulling the tab off his beer can, “That sucks.”
         “Yeah, no shit.” said Jim, “Would’ve been nice to be blowing smoke with it tonight. Now, I owe my damn foster father fifty thousand bucks. I could’ve bought my own Cobrasnake with that kinda money.”
         Tod casually walked over to the edge of the dock and flicked his match into the river.
         “Yeah,” he said, “but that’s the way she goes. You just gotta work with watcha got. Me? I’m going to Otranto this week. Going to that job fair Astrocor is holding. Get a job with them, man, and you’ll be able to pay back your foster dad and buy your own car before Yuletide.”
         Jim slowly took a sip of his beer.
         “Yeah, I was seriously thinking about that.” he said, “But Suzie doesn’t want me to go. Says I’ll be gone too long.” He looked over his shoulder at Suzie who was busy chatting it up with Sam.
         “Well, you gotta keep your girl happy, too.” said Tod, “You just do whatever it is you gotta do.”
         He slapped Jim on the shoulder before walking over to join the Janson brothers who were shotgunning beers and slamming the cans on the cement.
         By now, the primary sun had already set and the sky had dimmed to a dark, twilight blue. Jim had already walked back to join Suzie when, over the roofs of nearby buildings, they could see a small rocket rising from the center of town and exploding in a dazzling display of glittering gold. The kids on the dock cheered, joining the roar of hooting and hollering that could be heard from all across town. The drivers scrambled to their vehicles to stamp on their brakes and push their accelerators until their rear tires started to spin in place. Billows of smoke poured out the tires until the entire dock was covered in smoke, while vehicles stationed in other parts of town did the same. People hanging out on the hilltops were treated to the spectacular sights and sounds of hundreds of tires squealing in unison while dozens of plumes of smoke grew and slowly spread into each other until the entire lower townsite was engulfed in a giant cloud of tire smoke, like a greasy, low hanging fog. Later on, Jim and his friends were treated to some excellent photographs of the spectacle, but for now they were surrounded by nothing but a haze of grey.
         After a short while, the drivers, one by one, ceased spinning their tires and exited their cars and trucks to crack some beers and join their friends to celebrate in the haze. Rory Gushue lit up a joint and Blake Finnigan popped a bottle of champagne, showering everyone within a few feet of him in delicious suds.
         Everybody was laughing and cheering when Jake Loggins, a classmate of theirs, swung by in his own pick-up truck with a load of kids in his box.
         “Party at the ruins!” he yelled as the kids in the box screamed and whistled. And as he squealed off in yet another cloud of tire smoke, Ty smacked the hood of his truck three times loudly.
         “You heard him, boys and girls!” he screamed, “Get in the truck, we’re goin’ to the ruins!”
         “Woo! Party time!” yelled Renny, as he, Alex, and Beaver jumped into box. Jim helped Suzie into the cab and climbed in after her and then they were off. Meanwhile, everyone else on the dock hopped into their own vehicles and soon they had a caravan of cars, trucks and vans cruising across the Steinhauer River and down the old dirt road to the ruins. Not far, in fact, from where Jim and Ty crashed Ted’s car a couple of weeks earlier. The ruins, it was said, were those of an ancient Toliman courthouse, over a thousand Phaethian years old. Of course, none of this mattered to the kids. Today they were just a bunch of marble and cement ruins covered in graffiti and an awesome place to party.


         By the time midnight came around, the party was well underway. Jim was in the middle of a beer chugging contest with the Janson brothers when Ty approached him, drink in hand.
         “Hey, Jim,” he said, “you thought about what we talked about, yet?”
         Jim finished chugging his beer and wiped his mouth off with his sleave.