BLACK ACURA

by Stanley Lieber

Tires squealed in earnest as the module of black porcelain angled itself around the corner.

Dand could only collapse into the passenger seat, gripping his door handle, hard, as Mark banked the black Acura into the alleyway.

Out of the car, into the basement.

“This is stupid,” muttered Mark. His eyes seemed fixed on a point somewhere beneath the surface of the floor as he tumbled down the long stairway, into the hallway, into the kitchen.

Dand could only agree.

Alpha sniffed the air as Mark bounded awkwardly into view. Disruption: Alpha had already marked his X on the contract, but Mark did not seem to care. “The law is what you can pay a lawyer to argue successfully in court,” Mark observed.

Alpha shifted, warily. He could only agree.

“So. Are we going to have a problem, then?”

Alpha snorted, then drooped his nose to the table in submission. For now, rules were rules.

The ink was not dry and Mark was back in the car. Dand accompanied.

“That was stupid,” said Mark.

Dand leaned forward and checked to make sure that his wallet was still in his pocket.

photo used without permisson