The Other Brother Read Online Free Page B
his breath.
Cars and trucks rocketed down the highway at murderous velocities. A handful of other drivers, the smart ones, had slowed and turned on their hazard lights.
He hit a puddle of water and the Navigator's tires lost their grip on the pavement for a beat, sending nausea wriggling through his stomach.
Okay, time to slow down. Let the rest of these speed racers risk their lives out here.
He decreased his speed to about forty. Water, spewed in the wake of the car ahead of him, blanketed the windshield. He lowered his speed a little more, to increase the distance between his vehicle and the one ahead.
At this rate it would take forever to get home, but he wasn't in a hurry. He planned to spend the day napping and, later, preparing for Dana's arrival.
He was immersed in an erotic fantasy of what he and Dana might do later that night when he noticed the cars ahead of him slowing, brake lights flaring. From the looks of it, they were braking because of a pool of water spread across the pavement, a mini lake produced by the highway's poor drainage in that area.
He gently applied the brakes.
There was an eighteen-wheeler in the lane on his immediate left, a car length ahead of him. The faded logo on the trailer, advertising a bakery company, proclaimed, LIFE IS DELICIOUS.
The truck, also attempting to slow, began to hydroplane. The trailer swayed dangerously.
"Hey, man" Gabriel tapped the horn to let the driver know he was there.
Water spraying from its tires and coating Gabriel's windshield, the truck rumbled closer, the gigantic trailer looming like a wall.
"Hey!" Gabriel mashed the horn.
The truck kept coming.
Gabriel pumped the brakes and wrestled the steering wheel, aiming to direct his vehicle to the shoulder of the highway. But the semi slewed into his lane and banged against Gabriel's SUV, and the effect was like a giant swatting a fly. The collision sent Gabriel spinning toward the guardrail, out of control, the steering wheel tearing through his fingers violently enough to scorch his skin.
Terror seized the pit of his stomach.
I'm gonna die, he thought with piercing clarity. This is how it ends ...
He didn't even realize he was screaming.
The Navigator hurtled over the guardrail and plummeted down the embankment beyond.
Chapter 2
"'m gonna die.... Jr --
iCrashing over the guardrail, hitting the muddy embankment, rolling end over end, Gabriel wanted to close his eyes and avoid witnessing his own demise. But fear had peeled back his eyelids.
The world spun. One second, he made out trees, the low gray sky spitting rain, and houses huddled against the storm. A second later, everything was upside down, as if he were traveling through a corkscrew loop on a roller coaster. His stomach lurched, bitter bile filling the back of his throat. He banged against the door and ceiling, pain spinning like broken glass through his body.
The air bags deployed and blew into his face, burning his skin.
In spite of the clamor of the rolling SUV, Gabriel heard the radio. Smokey Robinson was singing about cruising with someone you loved. Dana's face flashed through Gabriel's mind, and he felt a swelling of bittersweet love.
He was never going to see her again.
He was never going to see anyone again. This was the end.
Visions of his life paraded before his eyes. Snap shots of his youth, the good and the bad.
Faces floated through his mind's eye, too. He saw living relatives: Pops, Mom, his sister, his aunt, his uncles. Their eyes were teary, grieving.
I don't wanna die.
And then the dead charged into his thoughts: his grandparents, his best friend from high school who'd also died in a car wreck. Their arms beckoned to him, and they whispered, Welcome.
No, I don't wanna die ...
As if from far away, he heard a crash, the groan of crushed metal, the tinkling of shattered glass.
The truck stopped rolling. He was upside down, his head mashed against the ceiling. He sensed rather than felt his twisted
Cars and trucks rocketed down the highway at murderous velocities. A handful of other drivers, the smart ones, had slowed and turned on their hazard lights.
He hit a puddle of water and the Navigator's tires lost their grip on the pavement for a beat, sending nausea wriggling through his stomach.
Okay, time to slow down. Let the rest of these speed racers risk their lives out here.
He decreased his speed to about forty. Water, spewed in the wake of the car ahead of him, blanketed the windshield. He lowered his speed a little more, to increase the distance between his vehicle and the one ahead.
At this rate it would take forever to get home, but he wasn't in a hurry. He planned to spend the day napping and, later, preparing for Dana's arrival.
He was immersed in an erotic fantasy of what he and Dana might do later that night when he noticed the cars ahead of him slowing, brake lights flaring. From the looks of it, they were braking because of a pool of water spread across the pavement, a mini lake produced by the highway's poor drainage in that area.
He gently applied the brakes.
There was an eighteen-wheeler in the lane on his immediate left, a car length ahead of him. The faded logo on the trailer, advertising a bakery company, proclaimed, LIFE IS DELICIOUS.
The truck, also attempting to slow, began to hydroplane. The trailer swayed dangerously.
"Hey, man" Gabriel tapped the horn to let the driver know he was there.
Water spraying from its tires and coating Gabriel's windshield, the truck rumbled closer, the gigantic trailer looming like a wall.
"Hey!" Gabriel mashed the horn.
The truck kept coming.
Gabriel pumped the brakes and wrestled the steering wheel, aiming to direct his vehicle to the shoulder of the highway. But the semi slewed into his lane and banged against Gabriel's SUV, and the effect was like a giant swatting a fly. The collision sent Gabriel spinning toward the guardrail, out of control, the steering wheel tearing through his fingers violently enough to scorch his skin.
Terror seized the pit of his stomach.
I'm gonna die, he thought with piercing clarity. This is how it ends ...
He didn't even realize he was screaming.
The Navigator hurtled over the guardrail and plummeted down the embankment beyond.
Chapter 2
"'m gonna die.... Jr --
iCrashing over the guardrail, hitting the muddy embankment, rolling end over end, Gabriel wanted to close his eyes and avoid witnessing his own demise. But fear had peeled back his eyelids.
The world spun. One second, he made out trees, the low gray sky spitting rain, and houses huddled against the storm. A second later, everything was upside down, as if he were traveling through a corkscrew loop on a roller coaster. His stomach lurched, bitter bile filling the back of his throat. He banged against the door and ceiling, pain spinning like broken glass through his body.
The air bags deployed and blew into his face, burning his skin.
In spite of the clamor of the rolling SUV, Gabriel heard the radio. Smokey Robinson was singing about cruising with someone you loved. Dana's face flashed through Gabriel's mind, and he felt a swelling of bittersweet love.
He was never going to see her again.
He was never going to see anyone again. This was the end.
Visions of his life paraded before his eyes. Snap shots of his youth, the good and the bad.
Faces floated through his mind's eye, too. He saw living relatives: Pops, Mom, his sister, his aunt, his uncles. Their eyes were teary, grieving.
I don't wanna die.
And then the dead charged into his thoughts: his grandparents, his best friend from high school who'd also died in a car wreck. Their arms beckoned to him, and they whispered, Welcome.
No, I don't wanna die ...
As if from far away, he heard a crash, the groan of crushed metal, the tinkling of shattered glass.
The truck stopped rolling. He was upside down, his head mashed against the ceiling. He sensed rather than felt his twisted
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