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"You think you're better than me. I hate you, move," he says
and waits.
Smelling his armpit, he regrets not taking a shower or at least putting on some deodorant/anti-perspirant. Now
he is too close to the door just to turn around and go back upstairs. A minute passes and it becomes crystal that
no matter how much cooler he is then this cat she is not going to move. He gives in, slides the door sideways and
steps over the napping pile of white, tan and black fur and into the Saturday afternoon where the sun is a ball
of fire in the clear sky.
His eyes catch the hummingbird that had struck the glass moments earlier. It is on its side panting. He kneels
down and stares at the little gray bird with its long, thin hummingbird beak for a moment. Sweat is forming on
Ham's forehead making his hair cling to it and get in his eyes. He makes a grunting noise then runs his hand through
it. With the sweat and grease the hair stays in place. He looks back at the sun and gives it an angry look. The
bird stops panting. He stands, kicks it off the porch and walks to his car.
The nagging from his grandparents has become unbearable. So he promised them to try and find a job while they are
in Florida. He hasn't done much the two years he has been living with them. Besides if he had a job he could pay
them back for taking him in and start saving to buy a Spoon Sports carbon hood and roof spoiler for his white 1992
Honda Civic hatchback, but that might take a while.
When he is at the car door he looks around the neighborhood. The sound of a lawnmower can be heard. It putters
and stops and someone yells to someone else about where their glass of ice water is. The sound of heavy breathing
is approaching him from behind. He spins around to see Phil - an overweight Richard Simmons. Phil bounces by and
waves at Ham who waves back.
He unlocks the car door and drops down into the red seat that has the word "Bride" on the headrest. The
car was bought new and when it was about five years old Ham II started turning it into an ultra fast, high performance
racing machine. Back then he usually took a few business trips to Asia each year. If he went to Japan he would
buy parts and have them shipped back home: Spoon: wheels, calipers, dampers, pistons … Mugen: exhaust, clutch set,
limited slip differential … and more. Sometime later he swapped the original engine with a Japanese Domestic Market
(JDM) B16b engine. But these days you can just order parts online.
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