Hello, Can you hear me?

I watch him through the two layers of window, one of mine, one of his. He must have felt my stare burning into his skin, I watch him glance at me sideways, catch my irritated expression and yet coolly return to his apparently more-interesting conversation on the phone. I fume silently, race ahead, and putting a safe distance between us, ease my car in front of his. I watch him in my rearview mirror as he gets smaller, the phone in his hand still pressed to his ear. Behind him, vexed drivers honk, the cacophony of noises getting louder as, lost in his phone call, he continues to drive at a snail’s pace in the fastest lane.

40 minutes later, now running errands on my bike, I make a turn into the service lane leading to my house and nearly collide into yet another robot, this one on a bike. Oblivious to our near-accident, he continues to ride with one hand, the other scrolling on the phone. I pause, take in a deep breath, and decide to pursue him.

***

I wait for the opportune moment, composing myself for what would come next. On my right, the rider maintains his speed, occasionally glancing up. The road up ahead is mostly empty. I take a deep breath. It is now or never. I reduce my speed to match his, and bring my bike closer to his. Confident of my plan, I lean back and give him a hard kick. I watch as he goes flying in the air, landing with a thud a few feet away. I can almost hear the crunch of his bones, it makes me smile. One down, so many more to go. I rev up the engine, ready to race ahead when,

THWACK! My head jerks ahead as I get whacked in the head from behind.

“Owww!” I yelp, massaging the back of my head and look back, ready to protest.

“Enough of Road Rash, go do your homework, always this violence and all. Enough, get up,” He gestures animatedly, the rolled up newspaper in his hand, more useful to put me in my place than for the news it provides. I know enough of my father to know when not to argue. Mumbling under my breath, I shut down the computer, vowing to pick up my favorite video game some other time.

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