Furi’s passion was bikes, but he loved cars too. Unfortunately, when he’d fled Charlotte and landed in Atlanta he didn’t think about them not having a great motorcycle mechanic school. Georgia Piedmont Tech was well known for its automotive technology program and Furi had eagerly enrolled as soon as his name change was official.
Furi checked that the bolt on his front door was secured and jogged up the couple stairs to the sidewalk. He saw his landlady, Ms. Jones, was bent over the small flower garden and Furi called to her when he jogged past. She waved a small, weathered hand at him, smiling sweetly. He made a mental note to cut the grass for her this weekend. She must’ve breezed in after he'd fallen asleep last night, probably just to check on things. He hoped she’d be going back to her daughter’s house.
Furi just made the number six bus before it pulled up. He settled in for the hour and a half bus ride to Peachtree City. Sure, if he had a car the trip would be half that time, but Furi had a plan and it required his and Doug’s entire savings to bring it to fruition.
“Hey there stud, I figured you’d be taking the bus and thought I’d give you a ride to the studio.”
Furi was grinning ear to ear as he took his ear buds out and threw his arms around his best friend. If they were both filming on the same day, then Doug usually met him at the bus stop in his brand new Kia Sportage SUV so he didn’t have to walk the last couple of miles to the studio.
Furi gently placed his book bag in the backseat and climbed in the front, quickly fastening his belt while looking horrified at the noise coming from the speakers. The music and bass pounding through the speakers were deafening. “What the fuck are you listening to, Doug?”
Doug looked at him, his hazel eyes sparkling with amusement. “What? You don’t like rap? Oh come on. Everyone knows who this is. He’s won like a ton of awards. Ice Cube!”
“Well those lyrics sound lukewarm. Please turn it off, or at least down.”
“This the thanks I get for saving you from hoofing it another two miles.”
“I’d rather walk in a G-string and flip flops with a Chihuahua nipping at my ankles than listen to this shit for even one mile.” Furi laughed.
Doug ejected the compact disc, mellow rock now filling the small space. “Better?”
“Very much.”
“So I hear you’re going the distance today?” Doug raised his eyebrow at Furi. “They changed your solo to you fucking Sasha Pain. Bro, why didn’t you tell me?”
“What the fuck? Who said that?” Furi gritted his teeth.
“She’s been posting shit all over Facebook. Since you’re not on social media to refute it, everyone’s going crazy about it.” Doug pulled into one of the few empty spaces in the parking lot.
Furi looked around at all the vehicles. “Damn, there’s a lot of shoots today.”
“Actually, no there aren't. Everyone’s here to watch you.” Doug rubbed his hand over the smooth caramel skin on his cheeks, licking his pinky and slicking down his dark eyebrows. He was biracial and his skin was beautifully tan and flawless, his soft hair had a little length to spike up wildly. He opened the door and looked over the hood at Furi as they both got out.
“You don’t want to do it, do you?” Doug looked as pained as Furi felt. “I knew something was off about it.”
“I never said I’d do it, man. I can’t fuck no female, Doug. Oh god. Especially not Sasha. Damnit!” Furi ran his hand through his hair and pulled the length at the bottom. “Fuck!” he yelled.
He realized now that he should have responded to the email last night. Mack must’ve thought his silence meant he agreed to do it. Now everyone was here to watch him bang one of the skankiest women Furi had ever met. This woman’s life revolved around fucking. If she wasn’t doing it on screen then she was doing it in someone’s car, at a club, in the break room, on the beach, where-the-fuck-ever. Furi wanted to throw up.
“Hey, Furious. Breathe, man. Shit.” Doug’s strong, calloused hand was squeezing his shoulder as he leaned against the car.
Furi’s world was spinning, like he was on a ride from hell at an amusement park and the operator – in this case, Mack – wouldn’t let him off.
“It’s not worth this. Not worth your mental health, dude. You look like you’re about two seconds from going ape shit. You’re not obligated to do this ya know. Your agreement was solos, so that’s what you stick to, okay? He can’t force you.”
“I know,” Furi whispered. “But I sure as fuck can use the money, man. I still need books and tools for this semester. I refuse to use my savings. I graduate after this semester, and we are this fucking close to opening the shop, Doug. A few weeks, tops and we’ll be fuckin’ open for business.”