Dialogue Journal #3

In which one character is out of control.

    "Yeah, could I have a large Dr. Pepper?" 
    "What are you doing, Jared?" asked Chris. 
    "I am ordering a large Dr. Pepper at a McDonald's drive-thru, my dude, what does it look like?"
    "No. You did this last time. You can't do it again!" 
    "Whoa, calm yourself. I don't need shit stains all over my passenger seat."
    "Jared. No. I know what you're doing! You gotta stop this, man. Please don't give him the Dr. Pepper," Chris yelled back at the drive-thru speaker. It was too late. Jared was pulling the old Taurus station wagon forward. They were next in line at the window. 
    "Everything is going to be fine, dude. Relax."
    "Nothing is fine! You can't keep doing shit like this."
    "Keep your seatbelt on. Buckle up for safety, right?"
    "I'm not gonna keep my fucking seatbelt on," said Chris, squirming in the seat. "I'm getting out." 
    "Are you planning to walk home? That's five miles."
    "It's better than sitting here watching you ruining someone else's life. Ruining your own life, too!"
    "No lives are being ruined. No lives were ruined in the making of this film, my dude. You know?"
    "It's horrible," said Chris, now slouching in the passenger seat like a child in tantrum. "How can you fucking sleep at night?"
    "Volume down, please. Did you want me to order you a Happy Meal? Sheesh."
    Jared rolled up to the window slowly and greeted the woman who had taken his order. She handed him a large Dr. Pepper.
    "Don't give it to him!" Chris yelled through a tumble of snot and tears. "It's a mistake! He doesn't deserve it." Chris lunged across and tried to grab the drink, but Jared was too quick, turning his broad back to his friend, the passenger. 
    Then, with a quick shove of Chris to keep him at a distance, Jared began his countdown: "Three, two--"
    "No!" Chris cried
    "One! Fire in the hole!" Jared wound up and hurled the Dr. Pepper back through the drive-thru window, waited a tick to see the reaction, and then peeled out of the drive-thru.

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