The Law

The gears creak and crunch with every shift. The jeep is orange, partly from rust, partly from a 1960s paint job. Eight fellas stand on the back, holding on as best we can. We don’t exceed 40 kilometres an hour on the way to the river. Going downhill, the driver puts it into first gear. Everything in the car is original – I guess – including the brakes. Other cars, buses and trucks rush past, honking and overtaking on blind bends. Two boys stand on the back ladder, each with one foot and one hand attached to the jeep. Inside, the driver says earnestly to the girl in the passenger seat, “put your seatbelt on. The cops around here are really strict.”