Jarod is cutting his first period senior English class today for several good reasons. He didn't read the assignment nor have time last night to track down a summary paper online. He doesn't like being told what to do. He's got a full tank of gas in the Camero. It's a sunshiny day, and Jarod is just too out and out totally cool to need sentence structure.

His CD player is blasting out Black-Eyed Peas and he's singing along with the band. He slides down in his seat, unfettered by seatbelt or common sense, and steers with his left wrist hanging on the wheel. His right hand is busy slapping time on the dash.

Jarod slinks through traffic like a centipede on speed. He is very very good at it, usually.