The morning started off just like every other weekday morning - relatively uneventful with a hint of slow, zipper-merging traffic and construction zones along the way.
I shuffled into line and found myself behind the oily blue smoke plumes of a 90's beige Cadillac. I wouldn’t have paid as much attention if it wasn’t for the amazing amount of white smoke that occasionally bellowed out of the cracked driver side window.
All the windows were heavily tinted and the wheels reflected the bright morning rays into my still sleepy eyes with every warped wobble of the golden hubcaps. The single lane split to two, and while I don't make it a habit to look through tinted windows, I felt curiously drawn into looking through the drivers side window. The sun was rising low behind the trees and gave quick glimpses like a strobe light as we drove alongside each other. When the sun finally cleared the trees, the tint gave way to shiny gold rim Elvis style sunglasses, a long cigarette holder, and a Hawaiian print shirt. I had made eye contact with a real life Raoul Duke.
I thought for a moment that I needed to grab my phone and snap a quick photo at the next stoplight. Then reality slapped me with the potential of getting into any altercation with Raoul and whoever else he had in the car. We passed each other a few times, weaving in and out of traffic before we both merged onto the northbound highway. He floored it into the carpool lane and disappeared somewhere in the mile long cloud of exhaust and vape smoke.