- acceleration, pt. 2 -

While Sparky hurries inside, Asians in leather jackets step out through car doors that open vertically and shit, each one's uniquely-spiked hair like a greasy, black snowflake. They saunter over slowly with expressions of rage and disgust on their faces. One spits on the pavement, then another who likes the idea.
"Hey, chumps," the first one says in a high-pitched surfer tone that isn't scaring anyone. "Sorry to crash the party, but we thought we deserved a welcome from our new neighbors. We're the new garage in town."
Preston is baffled by this detail. "Alignment opened like last week, when the hell did you have time to open a new garage?" He has a point. "And is there really demand for this kind of thing? Like, how many glamorous auto repair shops does this community really need?"
"Hey, we have a lot of underserved Chinese- and Korean-speaking families in this area, man," answers one of the cronies, indignantly.
The leader looks frustrated by the mundane dialogue. "But you're right about one thing," he says. "There's only room here for one of us. That's why we're here."
Ed arrives, finally, and says, "Well, this is our place, so I'd say it's you there's no room for. How about you get the hell out before Dan ruins your hair with this hose?" I gesture with the hose, as menacingly as one can gesture with a hose, but it seems the threat was enough.
"We'll be back," says the leader, getting back into his ridiculous car through the door that, once again, opens vertically. I wonder when that's ever practical, or how he even gets out when there are other cars parked next to him. It's so stupid it makes me mad.
"I'm sure they will," Ed says. He's trying to brush it off, but I can tell he's more than a little worried about the afternoon's development. "Come on, let's get back to work."