The Getaway

"Damn... they are following us." Shit! Yes they were following us.. one look in the rear view mirror confirmed this. Picture this two old and very pissed off dudes following a little silver Starlet in the middle of rush hour in Colombo.

Don't ask me about the circumstances or who the other person in the car was... i would have revealed that, but since this is not a private blog i'd rather keep that information confidential.

Ok, so here is the story: I turn my car onto what I thought was a secluded lane off Kirula Road. It seemed to be, hardly anyone around, a bunch of tall leafy trees, a couple of dodgy looking canines and desolate houses.

Couple of minutes later, I have these weirdo old dudes who just got off a motorbike tapping on my window... "Get out of the car...or else"

What do I do? I felt the adrenaline hitting my bloodstream and in what must have saved thousands of our ancestors went in to the flight or fight mode. Glanced at my side mirror.. damn its gonna be tough to back outta here without hitting the bike. (I didn't want to scratch the car.. my mum would have gone ballistic!)

Put the gear in reverse, gunned the engine and backed out into the road without a second thought about the oncoming traffic.... I narrowly escaped hitting a green three wheeler with a foreign guy in it... at least he'll have an interesting anecdote about Sri Lankan driving to tell his friends.

The weirdo-old dudes jumped onto the bike and gunned the engine.. put the car into first gear and sped away before they could turn on to the main road...

Fuck! Colombo and its traffic... I am not gonna get anywhere in this shit! The lane demarcated for the cars going the other way seemed more or less empty... Swerved onto that lane, hit the accelerator..told my friend to hold on for dear life....

Passed a very surprised looking security checkpoint.. I still wonder why they didn't stop me.. maybe they were way too surprised and caught off guard! I mean u don't get a car doing 60 kmph on the opposite side of the road at 2 pm in Colombo.

But those idiots were still following us... I was on park road by this time, once again on the wrong side of the road... The red lights were gleaming up ahead and I was about 200 meters away from them, do i make a break for it and risk getting hit by the oncoming traffic?

Hell yeah.... swerving left and right managed avoid the vehicles.. took the turn and whoa I was on the baseline.... no worries anymore! I was in my element here... gunned the engine some more hit and 90.. took a u turn where i wasn't supposed to and turned towards Siebel Avenue... phew we lost them!!

Finally some respite... gave it 10 minutes before I ventured out and as cool as ice put the car back on Baaseline and with the innocence of a driver never breaking the highway code, stopped at the colour lights and waited for them to turn green.

THose guys must have given up by now... hopefully. The lights turned green made a left turn on to Thalakotuwa Lane and I knew I was home and dry...

They don't call me Cools McSlick for nothing.