Scrap 48

SCRAP 48
Ginger’s eldest son, ten year old Andy, is excited to be going for a ride in Dad’s lorry. He’s never been on an all-nighter before and clutches a carrier bag which contains the picnic his mother has prepared to keep him going.
They arrive at the yard, get straight into the truck and once the engine is in motion they pull out through the gates on their nocturnal adventure. ‘What’s she packed for us then?’ asks Ginger. The boy grins, ‘Dad, we’ve only just left the yard.’ He needs no further prompting though, and rifles through the contents of the bag. ‘Sandwiches, biscuits, two apple pies and a bag of barley sugar,’ he says, ‘what shall we eat first?’ Ginger says they should save the sandwiches for later in case they get hungry but decides it’s okay to eat the apple pies and start on the barley sugar sweets.
Thus the first half hour of the journey passes in contented silence. They head towards London, joining the M2 motorway and picking up speed. The road is busy with traffic and as usual there are one or two motorists who are more impatient than others. Ginger is happily trundling along the inside lane when he looks in his near side mirror and sees an MG racing along the hard shoulder. Andy winds down the window and makes a rude gesture to the driver, who sticks out his tongue as he flashes by, cutting in front some distance ahead. He is closely followed by a group of young lads in a rusty old Hillman, who shout and jeer as they pass. The driver suddenly notices there is a car parked in the way and he swerves back onto the carriageway, causing Ginger to brake hard to avoid hitting him.
Ginger’s left arm instinctively goes out to prevent Andy from being thrown forward, grabbing at the boy’s clothing and swearing loudly at the Hillman driver, who has driven off in a cloud of blue smoke. ‘You alright son?’ Andy is a little shaken but will not admit it. He says he is okay and sits back in his seat, smoothing down his jacket. ‘You need eyes in the back of your head with some people,’ complains Ginger.
The lorry picks up a good speed as they drive down the long hill leading to the Medway Bridge. Ginger has to apply the brakes again as he is passed by a van which cuts him up rather badly then slows in front of him. He is surprised to see a huge lorry wheel, complete with tyre, overtaking them. It hurtles downhill, picking up speed as it goes, hitting a stone it takes to the air, leaps at least four cars and comes crashing down on the roof of a big American car, which slews across the carriageways and disappears into the undergrowth at the side of the motorway.
‘Bloody hell that was close,’ says Ginger, craning his neck as he passes the point of impact, ‘where did that come from?’ Andy can see from his side of the cab that the American car has landed on its roof amongst the trees. ‘That’s gonna be a bad one, Dad,’ he says, ‘do you think we should stop?’ Ginger says there is nothing they can do to help and he has deliveries to make, but he does slow down a bit for the rest of the journey.
The truck has developed a slight tendency to pull to the offside, a problem which Ginger corrects by steering harder to keep it in line. This proves to be tiring and he wonders if he should stop and take a look but he decides to plod on. After all, he has driven worse.