He jumped on the running board. Willie grabbed his arm.

“Hold the fuck on!” Anjean screamed.

The ambulance accelerated backward and out of the lobby. Pieces of glass fell on Starrell. The ambulance skipped over a step and crashed into a car in the driveway.

“Blow, Anjean, blow!” Willie shouted.

Starrell heard more shots. They hit the ambulance. He saw a suit with a gun at the entranceway. The same one he had jumped over? Good, he’s not dead, Starrell thought, but let’s get the fuck out of here.

Anjean threw the ambulance into gear and punched the accelerator. The rear of the ambulance fishtailed and struck another car. Starrell nearly fell off. The backpack slid off his shoulder. He held on to the strap. Willie’s grip tightened on him. More shots hit the ambulance.

Anjean had room on Pennsylvania Avenue and sped through a light.

“Whooo-fuckin’-eeee!” he shouted. “This is vicious!”

“You’re fuckin’ crazy!” Starrell yelled.

“Crazy enough to save your skanky ass,” Anjean shouted. “We flipped the script, man!” He waved his gun outside the window and fired a shot into the air.

“Quit that shit, Anjean!” Willie screamed at him.

Starrell looked back toward the hospital. No cars were chasing them.

“Ain’t going to be nobody back there,” Willie said to him. “Not right away. We saw them all run into the hospital. Figured it had something to do with you. They left their cars. So … .”

He held up a knife and smiled. The ambulance hit a pothole, and Starrell’s feet flew off the running board. Willie pulled him close to the vehicle, and Starrell regained his footing.

“Fuckin’ D.C,” Starrell muttered.

“You know what I learned today?” Anjean shouted.

Willie and Starrell waited for the answer.

“They don’t use the fuckin’ Club on ambulances.” He laughed and turned right on Twenty-first Street, through a red light, the tires screeching.

“Pull over,” Starrell yelled at Anjean. “Now.”

“Man, I’m Luke-fuckin’-Skywalker!” Anjean yelled.

“Now!” Starrell insisted. He looked at Willie, and Willie pulled on the wheel. The ambulance jerked to the right. Anjean hit the brakes.

“What the fuck’s wrong with you?” Anjean screamed at Willie.

Starrell stepped off the running board. His body was shaking.

“Three niggers in an ambulance ain’t goin’ nowhere fast,” he said. “We foot it back to Willie’s. Separately. Walk to a Metro. And then we meet back there.”

The two brothers nodded and got out of the ambulance.

“And take off the headpiece and glasses,” Starrell said to Anjean. “Try to look different, okay? Now book.”

A group of college students was staring at them. “Hey, ain’t you ever seen the D.C. summer jobs program at work?” Starrell said to the crowd. Sirens sounded several blocks away.