A speeding truck wound its way along the highway, the two men inside catching up with each other.
"Thanks for picking me up, bro."
The black-haired man in the passenger seat had medical tape on his temple. He tilted his head toward the mustached man behind the wheel to express his thanks.
"Scott, my man, why so formal? We're bros." The mustached man grinned. "No way I'd miss my prison buddy getting out."
The two were Scott Lang, freshly released from prison, and Luis, the good friend he had made inside. Luis had served a shorter sentence and gotten out before Scott.
But they had hit it off in prison. Both had "started with nothing" in the "house-call business," so it hadn't taken long for them to become close friends.
"Hey, bro, how's your girlfriend doing?"
Two grown men sitting in a truck in silence was pretty dull, so Scott broke the silence to ask how Luis had been. He remembered Luis saying in prison that he would propose to his girlfriend once he got out.
Luis shrugged. "Oh! She dumped me."
Scott hadn't expected that. Awkwardly, he opened his mouth and hurried to apologize:
"Sorry, that's really..."
Scott regretted bringing up his friend's sore spot, but Luis spoke again:
"Yeah, and after I got out, I found out my mom died, too."
Scott: "..."
Luis turned to glance at Scott's awkward expression, then opened his mouth again:
"And the real kicker? My dad got deported."
Good grief. His whole family had fallen apart. Scott hadn't imagined Luis had it so rough, and now he had even less idea what to say.
But Luis didn't seem all that sad. Instead, he excitedly gestured around them. "But this van's mine now! Hahaha! How awesome is that?"
Scott: ?
Watching Luis beam