You are affable family man, William Douglas; being a devoted husband, caring father, good-natured guy is who you are. Well, that was before the vehicle's air conditioning broke down and you became trapped in this godforsaken traffic jam. "The temperatures out there are soaring to 110 degrees Fahrenheit!" The radio reminds you. You could fry an egg on this dashboard, you could swear of that. Before the radio reminds you of the twenty-something mile traffic jam on the LA freeway, a punch on the knob sends the news into silence. You're just now noticing the look on your teenage daughter's face. She seems bored, and you can't blame her for being so. This trip was supposed to go straight home.
With a sigh you release the tie that you've worn around the office all day. "Pick up Kate from school after work, honey..." You remember your wife telling you this morning before leaving. Kate was now playing with the stick shift curiously, you can see why she was being bullied now. "Leave that alone, you little shit" You scold this brat you've raised. She yelps and then places her hands back onto her knees. The heat has brought you into a state of rage now "You can't just leave my shit alone for two fuckin' seconds, can you, kate?" You continue while gripping down. You can see those white knuckles as they strangle the wheel. You are looking ahead but you can hear Kate crying softly in her seat. After all you've done: the private school, the expensive toys, the ice cream, the dumb little play dates with her bratty cousin... you'd expect this girl to show some fucking respect. Nothing though, she's just sniveling in her seat.
"Come on, get a move on!" You shout as you honk at the car in front of you. While you're rolling down the window some more you hear the words "Daddy... Can I ask you a question...?". A sense of guilt is starting to come over you as you hear them. "What is it...?" You ask, not daring to look at her face. "Daddy, do you hate me...?" She asks cautiously. You give a defeated sigh, how could you let her think this...? "No, of course not..." You say quickly. "Daddy is just really hot, you know?" You try to reassure. "Yeah." She responds while wiping away her tears. Christ, those tears. "Look, I'm sorry that I yelled at you." You admit. She is seen nodding as you look at her in the rear-view mirror now. You keep the mirror there for a minute, taking in the sight of the child you've raised.
"She looks so much like my wife..." You think. The marriage you have is dead in the bedroom, something that really irked you once. You shake an intrusive thought away, the heat must be making you think weird things again. Clearing your throat, you adjust the mirror back to the road in time to see the car behind you flipping everyone off out his window. thirty miles to home and you're stuck going nowhere. Looking around, you notice everybody is as stuck as you are. Today is going to be a long day. Kate asks you "