Chapter 4: 2nd Avenue and 81st Street

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Somewhere in Harlem, New York, NY. September 5th, 2010

11:45 PM

D Hussain

“CRASH!”

I winced as I felt the frame of our 1989 Fleetwood Flair shudder above yet another massive pothole. It felt funny to be so protective of “The Freedom Mobile;” I could barely believe it was mine to care about in the first place.

The driver and 1/3 owner of The Freedom Mobile was Dan Hussain, or as many call him, “D Hussain.” Actually, I’m not sure exactly where that nickname came from, but it stuck.

Dan rounded another corner at break-neck speed. I began to wonder if we would reenact the scene in “Speed” where the bus takes a sharp curve on two wheels at over 50 MPH to prevent a bomb onboard from exploding.

“You’re a f***ing crazy driver!” Read the rest of this entry »

Chapter 3: A Burning Man

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Harder Mountain, Interlaken, Switzerland – April 24th, 2009 – 4:15 PM

“Oh ho! Ho! Austin’s crazy! You crazy, man! Just realize that we’re not gonna rescue your crazy a**, if you fall down this mountain!”

Twain was laughing and scolding me, but it was obvious that he was entertained by the spectacle and hoped I would continue with my craziness. He was absolutely right: What was I thinking? Who RUNS down a mountain? Had the mountain air gone to my head? Perhaps, but it seemed more likely that the air of the entire European continent had gone to my head. Maybe my behavior was a little risky, but I couldn’t imagine the risk of never feeling as free as I felt right then and there. I couldn’t imagine the risk of not having this memory and this story to relive countless times for the rest of my life.

My foot caught on a rock. Read the rest of this entry »

Chapter 2: Pulling the Trigger

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Dillon’s House, Howell, MI – August 28th, 2010

Approximately 3:00 PM

Sick

The frog in my throat was making it hard to talk. Worse than that, the shaking of my hands made me question my ability to drive. As Dillon and I sat in my car discussing what we were about to do, I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach. I was about to hurt somebody, and it was not going to be pretty. Such is the life of an entrepreneur at times. Read the rest of this entry »