by Eric Stevens
She groans and drums her fingers on the desktop. She pulls a lock of her hair across her face and sniffs it. “I smell like a mechanic,” she says.
“You are a mechanic,” I say.
“Not professionally.”
“Should be,” I point out.
“Maybe,” she says, “but right now, all I want is a shower.”
“No way,” I say, but she’s already standing up and digging around in her bag. She pulls out her racing leathers.
“Why did you bring those?” I ask, standing up from the bed.
“Just in case,” she says. “Where’s the bathroom?”
“Kim,” I say. “My parents will wake up. And when someone’s in the shower and it’s not me, I think they’ll probably get suspicious.”
“I’ll tell you what,” she says as she opens the bedroom door and peeks into the hall. She’s halfway out of the room. “While I shower, you hide in your closet, just in case. They’ll assume it’s you if you’re not in your room.”
“Showering this late?” I say. “Why would I shower this late?”
“Because you smell like a mechanic, too,” she points out. And while I’m sniffing my shirt, she slips out and closes the door. A minute later, I hear the water running.
“Great,” I say. But what can I do? With a sigh, I step into the closet to wait for her to finish.
Kim takes long showers, it turns out, so I have a lot of time to sit on the closet floor with my knees pulled up. And while I’m there, I can think about nothing but her in the shower. I’m wondering if I’ll ever shake that image—or if I’ll ever want to—when my bedroom door creaks open.
“Don’t come out yet,” Kim whispers through the closet door. “I’m not dressed.”
“Oh boy,” I say, and I wait a little longer. Finally the closet door swings open. Kim’s standing there above me, decked out in her orange leather racing suit. Her hair is still wet and she’s pulling on her gloves.
“How do I look?” she says.
My jaw drops, and I guess that says it all. Besides, it’s time to go.
It takes us about twenty minutes to reach the start line Kim chose. It’s way out past the western suburbs in one of these uninhabited neighborhoods. There’s a bunch around the city now. Developers built them and then no one bought the houses. So they just sit there, quiet and pristine.
They make good racetracks, too, with their hilly and curvy roads. For my hot hatch and Kells’s Mazda, a course like this is the perfect test.
As we pull into the neighborhood, Kim nods toward the busted-up sign that once showed the name of the development. It’s been vandalized beyond legibility now. Kells is parked next to it. He and one of his thugs are leaning on the side of the Mazda.
I park, and Kells walks toward the car. He opens the door for Kim to climb out.
“I wasn’t sure you’d make it,” he says to her.
“Are we late?” I say, checking the time on the dashboard. It’s still a couple of minutes before midnight.
“That’s not what he means, James,” Kim says, coming around the front of the car as I climb out. “He means he thought his thug would have broken my leg or something.”
Kells chuckles. “That’s ridiculous,” he says. Then he turns to me. “Ready to race, little boy?”
I put my hands up. “You got the wrong driver, man,” I say. I point at Kim. “She texted you, not me.”
“Right,” says Kim. She climbs into the driver’s seat and buckles in. “You got a course mapped out?”
“You don’t seem to understand,” Kells says. “This is the boy’s car, and the boy will do the driving.”
“What?” Kim says. “You making up the rules as you go now?”
The thug with Kells laughs. “Standard street rules,” he says. “Your title, your car, you’re driving.”
Kim gives me a long look and takes a deep breath. Then she says quietly, “Can you do this?”
My eyebrows go up. I look from her to Kells’s snickering face. Then I nod. “I can do it.” For her, I can do it.
Kim climbs out and I get back behind the wheel. Kells leans on my open window. “You know this area?” he asks, and I nod. “Good.” Then he goes over the course quickly. I listen carefully, because chances are he’s done this before, and I’ve never driven here at all.
“Let him go around one time,” Kim says. “Let him find the curves and all that.”
“No way,” Kells says. “One race, one winner. That’s it.”
He walks off and gets into his Mazda. Kim comes to the window. “Remember,” she says. “It ends in a nice long straightaway. Push the button when you enter the straight, try to get there first.”
“I’ll do my best,” I say.
She smiles. “I know you will,” she says. Then she leans in and kisses my cheek. “Good luck.”
I’m gonna need it.
Kells and I pull up to the start line. Kells has marked it with yellow spray paint. He lets Kim call the start.
Kim stands at the side of the road, holding up a bright orange tiger-striped handkerchief. She looks me in the eye, winks, and then drops her hand. The race is on.
Kells pulls away from the start and takes the first curve on the inside, cutting me off. I do my best to stay right on his bumper, but I’m a newbie—staying that close takes the kind of courage behind the wheel I don’t have yet.
On the first short straight, he pulls away, but the next curve is a tight one—a full U-turn into the first uphill. The Mazda does all right, but my little hatch takes the curve like it’s on rails and fires up at the hill. At the top, the road whips around again. Before long, I’m up alongside Kells.
I like the feel of Kim’s shift knob in my hand, but my thumb keeps grazing that nitrous button. I’m itching to press it—to feel the extra 75 hp and to surge past Kells. But I have to wait. If I take that sudden burst of speed on a curve, I’ll definitely end up on an overgrown lawn—or in an abandoned living room.
And that’s not counting the damage I’d do to my engine if I use the nitrous under 4,000 RPMs.
Kells is right next to me as we come around a wide curve to the left. I’m on the inside. From up here on the hill, I can see all the way down to the finish. The last straight up to the finish line, where Kim and Kells’s thug are waiting, is coming up quick.
Kells sees it, too. He risks a pass when he takes the inside on the next curve to the right. I slip away and take the curve wide to avoid a crash. Kells slides out in front of me, forcing me back to the right. That means on the last curve, I’ll be on the outside.
I hope my handling beats his. I know I’ll have to hit the curve perfectly and bravely if I’m going to pass him for the straight.
We take the final curve neck and neck, and the instant we hit the straight, I downshift to second so my revs are up to 4K. Then I clench my teeth, say a quick prayer that Kim and I got the thing installed just right, and press that little orange button.
The surge kicks my head back as I pull away. Kells hits his nitrous, too, an instant later, but it’s not enough. I see Kim up ahead, in her bright orange leather. She’s jumping up and down, waving her arms in celebration.
I check the side-view mirror. Kells is a full car length behind me, and he’s not gaining. I’m up into third, fourth, fifth gear. I release the nitrous as I find sixth, and Kim hurries onto the grass as I fly across the finish line.
I’m grinning like an idiot as I quickly downshift and brake, then turn and stop. Kells comes to a stop nearby. He pounds his fists on his steering wheel, fuming that he lost.
But Kim is still cheering, jumping up and down as she runs over to my car. As I climb out, she throws her arms around me and plants a kiss right on my mouth. I can hardly breathe—till a huge hand claps on my back, making me cough.
“Nice race,” says Kells. He shoulders Kim aside and faces me.
“Thanks,” I say, feeling pretty proud. “And Kim’s debt?”
He glances at her sideways. �
�It’s clear,” he says, then adds through a sneer: “But she better not show up at the races for a while.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Kim says. “Not interested.”
Kells throws an arm around my shoulder and leads me away. “As for you,” he says. “You better show up.”
“Why?” I say, feeling a little nervous. I know what happens sometimes when Kells gets too close.
“Because I need a chance to win back what I lost, that’s why,” he says.
“Whoa,” I say, backing away, hands in the air. “I don’t have that kind of money. I’m still in high school.”
Kells chuckles and shakes his head. “I don’t mean money,” he says. “I’ve got money.”
He turns away and climbs into his car. His thug gets in the passenger seat and they start to roll off, but stop right in front of me and Kim. Kells rolls down the window and adds, “I mean pride.”
Then he drives off.
“I guess this is goodbye,” Kim says as I pull up to her apartment building.
“I’ll see you again,” I say, hoping it’s true. “You can come around and help me work on the Focus some more.”
She smiles, but I can tell she’s already gone. “Sorry, James,” she says. “I’m not sticking around. My debt’s cleared, and I don’t like the idea of running into Kells again—even by accident.”
“Then what will you do?” I say.
She shrugs. “Hit the road,” she says. “No reason to stick around this town anymore.”
I look at my hands on the steering wheel. I don’t suppose I count as a reason to stick around.
“Aw, James,” she says, and she pats my leg. “I like you. But you’re young, and you got a lot of years of being young ahead of you. Some girl your age is gonna flip for you.”
“Oh, any day now,” I say, but I smile, too.
“I promise,” she says. Then she kisses me on the cheek and gets out of the car. As she lets herself into her apartment, she doesn’t even look back.
Dad’s waiting up for me when I get home. I should be scared to see the light on in the living room, but I’m not. I’m not even surprised.
“Hey,” I say as I walk in.
Dad doesn’t even get up from the couch. He just looks at me.
“Dad, I didn’t have a choice,” I say. “I know you’ll probably ground me, and I don’t care. You can extend the punishment till I turn eighteen and move out of the house. I would have done it anyway.”
I’m about to tell him everything: about picking up Kim on the street a few nights ago, to ending up in Kells’s trunk, to the street race tonight. But Dad doesn’t even let me start.
“Spare me,” he says, raising one hand as he gets up. He’s tired—I can see it in his face. “I’m going to assume this has something to do with that girl who was here all day—Kim, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I say.
He nods and sighs. “I’m going to bed,” he says. “You’re still grounded, but that’s it. Think of this as your one get-out-of-jail-free card. It’s not every day you’ll find a girl who’ll help you get your car to 300 hp, is it?”
He winks and then heads upstairs.
I stand there at the bottom of the steps, still with my car keys in my hand.
No, I think. It sure isn’t.
MODEL HISTORY
The Ford Focus model was launched in Europe in 1998 and in the United States in 2000. The Ford Focus ST was designed as a high-performance version of the original Focus. The ST Focus has recently topped the SVT Focus of previous model years in terms of popularity. The SVT Focus is no longer sold in the United States.
FOCUS ON THE COMPETITION
The Focus has garnered attention worldwide for its success on the racetrack, as well as its superior handling and performance. The Ford Focus first took to the racetrack at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1999. Since its first appearance, the Focus has raced in 173 events, winning 44 of them, placing second in 43, and placing third in 55.
As a testament to car’s success, the Focus won the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) World Rally Championship (WRC) manufacturer’s title for Ford in 2006 and 2007.
“The Ford Focus RS WRC will be remembered as one of the sport’s great rally cars,” said Ian Slater, Ford of Europe’s Vice-President of Communications and Public Affairs. “It was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 1998, exactly at the same time as the Focus road car was launched. The successes of the road and rally models have run in parallel since then.”
THE FOCUS AND MODDING
Because the Focus ST is so similar to its racing car equivalent, after-market mods (modifications made after the owner has purchased the car) are fairly common in order to make it the vehicle flashier or sportier. Performance upgrades include cold-air intake system installations, which route more air through the engine to make it more powerful, and exhaust system upgrades. Throttle body installations are also fairly common. These installations control how much air is let in to the engine, increasing the efficiency and power of a vehicle. Another popular mod is to replace the wheels on the vehicle with shinier ones, making it look more like a racing car.
THE FORD FOCUS TODAY
While the Focus ST no longer appears in rally championships, its successor, the Ford Focus ST-R, debuted at the Frankfurt Automobile Show in 2011. The makeup of the ST-R is not much different than the ST Focus model.
The Ford Focus ST Estate was named Top Gear’s “hot hatch of the year” in 2012. The 2013 Focus ST has a six-speed manual transmission and the new Ford Sport Steering System, which promises precise handling thanks to Electric-Power-Assisted Steering (EPAS). With a turbocharged 2.0 liter EcoBoost engine, it can reach 252 horsepower.
ENGINE: turbocharged 250 horsepower, direct fuel injected, front wheel drive 2.0 liter engine; 16 valve inline—4 aluminum block and head; 6-speed manual transmission; installed cold air intake system (this engine definitely likes cold air—the Focus has performed way better since installing it); 0 to 60 acceleration in just over 6 seconds; installed a cat back exhaust system (allows exhaust gases to exit with very little back pressure); new nitrous tank installed (just in time to help me scorch Kells on the track!); performance spark plugs; replaced air filters (these are important because they remove dust and grime from the air flowing into the engine)
DRIVETRAIN: installed SVT short shifter (the SVT vehicle is off the market now, but its parts are still widely available in the used parts market); replaced throttle body (controls the amount of air flowing into the engine—if this is working at its best, the engine will take in more air and exert more power)
SUSPENSION: replaced rubber bushings with polyurethane bushings (enhances handling of the Focus); new front and rear sway bars; tuned spring and damper (for better handling and performance)
BRAKES: power steering and pump line replacement; installed new front and rear brake pads
WHEELS/TIRES: lightweight, but larger, tires; installed rims (for style and performance)
EXTERIOR: tinted windows; painted body with fresh blue coat; converted to power mirrors; replaced fender bulbs; installed rear saleen spoiler (better downforce, traction, and looks sporty!)
INTERIOR: installed foam speaker baffles on front doors (improves sound quality and protects speakers from dirt and moisture); needle calibration on gauge faces
ELECTRONICS: used flash tuner to ramp up the power and performance of the Focus; new speaker system for louder beats; power programmer (increases gas mileage and horsepower—sweet!)