Pole Position

by H. M. Montes

  Chassis

  ****

  Once we got to the track and everybody got out of the semi and the hauler, the amount of haulers, campers and race cars was absolutely amazing. Mitch stretched his arms out, “Welcome to the Racers Vacation ladies and gentlemen!” he said loudly. Asher and I started laughing, “What? That’s what it’s called!” Mitch told us. Jet introduced us to Cameron the owner of the other car, then we followed him over to the RV that he had brought to the track for us to stay in.

  It was a shiny black and silver RV, with slide outs on both sides, the inside looked like a five start hotel room. “Holy shit!” Asher whispered with big eyes as we looked around the inside. We told the guys that we were going to go get our stuff out of the hauler and left them all standing in the living room of the RV talking.

  “This is going to be a frikin' blast!” Asher said with excitement.

  “I know, I can’t wait to watch the modified's, everybody says they put on a bad ass show here.” I told her.

  “Let’s go find the concession stand and grab something to eat before we go back.” Asher said then looped her arm through mine as we walked towards the concession stand. We each bought a hamburger, chips and a Diet Coke.

  We made our way back to the hauler, “Who is that?” Asher asked around a mouth full of food. I looked up and there was a woman with dark auburn hair leaning against the back of the trailer.

  “Hi can we help you?” I asked her once we got to the trailer. She smiled, “I’m Riley, I was wondering where Jerod, Jet and Jason are?” she asked while looking Asher and I both over from head to toe.

  “They are at the RV I’m sure they’ll be coming back shortly. I can let them know you are looking for them.” I told her.

  She waved a hand, “It’s okay, I’ll catch up with them sometime, I know them from high school.” She said with a grin.

  I nodded my head, “Okay, it was nice meeting you Riley.” I told her, she pushed off the trailer and walked away.

  “Good god is she a model or something, she is flawless, I bet she’s a trophy girl here.” Asher said as she stared at the back of Riley. I shrugged my shoulders, walked into the trailer and grabbed my luggage.

  We were just about back to the RV when the guys met up with us, they waited for us as we put our luggage in the RV.

  “Where’d you two run off to?” Jet asked as we started walking through the pit area.

  “We wanted to look around and get something to eat.” I told him.

  “We’re gonna go look at the cat walk.” He said as he grabbed my hand. Once we got up on the cat walk I was in complete aw of the catwalk and the view from it. I had my elbows resting on the rail, when Jet walked up behind me and put his hand beside mine, pressing his front to my back. I pictured my dad racing at the track, he would have loved all the competition and people.

  “I’m so excited to watch you, dad would have loved this place.” I told Jet.

  He kissed my neck, “Your dad would have dominated here.” He told me.

  Once we got back to the trailer and the guys unloaded Jet’s car, Asher and I sat down in lawn chairs. I read on my Kindle as she was typing away on her laptop.

  Jet’s cell phone was ringing but he kept ignoring it, “Jet it might be an emergency.” I told him.

  “I’m in roaming they can leave a message.” He replied in a rude tone.

  I looked over at Asher she looked at me and shook her head, “I think he gets bitchy when he’s nervous.” She whispered causing us both to start laughing. Just when I remembered that I needed to tell the guys that Riley had stopped by to talk to them, the announcer came over the PA system telling everyone that hadn’t bought pit passes to please do so immediately. So we all walked over to the pit booth, on our way back they announced that the modified's would be ready for hot laps in twenty minutes.

  We got back to the trailer, the guys were standing by the car talking when a guy on a golf cart pulled up and started talking to them. I wasn’t paying attention to him until he was knelt down on one knee in front of me. He introduced himself to me as Lawrence, and immediately noticed my eye colors. I laughed and extended my hand to him and told him that yes I do have two different eye colors. In a flash he had me up and out of my chair and walking quickly to the golf cart. I couldn’t help but laugh, he was telling Jet that we were leaving to go get married. I tried not to laugh when Jet walked over to him playing right along with Lawrence’s friendly banter. When I walked over to Jet and wrapped my arms around his waist Lawrence tried to act like I had just broke his heart.

  “Later we are going to have some Apple Pie.” He said while he wiggled his eyebrows and sat back down on the golf cart. After he left, Jet’s phone started ringing again as he went to the front of the hauler to put his fire suit on. He ignored the call and practically threw his phone on the bench as he walked past me. He had said earlier that his dad was calling him to tell him he was coming to watch Jet. I could tell he was upset but chose to leave him alone so he could concentrate on his car.

  When they called for the modified’s to go to the staging area for hot laps, I was just about to follow Asher and everybody else when I remembered that my mom wanted me to call her. If I didn’t call her she would go into full blown panic mode and call me nonstop. As Jet was getting in his car I walked over to him, he smiled and pulled me by my hips and pulled me in for a long sexy kiss. I moaned as he slipped his tongue along my top lip and squeezed my hips. He smiled and kissed me one more time before climbing into his car. I walked back to the trailer and sat down Jet asked if I was going to watch, I told him I needed to call mom back that I would go up to the cat walk if I finished talking to her before he was done with hot laps.

  Once he fired up his car, I was covered in goose bumps, I’d never get tired of the smell of the race fuel, the sound of the engines as they roared to life, and the adrenaline rush of watching the racers man handle their cars. I smiled and gave him a small wave before Jerod guided him out of the pit stall. Once Jet pulled away Jerod walked into the trailer and sat down beside me where Asher had been sitting earlier.

  “You okay?” He asked.

  I gave him a questioning look, “Yeah, I just need to call mom back.” I told him.

  “I’m talking about the whole argument that Jet and I had on the way here. I’d never ask him to,(he cleared his throat), share you Chass.” He told me.

  I shook my head and laughed, “I know, it just struck me as really odd.”

  He nodded his head, “She was really bad in the sack, I should have known she was up to no good when she showed up at my place telling me Jet said it was okay to fuck her with him not there.”

  I cringed and wrinkled my nose up, “T.M.I Jerod.” I said with a small laugh. “Oh a girl by the name of Riley was at the trailer earlier while you all were at the RV. She said she’ll find you guys later that she knows you Jet and Jason from high school. She’s is like supermodel pretty.” I told him.

  He tensed, “She..uhh did she say what she wanted?” he asked.

  “Nope, just that she was an old friend from high school and wanted to see you guys again.” I said with a shrug.

  He stood up from the chair, ran a hand through his hair “I’ll uh...tell Jet and Jason.” He said then tucked his hands in his pockets and walked out of the trailer to go watch hot laps.

  Before I could even get mom called she was calling me, “Chassis..”

  “Mom don’t even start, this place is super busy and huge, I’m just now getting to sit down and relax.” I told her.

  “I was worried that is all, so is that handsome Jet excited?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I think he might be a little nervous too, he’s been kind of moody.

  She laughed, “Your dad would get that way from time to time, or if his car wasn’t hooking up like he wanted it to. He talked about going to Super Nationals but the cost was just too expensive. He wanted to take us to at least watch but the timing was always wrong and he would get swamped at wo
rk.”

  I smiled, “Mom he would have LOVED this place, they call it the Racers Vacation.”

  “Yep, it’s been called that for years. Anyways, I wanted to tell you all about the supper date I went on.” I could practically see her smiling on the other end of the phone. She told me all about where they went for supper, what they talked about, how he was a true gentleman “We actually have a lot in common, we are going to go out on his next weekend off. He wants to take me dancing.” She said with another big smile. We talked about college, how things had been going between Jet and me, my uncle and his family. Almost forty five minutes later I finally hung up with her, I was about to walk to the cat walk when I heard Jet’s phone beep. I walked to the front of the trailer and grabbed his phone off the workbench, slid my finger across the screen. *Hey, it’s Riley, find me later.* was the text that had come through. I made a mental note to tell Jet in case Jerod forgot.

  I put his phone in my pocket, then started to walk out of the trailer. Mitch, Asher, Jerod and Jason were walking back to the trailer, “Uggg you missed it Chass, he was hauling some serious ass out there!” Asher told me then flopped down in the chair.

  “I know, but I had to talk to mom, she had to fill me in on her date with that doctor. Then we got caught up talking about everything else.” I said and sat back down. A few minutes later Jet idled across the pit area and backed his car up to the trailer. He revved the engine twice then shut the car off. He pulled the steering wheel of, laid it on the decking, pulled his helmet off and set it beside the steering wheel. Once he was finally out of the car he was all smiles, I walked over to him, “Sorry I missed it, they said you were pretty fast.” I told him.

  He blew out a breath, “Fucking fast not just fast.” He told me then kissed me on the cheek and walked into the trailer.

  He went to the mini fridge grabbed a bottle of water and started looking on the work bench, “Where the hell did I put my phone? I swear it was right here.” He said.

  I walked into the trailer, “Right here, that Riley girl text you.” I told him.

  His eyes got big for a second, “Ohhhkay.” He said then took his phone out of my hand.

  “So you race tonight?” I asked as he looked at his phone reading the text messages.

  “Yeah, heat races will start for us in another hour or so.” He said but never looked up from his phone. I figured he was probably typing a reply to Riley so I left him alone. I sat back down next to Asher, the guys scraped the mud off the car and changed tires on Jets car.

  A few minutes later I heard Jason say, “What in the hell do you want?”

  I looked up to see that he was talking to Riley. Jet stormed out of the trailer over to Riley and Jason. I couldn’t hear what was being said but Jet seemed absolutely furious and Riley looked like she was about to start crying.

  I started to walk towards them when Jerod stopped me, “Jason isn’t too happy she’s here, Jet will have to explain why, but just leave them alone.” He said as he turned me to go sit back down.

  Mitch shook his head but didn’t say anything, Asher sat there with a stunned look, “Well, somebody needs to explain what’s going on.” She said. Then Riley walked away. Jet stormed back into the trailer mumbling cuss words, I followed him;

  “Jet what in the hell is going on?” I asked.

  “It’s nothing that concerns you okay?” he snapped at me.

  “I think it is, if she’s going to be over here pissing you and Jason off.” I said with my hands planted firmly on my hips.

  He spun around, “No it’s NOT your business, drop it for fucks sake! I have other shit to worry about besides bullshit drama.” He practically yelled at me.

  “Oookay.” I said then turned and walked back over to my chair.

  Asher text me, *WTF?!* ~ *IDK, but damn he doesn’t need to snap at me!* ~ *When I have Mitch alone I’ll c if he will tell me what’s going on.* ~ *K*

  Asher and I decided to go to the souvenir booth to buy a shirt and a hoodie. There was a line of people, we stood there talking as the line slowly moved forward. I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned around so did Asher,

  “Hi, I’m Carley, I was wondering if you would be interested in the wet t-shirt contest tonight and Friday night?” she asked.

  Carley was beautiful, with long straight blonde hair, big blue eyes, she had a sweet southern voice and a beautiful smile. “Well, (I chuckled), I doubt my boyfriend would like that.” I told her.

  She waved a hand, “Sweetie ya’ll are in Boone…he won’t care.” She told me. She turned and asked Asher if she would do it.

  Asher laughed, “If Chassis will I will.” She said with a shrug.

  “I think we are a few trailers down from ya’ll, aren’t ya’ll with Jet and his crew?” she asked.

  We moved forward with the line, “Yep that’s us.” I told her.

  “I will come talk to you in a little bit.” She said then walked away.

  Asher and I each bought our stuff and went back to the trailer. Jerod, Jason, Jet and Mitch were having what appeared to be a very intense conversation. It was more than obvious Jet was getting mad and so was Jason. We put our bags in the trailer then walked out to the guys,

  “What’s going on?” Asher asked as she put her arm around Mitch’s waist.

  Mitch shook his head, “Don’t even ask, but I think there’s about to be a throw down between these three.” He said talking about Jet, Jerod and Jason.

  “Why?”, I asked as I tried to grab Jet’s hand but he yanked it away from me and stormed back into the enclosed trailer.

  I turned to follow him when Jason grabbed ahold of my upper arm stopping me, “Just leave him alone let him cool down, he’s gotta race in about an hour. I’m not wasting my breath arguing with him anymore.”

  “About what?” I threw my hands in the air.

  Jason just shook his head, “That’s Jet’s story to tell, I’ll just say Riley is a dumb bitch.” He said.

  ~~~~

  An hour later they called for the modified’s heat races to start lining up. Jet was in the second heat race, so we all hurried to the cat walk since the races here obviously moved along faster than normal. They would have “farming sessions” after about every ten races, each farming session took about twenty minutes or so. A farming session was when they completely tore the dirt track up then packed it back in creating another racing surface. Once one heat race was finished the next group was circling the track waiting for the green flag to drop.

  We got up on the cat walk it was packed and lined with people. Luckily Mitch was big and most people had no problem scooting over to make room for all of us. Lawrence came up to us on the cat walk, “I’m supposed to babysit Chassis and Asher.” He told Mitch. Mitch just laughed and shook his head as he looked back at the track. “When he’s done with his heat race, you guys come with me and I’ll share some apple pie.” Lawrence whispered to Asher and me.

  Jet

  ****

  Once I was back at the trailer after hot laps, I felt really good that my car was going to be bad fast on the track. I got out of the car and Chassis was standing there with a big smile, “They said your car is fast, sorry I didn’t get up there to watch I talked to mom the whole time.” She told me.

  I kissed her, “It’s bad fucking fast, it’s all good, you have to watch the heat races though.” I told her as we walked into the trailer.

  I walked back to the mini fridge to get a bottle of water and my cell phone off of the work bench. I looked around for my phone, patted down my fire suit and my jean pockets but my phone was nowhere to be found. I knew that I hadn’t left it in my pockets, I’ve raced with it on me before. The amount of people that called me knowing I was racing about drove me nuts so under a caution I threw it out the window towards the infield of the track.

  “Where the fuck is my phone? I swear it was laying right here.” I said to the people in the trailer.

  Chassis walked over and handed it to me, “Riley text you, I didn
’t get a chance to tell you she talked to Asher and I earlier.” She told me with a smile. I yanked my phone out of her hand, walked out of the trailer and started checking my messages. I held my breath that Riley hadn’t text anything about the past to me, obviously she hadn’t because Chassis didn’t bring it up. I read the message from her then put my phone back in my pocket and started helping scrape mud off the car. Suddenly my brother Jason started mouthing off to somebody, I quit scraping mud looked at Jason then at who he was clearly pissed at.

  I threw the mud scraper onto the back decking of the car and walked over to her, “What the fuck do you want Riley?” I growled at her.

  “I just want to talk, nice to see you too Jason.” She said and glared at him then looked back at me and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Jet, we are going to talk, we NEED TO…”

  “Why don’t you just fucking take your ass back to wherever you came from. His girlfriend is right there in the trailer, we don’t want or need your god damn drama.” Jason told Riley while trying not to yell.

  “Riley, I have nothing to say to you, what’s done is done. We ended a long time ago, move on.” I told her.

  She bit her bottom lip as her eyes filled with tears, “When did you turn into such an asshole? I know your dad is partially to blame but you know as well as I do we will never really be over each other.”

  I shook my head, “I am not doing this right now god damnit.” I said and walked away from her.

  I glanced at Chassis, she was looking at me with a concerned look, luckily she didn’t try to come talk to me to see what was wrong. She and Asher left to go get a hoodie, as soon as she was gone my brother Jason laid into me.

  “Don’t be a god damn idiot, Riley is just trying to fuck with your head.” He said as he poked me in the chest.

  I pushed his hand away, “Fuck you, didn’t you hear me tell her I didn’t want her over here, I don’t have shit to say to her.” I said leaned against my car.