by Storm, Sloan
“How was testing?” I asked, looking at each of them.
“Not bad,” Dyson replied, eyeing Marco. “Especially if you’re this guy.”
Marco smiled and nodded. “Yes, not bad at all.”
I looked at Dyson’s teammate. “So things are going well for you?”
Dyson reached over and slapped his teammate on the shoulder. “Let’s put it this way. If I wasn’t in the race this weekend, this man’s your winner.”
Marco chuckled at Dyson’s jab. “We’ll see what happens this weekend.”
Dyson winked at him before turning his attention towards me. “I just gotta grab a quick shower, and we can go.”
Before I could respond, Dyson glanced at Marco. “See you there, right?”
“Absolutely,” Marco said. Looking at me for a second before walking away, he continued, “See you in a bit.”
I smiled at him, caught off guard by the sudden revelation. He walked away moments later. Afterward I looked at Dyson.
“What was that about? Why is Marco coming with us to the bar?”
Dyson shook his head. “Actually, he’s not the only one. Most of the team is going to be there. I’m going to go get ready. Come with me. You can wait inside my motor coach.”
Just about an hour later, Dyson and I sat together in the bar, waiting for Gene to arrive. He’d already downed a couple of beers and was working on his third. After a large gulp, he set the beer mug down on the table and looked at me.
“You seem tense.”
Tense? Was he serious?
I’d been nursing the same cocktail since we sat down, barely able to take a single sip. “Yes, Dyson, I’m tense. Give me a reason I shouldn’t be.”
Dyson leaned back in his chair and placed his hand on top of the table. He rolled his fingers, tapping the surface of the table with an easy rhythm.
“Ava, look around,” he began, gesturing towards the guys from his team who were spread all around the bar. “We’ve got this guy outnumbered fifteen to one. There’s nothing to worry about.”
I glanced up at the clock on the wall, noticing the time. He’d be here any minute. What had I done? I lifted the cocktail glass to my lips. My hand trembled when I tilted it upward. Seconds later I lowered it to the surface of the table once again. Dyson reached for me, wrapping his large fingers around my hand.
“Everything is going to be fine. Okay?”
I glanced up at him and was about to speak, when the front door to the bar opened. Streaks of fiery orange from the setting sun spilled inside. I hadn’t seen him in years, but I’d recognize him anywhere. I stared at him in silence, and Dyson took notice, following my line of sight with his own.
After the door closed behind him, Gene stood there scanning the bar.
“That him?” Dyson asked, picking up his beer.
I nodded. “Mmm hmm.”
With that, he tilted the mug up, taking several big gulps before placing it back down on the table. After, he glanced in Gene’s direction and nodded. A couple of team mechanics were playing pool near the entrance, apparently waiting for Dyson’s signal. Because no sooner had he finished than they put their sticks down on the table and headed straight for Gene.
Gene snapped his head towards the approaching men. They moved on him with aggression and speed, causing Gene to back away. But in an instant, they were on either side of him. Gene started to resist but one of them leaned in and said something to him. Immediately after, the three men walked with each other until they disappeared from view.
Once they had, Dyson stood from his chair. On instinct, I reached for Dyson, grabbing him by the forearm.
“Where are you going?”
Dyson looked down at me, his face expressionless. With an unhurried tone, he replied, “You know why we’re here, Ava. Now, let me go.”
I kept my fingers folded around his arm for another second or so.
“Ava…”
I let go of him. “Promise me you won’t hurt him.”
Dyson looked at me in silence before picking up his beer and finishing off the rest of it in a single, large swallow. He placed the mug down on the table, hitched up his jeans, and walked away without saying a word.
I exhaled a shaky breath and leaned back into the seat. Clutching my cocktail in both hands, I followed Dyson with my eyes until he disappeared around the same corner Gene had moments earlier.
DYSON
I walked across the bar, rolling my tongue around inside of my mouth. The bitterness of the hops in my beer lingered. Before long, I reached the room where I had my mechanics take him. After a quick glance around, I reached down and twisted the knob.
Seconds later, I entered the room and turned.
“Hey! Fuck!” Gene said, twisting and contorting his upper body, tied to a chair in the middle of the room. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Why am I tied up?”
Without saying a word, I took a few casual steps in his direction, rubbing my hands back and forth.
“Settle down.”
“Fuck. You,” Gene growled.
I nodded and chuckled a bit.
“What the hell’s so God damn funny?” Gene struggled against the ropes once again. “We were supposed to have a deal. Remember? You pay me, and I leave that bitch alone.”
I just stared at him wondering how long he was going to delay the inevitable.
“What about the kid?” I asked, stepping a bit closer.
“What about him?”
“Well, you said you were going to leave her alone, but as I recall, the deal also included the boy.”
Gene shook his head, wrinkling his brow. “Yeah, of course, you fucking moron. The kid also. Are you stupid?”
I chuckled again. “I think I should be asking you the same question. Are you stupid, Gene?”
He scoffed. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s real simple,” I began. “See the way I figure it is any man who thinks he can fuck with my money and… my woman, well, to me, that’s a stupid person. So, I’m gonna to ask you again, Gene.”
I leaned in over the top of him and paused, lingering there for emphasis. Gene drew his eyes up to meet mine.
His eyelid twitched.
“Are you a stupid man, Gene?”
Gene swallowed hard, revealing the first crack in his flimsy bravery.
“We…” he stammered. “We had a deal.”
I leaned away from him, nodding. “Yeah, that’s right, we did have a deal. But, just like you changed the deal on Ava, I’ve decided to change the terms of our deal as well.”
A sudden awareness came to him. “I swear, if you lay one finger on me, I’ll sue you for everything you’re worth.”
“Uh huh,” I said, staring into his eyes. I glared at him for another second or two and then looked at the guys. “Untie him.”
In less than a minute, they’d freed him from the restraints. Once they had, I gestured for him to stand.
“Is that better?”
Gene glanced in both directions, looking at my friends. Afterward, he turned his attention back towards me.
“Is what better?”
“I mean, now that you’re untied, you’ve got a chance to defend yourself. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
Another difficult swallow forced its way down Gene’s throat. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, unlike you, Gene, I don’t fight dirty. I believe in giving a man a chance to face his enemies.”
Gene backed away from me, bumping against the chair. “I meant what I said. If you lay a finger on me, I’ll take you straight to court.”
I nodded and rubbed my hands together once again.
“The thing about court, Gene, is that in order to prove a case like this, you’re gonna need witnesses.”
I gestured with my chin towards the exit. Afterward, my friends began to leave the room.
“Wait,” Gene begged. “I, um, I promise—I won’t do anything. I swear. I won’t bother Simo
n, and Ava will never hear from me again.”
I took off my shirt and tossed it to one side.
“I know you won’t. Believe me, I know that.”
What happened over the next few minutes isn’t exactly what I would call a fair fight. But sometimes, people just need to be taught a lesson. Over the years I’d been threatened with lawsuits before. Nothing ever came of them, and I had a hard time believing that any lawyer would take on the case of a dirtball like Gene. Anyway, I hadn’t punched a man in quite a while, and to be honest it felt good.
Coming up as a kid I always had a reputation as a brawler. It never bothered me. I always saw it as an advantage on the track. If another driver crossed me, he knew I’d meet up with him later, and we’d handle it. But, as much as it served me well coming up through the ranks, by the time I reached Formula One, it was a thing of the past.
Funny how a sport where you’re expected to drive at a speed that can kill you in the blink of an eye, they expect you to live like a mama’s boy otherwise. By the time I’d finished knocking Gene into next week, I glanced down at my hands. They were already red and beginning to swell. He lay there, semi-motionless and groaning.
I picked up my shirt and put it back on.
“Hey, look at me,” I said, snapping my fingers. “Over here.”
Gene rolled up onto one side and squinted at me through half-opened eyes.
I pointed in the direction of the door. “If I ever hear another peep about you threatening her in any way, you’ll wish I’d killed you. Understand?”
Gene managed a sorry excuse for a nod.
“I want to hear it from your mouth,” I snarled. “Say it.”
Gene wheezed and coughed a bit, rolling in place on the floor as he struggled for breath. “I… I pr-promise. N-never ag… again.”
A few seconds later, I exited and passed by my friends who’d kept watch by the door.
“Get him out of here.”
They nodded and headed back inside, while I continued on my way towards the table where Ava waited for me. As I approached, her mouth fell open and her eyes bulged. She pointed in the direction of my hands.
“What happened?” she gasped, pointing at me. “Your hands—they’re red. Is that… blood?”
I motioned for her to stand. “Come on, it’s time to go.”
She shook her head as she looked up at me. “No, Dyson, I’m not going anywhere. Not until you tell me what happened.”
“I’ll tell you everything, but right now we need to leave.”
Ava shook her head in disgust, but rather than argue, she did as I asked and followed me.
AVA
In the days following what happened between Dyson and Gene, I worried quite a bit. I didn’t bother getting into it with Dyson about what went on in the back room of the bar. His hands told me everything I needed to know.
Even so, I called home and talked to Jillian several times. Deep down, I still had no idea what Gene was capable of. But time after time, Jillian assured me she hadn’t heard anything from him. Further, no one from the state called about Simon. It was almost like the whole episode with Gene never even happened.
For his part, Dyson seemed completely unfazed by the whole thing. He picked up with testing the very next day, no worse for wear. I hung around them afterward, more than I ever had before, and in spite of the fact nearly everyone on the team was at the bar, none of them mentioned a word of it.
In a strange way, I felt protected by all of them. I knew what happened to Gene wasn’t right, but the truth was, he was an awful person. Neither Simon nor I deserved to be a pawn in his sadistic game. And so, it probably goes without saying that I began to feel close to Dyson—closer than I had to any man in a long time.
I didn’t know whether or not he might have been feeling the same way towards me, but I couldn’t remember the last time I saw Anastasia or Svetlana hanging around. Of course, I didn’t ask him about it. It wasn’t like we were hooking up. I figured they’d show up sooner or later, and when they did I’d get my usual threats.
One afternoon, after the team finished testing and doing some work on the cars, Dyson came to the team trailer where I was finishing up some paperwork. He entered, knocking on the door at the same time.
I glanced up at him. He stood there, casually leaning against the open door with his hand hooked over the top of it. Dyson’s hair was damp, his skin streaked with grease and dust. Without thinking, I licked my lips, and our eyes met. Covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, he nodded at me.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.”
“I’m starving. You hungry?”
“Yeah. I mean, I could eat. I’ve just got some stuff to finish up here first.”
Dyson let go of the door. “Great, I’ll grab a shower, and we’ll go get something. Sound good?”
I smiled at him. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
Dyson chuckled. “It’s only a date if I bring flowers. I’m not a flower type of guy.”
I shook my head and grinned. “All right then, I guess we’ll just call it dinner.”
Dyson nodded his head, “I’ll be back in thirty.”
“Okay, see you then.”
With that, he turned and closed the door behind him as he left.
About an hour or so later, we arrived at probably the nicest restaurant I’d ever seen. Growing up, if we ever ate at a restaurant that had a second fork on the table, we felt privileged. When we sat down at the table, they asked me what kind of water I wanted. Before I could answer, they gave me four choices. Tap water wasn’t one of them, but I asked for it anyway.
“A little too upscale for you?” Dyson began, clearly enjoying himself.
I flashed a sarcastic smile at him. “Give me a break. Don’t act like you grew up eating like this. I’m quite sure that there are no restaurants like this in Pomona.”
He leaned back in his chair, tossing his arm over it. “How do you know? Have you ever been to Pomona?”
“No,” I said, leaning over the table and pointing at him. “But I’ve seen some of the stuff you eat, and I know they don’t serve it here.”
He chuckled and raised his index finger to his lips. “Don’t tell Darren about that. He’s always worried I’m gonna be too heavy for the car.”
I gestured towards the bread basket at the center of the table.
“Better steer clear of that, chubby,” I said, giggling and reaching for it. I pulled it just out of his reach. “We wouldn’t want your love handles keeping you from getting in the car.”
“You finished?”
I let go of the basket and smiled at him. “For now, yeah, I think so.”
Dyson winked at me and looked up, towards the other side of the restaurant. A second later, he raised the arm that was draped over the back of his chair, gesturing for someone to approach. I looked away and picked up the menu. Opening it, I began to scan some of the choices, when I heard him speak once again.
“How are you?” he said.
Before I glanced up from the menu, I heard the response.
“Excellent, sir, how are you and your lovely companion doing this evening?”
Just then, I drew my eyes upward and saw him. A tall, slender man, easily more than six feet, stood next to the table. In his hand, he held a basket filled with at least one hundred long-stemmed roses. By then, the subtle fragrance of the flowers made their way to my nose. Realizing what was happening, I glanced towards Dyson.
His focus never wavered from the man.
“How much?” he asked, leaning back and sliding his hand into his pocket. A split second later, Dyson produced a big stack of bills.
The man’s eyes widened at the sight of the money. He glanced towards me for an instant, before returning his attention to Dyson.
“Well, sir,” he said, gesturing in my direction. “Can we put a price on a beauty like hers?”
I rolled my eyes at his cheesiness.
Dyson chuckled. “You’re go
od, man. That’s not bad. Seriously though, how much?”
The man straightened his posture a bit. “Five dollars per flower.”
I glanced at Dyson once again. As I watched him, he leaned away from the man a bit and began to point at the basket.
“Whatdya got there? A hundred?”
The man cleared his throat and repositioned the basket in his hand.
“Sir, I… I-I’m not sure exactly how many flowers there are.”
Dyson raised his thumb to his mouth and gave it a quick lick. Soon after, he reached for the bills in his hand and began to fold them back, one after another.
“I’ll give you five hundred bucks for all of them. Sound good?”
I leaned forward, pressing my palms flat against the table. “Dyson! Are you crazy?”
The flower man, sensing he had an easy mark, turned his back to me and addressed Dyson directly.
“Excellent decision, sir. Absolutely!”
The man then began to remove a handful of roses when Dyson spoke up once again.
“No, no,” he said, causing the man to freeze in place. “For five hundred, I get the basket too.”
An awkward cross between a giggle and a chuckle sputtered from the man’s lips.
“Yes, of course sir. Please forgive me.”
Dyson waved him off. “Don’t mention it.”
In less than a minute, the two men completed their transaction. I leaned back in the chair, shaking my head in disbelief.
“Why?” I began, pointing at the absurd number of flowers on the table. “Why would you buy all of those flowers?”
Dyson leaned back in his chair as well. He nodded towards the roses and said, “Well, I guess this is a date after all, isn’t it?”
Smiling, I just shook my head.
DYSON
Ava shook her head and reached for the flower basket. After removing one of the roses from it, she brought it to her nose, closed her eyes and inhaled.
“Well?” I began, gesturing towards the basket. “Does this qualify me as date material now?”