I sat down on the simulator and had at it. Maddie meandered around the room, but mostly she just watched me. She was very interested in the process I had. A couple laps, take some notes, tweak the setup, repeat. Note temperatures, wear rates, chassis dynamics. It was a complex task but one I very much enjoyed.
After some time, Maddie wrapped her arms around me from behind and kissed me on the cheek. “Are you almost finished?”
“Why?” I asked curiously as I dove into the high banks of Bristol.
“The food got here a while ago. I put it in the chafer to keep it warm.” Shit. I had been racing for two hours, I didn't even realize food was waiting! I forgot that I even ordered it.
We ate our dinner and afterward, Maddie looked at me quizzically. I couldn't tell if she was about to ask me a really tough question or flirt with me. Perhaps that was one of the allures of her. She always kept me on my feet even from the day we met.
“What did I do wrong this time?” I asked her.
She giggled. “Nothing this time. I was just wondering, Mister Sumpter, what kind of boyfriend are you going to be?”
Oh Maddie. She never ceased to amaze me. This was just the beginning with her. The questions and requests she had for me were some of the most unique I ever got from anyone.
“Well, what kind of boyfriend do you want me to be? What do you want me to do? Name it. I'll face all of my fears for you. Horses? I'll ride one. Boats? I'll take you on a cruise. You name my biggest fear, I'd conquer it for you. I can drive 180 miles an hour in my sleep, but the thought of being on the back of a horse scares the shit out of me. Whatever it takes for you to realize you are the only person in the world I want by my side, I'll do it,” I told her.
She humbly smiled. “That's quite an answer, Mister Sumpter.”
“And I quaintly mean every word of it, Miss Traut.”
A couple of days later, Maddie and I were out on a date when she got a call. It was hectic, I could hear her friend's screams clear as day through the phone.
“Maddie! Maddie I need help!” Her name was Mikaela, she was Maddie's best friend. Mikaela had some pretty serious issues, as Maddie had told me. She came from a rich family and her parents had been doing drugs her entire life. Like most upper classers, her parents hid their indiscretions very well. They ignored her, abused her, and thought that all they had to do as parents was give her money. Not exactly a recipe for an award winning parenting job.
“Mikaela, calm down. What's going on?” Maddie asked.
“I need help now! There's these guys and they're getting out of control! They've got Taylor!”
“Where are you? We'll come get you.”
“We're at the bar!”
I wasn't going in on this one alone. I called Ayrton and thankfully he was going to be able to beat us there and figure out what was up. It took Maddie and me about ten minutes to arrive. The bar was a mad house. Why people enjoyed this shit, I never knew. I've never understood the allure of the bar scene. It's just stupid people acting stupidly. There's nothing interesting about it. It's pathetic. If I'm going to drink, I'd rather hang out at the house with a glass of single malt and the guys. No stupid mixed drinks. Real manly social drinks.
“Stay here. I saw Ayrton's truck back there. He's in there somewhere,” I told Maddie. I didn't know if she was going to be safe out there though, so I called Chase in for backup.
I entered the bar and the nightmare intensified. Half of these girls looked like fourteen year old prostitutes. Most of them had skirts so short they were showing off their business. Every guy in the room was watching them like they were pieces of meat. These weren't people. They were animals. How the hell did the bartenders let this get so out of control?
“Ryan!” I heard from across the room. It was Ayrton. I got to him as quickly as I could.
“Where is she? Where's Mikaela?” I asked him.
“I had her, then the same guys that took Taylor ripped her away from me,” Ayrton said as we both scanned the room. “Corridor!” Ayrton yelled as he pointed to a hallway across the bar.
Elbows out, we forced out way through the crowd and toward the hallway. There were a few big guys guarding it. Whatever was going on, let's just say it was a party we weren't invited to.
“Get the fuck out of my way or I will make you get out of my way,” Ayrton said. The big guys didn't move and it was on.
“You let me take care of these guys! Get Taylor!” Ayrton said as he pointed down the hallway.
As soon as I saw her, I knew this scene was ugly. Taylor's face was bloody. She was knocked completely out and about to get raped by this guy. He had her skirt pulled up and was just about to force himself on her.
“Hey!” I yelled to get his attention. When he looked at me, I beamed him in the face with a scotch glass. It was sad to see a pour of Macallan 12 take one for the team like that, but it was admirable as well. I wanted to say some words for the fallen soldier, didn’t have the time. I got to Taylor, put her skirt down and picked her up. Ayrton was having a tough time with the two guys, but I had to let him go. He was on his own with that one. I rushed Taylor out to the car and saw Maddie trying to fend off three drunk guys. Chase pulled up right as I came out.
“Go go go! Get her out of here!” I tossed Taylor in his car and he drove off. He drove his Ford GT... Not exactly the most stealth car to be riding into a bar fight with.
I rushed to Maddie and just started throwing punches everywhere I could. One guy got a hold of Maddie, he was way too strong for me though. I grabbed him but his grip on Maddie intensified. I had no choice, I took out my pocket knife and stabbed him in the thigh. He crumpled, I grabbed Maddie and tossed her in the truck. The drunkards started clawing at my truck as Ayrton emerged from the bar with Mikaela. Mikaela was pretty beat up, but she was conscious. I could only imagine what happened to her.
I flung the back door open and Ayrton jumped in with Mikaela. I drove off as quickly as I could. The cops showed up right as we left. Thankfully none of them followed us. I knew Ayrton was going to have to call Jimmy, our private investigator, as soon as we got to safety to make sure he took care of us on this one.
“Is she okay?” I asked Ayrton.
“She's gonna be fine. We're gonna be fine,” Ayrton said. I could see him kiss her forehead in the rear view mirror. I'd never seen him so protective of a girl he literally just had first contact with. He hadn't actually technically met her at that point.
We got back to the Montana Mansion and Ayrton took Mikaela to his room. I told Maddie there was nothing to worry about, that Ayrton would take good care of her. It gave me peace knowing that I had surrounded myself with such good people. I knew Mikaela was in safe hands with Ayrton.
“What was that?” Maddie asked me once we got to the bedroom.
“I have no idea. What a nightmare,” I responded. “Are you okay?”
“I'm good. Just scared.”
“I'm so sorry, Maddie. I'm sorry I – I wasn't there for you.”
“You stuttered. Why do you stutter so often when you're talking to me?” Maddie said. Her comment made me blush. I knew why I always stuttered around her. I'd never before done it around anyone. I'd never had a stuttering problem. Maddie was the only one who could do it to me.
“I know I stutter around you. I'm sorry. I'm also sorry there are frequent times I don't know what to say. Truth is, you make me so weak at the knees, I can barely stand upright. You make me feel all crazy inside. I've never sounded like more of a blubbering idiot than I have whenever you've been around,” I told her.
Over the next couple of weeks, Mikaela stayed at the Mansion with Ayrton. Maddie and I never found out what happened to her. I knew I got Taylor out before anything too bad happened to her, but the only other person who knew what happened to Mikaela was Ayrton, and I wasn't going to ask.
The next Friday, Ayrton and I were prepping for our big nights. I was headed to meet Maddie's parents. He was headed to meet Mikaela's parents. I was more nervous
than I'd been for a while. Was it a good thing that Maddie's immaculateness made me nervous? I was putting on my nice pants, prepping my shirt, and all I could think about was her amazing long blonde hair and emerald green eyes. She was as unattainably gorgeous as I'd ever seen. Maybe even better than Mary-Margaret.
“You gonna bomb tonight?” Ayrton asked as he entered my room.
“I don't know man. I'm nervous as hell,” I responded.
“Seriously. Don't be nervous. Maddie's great, and I'm sure her parents are – Well...”
“Rich Republicans who have spent more of their lives on their jobs than they ever will on their kids?”
“Sure. But don't tell them that,” Ayrton brilliantly concluded.
We gave each other a nod, climbed in our trucks, and we were off. Twenty minutes later, I drove into the driveway of Maddie’s house. It was enormous. Generally, it was hard for me to be intimidated by the size of an estate. Intricacies, that's a different story. This one did the trick though. It was as big as the Montana Mansion and our SoCal Beach House combined. No cars in the lot, must have a huge garage in back. I rolled up the driveway and parked in front of the house.
I took a long, deep breath to prepare myself. As I exited the truck, the front door opened. Maddie came running out. She was wearing the most beautiful black and red dress you could imagine. She looked like an angel with a sassy side. Even such a color as black couldn't bring this girl's bright personality down.
She ran up to me and jumped into my arms. “Finally! You're here!”
“I'm not late, am I?”
“If I said you couldn't have been early enough, would that be too cheesy?”
“Not a chance,” I responded. This girl made me so incredibly happy. I felt like tonight could be the start of something great. Not like winning a race great, but Leaning Tower of Pisa great. Mythically great. Legendarily great.
It quickly took quite the turn for the worst. The situation reminded me of when I met Natalie's parents, and we all know how that turned out. I tried to speak with her father before dinner, he was too busy reading his Wall Street Journal to pay me any mind. I guess that could have been worse – He could have sat there and made fun of me for no reason at all. I tried to talk to her mother, she was very rude and short with me. She scoffed several times. Why the hell would she scoff at me? We were able to make it to dinner without any huge issues thankfully.
When I thought it couldn't get any worse – I was dead wrong.
“So Ryan, what do you do for a living?” Maddie's mother asked. Just listening to the tone in her voice, it was plainly obvious she had an agenda.
“I do several things, but mainly I'm a professional race car driver.” She scoffed again. I'm not going to lie, I wanted to smack her. The sound was ungodly at best.
“Oh, so you drive around in circles? Where, here at the local track? Wow, that must pay great. Guess that's why you've got that old crappy truck out there,” she said with a hint of vindication. While she went on this tangent, Maddie looked as though she was being crushed. But like a strong, classy woman, she held it together. This was the first time I really got to see her poise. The only reason I knew it was ripping her apart was because she trusted me enough to show me.
Oh yeah, side note. That “old crappy truck out there” was just four years old and sported a custom twin-intercooled bi-turbo V8 and a custom gated 6 speed tranny. But who would ever keep track of that?
“Actually Mom, he races internationally,” Maddie said, a valiant effort to defend my honor.
“Oh, so you drive someone else's cars? You're just a driver?”
“No Mom, he owns racing teams,” Maddie said with a roll of her eyes. It was clear she was getting sick of her mother's antics.
“If you're such a special person, why are you dating my daughter? I mean, you're so – Old!”
I had to stop Maddie from continuing to defend me. I appreciated what she was doing, but I needed to stand up myself. I held up my finger at Maddie.
“It's okay, Maddie. Misses Traut, I'm with Maddie because she's the most beautiful, amazing woman I've ever met.”
“But she's not a woman! She's a girl! She's barely eighteen, and you are nothing more than an old, washed up has been trying to score with a rich girl. Maddie, you must be careful of people like this! Darling – Ron – Please, back me up,” she continued.
Maddie's mother was putting the full court press at that point. For the first time, Maddie's father looked up. Maddie quickly switched her attention to him. She clearly respected what her father had to say. If he sided with her mother, I knew I was a goner.
“I think this is all a farce. You can't make a suitable living driving a truck, not one good enough to take care of my daughter,” he said, arrogance in tow. I could see Maddie's eyes watering up. She was officially crushed.
“Dad, he's not a truck driver.” Maddie's voice was crackling, her lips quivered.
“I don't care, same difference. I know what I'm talking about sweetie. This isn't your area of expertise.” And she now she was broken in addition to being crushed.
“Maddie, it's okay,” I told her, trying my best to give her comfort.
“No it's not!”
“I think it's best you leave now,” Maddie's mother chimed in. We all sat in silence for a moment. Mr. Traut glanced at his wife and suddenly I found everyone looking at me. Maddie didn't want me to go, but the scorn of her parent's eyes told me I didn't have much of a choice.
I patted my mouth with my napkin and stood up.
“Ryan --” Maddie cried out.
“Mr. Traut, have you ever heard of The Vector Group?” I asked him.
“Of course. It's the richest corporation in the history of mankind.”
“And do you know what The Vector Group does?”
“Marketing, networking, venture capitalism last I checked,” he said. This dude thought he was hot shit.
“Marketing, networking, venture capitalism through an auto racing base,” I said, as I placed both hands on the table and leaned down so that our faces met. “I own The Vector Group. I could buy your company and dismantle it before your eyes any time I feel like it.”
“You're full of it, kid. You're delusional.”
“Look it up, hot shot. You're kicking the owner of the richest corporation on the planet out of your house for not being good enough, not being rich enough.” I glanced at his Wall Street Journal sitting next to him on the table. “You got any older editions of that sitting around?”
“All of them since 1982,” he said snidely. He still thought he was right and I was just blowing smoke.
“August issue, 2000. That was my up and comer profile done for my 25th birthday. May issue, 2003. That's the month they featured our entire crew after The Vector Group became the richest corporation ever. In three years, I made more money than you will in your entire life.”
“Ryan --” Maddie cried out again. I exited the room to a snicker from Mr. Traut.
Through the front door I went. I took a moment to gather my thoughts on the front doorstep. Maddie came out and immediately threw her arms around me.
“I'm so sorry. Please don't leave,” she said, now drenched in tears.
“I need to go, Maddie. There is nothing I'm going to be able to do to convince your parents I'm the right guy for you.”
“Does this mean we're over?”
“It means you need to figure out if you're willing to alienate your parents for this. You are the girl for me, Madison Traut. You are great in every sense of the word. I want you. Only you.”
“I want you, too. But my dad, he's always been right.” That hurt to hear. Besides the fact that I had just proved him to be wrong, was it possible that her bond with her father, however faulty it was, could be enough to keep us apart?
“I love you, Maddie. All I want you to know is that's never going to change.” And with those words, I left. There was nothing more for me to say. In such a short time, I fell completely in lov
e with this young lady. I couldn't imagine life without her, but currently, her parents were something she needed to figure out. I couldn't help her with that, and I couldn't sway her to any decision. All I could hope was that she would come back to me.
And at that point... I was really hoping Ayrton was having a better night than I was.
I returned to the Montana Mansion. The place was so quiet, cold, alone. Maddie had been staying with me for weeks. She was such a little snuggler, it was awesome. I walked into my room and couldn't help but smile at my bed. There was one Sunday that she and I stayed in the entire day. I was pouring over numbers on my laptop, trying to get together technical data for testing the next month. She came in and pounced on the bed. She was like an ecstatic little kid who was simply thrilled to be there with me. Her smile was wider than ever that day. Now all I could do was hope that this wasn't as good as it would get for us. She had all of the mature traits coupled with childish enthusiasm – She was just so great.
But was that enough? One commonly overlooked part of a relationship is the innate necessity for both people to be completely invested. No relationship can work without it. If you are even 99% in, it won't work. Inherently, you will hit a snag that will keep things from going any further.
I was sitting at the desk in my bedroom trying to distract myself with whatever work I could find. I heard the front door close. Ayrton was home. He was laboring up the stairs. I watched my door knowing he would come in for a debrief. We did them for the cars, we did them for our lives. Always need a good debrief with the crew. Ayrton walked very slowly into my room and laid down on my bed.
“How'd it go?” I asked even though I didn't need to. He was as torn up as I was.
“I have no idea what happened. They kept saying I must work at Jiffy Lube, that there's no other type of master mechanic out there,” he told me.
“You're kidding, right? I mean, you revolutionized the position...”
The Legend: The Love of Ryan Sumpter Page 11