The Way Barred

by Dominique Kyle

  He picked up our two overnight bags with his left hand and offered me his right arm. I tucked my hand into the crook of his elbow and we went in.

  Inside there was a bit of consternation at reception as some bloke whispered something into the woman’s ear.

  “I’m afraid to say that there’s been a problem in the bathroom of the room you were meant to have so…” I saw her frantically flipping through the guest book. “So we’ve upgraded you to- ” there was a brief pause, “ -the Honeymoon Suite,” she finished with a triumphant flourish.

  I glanced at Tyler. He pulled a face as though to communicate the fact that he hadn’t engineered this. We followed the man up the thickly carpeted stairs.

  The Honeymoon Suite was amazing. Tyler and I stood in silence staring around for a minute after the man left.

  “She wasn’t joking was she?” Tyler commented.

  No, this was clearly designed for honeymoons. Four poster bed with gauzy curtains. Lilies in the vase, their scent filling the room. Luxurious everything.

  “Come and look at this!” Tyler exclaimed from the door to the bathroom.

  Black marble jacuzzi big enough to accommodate a football team.

  We both suddenly got the giggles.

  “We’re not going to get much sleep tonight if we’re going to make the most of all this,” I suggested.

  Tyler grinned at me. “That sounds promising!”

  The meal was amazing and we took all evening over it. And we drank a lot too. Tyler was concerned to hear that Quinn was still not speaking to me, but I didn’t mention the crack he’d given me. I didn’t want Tyler to go off him. But for some reason Tyler was in inquisitive mood and he started making me tell him every naughty thing me and Quinn had done since we’d first met. “Seriously, it’ll take all evening!” I warned him. But he just had to hear it all. Sometimes he’d be curled up with laughter, and sometimes he’d say, “God, I’m just trying to imagine what I’d think if my Nadia was doing all this. I think I’d be worried she was going to end up in a secure unit!”

  “It’s been mooted a few times, I believe,” I said dryly.

  His favourite story was the one where Quinn and I got locked into the boot of a car together by some psychopathic night club bouncers (one of them Tariq’s friend, Hussein).

  “How on earth did you both fit in?” Tyler marvelled, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

  “We were only sixteen,” I reminded him. “He was a lot smaller then!”

  Closely followed by the one where Quinn throws me into a big municipal bin and jumps in after me to avoid some more, (different) psychopathic bouncers.

  “Just how many different psychopathic bouncers can there be in one town?” He exclaimed.

  “They’ve cleaned the clubs up now,” I said almost regretfully like I was talking about the ‘good old days’ in the wild west, “they’re really boring now…”

  As we walked back up the swishly carpeted stairs, he said, “I don’t think I’ll be able to look at Quinn now without thinking of him being handcuffed to that girl’s bed for hours, swearing at her while she rushed around looking for the keys!”

  “One of the few times he’s ever been truly grateful to see me, I think,” I said with a laugh. “He was already an hour late for work and he was probably lying there wondering how to never ever admit to the guys why it was!”

  “You’ve got enough blackmail material there for a lifetime!” Tyler teased. “You should wait till he’s a millionaire then cash in big time…”

  Back in our room, we went silent and stood by the bed just looking at each other.

  “God you’re just so gorgeous Eve. I hardly dare touch you!” Tyler said. He stood there indecisively a bit longer. “I don’t know what to do. I feel as intimidated as I did the first time with you… In fact I feel as nervous as my first ever time as a teenager!”

  “Well maybe I’d better make the first move?” I suggested and stepped towards him. I put my arms up around his neck and kissed him lingeringly. He tasted of the wine we had been drinking. Complex grassy green nettle honey nectarine flavours. I did it again, a sudden flame lighting in me making me want to just melt into him and meld forever. I pressed my lips to his, closed my eyes and explored softly and delicately. Peach and apricot too. He groaned and held me tight to him, his hand in the small of my back. He seemed completely overcome. And it didn’t matter one way or the other that I was wearing red.

  “I love you, Eve,” he whispered as though he didn’t want me to really hear. “I absolutely adore you, you gorgeous, precious thing…”

  I pretended I hadn’t heard.

  At work the next afternoon at tea break Jo suddenly said impatiently to me. “What’s got into you Eve? You keep going all vague and drifty!”

  Steve Bolton looked up. Then he gave a sly grin. “I know that look! She’s in love again aren’t you McGinty?”

  I felt my cheeks going hot.

  “That’s a mighty tell-tale blush,” Dewhurst teased, looking me over with a forensic eye.

  “Have you been out with Tyler again?” Jo accused suspiciously.

  “Tyler?” Tony queried sharply. “You mean the Gold roof guy?”

  “Yes she’s been going out with him for ages,” Jo revealed. “But she’s never been like this about him. Been holding him at arm’s length for months!”

  “I think those arms have just got a lot shorter,” Steve surmised with a grin.

  Jo looked disapprovingly at me. “Promise me you won’t let it affect the driving! Sex and cars, remember? And of those two, cars is the most important!”

  Tony choked on a mouthful of coffee. He still hadn’t quite got used to us.

  Two days at Kings Lynn. The Semis. I had been to just enough qualifiers before I got banned to have a toe in the door. Not that I’d ever intended to have a toe in the door. But this was all I had left to me having missed everything else. A sea of red roofs plus virtually all the flashing amber lights. I went to look for the Gold roof. His face lit up and Mick’s darkened. A quick delicate kiss and we parted. He came to look for me at the end of the day.

  “I can’t leave the Satterthwaites,” I declared honourably.

  “Course you can,” Jo snapped. “We don’t want you mooning around here…”

  Tyler grinned at her and put a firm arm around my waist. “I’ll relieve you of her presence then…”

  As we walked away I glanced back to see Jo addressing something sarcastic to her brother and father and they both laughed in response.

  “Ignore them,” Tyler advised, and kissed me.

  “So you’ve got yourself a place on the grid for the Final,” Jo said to me as we drove home. “How are you going to drive it?”

  I wasn’t exactly sure. If Pete was at the front then I wasn’t even going to try to win it. If Pete had fallen by the wayside and Tyler was ahead then I’d go hell for leather…

  Three more weekends to get through first though. It seemed endless. Jo found me as many easy races as she could. Tyler and I rang each other a lot, but I didn’t happen to mention what I was up to. When the official points table came out at the end of the month he seemed rather put out.

  “How did you make such a sudden leap up the table?”

  “Hard work and a lot of miles,” I reminded him. “That’s how it’s done. It’s been so long since you went for the Silver you’ve forgotten how much work you have to put in, haven’t you? You’ve been slacking!”

  There was a short silence. “What with the business and Jeanette saying I can only see the girls at the weekend as long as I don’t take them racing with me, I figured I could cut back a bit once you and Devlin fell out of contention.”

  “Well I’m back in contention now, and I notice that Devlin’s suddenly upped his game again so his own family problems seem to have passed…”

  “Oh hell! Fuck it!” Tyler exclaimed angrily. “I thought the one good thing about Jeanette leaving me was that I could get back to a full time commit
ment with the driving. But now she’s playing silly buggers and moved so far away I can only see the kids at the weekends and I’m only allowed access if I promise not to take them to the Stocks.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said sympathetically. I didn’t know what else to say. I avoided talking about Jeanette and the children at all times. I wanted to pretend they didn’t exist. This is just what I feared. They’d intrude all the time if I hooked up with him properly. I’d be a step-mother like poor Pauline was and look how me and Jamie had treated her! And Jeanette would be a jealous bitch and try to control him from a distance via his children. All this was hassle I could do without. I just wished my heart didn’t leap every time I heard his voice…

  Second weekend in September, Mildenhall. The commentators and bloggers were speculating that the fact the World Championship Final was on shale rather than the usual tarmac could radically change the outcome. Tyler was known as a tarmac specialist. There were a few who fancied their chances today who wouldn’t otherwise, including any Mildenhall locals who had qualified.

  I went to see Tyler before the race. “Have you said a fond good-bye to your Gold roof Tyler?” I teased.

  He looked in a conflicted way at me. “Go away, you annoying pup,” he said irritably.

  I blew him a kiss and left him to it.

  Tyler had inside pole position on the grid and Pete had outside. The Dutch drivers were seeded all the way through. I had an inside position nine rows down. Not bad really. Should avoid the big first corner shove from the back and also avoid the first jockeying for position at the front. Conditions were dry. So dry in fact they’d had to hose down the track to avoid everyone suffocating in the dust.

  Tyler led the charge and got away well, but Pete was well up there just behind him. I kept my head and patiently nipped through gaps and gave the odd well timed tap and soon myself and Toon were up there with the two front runners. Toon and I ignored each other for now. No point in taking each other out when Tyler and Pete were the ones we needed to deal with. Horrocks turned up behind us. I’d nearly forgotten about Horrocks, but the Silver roof holder is often a consistently better driver than the Gold roof holder, since the World Championship, reliant on a single final race could have some fluky outcomes dependent on conditions on the day, so it wasn’t surprising that Horrocks could be another contender. Also, previous National Points Champion, Devlin, was visible in my mirror.

  Pete took a bit of a pop at Tyler and got past him. I speeded up and on a corner gave Tyler a really big crack. It knocked him outwards and Toon and I shot past. Without glancing at each other, Toon and I came back into together shoulder to shoulder and blocked him at every turn. Pete was getting away ahead of us. Toon and I speeded up. Tyler seemed to decide to bide his time, following us both right up our bumpers but not trying anything that would slow any of us down or distract us. He’ll make his move on the penultimate corner, I predicted, so he’d time to get to come up behind Pete and get past him on the last corner. I started to subtly slow down to block him some more and hold him up. Toon started pulling ahead. Tyler got frustrated, maybe suspecting my intentions and gave a shove at my bumper, trying to push me into Toon. Just as he did so I put my foot down and hurtled myself into Toon as though from the momentum of Tyler’s attack. Toon skidded dramatically outwards and ended up back to front right in the path of Horrocks who hurtled over his bonnet and tripped up Devlin. I slammed my wheels back round to follow Tyler who was only milliseconds ahead of me. He ground his way up to just behind Pete, and on the last corner I saw him getting into position for the final attack. So I put my foot down and rammed him sideways and I kept the wheel turned well to the right to get him decisively out of contention and then I straightened up and cruised gently after Pete who was passing under the chequered flag to the screams and claps of all the spectators.

  While Pete was twirling his car triumphantly round and waving out the window, Tyler brought his car alongside me.

  “I have no words to say to you that could fully describe what a devious, scheming, conniving little vixen you are,” he said forcefully.

  “Are you really angry with me?” I said penitently. I could only see his eyes through his helmet and balaclava, and eyes on their own are surprisingly unreadable.

  “Only that you didn’t go for it yourself,” he said at last. “You could have got that you know.”

  “I know,” I said. “I told you it’s Pete’s year. I’ll have it next year.”

  “No, you’re right.” He said rather surprisingly. “It’s time for a change. It’ll give a real lift to the sport to have a new Champion. I’ve lost it before and got it back. I’ll give you a run for your money next year and we’ll see which of us has the edge.”

  “I will,” I said confidently.

  He slammed his car into gear rather forcefully. “Lap of honour you minx. Go on, get ahead of me!” And he waited for me to restart my engine.

  We had the traditional photos taken in front of the winning car, all three of us holding our trophies. Pete couldn’t stop beaming. Tyler smiled and shook his hand and congratulated him.

  “That’s not a line up we’ve ever seen before,” Paul said as the rest of us walked away from the photo opp, leaving Pete for a few on his own.

  “True,” Tyler said. “It’s good to be getting a breath of fresh air to revitalise things isn’t it?”

  Paul nodded.

  “He deserves it,” Tyler added to Paul. “He’s really improved over the last eighteen months. And this season he’s become really consistent at last.”

  Paul glanced over at where I was standing at a slight remove. “I think a certain motivating factor over there might have something to do with it.”

  “Hmm,” Tyler responded. “He’d better make the most of it. She tells me she’s going to have it next year and the trouble is I’m beginning to believe her! Do you think she’s trying to hypnotise me into it?”

  Paul choked back a laugh. “Wouldn’t put it past her!”

  Paul was called back to have a photo with his son. Previous and current World Champions together.

  “What colour will you have to paint your roof now?” I asked Tyler.

  Tyler scratched his head, his rough wavy hair all sticking up untidily from being under the balaclava. “Dunno, it’s getting a bit complicated. I think I’ll need to take some official advice!”

  I edged really close to him. “Shall we come out in front of the cameras?” I suggested with a smile.

  “What do you mean?” He frowned.

  “Come on Mr. ex-golden-dogs-bollocks,” I invited. “Give me a really public snog!”

  As he obliged, with almost unnecessary forcefulness, I heard a bit of cheer go up from the stands, and the clicking of several near-by cameras.

  In the pub afterwards Jo leaned over to me. “You got that for him didn’t you?”

  I frowned. “I have no idea what you are talking about…”

  “You attacked Tyler harder than you needed to, you blocked him something rotten and then that shunt into Toon was completely staged and you made no effort whatsoever to chase to the flag.”

  I shrugged. “It’s just how the race went, Jo, these things happen…”

  She sat back in the chair. “It was pretty subtle though. Hopefully Pete won’t notice in the replays…”

  “What did your Dad say?” I asked curiously. I didn’t want it to spoil his enjoyment at having his son at long last gain the Gold.

  Jo frowned. “Not very much. He was watching everything with narrowed eyes so I wouldn’t put it past him to have drawn certain conclusions.”

  “I didn’t win Pete his roof,” I protested. “Pete was right at the front from half way through. I just did my bit to make sure it stayed that way…”

  She reached out a hand and covered mine. “I’m not criticising you, Eve. I’m not cross or anything. I think what you did was really nice. I just wanted to get it straight with you that’s all.”

  Later Tyler nosed us
out, and a lot of the other drivers turned up too and a noisy jolly evening commenced with Pete quickly rat-arsed from all the drinks being stood him, and Tyler was good natured throughout in defeat, which was another thing that made me think well of him. He took all the ribbing in good part and I snuggled contentedly up to him and smiled vaguely at all the remarks directed at us, retreating a little bit early to retire to the privacy of his van where I did my best to make up to him for what I’d done to him in the race.

  Tyler was right. There was quite a buzz in the Stocks press, blogs and forums about the shock defeat of the five times in a row world champion, and the crowning of the new one. Plus a bit of sniping about me and Tyler. Someone on a forum suggested that having an affair with another driver was affecting his concentration and will to win. Which incurred a lot of joking threads about it not being a scenario that could have occurred before unless there were a lot of in-the-closet drivers about. Only Steve’s blog made any comment about the tactics apparent in my own driving by referring to the ‘Satterthwaite garage apparently having sorted out their internal problems to drive a highly co-operative race’. He was keeping a close eye on me, I could tell.

  In the middle of the week I was invited up to watch the ceremonial spraying of the roof and wing to a shiny gold colour. We all cheered. They were going to send it to a professional to be done properly as soon as they had the time.

  “You’ve the right to change your number to the number one for the year,” Jo reminded him.

  “Phew, and risk the ‘number one curse’?” Pete didn’t look too rapt by the idea.

  The rumour was that there was hardly a driver that held the Gold roof for a second year once they’d risked the hubris of changing their number to ‘one’. Even Tyler hadn’t ever done it, and he had more right to than anyone else in the present sport.