Nights in the Fast Lane: A Contemporary Romantic Comedy

by Grace Risata

  Dane stared at me expectantly, waiting for my reply. I didn’t know what to say. I have to admit that his explanation did make sense. Had he told me about the race, I probably would have tried to talk him out of it. I would have been worried that he would get arrested or get hurt in a crash. I also understood that he didn’t like taking money from me and he didn’t want me paying for things. I was the same way. There was no way I would take a penny of Grandma Isadore’s money. I guess we both had pride.

  “How do I know you’re not gonna take off again one day? Maybe things will be fine and then I’ll get another letter in a few weeks? Maybe every single time you leave a note telling me that you’re going out for a loaf of bread, my heart is going to fly into my throat and I’m going to think it’s a ‘dear john’ letter!”

  “I promise that I will trust you enough to be honest with you from now on. There are no guarantees in life, Izzy. You know that as well as I do. How do I know that you’re not going to meet some new guy next week and want to trade Brick Wall for something better? Concrete Barrier or Stone Fence?”

  I couldn’t help but smile at that. I heard Winter laugh and say, “Give the fucker another chance! But just one!”

  “I didn’t want to have to do this, Izzy, but I will,” Dane said, looking very serious. “You leave me no choice.”

  I had no idea what Dane was talking about. He got out his wallet and reached inside. Was he going to give me money? What was that going to solve?

  Dane removed an orange card and stared at it for a minute. Oh. My. God. It was the Monopoly “get out of jail free” card! I was speechless. I figured he thought it was dumb and threw it away.

  “I don’t want to have to use this because I’ll probably need it again one day. But if that’s what it takes to get you back, I’ll have to give it up.”

  Dane reached out to hand me the card, but I didn’t take it.

  “You kept it?” I whispered in shock.

  “Of course I did. I’m a guy. We do dumb shit all the time. I knew it was priceless the moment you explained it to me.”

  “You don’t have to use it now. You can save it to use another day,” I said.

  “I hope I don’t ever have to use it for real.”

  “What the fuck are you two talking about?” Spider asked from over in the corner.

  “None of your business,” Dane and I said at the exact same time.

  Dane took my hand and continued, “If the card didn’t work, I had one more trick up my sleeve. I have one more way to convince you to give me another chance, just in case you don’t believe I was going to come back to you.”

  Dane led me to the back of the garage and motioned for the others to follow us. I had no idea where he was taking me or what I would find. We went up a staircase that led to the second floor of the repair shop. Dane pulled out a key and opened the door.

  On the other side of the door was a medium-sized living space. We all crammed inside and I took a look around. It was nothing special. It appeared to be an average apartment with a stove, refrigerator, and two closed doors that must have led to a bathroom and a bedroom. It was full of boxes and garbage bags, as though someone had just moved in and hadn’t unpacked their belongings yet. The boxes were labeled “donate” and “OV.”

  “Do you understand now?” Dane asked me. Um…no?

  “Yes. But just in case Winter doesn’t, maybe you should explain it in your own words to clear things up for her,” I replied.

  “Way to throw me under the bus, ASSHOLE!” she said. Unfortunately she was standing directly to my left and elbowed me in the ribs.

  “This is my apartment. Or it was. Today is my last day of work because I quit. All my stuff is packed in boxes. The ‘donate’ boxes go to charity. The ‘OV’ on the other boxes stands for Oak Valley. As in, Oak Valley where Izzy lives. As in, I’m coming back as soon as this race is over tomorrow. If you’ll have me?”

  “YES!” I screamed as I jumped into his arms. Any intention I had of being a hard-ass and making him suffer went right out the window. I got what I came here for: Dane.

  “Wait a minute!” Monica interrupted my happy celebration. “How do we know that’s the truth? How do we know that “OV” doesn’t stand for “Other Vagina” and you really have another girl on the side that you’re cheating with and you’re not going to move in with HER instead of Izzy?”

  Five heads turned to Monica, unable to process what just came out of her mouth.

  Dane silently walked over to a kitchen cabinet and opened the door. What was on the shelf? Four bags of Doritos.

  “There’s only one girl that I want. My little Dorito.”

  I felt my face turn eight different shades of red and I buried my head in my hands.

  “That is SO sweet!” Winter gushed.

  “I STILL have no fucking idea what anyone is talking about,” Spider complained.

  “I have two more bags in the car,” I admitted. “I brought them as a parting gift if things went south today and you were an asshole, Dane.”

  “That wasn’t necessary. I already have a parting gift.” Dane took me off to the side so no one else could see what he was doing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, shiny red piece of fabric. “I took these when I left. But only because you said I could.”

  “Are those what I think they are?” I screeched. He stole my red underwear!

  “Yeah, but they don’t smell like you so they’re really no good to me. You can have them back if you want!”

  “You ass!”

  “If we’re done catching up here, can we please go now? I have a show to get ready for and I’m not getting any younger,” Spider declared.

  “What about you?” I asked him.

  “What about me?”

  “You’re letting Dane move back to Oak Valley?”

  “He didn’t know, Izzy. I didn’t get a chance to tell him. Can you give us a second please?” Dane asked me.

  I nodded my head and walked back to the car with Monica, Winter, and Ant.

  “Wow,” Ant said. “I did not see ANY of that coming. I knew he had a crappy week without you, Izzy, but I didn’t expect him to quit his job and move away. That’s some serious shit right there. Speaking of Oak Valley, how’s Stacey doing? Has she mentioned me at all?”

  Winter gently tried to break it to Ant that perhaps there was a small chance he was a little bit more into Stacey than she was into him. While that painful conversation was taking place, Monica had a one-on-one with me.

  “What do you think of all this, Izzy? Are you okay forgiving him and letting him move in with you for real? Do you think things are moving too fast? Do you think he’s being honest?”

  “Nancy Negative would probably think that I AM moving too fast and that he might leave again and that I’m being stupid. But my heart tells me that I’m not. I think he’s worth the risk. I don’t think he’s lying about anything. Everything he said makes sense. There are no loopholes in his story. What’s your opinion?”

  “I see him and I see the way he looks at you. His eyes lit up completely when he got out from under the car and saw you today. I know how well you two got along when he lived with you. If you can put up with his bad habits and he can put up with your craziness, I think you should go for it! If I’ve learned anything from this whole Trent experience, it’s that time is precious and you shouldn’t waste it on things that aren’t working for you. Dane works for you. Hold on tight and take what you want out of life. We only get one go-round, better make it a good one.”

  “Do you realize that sounds exactly like what my mom used to tell me to explain why she bailed on her family and chose my dad instead? She always said that life is too short to waste being unhappy. You have to live for yourself and not let others make your choices for you.”

  “She was absolutely right,” Monica agreed.

  Maybe this was my mom’s way of sending me a sign. She was speaking through Monica to
reassure me that I was doing the right thing and making a good choice. I hugged my friend and thanked her for the advice.

  Dane came down the stairs smiling, with Spider right behind him.

  “Would you Oak Valley girls like to come to my show tonight?” Spider asked. “After all the drama that these two put us through, maybe a night out would help loosen us up?”

  “We’re listening,” Winter replied. “Where and when?”

  “My band is playing at a bar downtown. Tonight at ten o’clock. Can you stay up that late, or is it past your bedtime?”

  “I think we can swing by. I mean, unless something better comes along,” Winter stated casually.

  “I’ll try to keep you entertained,” Spider replied. “Where are you guys staying? Did you get a hotel?”

  “They can stay with me,” Dane offered.

  “You don’t have any furniture. How’s that gonna work?” Spider asked.

  “Where IS all your furniture, Dane?” I asked. All he had in his apartment were boxes and garbage bags. I saw no chairs, table, or anything. He didn’t even have a TV.

  “About that…” Dane hesitated. “In the interest of full disclosure and total complete honesty between us, there’s one more thing I have to tell you. You know that I ran away from Chicago because the Italians were sort of…after me?”

  “Yes…” I replied, alarm bells going off left and right in my head.

  “They took care of the rival gang, but I still wasn’t on their good side after I ran off. I knew this, so that was my first stop after I got back to town. I didn’t want to have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life, so I knocked on their door to take my punishment.”

  “What happened?” I asked, hoping this wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

  “The Italians know my reputation on the street racing circuit and they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. This race tomorrow attracts some major drivers from all over the Midwest and beyond. The Italians run a profitable underground gambling operation. They have me favored to finish in the top three. If I win, we’re all squared away and they’ll forget how I took off. If I don’t finish second or better, then I owe them ten grand as a penalty.”

  “WHAT?” I yelled in shock. “You don’t have ten thousand dollars! You didn’t even have five thousand to fix your car. That’s why you took the job with the mafia in the first place!”

  “I know, but I had no other choice. It’s just money. I’ll figure something out. I managed to get enough cash to fix my car, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah,” Spider explained, “That’s because he sold ninety percent of what he owned. That’s why all his furniture is gone!”

  “I got three hundred for my stereo, two hundred for my TV, and a hundred bucks for my leather couch. I had a couple hundred bucks in cash saved up.”

  “He sold his motorcycle to make up the rest of the money,” Spider confessed.

  “You had a motorcycle?” I asked in shock. Who WAS this guy?

  “It was nothing special. I can replace it. Stuff is stuff. You can always buy more. Don’t worry about it,” Dane said with a shrug.

  “So where are we staying tonight?” Monica asked. “I’m going to need food pretty soon too. What’s the plan?”

  “I guess you can stay at my place if you want,” Spider offered.

  “I’ll pass,” Winter immediately replied. “I’d like somewhere clean and free of the STDs that your last fourteen lady friends got all over your bedsheets.”

  “Who said I was letting you anywhere near my bed, princess?” Spider countered.

  “Who said I wanted to go anywhere near your bed? Because I believe I just said that I didn’t!”

  “I’m hungry and you two are wasting time! Figure something out and let’s get food!” I yelled, interrupting their lame attempts to one-up each other.

  “I have to shower,” Dane said while pointing to his grease stained shirt and pants.

  “I have to change,” Winter said while pointing to her perfectly decent outfit.

  “Fine. Izzy, Monica, and I will get food while you two get prettied up,” Spider offered. He then turned to Winter and said, “Please feel free to take your time, honey. You look like you need it.”

  Winter narrowed her eyes and stalked back to the SUV to get out her two suitcases.

  “So does this mean we’re staying at Dane’s after all? Or sleeping in Monica’s SUV?” I asked. I was also hesitant about going anywhere with Spider, but I guess it was safe if Monica came with us. Two murders were harder to hide than one.

  “I still have my bed. It’s a queen. You three ladies can sleep in the bed and I’ll take the floor. I probably have a sleeping bag around somewhere. It doesn’t bother me any,” Dane suggested. He followed Winter and grabbed two of the four remaining suitcases from the trunk. Ant was kind enough to take the last two and help carry them to Dane’s apartment.

  “I guess I’m driving for our food run. Where are we going?” Monica asked.

  “I’ll surprise you,” Spider said with a look of mischief. Great.

  He gave Monica directions, but wouldn’t tell her our eventual destination. Since I had him away from Dane, I took this as my chance to get some information.

  “Why are you being so casual about Dane moving? I thought you can’t live without him? What’s with the attitude change all of a sudden?” Let’s see what Spider said to that.

  Spider turned around and gave me his full attention.

  “No matter what you might think of me, Izzy, I do have Dane’s best interests at heart. I’ve never seen him this mad at me before. He wouldn’t speak to me all week. He blamed me for talking him into coming back here. Leaving you the letter was my idea. I knew if he tried to say goodbye to you in person, he would never be able to do it. I told him to just go without telling you, that there was no other way. He listened to me and hated himself for it. I had to hear a hundred Izzy stories all the way back to Chicago. I listened to him tell me how great you were. He’s never talked about a girl the way he talks about you. He was as depressed as I’ve ever seen him this week. I knew after two days that I fucked up and I had to make it right. I tried to call Winter to get her to make you call Dane. That didn’t work. I think that girl might hate me more than you do.”

  “I don’t think she hates you. I’d guess it’s actually the opposite. I don’t hate you either. It’s probably just a very strong dislike.”

  “I understand. I had no right to treat you that way. It’s just that Dane is like a brother to me and I don’t want to see him get hurt. I know I told you that I need Dane more than you do. That’s bullshit. It doesn’t matter. What’s important is what Dane needs. He needs you. I realized that after the past week. You’re good for him. He’s twenty-five. I have to cut the apron strings at some point and let him go off on his own.”

  I patted Spider on the shoulder.

  “I promise I’ll take good care of him. You’re welcome to come and check on him whenever you want. It’s only four hours away. You can stay for the weekend. Kitty would be more than happy to share the couch with you.”

  “Can I trade you Dane for Kitty?” he asked.

  “Absolutely NOT. That dog is my baby.”

  Spider laughed and told Monica to pull into the next driveway on her left. When I saw where we were, I freaked out. I hadn’t been to a White Castle in years.

  “Please tell me that this is really where we’re eating,” I said with excitement.

  “You like it here?” Spider asked.

  “Yes! I used to go to Chicago with my parents sometimes when I was growing up. My dad LOVED it here, but my mom hated it. The burgers are fantastic. If you’re just driving through this place on the way to somewhere else, I don’t care. I NEED a few burgers.”

  “A few? How many are you going to eat?” Monica seemed surprised that I wanted more than one. There were no White Castle restaurants in Iowa. She had no idea what she was in f
or.

  “Monica, this food is going to blow your mind. It is absolutely the opposite of any healthy food that Trent shoved down your throat. Do you want the slimiest, weirdest little square burger that goes beyond anything you’ve ever eaten before?” I questioned.

  “Um…yeah?” she replied.

  We went through the drive thru and Spider ordered fifty burgers, fries, and drinks. Monica almost had a heart attack when he placed that order. I was positively giddy in the backseat.

  “This is going to bring back SO many happy childhood memories,” I said with glee.

  We sped back to the garage in record time so the food wouldn’t get cold. Our hands were completely full of drinks and bags packed with delicious burgers and weird sides. We entered Dane’s apartment and were met with complete disorder. Winter had fourteen outfits spread out over every surface and she was holding them up for Ant to give his opinion. There was literally nowhere to sit and eat.

  “That smells amazing,” Winter squealed. “Where did you guys go?”

  “White Castle! You’re going to love it. Or hate it. There really is no middle ground with the sliders,” I informed her.

  “Are you serious?” Ant asked Spider. “You took them to White Castle? Way to be classy, dude.”

  Dane poked his head out of the bathroom and said, “What? No way! You got fucking greasy sliders for my girl? Spider, you’re an asshole!”