Pole Position (9 page)

“Did you tell him
where you’re going?”

“Yes Asher, I told
him where I’m going, he told me to have fun but don’t pick up on any of the young drivers.” I told her with a go to hell smile. 

“What’s the big deal Chass? 
I’m afraid I’m lost here, you use to go but quit?” Mitch asked. 

“Yeah uhm…I uhh…My dad was a driver for years.  He…he died in a crash at our local track when I was five almost six.” I told him.  He whipped his head to the right to look at Asher, then looke
d in the rear view mirror at me;

“We don’t have to go, we can go back to the dorms.  I’m sorry Chass, I had no idea.” He said. 

“No, its okay, Asher and my uncle are right, I need to go.” Was all I said.

When we pulled up to the track, it was late enough that we didn’t have to pay to get
into the main grandstands.  The hobby stock A-feature was just finishing up, the driver was a young high school looking kid.  He stood at the passenger side of the door, smiled for the camera as a trophy girl posed beside him.  He gave his victory speech, waved to the crowd then drove back to the pit area. 

There was a brief intermission, about ten minutes later the announcer came over the sound system
, “LADIES AND GENTLMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS…IT IS NOW TIME…TONIGHT’S A-MODIFIED MAIN EVENT.  The point’s leader is the 1J of no other than Jammin’ Jettttttttt, he’s currently in the lead by twenty three points.  His cousin Jerod in the 2J isn’t going to give him the win easy.  In case you don’t already know these two young men, when we asked what the one and two stood for, we received one middle finger from Jet and two middle fingers from Jerod.  Kids we know the meaning of the J behind the numbers, they stand for Jet and Jerod that’s all we can tell you.” The announcer said with a laugh.  In the distance I heard the engines roar to life.  “Jerod and Jet will start side by side tonight on the last row, that’s the joy of being point’s leaders, boys and girls!” the announcer continued.  Asher pulled me closer toward the barricade not far from the fence just a few feet from the flag stand.  The yellow and green light flashed on the pole signaling the drivers it was time to come on to the track.  “Tonight’s A-Modified twenty lap main event entrance song was picked by Jet…” the announcer said. 
Disturbed
‘Down with the Sickness
’ started playing as the drivers formed three wide for the parade lap.  They announced each driver as they were going through the corners and slowly making their way down the back stretch.  Jet’s car had a black chassis, and a flat black body on it.  His number was in reflective vinyl on the back quarter panel.  The rest of the car had numerous sponsors placed on it.  As they made their way through turns three and four they slowed down and waved as they passed the front grand stand area.  When the announcer said Jet’s name the crowd went crazy.  There were girls screaming at the top of their lungs “Go Jet, I love you!”  The announcer laughed, “OK LADIES, KEEP IT CLEAN, there are small children in the crowd!  We know Jet is handsome, save it for later!”  I knew Jet couldn’t see us standing there, he didn’t even look the direction of the crowd he just waved his right hand slowly while looking at the cars in front of him. 
Disturbed
blared in the background as fireworks shot off in almost perfect time with certain parts of the song.  The music faded as the cars made their way down the backstretch, “All right boys and girls on your feet!!” the announcer yelled into the microphone.  The green light flashed twice quickly, then stayed on steady. 

The cars came out of turn four, down the front stretch and through one and two. 
The vibrations shook the ground, dirt lifted off the track and drifted to the large stadium lights.  My body was instantly covered in goose bumps, I inhaled a deep breath and let the smell of the racing fuel invade my senses.  Jet passed three cars on the outside going down the back stretch, his cousin got held up when they went into turn three.  Every few laps Jet would pass three more cars with his cousin right behind him.  Asher was jumping up and down screaming as he passed each car.  I laughed and shook my head at her. “What? He’s fucking awesome and you know it!” she yelled as the cars started down the front stretch.  With thirteen laps left, a car got turned sideways and rolled twice bringing out the red flag and stopping the other cars on the front stretch.  The safety crew was there within seconds, the driver got out of the car and waved to the crowd letting them know he was okay.  I closed my eyes and said a silent thank you prayer, as he climbed into the ambulance to be checked out.  The cars that had been parked on the front stretch revved their engines back to life, Jet was currently in ninth place and his cousin Jerod in tenth.   With a single file restart they made their way around the track, Jerod would tap Jets back bumper with his front bumper then back off. 

When the green flagged dropped, all the racers were careful to not hit the ora
nge cone setting in turn four. Jet moved up to the high side of the track going through turn one, his right rear tire hung off the top of the track as he blew through turn two then down back stretch.  Within a few laps he was right on the tail of the guy leading.  Jet continued to drive on the high side as the other drivers hugged along the bottom or towards the middle of the track.  With five laps to go, Jet passed for the lead with his cousin right behind him.  I couldn’t help but clap and cheer as they flew past us. Through turn one and two Jet stayed on the high side while his cousin stayed in the middle of the track.  The last three laps Jet would drive hard into the corner on the high side, but when his cousin would come out of the corner they would be side by side.   Asher screamed, “COME ON JET!!” as the crowd roared behind her.  The flagman pulled the checkered flag out as they went into turn three, off of turn four once again it was neck and neck.  Their engines roared as they flew down the straight away, past the flag stand. 

Asher covered her eyes “OMG, who won that?!” she yelled as the rest of the cars flew past us. 

I looked at the score tower “Jet won!!” I screamed. 

Mitch threw his head back and laughed as Asher and I jumped up and down together.  After the racers cleared the track, Jet pulled up in front of the grandstands.  He unfastened his belts pulled his helmet off and set it on the decking beside him, pulled his ear buds out for his race receiver then took his steering wheel off.  The track announcer lowered his window net and shook Jet’s hand.  Jet pulled himself on to the edge of the window, beat his fists on the roof of his car before climbing rest of the way out of his car.  The announcer walked around the car listing off all the sponsors, Jet walked around the bac
k of the car feeling the heat off his tires.  He stood at the stadium side of his race car.  Girls cheered and screamed, “Way to go Jammin’ Jet WE LOVE YOU!” He laughed and waved at the crowd, then ran his hand through his sweaty hair. 

The announcer walked over to Jet and clapped him on the shoulder
, “Wow Jet, You sure know how to get the women’s attention!  So tell us, were you sweatin’ it when you looked down and seen Jerod right against your driver’s door?”

Jet laughed, “Yeah, I had a good line going, but the hotter my left rear got I was losing ground but he still couldn’t beat me to the checkered flag.” H
e said, his deep voice sent chills over my body.

Asher wolf whistled
, “HELL YEAH JET!!”

He looked up to see who was screaming, he seen
Mitch, Asher then he seen me.  The smile fell off his face when he noticed me, just as the trophy girl started walking towards him he whispered something in the announcer’s ear. 

“Ladies and
Gentlemen, is there a girl by the name of Chass here?” he asked looking around the grand stands.  Asher said, “Oh my god” then covered her mouth and pushed me towards the gate below the flag stand.   I tried to turn around and walk away but she wouldn’t let me.  I made my way down the few steps, then to the middle of the track.  The trophy girl looked me up and down then handed me the trophy and walked off. 

I walked over to Jet and the announcer, the announcer turned to the crowd
, “Per Jet’s request this beautiful lady will be presenting him the five thousand dollar check and his trophy.” He handed me a big cardboard check then had me stand as close to Jet as possible.  “Smile for the camera you two.” He said.  The crowd started laughing, “Okay now as usual Jet gets a tiny little peck on the cheek from this beautiful lady.” He said then turned to me. 

I was shaking my head no, Jet leaned down
, “It’s just a peck on the cheek, it’s not going to kill you.” He whispered to me.  I stood on my tippy toes, just as I was about to kiss his cheek he turned his head so our lips met.  He wrapped his free hand around my waist and pulled me closer so our bodies were smashed against each other at the waist. The crowd screamed and cheered “GET IT JET!” I heard one guy yell.

“OKAY okay keep it G-Rated Jet!”
the announcer said then pulled Jet away by his fire suit.   “Thank you all for coming out this evening, once again tonight’s A-modified main event A-feature winner JAMMMMINNNNN JETTTTT!!” He yelled causing the crowd to stand up and scream for Jet.  

When I turned to walk away Jet grabbed my arm
, “Come to the pits?” he asked. 

“It’s up to Mitch and Asher I rode with them.” I told him.  He looked up towards the grandstands “Mitch bring them to the pits!” he yelled.  I turned to see Mitch smile and nod. 

When I got back up to where Asher and Mitch were standing, Asher smiled big, “Wow, did he slip you the tongue too?” she asked while laughing. 

“Uhh NO.” I said then started walking
towards the pickup. 

Mitch ran
up grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder, “Hell no, he said bring you to the pits!”

I pounded my fists against his back and kicked my legs
, “Put me down I can walk!” I yelled. 

“Nope, you’ll try to run to the pickup.” He said as he carried me like I weighed nothing.  I turned my head to look at Asher, she was laughing as she walked beside us. 

“Seriously? Please put me down this is embarrassing I’m not a child!” I whined.  A few minutes later Mitch put me down, I started to yell at him when I felt two strong hands grab my hips. 

“Couldn’t just come see me huh?  Had to be forced out here?” Jet said. 
His hot breath next to my ear caused me to shiver and my heart rate to speed up.  I rolled my eyes, then turned to face him, he gave me a crooked grin;

“Why do I have to be out here?  I see you have plenty of women and fans waiting to talk to you.” I said and planted my hands on my hips. 

Jet narrowed his eyes at me then leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Knock off the fucking attitude or I’ll make you ride to town with us.”

I shook my head
, “I’m pretty sure you won’t!” I told him. 

He raised an eyebrow at me, just as he got ready to say
something there a guy started yelling with slurred words;

“Where the fuck is that non driving piece of shit son of mine?” 

I looked at Jet then turned to see who was yelling.  There was a guy that looked to be in his mid-forties, grey hair, and resembled Jet. 

“Oh fucking great.” Jet mumbled, then turned to the guy.  They stood chest to chest, the guy slurred his words
;

“I didn’t raise you to
race like a kamikaze piece of fucking shit, you could have lost that fucking race running on the high side like an idiot!”

Jet shook his head
, “Well, I didn’t lose did I?” he said in a flat tone but clearly pissed. 

“Don’t fucking talking to me like that, you got lucky you piece of shit.  What are you going to do when your luck runs out? HUH?” he yelled at Jet.  Then turned and looked me up and down, creased his eyebrows together
, “Who the fuck are you?” he asked me. 

I raised my eyebrows, when I went to answer him Jet stepped in front of
me, turned his back to the guy then looked down at me, “Just go, please come over to the house, I’ll text you when I get back to town.” He said.  I nodded my head yes then turned and walked away with Asher and Mitch. 

Once we got to the pickup Asher said
, “My god was that his dad?” she asked Mitch. 

“Yep, I’ve seen him haul off and punch Jet because he didn’t like the way he raced a race win or lose.” He said. 

I shook my head, “He’ll punch his own son?”. 

“Mmhmm, he turned in
to a full blown alcoholic year’s back, Jet hates when he shows up at the track.” Mitch told us. 

“I can see why.” Asher said with a distant look to her eyes. 

When we got back to the dorms, we had just walked in when Jet text me letting me know they were about back to town
.  *Almost to the house, you coming over?*
~
*Probably not, great race tonight though!*
~
*Please Chass, it won’t kill you to come hang out, we’re having a party!*
~
*Let me see what Mitch & Asher have planned*
.  I walked out to the living room and asked them if they were going to go over to the party.  Mitch couldn’t drink because the coach had put a no drinking ban on the players, but he still wanted to go hang out and so did Asher.  I sent Jet a text to let him know that we would be over later.