Racer's Heart©

Chapter 11: Sentiment Car

"What the hell," Henry swore as he climbed out of the truck and gazed at the red corvette. "How did that get here?"

Maia walked up to the car and peered inside. "Maybe the police found it?"

"This quick? With our tiny department?" Henry shook his head. "There is no way they combed the town so quickly."

Maia stared at the car, "Maybe the thief decided to return it?" though she couldn't fathom why.

"I don't know," Henry was uncertain. "Maybe your grandfather knows," he pulled his phone out and dialing it, held the device up to his ear. "Hey Dad...yes it's me..." he walked up to the stairs of the porch and inside the house.

Maia looked at her corvette, baffled. "How did you get back here?" she murmured aloud. Sure wish you could tell me. She sighed. At least her car was back. Now she could practice and race in the town meet.

But it did not make sense-the car being stolen and then showing back up. Even if the thief had returned it, wouldn't they have returned it to the junkyard and not Maia's house?

Reaching into the pocket of her flannel shirt, Maia jingled the car keys. Maybe a prankster had just moved the car around for fun-perhaps one of the troublesome teens from her school.

Suddenly it hit her. Reaching deeper into her pocket she pulled out the keys and stared at them. If I have the car keys.... Her eyes widened and she ran up the stairs and inside. "Dad!"

Henry was setting his phone down on the counter. Seeing her enter the kitchen, he spoke up, "Chris said he didn't bring it here; I checked, and the police also didn't return it."

Maia frowned. "So how did it get here then?"

Shrugging, Henry threw up his hands. "I have no idea. Probably just some teenage pranksters."

"Maybe," Maia felt a little uncertain about this. "But Dad-I've had my keys on me this entire time."

"What?" Spinning around, Henry faced Maia. He seemed surprised at first but then he recovered. "That would make sense-some teen probably saw your mother's car sitting in the junkyard and wanted to take it for a ride, so they hotwired the car and drove into iff, then returned it to avoid getting in trouble.

But how would they know to return it here? Maia frowned. Things did not seem to line up. There was something strange about the car. "Dad, I-"

Her father turned to face her, and she saw the look of exhaustion on his face. He seemed very worn and all of a sudden it made her worried. "I...I'm going to roll my car into the garage to check on it and make sure nothing is broken, okay?"

"Sure," Henry ran his hand down his face. "I need to go lay down." He made his way to the back room.

Maia stared after him for a moment. I hope he's okay. Biting her lip, she turned and made her way back outside. She had a feeling going into town combined with talking of her mother and finding out her car was her mother's had stressed her father.

Stepping down the porch stairs, Maia walked over to the car. She climbed inside and shut the door. Glancing around she spotted no damage thankfully to the interior of the car.

She started the car with no problem and pulled it into the garage. Shutting it off, she exhaled. With a sigh, she ran her hands over the steering wheel. "What really happened to you?" she murmured, the familiar tingly feeling shooting through her.

She smoothed her hand across the steering wheel and used her sleeve to wipe some dirt off the center. To her surprise there was a silver symbol engraved-almost like that of a warrior's face. "Huh," she frowned. "Interesting car design."

"I think Dad's wrong," she continued. It felt good speaking aloud, letting it out. "You would have some sort of wire damage if you were hotwired," she sighed. "I wish you could tell me what happened."

"I miss her, my mom," Maia sighed. "She died in a racecar crash when I was five," the girl leaned back in her seat. "I want to be like her-I don't want to go to college or get a normal job. I want to be a race car driver, is that crazy?"

The car shook for a moment in the wind and Maia went on, "Maybe if I win this race I can then go on to other races as My dad will see I did not get hurt."

She leaned forward, putting her head on the steering wheel, her voice breaking. "I don't know why but somehow being behind this wheel makes me feel closer to her-probably because she used to own you."

Pulling back, Maia wiped her tears away and shook her head. "Who am I kidding? I'm talking to a car for heaven's sake!"

Climbing out of the car, Maia pocketed the key. She stood in the doorway to the garage, gazing at the corvette-her corvette-her mother's corvette. A proud feeling overcame her.

She would win the race in memory of her mother-she would make her proud.

Switching off the light, Maia shut the door and walked back to the house. She needed rest if she was going to get in enough hard practice for the race.