Night Rider

Oh brother

Washing the shops floor after a huge oil leak, my brother Niko glanced at me and what's left of the mess. " Fucking fords."

I rolled my eyes, watching as he washed the oil from his hands. " You drive a ford."

" At least my fox body don't leak like that."

I snorked, using the mop to clean up some of the water. " Okay mr check engine."

He threw the empty jug of oil that he dumped into the f150 at me. I whined as if it hurt before hurling it back at him.

Once cleaned up, I put the mop and bucket away and joined Niko outside. He pulled his red grease stained hoodie over his head, popping the hood on making his blonde hair squish down. An unsettling feeling turned in the pit of my stomach as he lit a smoke and deeply inhaled it. Gross...

Shaking my head, I went over and opened the door to his fox body mustang and popped the hood open. He wants me to bring him to the races with me and test his luck. Pretty sure that meant test his luck on impressing Claire but I know theres some touch ups needed in here before we do anything.

Leaning into the engine bay, I grabbed the socket wrench from my pocket and tightened the loose bolt I seen the other day. I keep forgetting to fix it for him.

Why doesn't he fix it, you ask? Cuz for one thing, I like working on cars and for another, he gets other people to bet on me when he comes to the races so in exchange I do a bit of work for him.

" Hey Niko!" I call, twisting the cap off the coolant. " Grab me a bottle of coolant! How the hell isn't this thing over heating, you barely have any in here."

I shake my head and wait for him to bring me the mix of antifreeze and water.

Once back, I take it and pour it in until it is full. Alright. Oil. I pull out the dipstick and check the oil level. Good, it's fine.

Closing the hood, I dangled the keys in front of him. " Check the dash."

The straight piped fox body roared to life and I smirked as Niko laughed. " And here I was checking everything else. I didn't even consider the coolant."

Leaning on the door frame, I peered in at the dash. No check engine light. " You're a mechanic and couldn't even find the problem on your own damn car..."

" Mechanic in training!" He corrected. " Oil changes are easy, diagnosing that is not."

" Mm-hm."

* Niko's fox body *

Meeting Niko at the track, I spotted Malik's Camaro first, then Lori's s14 next to him on the track. He revved louder than her and as soon as the flag went down, he was gone. The s14 skidded trying to get up there. She was right on his ass but his ZL1 overall just has a better built engine. He spun the Camaro as he reached the finish line so he faced her as she finally crossed the line.

I giggled as his Camaro drove toward me and parked next to my hellcat. He wrapped his arms around me and grinned, just about to say something when the loud exhaust sounds of the fox body sent everyone looking up. Multiple people gasped, some spoke words of admiration. Me? I just stared at him.

Parking behind me, he got out and fixed his hair. " I'm here and ready to race. I wanna race you first. "

Next thing I knew there were people screaming out bets. Fifty dollars, one hundred dollars, two hundred dollars.

I just nodded and got into my car. Let's do this I guess... Malik collected everyone's bets as I waited for him to reverse and get out of my way. This should be interesting... Niko engine swapped the stock engine to a hemi.

About to roll my windows up once I lined my hellcat up next to his, I noticed Niko staring at me. I revved hard, returning the stare. " Can you even handle those horses under the hood?"

I revved again, harder this time and making my whole car shake with power. " Can i?"

I rolled my windows up and revved again. As soon as Jessica sent the flag down I took off, my tires squealing on the pavement at first but bolting me forward as soon as traction was gained. Flying around the track, I peeked in the mirror at Niko. He was behind me trying to push his car into my bumper.

Hmph! Jerking the steering wheel into the drift, I hit the gas hard again pushing it towards the next drift corner. Niko slid into a drift next to me, trying hard to get up ahead but I can't let him.

I flew across the finish line and quickly geared down. I smirked as everyone cheered and screamed my name. Pulling off into my spot, I got out and met Malik behind my car. He slapped a fat stack of twenties in my hand.

Pushing them in my pocket, I smiled. " How'd my tail lights look?" I called to Niko as he got out of his car. " Fire right?"

" You're insane."

I shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. Glancing up, I realized they had a chevy Cruze and Lori's s14 lined up. Everyone's attention went to them so I pulled two twenties out of my pocket and stuffed it into Niko's hand.

He glanced down and opened his fist, confusion crossing his eyes.

" Can't waste gas for nothing."

With that, I walked away and to Malik's Camaro. He smiled broadly at me. " Eric's back and I didn't tell you but he won a race against Jess."

I laughed, smiling wide. " Good for him! I mean Jess's riced out Miata isn't exactly fast but still a good competition."

He nodded and smiled at me again. His pretty green eyes watched mine closely. " Uh, so I was thinking. Ben verses the fox body?" I consider outloud.

Just as malik opened his mouth to speak,Eric jumped in. " Sage! I won a race earlier! I really want to try against the mustang."

I folded my arms and glanced at Niko. " Its engine swapped."

" So? Give me a chance. Please."

Pulling out a twenty I waved it. " Twenty bucks says Eric can beat Niko!" I called. Niko shot a look at me. I winked at him. I know this kinda gonna have a rough race with him but if he wants to have a go...

" I'm in. Twenty says the kid will lose!"

I nodded and Malik took both our twenties to hold. Watching the fox body line up with the z, I rushed over and grabbed the flag. Waving it up, they both revved their engines. I gave them a moment before swinging it down. Niko shot off first then Eric once his tires stopped skidding.

I got out of the way and watched as the Z pulled ahead of the Mustang just as he reached the drift corner. He stayed ahead but Niko passed him on the next drift. Come on buddy....

The Z pulled ahead of his as the straightened and flew passed the finish line barely by a foot distance of front ends. The crowd rooted for Eric, some sighed realizing Niko lost.

Immediately he parked and excitedly ran over to us. " Did you see that! I fucking won!"

I gave him a high five and smiled. Malik gave him the twenty the other guy bet and gave me my twenty back. He already knew that's what I'd do anyway.

Niko pulled in and got out. " Nice job man."

" Thanks." He grinned.

Kids got potential but I think Niko let him win to be honest. I saw the speed decrease on the drift.