Dancing with the Devil

Chapter Four

Mackenzie couldn’t conceal her excitement. She curled one ankle around the other, twirled them apart, and did it again. “Okay, so, he took my measurements—”

“Lucky guy.” Charlie didn’t even bother to feign courtesy, and made a big show as he checked out Mac’s face, sketched down her chest and then her long legs as she crisscrossed them beneath her.

Frankie glared and shook her head. No one understood how Mackenzie was able to ignore Charlie whenever he pulled this crap, but actually, she wasn’t. For her, it didn’t even exist. If he went there, Mac just erased him just like she erased anything unpleasant. Why focus on the negative? You couldn’t get anywhere doing that, anyway.

Frankie hissed, “Watch the drool, Chaz.Go on, Skater, tell it.”

Mac continued, “He took my shoe size, shoulder width, checked my hams and hip flexibility—”

“Like I said, lucky guy.”

“—and asked about any injuries and stuff like that. There were form questions about how I ride, if I take hills standing, and riding goals and stuff, but Otis and I have skimmed enough blacktop for him to know my style.”

Dante asked, “How long till you get it?”

“Well, I still have to pay for it, but even with my pro discount I’m short. O’s helping me out, so I’ll owe him hours.” She sighed, but it was a satisfied sound. “A lot of hours.” 

“Not that many,” Otis said as he hurried in and waved his hellos. “Your time at the workshop counts—and once you’re certified, it’ll be worth it to have you as my race mechanic.”

“Yes!” Mac fisted the air and smiled. “Hey, O, I thought MaToya was coming?”

“She hit a snag on a big term paper. She’ll be here next meeting.” He settled himself in the back row and started to shuffle through a stack of papers on the desk in front him. 

 “But Ma’s definitely coming on the trip with us?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Aw, c’mon, O,” Charlie said. “We don’t need no stinkin’ babysitter.”

Without looking up from the papers, Otis said, “If I’m your van support, you need MaToya on the road with you for safety reasons. Not to mention school sanctioning and all that stuff. Besides, she’s been on every trip since we started this club. She knows the ride.”

Mac added, “Plus, Ma’s the best mechanic I’ve seen, and she’ll be able to give me some good pointers before I hit the workshop.”

“I can fix my own bike, thank you very much,” Charlie said.

“As long as you keep your hands off mine.”

“Your what?” Charlie leered. “Oh, you mean you won’t share your RoadCap?” He stuck out his lower lip and pretended to cry.

“Darling, if I worked as many extra hours to pay for a custom-built bike, I wouldn’t let you even look at it,” Dante said.

Mackenzie rummaged through her backpack and grabbed a notebook. Opening it, she glanced at her notes and said, “Okay, we have, like, three—”

“Wait, wait,” Charlie said. “You’ve worked extra hours?” Turning to the back of the room, he said to Otis, “I thought you said you couldn’t hire anyone else?”

“Charlie, I told you. Mac’s going for her mechanic’s license, making her eligible to be on my race team, and in exchange she gets her RoadCap,” Otis explained. “Besides, there’ve been plenty of times she’s gone above and beyond at the shop.”