My thoughts were confirmed when she said, “Well, he doesn’t look like a guy who loses easily. I mean he looks like a racer, whereas you…” she trailed off.
“How about a deal Bar-Nicole? Or more like a challenge?”
“What challenge?”
“If I win, you have to go on a ride, with me, on my bike.” She looked a little scared before she mustered up her confidence.
“And if you lose?” This girl was so convinced that I wasn’t going to win.
“I’ll give you Antonio’s number.” She looked interested before she realised Cole was next to her.
“I have a boyfriend,” she said, hooking an arm in Cole’s but she sounded like she was just saying it because Cole was there.
“Take it or leave it?”
She thought for a bit. “Done.” I smirked at her and made my way to my bike as the race was about to start.
After putting my helmet on and gearing up my bike, I looked next to me to see Antonio giving me a smug nod. I kept my face blank as I faced forward staring intently at the lights. The countdown began…
5, 4, 3, 2, 1… and we were off.
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There were cameras fitted on houses that the race organiser, Julio, usually installs whenever there’s a race so that the crowd back at the start line can see what’s going on. It was a like any other street race; whoever came back first to the finish line won… $5,000. This was money that the other racers put in to make it up to the $5,000.
I saw some guy speeding ahead of us using the highest gear. “Amateur,” I said to myself. I saw another guy speeding up to catch up with the first guy. They looked at each other before one of them slightly bumped the other’s bike. The first guy lost control, his bike toppling over with him on it.
I concentrated on my race again and I looked to my right slightly to see Antonio looking intense. Huh, I guess he did train. But this was my hobby, my guilty pleasure; I didn’t need training for this.
There were now five of us left, four of us going at the same speed and the fifth slightly ahead of us. He looked back at us and that was his mistake. He didn’t see the car coming at him and he swerved before crashing into the side wall. Idiot.
The only noise on the streets besides the line of cars, were our bikes and they drowned every other noise. The cars honked at us as we zoomed past them. I weaved my way in and out of the traffic behind Antonio. I didn’t care about the rest; I cared about coming before Antonio, no matter what the position. He made a swift turn, straying from the main race course. I followed. The cameras on the streets wouldn’t pick us up but the tracker on our bike and a mini cam at the front of our bike allowed the people to see the route we were taking.
He sped down an alleyway in a silent street before joining back with the main traffic. We were both behind the other two guys and the third guy probably crashed somewhere too. A fire erupted out of their exhaust and I realised that two guys had nitrous fixed onto their bikes. The burst of speed made one guy stumble which meant Antonio and I passed him on either sides. There were about three more corners left.
I saw Antonio catch up with Nitrous Dude number 2 and elbowed him once. I shook my head. That was Antonio for you. His bike skidded forward at an angle before crashing into a nearby tree and the guy was also skidding on the ground towards the direction of… a lamp pole. I cringed as he made contact with it, his legs on either side with the pole in between in his legs. Ouch.
Antonio was a second ahead of me and we were coming at the last corner. I switched lanes, effectively driving in the wrong lane. Cars honked repeatedly as I dodged them skilfully. I came up to a bridge and went over it. I couldn’t see Antonio underneath me but I could hear his bike. As we reached the final section of the ‘track’, I heard Antonio speed up. I came down from the bridge and joined the right lane, right next to Antonio. He looked at me before slightly bumping his bike with mine. Asshole. I gained control of my bike again but at the cost of him being ahead probably by half a second. He went full speed down the straight lane and I could distinctly see lights flashing ahead.
The crowd got louder as we passed them. The finish line about 10 seconds away. I glanced at Antonio and then at the finish line. Then I thought about Barbie on a bike and I laughed. Huh, weird thing to think about whilst almost losing but that was enough for me. I still had that little bit of speed left so I revved my throttle fully and gunned it. The crowd went silent.
I skidded to a stop making smoke come out my tires. I turned to see Antonio and got off my bike. I removed my helmet and shook my hair out. The crowd erupted in cheers. Antonio stormed up to me.
“I was winning!” He looked crazy flailing his arms around.
“Was being the key term.”
“But how? I was going to win that race by a mile!”
I patted his cheeks. “You know me Toni, I like to make the race interesting and as for how? The answer to that is, no training.” I winked at him before making my way over to Julio.
“Chica!” Julio exclaimed giving me air kisses on both my cheeks which I returned. “If I know you, then I would say that the end there was planned.” I laughed.
“You know me too well, Julio.”
“Alright, here’s the money.” He handed me a bunch of bills and I went over to a beaming Ali before handing the money over to her. The others looked shocked.
I looked at Barbie and smirked. “About that ride?”
Chapter 19
Start from the beginning
