The Street Fighter

Chapter 32

Tuesday rolled around pretty quickly and the next thing I knew, I was sitting beside Zach as he drove us to Nate's garage.

No words were spoken yet it still didn't seem to be uncomfortable.

He was watching the road ahead of him, occasionally peering down at his speedometer through his sunglasses. His hand held onto the gear stick loosely, his other arm resting its elbow by the window.

He seemed to be so laidback today.

And that lazy smile that he greeted me with this morning was apparently permanently stuck there. He hadn't stopped smiling once.

What had him in such a good mood?

Maybe you.

Yeah, but maybe not.

Probably not.

Once arriving there we saw Nate standing outside the garage, the other men bustling around him as he waved at us.

We stepped out, closing the doors behind us before we were standing in front of him. He greeted us with a smile but it soon turned solemn as he looked at me.

Fuck me, what now?

"I'm really sorry Skylar, there seems to be a bigger problem than what's at hand."

I furrowed by brows, confusion painting its way onto my face.

Bigger problem? What bigger problem?

"Like what?" I questioned.

"Come, follow me." He motioned us to follow and we scurried after him, the darkened cloth that was once white, swaying in his pocket as he walked.

He stopped and we circled around the motorbike, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Originally, it had just looked to be an engine problem but when we went to inspect it, we found something else. You see here, this chain snapped. Supposedly, this was done whilst you were riding."

I nodded.

"Well you see, from the looks of it that doesn't seem to be the case. When the chain breaks it can rip the engine case –I mean rarely does it ever, but it does happen."

I gave another nod.

The engine case ripped as well?

"Usually the chain drops. But when this rip occurs, you'd be able to feel it, for sure. The motorbike would most likely stop there and then or your legs would have stopped it and you'd be all cut."

Zach spoke up, the smile no longer there. "And so what you're trying to say is?"

Nate cleared his throat, clearly getting the message to hurry up.

"I think your bike's been meddled with. The slash on the engine case is too clean and fine, looks like someone broke the chains to try and make it seem like that was the cause of it. Got any rivals out there?"

I stilled at his words.

Rivals.

No, rival.

There was only one.

Fuck.

Zach uttered something to Nate and he cringed, a regretful look on his face.

"The cost of the engine case alone is about $150 and the chain isn't any better. It starts from $300 and only gets steeper in price."

I stood there, wringing my hands together, wondering what I would do.

My life was such a mess.

And all because of him.