Saturday morning, the best morning their ever was.
I had been awake for a good hour, but I hadn't moved. I lay curled in my bed, staring around my room, focusing one by one on inanimate objects, nostalgic.
Everything around me was still, quiet. Sun peeked in through my curtains, reminding me that a new day was here, waiting, testing me.
I had slept in longer than I had in at least 4 months. Penny had not yet messaged me, but I was expecting it once she awoke from her own sleep-in. She had mentioned that today Brad's brother would be competing at the local drag-way, yet another fun way for adrenaline junkies to release endorphins. Only this was legal. Drivers off the street were welcome to race - after an intricate car-check first of course. Brad's brother Brody had a 1992 Toyota Supra, his pride and joy from what I had overheard last night.
Today, I had a feeling that Penny would be inviting me, just to get me out of the house, away from trouble.
Through the silence, a shrill vibration shattered my lost space. It was my phone. I picked it up and pushed it to my ear.
"Hey" I answered
"Hello Eden" The voice on the other end politely greeted
"Gracelin, hi" My tone changed quickly as I sat up
"How are you?"
"Good" I half lied "And you?"
"Good. I have some news for you" She sounded different, happy
"Okay?"
"I'm finishing up the Montreal case this afternoon, so I've been given some time off until the next case begins. Which means I'll be home tomorrow at about noon"
"That's great Grace" I told her, genuinely excited that I would be seeing her
"Do you have any plans tomorrow?" She asked
"No I don't"
"Good, I'm taking you out for dinner"
I pulled myself out of bed, stretching "Sounds good. How long will you have off?"
"A few days, maybe a week" She answered, the bustle of the big city behind her
"That's great news" I smiled, moving into my bathroom
"Okay, well I thought I'd let you know, give you warning to shut the party down before I get home" She joked
"Okay, thank you for letting me know then" I laughed "I'll have the place clear by the time you get back"
"Sure, I'll see you then Eden Skye"
"See you then"
I placed my phone down on the bathroom bench, hanging up.
Her phone call had lifted my spirits. A distraction from what was going on across the road. It would be perfect until all the activity surrounding me died down. It would be back to normal in no time.
Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I realized just how happy I was. Today would be a good day. As would tomorrow and hopefully the rest of the week. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and re-entered my room, preparing myself for a shower.
-
Sitting at the dining room table, alone, eating my breakfast cereal, watching TV, my phone beside me rang. This time, it was Penny.
I placed it on loudspeaker, lazy.
"Hey"
"Hello there" She replied happily
"What's up?" I shovelled cereal into my mouth, muffled
"Why do you sound so happy?"
"Am I not allowed to be happy?" I shot
"Yes, but, you sound different"
"Grace called me this morning" I told her
"And?"
"She's coming home tomorrow afternoon for a few days"
"That's awesome, I'll have to come over and see her when she gets back"
"You will indeed" I smiled
Surprisingly, the two had a good relationship. At first, Gracelin hadn't liked Penny, and I could understand why, she after all is the complete opposite of me, in all the ways that would worry a person. But after a few months, forcing them to socialize and get to know each other, they did.
"So what are you doing today then?" Penny began
I knew where this was going.
"Not sure, depends on what you have planned for me" I told her
She gave a snort "Well, Brad's brother is racing today, did you want to come with us, I haven't met him yet, so I need all the support I can get. I just hope he likes me"
What was not to like about her? I couldn't think of a single reason.
"Sure Penny. What time?"
"Well, its 11 now, Brad is picking me up at 11:30, say... 12?"
"Sounds good"
"Okay, well get ready and I'll see you then" She hung up
For the next hour, I took my time, tidying up the house, cleaning whatever was left out of place before tomorrow afternoon would come. I had already showered, dressed and eaten, so passing the time, was difficult without overthinking.
Moving towards the front of the house, I pulled the curtains open, allowing in a generous amount of natural light. Most of the time, they were closed, along with the windows. I had no reason to open them, I didn't trust that I would remember to close them again when I left the house or fell asleep for the night.
Pushing back the clip on the glass window, it unlocked and slid it open, a fresh breeze instantly rushing inwards causing me to shiver. With twenty minutes left, I pulled my English book open sitting on the coffee table, perching myself on the couch sitting across but below the open window.
Reading over my notes, the words became just that, words. After ten minutes of focus, it was overthrown, thanks to the sound of a revving engine across the street. Closing my eyes, forcing myself to keep my eyes away, it became a mission in itself.
Concentrating as best I could, I read over another sentence, hopeful it would stop, or I would stop
'Our wills and fates do so contrary run
That our devices still are overthrown;
Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own'
Over, and over, I read the same phrase. But it was futile.
Angry, I pushed myself up, the sound across the street growing louder, more purposeful.
I slammed my book down on the coffee table, turning to peer out the window, careful.
As expected, it was the Marx house creating the noise, in particular, Phoenix.
He stood out the front, the bonnet of his car propped open, his head in the engine bay. I narrowed my gaze, my nose almost against the fly-screen.
Jett sat behind the wheel, urging the car to roar with his foot against the accelerator.
It was the same black two-door Phoenix had used to drive me to school days before. Only now that I focused on it, I realized it was a sports-car.
As I watched, the boys swapping positions, testing the car, I noticed Brad's BMW pull up. I stood, pulling the window closed followed by the curtains.
I grabbed my phone and exited the house.
"Hello" Penny called through her open window, the heat of the sun heavenly against my bear arms
"Ready?"
I nodded, the engine across the street roaring loudly again
"Is that his car?" Brad asked as soon as I hoped in to the back seat, his eyes in the revision mirror
I shrugged "Yeah"
Suddenly, Brad's face grew into something unreadable
"Why?" I asked
"That's an RX-7. Last time Brody went down to the track, he said there had been a new car, a black RX-7, fast"
I threw my head back against the seat "Are you serious?"
Of course
"No" Penny suddenly shot, turning in her seat "This is good. It'll be a great test, you need to stay away from him, besides, he lives here, you're going to see him every now and then, when you don't expect to, you need to learn to ignore him, even when he creeps up on you"
She sounded like my mother, and like a mother, she was right
I nodded "Okay"
Once arrived at the drag-way strip, I sat perched on a rubber tyre watching as the various cars pulled into the garage for internal and external scrutiny. I uncomfortably chewed the skin around my fingernails, nervous.
"Stop it" Penny snapped, beside me, glaring at me
"Sorry" I mumbled tucking my hands under my bottom
"Don't be nervous, you are strong remember?"
It sounded like a complex question, a complex question I couldn't answer, so I nodded.
Penny seemed pleased, returning her gaze forward on her boyfriend, his brother and the mechanic giving his car the go-ahead.
"Isn't it the sexiest thing you've ever seen?" Penny sighed
"The car?" I asked, unsure
She rolled her eyes "Of course the car"
"Sure" I mumbled back, glancing over the Toyota, white, low to the ground, black rims and a rumbling idle, the sports exhaust bouncing behind as Brody drove it outwards.
"Cmon, let's go to the stand, we can watch from there" Brad announced, pulling his girlfriend along with me in tow.
The smell of cooking sausages and burning rubber lay adrift in the air. Sitting on the grandstand in the very front row, we could see the two strips of tar up-close, men scattered around the roads as they checked its every inch. A large over-pixelated television stood in front of us, in front of the two drag strips. A 2001 rap song loud and crackly over the out-dated speakers.
I hadn't been to the drags since I was little. Everything had changed, including the crowds. Nowadays it contained a lot of young men and women, holding tightly onto their beer bottles and cigarettes. It was similar to what the underground fight arena felt like. The unsteadiness in the air was almost identical.
I forced my hands back under my bottom, not trusting myself. I kept my eyes ahead, untrusting to move them anywhere where Phoenix, Jett, Rocco or Nova might be.
"Okay, should we bet?" Penny began, leaning forward, overly eager
"Whatever is in my wallet says Brody will beat them all, he had it tuned, he's done his homework this round" Brad bragged
"There's gotta be at least one other car here that'll come close, there's at least a dozen of them out there" I stated
"What do you wager?" Brad quirked an eyebrow at me
I shrugged "I'll do your homework for a week"
"Shake on it" He held his hand out
I hesitated for a moment biting my lip, and then I shook his warm sweaty hand, his lips upturning devilishly
I didn't know much about cars, in fact I knew nothing. This was a gamble that had somewhat made me feel a tiny spark of excitement. Brad always had cash in his wallet, it helped knowing so. But it was the idea of actually being right about something for once. It seemed I was rarely right these days anymore about any choice I made. I wanted a decision that I had made to be the right just for once.
Without the need for introductions, two cars pulled out across from each other, separated by a thick short concrete wall that ran all the way down the middle. The two cars stopped at a white spray painted line where in the middle, a set of lights sat; waiting on yellow.
The car furthest from me was a family car that had been slightly modified with aftermarket rims and a bonnet hood. The other closest to me was a Honda Civic, a reeved up teenager behind the wheel, pushing the engine to a roar.
"Go the Civic" Brad called earning a few cheers and a few boo's from the crowd around us.
Watching carefully, the lights turned red, then second by second they moved down, yellow, orange, yellow, green. Without a blink, the two cars had taken off.
The sound of the cars echoed through my ears, through my stomach. It ended as quick as it began, the brake lights visible from the bottom of the track.
The Civic had won.
"See how it's done" Brad winked towards me as he slumped in his seat, slinging his arm around Penny beside me.
"Whatever" I rolled my eyes
The next few cars were various, from family cars, to small imports, to the few heavily modified drag-built cars.
Most of the family cars, lost, but that didn't seem to bother the kids behind the wheel, misusing their parents wealth with carelessness.
Brad had obviously a knack for identifying fast cars, each time two opponents would appear, he would make a choice on one, 9 out of 10 times, he was correct. I was starting to become nervous about our bet. Two times the homework would be quite a load for me.
Sitting on the bleachers, watching from a distance as the cars sped off one after the other, I listened to Brad and Penny laugh and joke, making their own little bets, only the rewards sweet whispers of things I wish I could un-hear.
In that moment, I was jealous of Penny, she had everything I wished I'd had. She was living the perfect teenage dream, while I sat mulling over how I was going to ignore a street fighter who was yet to emerge on the race track.
I folded my hands together and placed them in between my knees, a nip in the air.
"Here they come" Brad eagerly shuffled to the edge of his seat, his eyes alert
Pulling out from the housing in front of the start line, was Brody, and the one and only Phoenix.
Of course they were going to verse each other. It just had to be the icing on the cake.
I closed my eyes for a brief second, blowing out a breath of air.
"Just relax" Penny told me, rubbing circles on my back with her palm
When I opened my eyes back up, I saw Jett leaning in towards the driver side, talking to his brother. On the other side, the passenger side, I saw a woman, leaning her little blonde head into the vehicle that grumbled loudly.
Even from a distance, I could see her batting her eyelashes towards him, her shirt two times too small for her chest. I rolled my eyes and forced back a snide scoff.
"This is the big one" Brad rubbed his hands together
"What'll be ladies, Toyota or Mazda?"
"Toyota of course" Penny quickly shot, giving her boyfriend a glare.
I then became aware of the empty seat beside me being pushed down, a body sitting directly to my left.
"I'm going Mazda" He spoke as I tilted my head toward the perpetrator.
It was Nova.
A smug smile in place as he leaned back, comfortable with his arm draped around my seat behind me.
"What are you doing here?" Penny shot, her eyes venomous
"Watching my friend race" Nova shrugged, unbothered
"Watch from over there" She pointed towards the top of the vast seating space
"Is that what you want babe?" Nova turned to me, his smile charming, unnerving
Penny and Nova now stared me down from both sides, waiting to see who would win the argument. I rolled my eyes and turned to Nova
"Go away Nova, you and your friends are trouble" I told him
He feigned shock "You don't mean that"
"I do, now go away, I don't want anything to do with you, or them" I eyed the boys on the track, Jett and the blonde moving away from the car that revved.
A sly smile took home on his features
"Is that jealousy I'm tasting" He licked his lips
"I don't know what you're talking about" I told him, keeping my eyes from him, folding my arms, on the guard.
"Nova, go away" Penny snapped
Donovan gave a small sigh and stood, giving me one more beckoning wink before leaving.
"Good standing your ground" Penny praised me like a mother would her child, patting my knee
"Shoosh" Brad hushed, watching eagerly as the two cars took up the start line, both revving their engines to test the water with each other.
"C'mon Brody" His brother spoke, gritting his teeth
My eyes were now completely on the two cars and the lights on the track. Time slowed down, my heart beating nervously in my chest. My palms sweat and my jaw clenched. Brody needed to win this race. Not for himself, not for his brother, not for his pride, for me, for me and my pride.
Phoenix couldn't be good at everything, he couldn't succeed in everything he did, it only made him more attractive, more difficult to stay away from.
When the light turned green, I stopped breathing, my eyes unblinking. The two cars took off faster than any others had.
Cheers from all directions ensued, including Brad and Penny.
My eyes firmly sat on the cars, both evening out as time ticked by on the over-sized clock.
The speaker over-head was too talking as fast as the cars moved, excitement clear in his voice.
And as quick as it had started, it had ended. Brad stood from his chair, his arms in the air, whistling and screaming as his brother took out first place.
He had done it. Unknowingly, I also stood, my breathing returning, a smile across my face undoable.
"He did it!" Penny shouted, standing, clapping
"Let's go" Brad demanded, pulling me and Penny along with him
"That was a close one!" Brad patted his brother on the back, Brody undeniably happy as he stepped out of the parked car
"He's fast, but not fast enough" Brody pulled his helmet off, pushing his rugged hair back from his eyes that mirrored his brother
"Great race Brody" Penny congratulated
"How much was the pot worth?" Brad asked, leaning on the Supra door
"A thousand dollars, all mine" Brody high fived Brad
"I didn't realize this was a betting race" I told them, surprised "I thought it was for fun"
"It's off the record" Brody answered "Keep it on the low"
Of course there was money involved, why else would Phoenix and Jett be here?
I folded my arms over my chest, Brody's eyes now wandering over Penny
"So, you want a go?" He asked her, his smile crooked
Penny looked unsure, confused
"A go?"
"I'll take you for a drag, up the strip. I can take one passenger at a time" He revealed
"Going the speed you were just then?" Her eyes widened
Brody nodded "You game?"
She opened her mouth to respond, when four bodies entered our space
"Good race" Phoenix spoke, out-holding his hand which Brody willingly took for a shake
His eyes skimmed over mine briefly, acknowledging my presence.
"It was close" Brody replied, the pride in his eyes visible like a shooting star on a dark night
"It was" Nova nodded
"You mind if I take a look?" Jett asked, pointing towards the Toyota popped hood, his hands coated in black grime.
"Sure" Brody nodded, starting the engine "So how about that ride Penny?"
I shuffled on my feet, knowing that if Penny and Brody went for a spin, I would be left unguarded, misguided, alone with the one person I didn't want to be alone with.
As well as his playgirl and Nova, who was just as bad an influence on me.
"You know what?" Penny started, the tone in her voice bold "How about you take Eden?"
My head piped up, stunned
Brody's eyes twisted on me "How about it?"
Suddenly, all eyes were on me, pending my answer, including Phoenix's eyes, which bore into me, almost drilling a hole into my face.
What was his problem? Clearly, the question had bothered him, for reasons unknown, and it only made me more determined to aggravate him. I wasn't going to be the one jealous here, he was.
"I'd love too" I spoke, overly enthusiastically, earning a grin from Penny as I moved towards the passenger side of the car.
Sure, the choice had been easy to decide, but sitting in the low race vehicle, made me edgy and rattled. All I could focus on was making Phoenix just as uneasy. I wanted him to realize he wasn't the only man in my life that could influence me.
Brody pulled the hood of his car down, shaking hands with Jett, who gave me an unreadable glare before returning to his brother. I fiddled with my hands in front of me, uncertain and insecure.
"Did you see the look on his face?" Penny startled me, her head hanging in the window of the car towards me as Brody pulled his helmet back on.
"Who?" I played stupid
"Phoenix of course, he's totally jealous" She winked "For once, you have the power"
"If you wanted to make someone jealous" Brody overheard, his voice muffled by the helmet "All you had to do was ask" He winked, playing along with Penny
"I thought the plan was to keep away from him here Penny, not make him jealous" I snapped
She shrugged "Maybe when he realizes you aren't interested in him, he'll back off completely"
"Or he'll try harder"
"Are we ready to go ladies?" Brody asked impatiently, one hand on the steering wheel, the other on his gear stick.
Penny nodded, and then so did I. There was no turning back.
The pull and groan of the car made my insides protest. I was being reckless all because of Phoenix and a point Penny was trying to prove.
I gripped the edge of my seat, sitting at the lights as our opponent pulled up beside us. Unsurprisingly, it was Phoenix, again testing his limits, his power. There was no doubt in my mind that Brody would beat him, especially with me in the car and a point to prove.
Again, my insides twisted the moment I saw Phoenix's passenger was the blond he had stood beside earlier. She was beautiful even up close, only making it harder for me to concentrate when the car took off.
My breathing hitched, my body pushing back into the seat. My eyes widened, unblinking as the roar of the engine became louder than I thought ever possible. The road beneath us blurred past, unfocused and causing me to become dizzy.
Sitting on the bleachers, watching the cars race, it always seemed to end faster than it had begun, but while sitting in the passenger side of the car, it was the opposite. It didn't seem to end, I watched and waited as my head growled and spun, waiting for the moment to end.
My heart was beating unnaturally fast. As we reached the end of the strip, the car pulled back. I turned to see Phoenix at least a car space behind us. He was losing, and the small detail made me smile, despite the fear coursing through me.
Seconds later, the car came to a slow pace, rounding a corner loop that trailed back towards the beginning building.
"How was that?" Brody pulled his helmet off, tossing it in the back seat
I blew out a breath of air, earning a small laugh
"Like that was it?"I shook my head
"It was..." I trailed off, unable to find the right words
"Terrifying, exhilarating, adrenaline pumping" He offered "If Phoenix asks, I'd probably use exhilarating"
"He won't ask" I told him, the car coming to a stop, Phoenix approaching slowly behind
"He only talks to me when he's making threats and warnings"
"That sounds, alarming" His eyebrows crossed
I gave a snort
"It's not what it sounds like, I promise"
Thankfully, Brody's face eased up as he pulled himself out of the car, striding around to open my door for me.
"Go easy, you could be a little dizzy from it all" He told me, holding a hand out to help me peel myself off of the seat I was now one with.
"Again, good race" Phoenix emerged from his black car, the blond helping herself out, evidently used to the fast paced hobby. With the help of Brody, I withdrew myself from the vehicle.
"Was it fun?" Penny asked me, bouncing on her toes
"It was" I half lied, only due to certain people being within earshot