You know how easy it is to get ‘lost in the moment’? If you’re in a car like Frankie, it’s damned easy indeed…
Traveling down the back roads headed to the site, I pretty much zoned out everything in front or behind me… it was almost like the GSX was going where it needed to go and although I was the driver, I felt more like a passenger… kind of like you do when you’re riding a horse.
Sure, you’ve got the reins but in reality, if the horse ever REALLY wanted to go where he wanted to go, you’re going with him…
Frankie reminded me of that this evening… of how although I FELT in control, HE really was the one who was allowing me the privilege to think that… And at times, even though the rumble from the enormous big block Buick was nearly deafening, it felt almost silent...
I could see the trees overhead as we raced along… I saw the fences and fields pass by… I saw the moon rising in the distance… yet, it felt almost silent… driving on toward who knew what, I became lost in the unbelievable, earth shaking power that was at my beck and call beneath my right foot… lost in thought about what might unfold this night… lost in the moment…
By the time we got to the abandoned airport, there was already a huge crowd. Cars and people of every persuasion were scattered about the grassy areas... it looked almost like a staged event!
Down the primary 'race' area - the main runway from years ago - cars lined both sides of tarmac with their headlights on illuminating the 'track' nearly as well as any strip I've ever ran on. Most of those cars were non-race types but a few 5.0's and F-bodies dotted the landscape.
There were several cars lined up at the one end of the track, obviously ones that intended to race. There was one primary group of people and while I couldn’t see who was at the center of the crowd, I was pretty sure I knew what was going down.
Betting. Lots and lots of betting for money, possibly slips. But these were small potato guys – we needed to find the big fish….
As we parked away from the crowd, the four of us headed up to size up the situation. We already were wired up and the transmitters were on so Jim and his crew could hear any and everything we said and heard as well (IF his equipment was as good as he said it was).
As we neared the crowd no one paid much attention to us. But then, from behind I heard…
“Steve! Is that you?”
Turning, we saw Cy walking slowly towards us. And right beside him was Jonah/Shawn followed by Mort and Billy. Shawn was the one who had yelled my name.
Wow. Talk about a quick turn of events… for a moment, I wondered if any one of them might actually show and here they ALL were. Jim would HAVE to be happy about this – IF it turns out well.
Time would tell.
“So, Steve… did you bring anything interesting? I’ve got the Cuda here tonight and IF you’ve got that nasty Buick, I would love to have a go at it. Whadaysay?”
Man… this guy wasted NO time in laying some cards out. But the one I needed to hear (or rather, that Jim needed to hear) wasn’t out of his hand yet – would HE street race for money or better yet, for cars? It didn’t take long to find out.
“Yeah, I’ve got the Buick. But honestly, I’m not really into just racing for the sake of racing. I like to run when something is on the line, not just bragging rights…”
I hoped that if I threw enough chum in the water that the sharks would come.
They did.
“Aw, Steve, you’re preachin’ to the choir, man! What would it take to make it interesting for you, huh? Money? BIG money? Name your price, Steve – I’ve got it.”
My head was spinning and I knew Kelly’s was too. Even Brandon and Stacy looked a little taken aback at the quick ramping up of the stakes at hand.
I held back though… playing poker with these guys was going to have to take a lot of patience and finesse. Just running for cash wasn’t what Jim needed to nail them for if possible.
I looked Shawn straight in the eye but off to the side, I could see that Cy had slid in right up against him. I think HE was listening closer than anyone.
“Tell you what Shawn…. How do you feel about racing for what REALLY matters most?”
He grinned as did Cy. I knew now they were circling for the kill…
“Whacha mean, Steve? For titles? That’s pretty serious stuff isn’t it? You SURE you want to play that way?” His lips were smiling but his eyes were as cold as a January morning….
“Depends, Shawn. I brought a couple of cars tonight. The GSX of course and I also brought that TTA. I don’t think the TTA would fair to well against your Cuda but I am willing to run it against something comparable. Got anything worth me taking??
Cy and Shawn exchanged glances and then I saw Cy nod as if to say, ‘Go on…’ I hoped that Jim was getting all this down…
Shawn paused for a moment, the grin almost gone but then there it was again….
“Tell you what, Steve. Cy’s got a car over there that would be a good run against the TTA. It’s a late model Mustang, one of those new Shelby GT’s with a few mods and it runs pretty good. I think it’s got a 75 shot of Nitrous but you can check it out. Care to run it for slips?”
There it was – part of what Jim needed. But still, he needed more…
“I don’t know, Shawn. Say I win – do you think Cy can part with that kind of car that easily?”
Cy spoke this time…
“Steve. That car is one of many I own, most of which I’ve won. So, if you win it, it’s no big deal. But how about you? What if I win YOUR car? Can you swallow THAT Steve?”
Cy wasn’t grinning at all.
“I don’t play if I can’t afford to pay, Cy. Let’s look at your car and you can look at mine. We’ll decide for sure after that, ok?”
Just then, a cell phone rang. It was Shawn’s. He pulled it off the clip on his belt, looked at the face to see the number and then simply walked away, giving Cy a thumb’s up gesture.
“Sure Steve. Let’s take a look…”
Brandon followed Cy and his crew over to the TTA while Kelly and I headed over towards a white Shelby GT. It looked innocuous enough and I thought that it was ironic that it was white just like the TTA. The silver stripes seemed out of place on it but the car was nice enough looking.
The hood was already up and while the mill looked fairly stock, the plumbing for the Nitrous was right out in plain view. Billy jumped in the car and fired it up and it sounded fairly stock.
I whispered to Kel… “What do you think?” Billy shut off the car and got out, leaving the white door open as he headed over towards the TTA where Cy and the others were looking it over..
“I don’t think he wants the TTA that badly Steve but I DO think he wants to get his hands on the Buick.”
I thought for a moment. This might be the perfect time to play a timeless game of give and take. If it went well, we could have it all. But – if it didn’t, there was no telling where it would go. I laid out my plan to Kel in less than a minute. Her eyes got wider with each detail….
“Man Steve, I don’t know. Are you SURE it’s safe to play this heavily with these creeps? Those Reynolds are bad news, remember?”
“Kel, nothing good comes easy. But if you think it’s too risky, we’ll back away…”
She thought for a moment and I could see her eyes narrow a bit….
“No, Steve…. You’re right. Let’s play and see where it leads…. Jim and the Calvary aren’t that far away so if things crumble, we should be ok….”
“Good….”
That was all I had time to say. Cy and his crew were already headed back over along with Shawn.
Oddly, they stopped just before they got near to us and I watched as Shawn whispered something in Cy’s ear, his eyes on me and Kel the whole time, as he showed Cy something on the cell phone he had just answered. As he was talking to Cy, Cy’s grin faded a bit.
Cy whispered something back to him and then they both nodded in agreement. Now, they both were grinning…
A cold, clammy chill swept down my back and I felt Kelly move up closer to me. Neither of us felt good about what we were seeing but we couldn’t back out now without looking suspicious.
“So what do you think Steve?” asked Cy, as he and his ‘crew’ finished walking up. “Fair fight or not?”
“Sure Cy, let’s dance. My TTA against your Shelby GT title for title. Are you ready?”
“Steve” said Cy as he slid (or slithered?) into the Pony, “I’m always ready. But you need to remember something for me, ok?”
“What’s that, Cy?”
“Steve… you need to remember that there will always be a winner and a loser. The challenge is finding out which one you really, truly are, deep down inside… “
He fired up the Mustang.
“Meet me at the line, Steve. Let’s go…”
I just nodded. Maybe it was his attitude. Maybe, it was the fact that he seemed to almost be talking down to me, like I was one of his peons… I don’t know… but I DID know that now I was mad…. And I also knew that now this was not going to be a night at all like I wondered if it would…
Actually, I really had no idea at all what was coming next…. Not a clue…
Traveling down the back roads headed to the site, I pretty much zoned out everything in front or behind me… it was almost like the GSX was going where it needed to go and although I was the driver, I felt more like a passenger… kind of like you do when you’re riding a horse.
Sure, you’ve got the reins but in reality, if the horse ever REALLY wanted to go where he wanted to go, you’re going with him…
Frankie reminded me of that this evening… of how although I FELT in control, HE really was the one who was allowing me the privilege to think that… And at times, even though the rumble from the enormous big block Buick was nearly deafening, it felt almost silent...
I could see the trees overhead as we raced along… I saw the fences and fields pass by… I saw the moon rising in the distance… yet, it felt almost silent… driving on toward who knew what, I became lost in the unbelievable, earth shaking power that was at my beck and call beneath my right foot… lost in thought about what might unfold this night… lost in the moment…
By the time we got to the abandoned airport, there was already a huge crowd. Cars and people of every persuasion were scattered about the grassy areas... it looked almost like a staged event!
Down the primary 'race' area - the main runway from years ago - cars lined both sides of tarmac with their headlights on illuminating the 'track' nearly as well as any strip I've ever ran on. Most of those cars were non-race types but a few 5.0's and F-bodies dotted the landscape.
There were several cars lined up at the one end of the track, obviously ones that intended to race. There was one primary group of people and while I couldn’t see who was at the center of the crowd, I was pretty sure I knew what was going down.
Betting. Lots and lots of betting for money, possibly slips. But these were small potato guys – we needed to find the big fish….
As we parked away from the crowd, the four of us headed up to size up the situation. We already were wired up and the transmitters were on so Jim and his crew could hear any and everything we said and heard as well (IF his equipment was as good as he said it was).
As we neared the crowd no one paid much attention to us. But then, from behind I heard…
“Steve! Is that you?”
Turning, we saw Cy walking slowly towards us. And right beside him was Jonah/Shawn followed by Mort and Billy. Shawn was the one who had yelled my name.
Wow. Talk about a quick turn of events… for a moment, I wondered if any one of them might actually show and here they ALL were. Jim would HAVE to be happy about this – IF it turns out well.
Time would tell.
“So, Steve… did you bring anything interesting? I’ve got the Cuda here tonight and IF you’ve got that nasty Buick, I would love to have a go at it. Whadaysay?”
Man… this guy wasted NO time in laying some cards out. But the one I needed to hear (or rather, that Jim needed to hear) wasn’t out of his hand yet – would HE street race for money or better yet, for cars? It didn’t take long to find out.
“Yeah, I’ve got the Buick. But honestly, I’m not really into just racing for the sake of racing. I like to run when something is on the line, not just bragging rights…”
I hoped that if I threw enough chum in the water that the sharks would come.
They did.
“Aw, Steve, you’re preachin’ to the choir, man! What would it take to make it interesting for you, huh? Money? BIG money? Name your price, Steve – I’ve got it.”
My head was spinning and I knew Kelly’s was too. Even Brandon and Stacy looked a little taken aback at the quick ramping up of the stakes at hand.
I held back though… playing poker with these guys was going to have to take a lot of patience and finesse. Just running for cash wasn’t what Jim needed to nail them for if possible.
I looked Shawn straight in the eye but off to the side, I could see that Cy had slid in right up against him. I think HE was listening closer than anyone.
“Tell you what Shawn…. How do you feel about racing for what REALLY matters most?”
He grinned as did Cy. I knew now they were circling for the kill…
“Whacha mean, Steve? For titles? That’s pretty serious stuff isn’t it? You SURE you want to play that way?” His lips were smiling but his eyes were as cold as a January morning….
“Depends, Shawn. I brought a couple of cars tonight. The GSX of course and I also brought that TTA. I don’t think the TTA would fair to well against your Cuda but I am willing to run it against something comparable. Got anything worth me taking??
Cy and Shawn exchanged glances and then I saw Cy nod as if to say, ‘Go on…’ I hoped that Jim was getting all this down…
Shawn paused for a moment, the grin almost gone but then there it was again….
“Tell you what, Steve. Cy’s got a car over there that would be a good run against the TTA. It’s a late model Mustang, one of those new Shelby GT’s with a few mods and it runs pretty good. I think it’s got a 75 shot of Nitrous but you can check it out. Care to run it for slips?”
There it was – part of what Jim needed. But still, he needed more…
“I don’t know, Shawn. Say I win – do you think Cy can part with that kind of car that easily?”
Cy spoke this time…
“Steve. That car is one of many I own, most of which I’ve won. So, if you win it, it’s no big deal. But how about you? What if I win YOUR car? Can you swallow THAT Steve?”
Cy wasn’t grinning at all.
“I don’t play if I can’t afford to pay, Cy. Let’s look at your car and you can look at mine. We’ll decide for sure after that, ok?”
Just then, a cell phone rang. It was Shawn’s. He pulled it off the clip on his belt, looked at the face to see the number and then simply walked away, giving Cy a thumb’s up gesture.
“Sure Steve. Let’s take a look…”
Brandon followed Cy and his crew over to the TTA while Kelly and I headed over towards a white Shelby GT. It looked innocuous enough and I thought that it was ironic that it was white just like the TTA. The silver stripes seemed out of place on it but the car was nice enough looking.
The hood was already up and while the mill looked fairly stock, the plumbing for the Nitrous was right out in plain view. Billy jumped in the car and fired it up and it sounded fairly stock.
I whispered to Kel… “What do you think?” Billy shut off the car and got out, leaving the white door open as he headed over towards the TTA where Cy and the others were looking it over..
“I don’t think he wants the TTA that badly Steve but I DO think he wants to get his hands on the Buick.”
I thought for a moment. This might be the perfect time to play a timeless game of give and take. If it went well, we could have it all. But – if it didn’t, there was no telling where it would go. I laid out my plan to Kel in less than a minute. Her eyes got wider with each detail….
“Man Steve, I don’t know. Are you SURE it’s safe to play this heavily with these creeps? Those Reynolds are bad news, remember?”
“Kel, nothing good comes easy. But if you think it’s too risky, we’ll back away…”
She thought for a moment and I could see her eyes narrow a bit….
“No, Steve…. You’re right. Let’s play and see where it leads…. Jim and the Calvary aren’t that far away so if things crumble, we should be ok….”
“Good….”
That was all I had time to say. Cy and his crew were already headed back over along with Shawn.
Oddly, they stopped just before they got near to us and I watched as Shawn whispered something in Cy’s ear, his eyes on me and Kel the whole time, as he showed Cy something on the cell phone he had just answered. As he was talking to Cy, Cy’s grin faded a bit.
Cy whispered something back to him and then they both nodded in agreement. Now, they both were grinning…
A cold, clammy chill swept down my back and I felt Kelly move up closer to me. Neither of us felt good about what we were seeing but we couldn’t back out now without looking suspicious.
“So what do you think Steve?” asked Cy, as he and his ‘crew’ finished walking up. “Fair fight or not?”
“Sure Cy, let’s dance. My TTA against your Shelby GT title for title. Are you ready?”
“Steve” said Cy as he slid (or slithered?) into the Pony, “I’m always ready. But you need to remember something for me, ok?”
“What’s that, Cy?”
“Steve… you need to remember that there will always be a winner and a loser. The challenge is finding out which one you really, truly are, deep down inside… “
He fired up the Mustang.
“Meet me at the line, Steve. Let’s go…”
I just nodded. Maybe it was his attitude. Maybe, it was the fact that he seemed to almost be talking down to me, like I was one of his peons… I don’t know… but I DID know that now I was mad…. And I also knew that now this was not going to be a night at all like I wondered if it would…
Actually, I really had no idea at all what was coming next…. Not a clue…
