Page 6 of Drifting

“Fuck,” I breathe out. Just my luck, I have to race Red McCain, the asshole.

“So, that’s Shelby Winters in Little Devil going against—”

“The obvious winner,” Red’s cocky voice interrupts as he struts to the center and returns his button to the bucket.

I roll my eyes. He wishes.

On his way back to the line, Red bumps into me. “Be ready to lose, little girl. I’ll have a nice shoulder for you to cry on when you do.” He cackles.

Billy shoves his way through the crowd toward me. “Fuck off, Red.”

I step in front of Billy. “I’m fine. Let’s get Devil ready to go against Red’s TNT.”

Billy huffs out, “I hate that guy. It kills me that you two have to deal with him during the week without us there.”

We met Billy at our very first race.

Cin and I had figured out pretty quickly that there was no way we could do everything that needed to be done during a race by ourselves. We needed a pit crew, and Cin went out searching while I pulled out my computer and tried to do some tuning.

Since I had never raced on those roads before, I had no idea how I needed to tune my tire pressure, shift points, and all the good stuff. Whoever she found would hopefully know a bit about the road.

Cin had come back with a disgusted look on her face and steam coming out of her ears, proclaiming they were all idiots or bigots.

People’s reactions clued us in that we’d have a hard time finding the right crewe. Most here don’t believe women are as good as men.

She had just opened the hood of our 1998 Chevy Camaro and gotten busy checking the gauges when these three young guys showed up for the job. They had recently lost their crew job when one of their dad’s retired and were more than happy to take direction from Cin.

She put them to the test, and when we came in second that race, those three guys became our crew.

Now, here we are, almost two years later, and Ricky, Billy, and Mark are still with us. They became like irritating, overprotective brothers.

“You okay?” Billy looks down at me with concern. “It looked like you spaced out there.”

As we head back to where the rest of my crew works on Little Devil, I chuckle. “I did. I was remembering the first time we met you three.” I hip bump him. “You do remember I’m going for my 2nd Kyu Brown belt this week, right? It only took an extra four years, but I don’t need protecting.”

“Hey, I’m proud of you for trying for your Brown belt.” Billy stops me and swipes a hand over the top of his light-brown hair. He cut it into a low fade recently and keeps messing with it. “It wasn’t your fault that you lapsed in your training. What matters is that, when you could continue, you did. And how many times do I have to tell you that, if they gang up on you, being a 2nd Kyu Brown belt won’t mean a damn thing?”

From the beginning, Billy was the one I opened up to. He’s like a big brother and the one who got me back into karate. He’s had girlfriends on and off over the years, but he’s been single the last six months. Since then, I’ve been getting a different feeling from him. He’s still the same open, caring guy, though, so I can’t put my finger on what changed.

I bump against him again as we walk. “Thanks for helping me get back into shape.”

“You know I’d do anything for you.” Billy smiles down at me with a soft expression. “And, trust me, you didn’t need any help getting into shape.”

When we stop beside Demon, Cin pops her head up from behind the hood. “Who are we racing?”

Billy frowns. “Asshole Red.”

Ricky tosses his sandy-blond hair. “There’s nothing we can do about it but beat his ass.”

It was Ricky’s dad who taught the guys how to be the best crew team out there, and it was our luck he retired right when we were looking to hire.

I put on my suit and climb into Little Devil, then the rest of them push me toward the starting line. Along the way, other drivers yell, “Go get him!” or smack Little Devil for luck.

As I roll into what we call The Box, my adrenaline starts pumping.

This is what I live for.

When Billy hits the side of my car, that’s my cue to burnout. I press one foot on the brake and press on the accelerator, spinning my tires in place to warm up the temperature in my wheels. It will help Little Devil stick to the track.

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