Page 2 of The Walls of Levi

Ron manages us all.

It works out perfectly.

I go looking for Ron after putting my gear in the truck. We still have an hour or so before it’s time to head out. We like to get there before dark to see the track and to make sure no one goes onto the track before the race. It’s necessary.

You’d be surprised by what we’ve seen in the name of winning. Some people are just ruthless savages.

He’s sitting at the bar in my kitchen, talking on his cell. “Yea, I know. Levi is ready though. We sent the contract just a little bit ago.” I continue to listen to his side of the conversation as he goes over everything with our attorney. I knew who it was by the look on Ron’s face. While my attorney is good, he isn’t Ron’s favorite person. We only have him because he knows a lot about what we need.

“Yea, look over everything and make sure it’s all ready to go before we get ready to fly out. I don’t want any issues with any of it.” Ron doesn’t wait for a reply before he hangs up and I know my attorney probably called him several names on his end of the line. Ron doesn’t care.

“Any issues?” I ask, while grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge.

“Nope. And there better not be.” I smile, with my back still turned.

“You know we need him Ron. Don’t make him make mistakes by being an ass to him.”

“He needs someone to jerk a knot in his ass. That’s what he needs.” Ron shakes his head as he takes a pull on his own water bottle. I chuckle and keep all other thoughts to myself. Me saying anything else isn’t going to change a single thing.

“You ready to go? I don’t want to sit around here for an hour. Everything is loaded up.”

“Yea, let’s head that way.”

~

As soon as we get to the track, Ron looks everything over. He walks over the black top several times, looking at every inch before he is satisfied. This is a ritual. One that will never change. Thank God.

About the time he finishes, the other team pulls up. I actually expected them to already be here when we arrived, but to my surprise, we were the first ones to arrive.

“Looks like they are ready,” Ron says.

“So am I.” I don’t know who this guy is that I’m racing. I don’t really care. I just want to prove myself, get my money, and head home. I’m getting up early to take care of things before I go see my family. This race needs to go quickly.

I notice the deep pocket douche get out of his truck, and I just watch him. I’m not going to be intimidated by him. He can’t even get on the bike to race me himself. After everything I’ve been through, not a lot intimidates me anyway. He finally looks my way and throws a smirk at me. I raise my eyebrows and the little grin disappears. I don’t change my look. It gives me immense pleasure to know that he knows what’s up. You can’t rattle the cage of Levi James. You aren’t that powerful.

We have a couple hours before the race, so I get comfortable at our trailer. Usually we have lots of fans come by and want an autograph. I have a team that sets all that up and gets the merchandise together. It usually runs smoothly.

~

“Thank you, Mr. James,” a lady says as her son stands next to her with a poster in his grip. I just signed it and he basically snatched it from me when I handed it back. “My son is a huge fan of yours. Thank you for being a positive role model for boys. It sets my mind at ease to know he’s following you and not some of those other people out there.” I look at her son and raise my eyebrow. That gets a little smile out of him.

“What’s your name?” I’m going to make the boy say something now. Knowing how he idolizes me, he needs to feel comfortable. I’m just a normal person.

“Chance,” he quietly says.

“That’s cool. I have a brother named Chance.”

He lights up a little. “Really? I didn’t know you had a brother.”

I chuckle. “I keep my personal life private. It’s how you survive in this business, but yea. I have lots of family. We all just like to keep to ourselves.”

“That’s cool.” He’s smiling. I’m sure he feels important now, knowing something that many don’t know. Chance is famous himself, so he will have no problems if our connection gets out. He’s the only one that I will ever say out loud in public, though. We’ve all agreed to say as little as possible about each other. Just to keep the press at bay. Those snakes can be ruthless.

Of course, back home, people know me and my connections to them. Conerly is a small town, but for the most part, people stay quiet.

“Thanks for your support, Chance. Do you race?”

“I ride. Mom won’t let me race yet.” He glances at his mom and then back at me. His mom has a little smile on her face. It gives her considerable pride to see her son excited about something. You can tell.

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