Page 82 of Ride or Die
The darkness in the hallway envelops me as I head to the garage, my heart racing with nervous energy as I slide into the driver's seat of the Camaro. As I turn the key in the ignition, the engine roars to life, interrupting the stillness of the night. The heat springs on, and suddenly, I’m hit with a rush of his scent, a blend of leather and something uniquely him. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath, allowing him to fill my lungs and anchor me as I prepare to drive into the unknown.
"I'm doing this for us, babe," I say quietly, putting on my seat belt. I back the car out of the garage, heading towards the countryside for this weekend’s street race. I’ve been driving as much as possible, trying to make sure I am ready to go when I get the call from Williams for the big job. In the meantime, he wants me to participate in the street races for money.
My heart races the closer I get to tonight’s location. I haven’t done a street race without Colt before. Rumor has it I went batshit crazy and drove him off the road, injuring him. These stupid people and their rumors. As a result, I am not the favorite of tonight’s race, but I’m going to prove all these little shits wrong.
I turn onto the road where everyone is meeting and see all the car lights in the distance. There are hundreds of people here. As I pull up, I see a crowd surrounding a car doing a burnout circle in the parking lot of an old abandoned gas station. Everyone cheers as the tires squeal and smoke billows around them. People are drinking and smoking, girls are dancing in truck beds, the music is thundering; these races really do become parties. No wonder they do them in the countryside. Everything about this would be baited out in the city.
I slowly roll up to see Axel standing on the side of the road by his car, a black Mustang GT. The shitty Corolla is only used for thefts.
The crowd parts as the Camaro pulls up to the starting line. Everyone has been waiting for this race to see if I can prove myself. To see if I'm badass enough to be Colton’s girl. Win or lose, I'm here representing my man, and this is my fucking statement that nothing keeps us down.
Colt will be pissed when he finds out what I'm doing, but once he calms down, he will be so fucking proud of me. I just know it.
I have done well, winning every race I've been in so far, so tonight I am not racing a newbie or a girl, I’m taking on one of the guys who works with Colt.
Putting the car in park, I leave it running. When I open the door, a collective hum sounds in the crowd. I guess some people were not expecting me to show up, probably thinking I’m still the good girl, afraid of this shit. But little do they know how dedicated of a student I really am, and it paid off.
I walk up to Axel, who actually looks kind of cleaned up tonight, his man bun well-kept for once. He's wearing black on black and has his usual shit-eating grin. It's the same one he has every time he sees me at these races. Every time I win, I surprise him, but being friends now, his grin is also one of pride. I came from nothing to being one of the top new racers in this group. Trained by the best.
“Hey, Ax,” I say calmly. He rests against his car with his arms crossed.
“Hey, Layla. You ready for tonight?” I give him a nod and a smile.
“Good, tonight you’re racing Jeff. There’s a lot of money on the line. Sadly, most have bet against you, but if you win, you’re just bringing home that much more.”
“That's okay, Ax. I’m going to prove to these stupid fucks that there's a lot more to Layla White than they think,” I say confidently. Little does everyone know I’ve spent hours upon hours racing in the countryside, improving my time off the line and my speed in the quarter mile. Colton has trained me well, and I have fucking mastered it.
“Attagirl.” He gives my shoulder a shake. Jeff pulls up in his bright blue Camaro and stops beside mine. He gets out and gives me an arrogant look before he makes his way over to us.
My attention is pulled over to the group of scantily clad bitches looking on, and I see Simone amongst them. She stares at me with a look I can’t decipher, almost like disappointment. Does she know the circumstances of what’s happening in my life right now? She continues to stare at me stone-faced as she steps back and disappears into the crowd. What the hell was that about?
“You kids ready?” Axel asks Jeff and me, bringing my focus back to them.
“Of course,” Jeff says arrogantly, the stupid schmuck. “Areyouready, Layla? How about we up the ante. If I win, you get on your knees and suck my dick. Right where you belong.”
I scoff out a laugh. “Sorry Jeff, I wouldn’t be able to find your tiny dick to put it in my mouth to begin with. What are you going to do with your ego when you lose to the little ‘good girl’ of The Shores, huh? Ya know, it's funny, Williams offeredmea job, did he offer you one too?” I give him a devilish smirk and the crowd ‘oooohs’ around us. His smug look drops and is replaced with anger. He also doesn’t realize Colt will probably kick his ass for that comment when he’s better.
No one talks down to Colton’s girl.
"I'll see you at the finish line." Axel grins and gets into his car to drive to the end of the quarter mile.
We get into our cars and I roll down my window, looking over at Jeff.
“Don’t cry when I kick your ass, pretty boy.” I antagonize him, chuckling to myself as fury crosses his face. I feel his confidence wavering by the minute, right where I want him.
We sit on the line, the engines rumbling beneath us as we await Lacey to bring out the flags. She saunters up in her usual overly dramatic form, her bleach blonde hair bouncing around, ready for her performance of the night. My feet are poised over the clutch and the gas, my hand holding onto the stick. Lacey faces us, flashing a large smile as she raises her arms above her head. My heart is going a million miles a minute, my foot just waiting in anticipation above the gas, and then she quickly bows with the flags.
I drop the car into gear and slam the pedal to the floor. The tires screech as they spin beneath me, creating a cloud of smoke and dust for the onlookers, and I am off. I move from gear to gear within seconds. Jeff and I are neck and neck. I look over at him, and he looks back at me with a furrowed brow, surprised I’m keeping up.
I flash him a pretty smile before I blow him a kiss and put the car down a gear and am able to accelerate that much more, pulling ahead of him, leaving him hot on my heels.
I cross the line with Jeff seconds behind me, winning the race. Laughing out loud, I smack my hands on the wheel. Totally fucking impressed with myself for doing this all on my own. Using everything Colton has taught me. He’ll be so fucking proud, but so sad that he missed it.
I slow the car to a stop, and surprisingly, people are cheering for me despite losing their money. Clearly my abilities are starting to be seen by these people.
Axel runs up to me as I step out of the car. “Holy shit, Layla! That was awesome! I’m impressed!” Axel says happily as hegives me a hug. Jeff's car rolls up beside mine and he gets out, rushing around it to confront me.
“Open the hood! Open the hood! I want to see what fucking upgrades you did! Did you add NOS?” He tries to accuse me.
