Page 40 of The Road Ahead
There were about twenty cars already parked in the rest area when we arrived, and I pulled up at the end of the line. Brad parked next to us, and we gathered together and went in search of the couple of people from the club I’d already met.
It didn’t take me long to spot Jimmy. He seemed partial to bright colors, and was wearing a pair of neon green jeans and a bright pink sweater. He grinned when he saw us and held out a hand to me. Instead of a shake, he clasped my hand and pulled me into a half hug, slapping me on the back with his free hand. “I’m so glad you made it, Rio!”
“Same,” I said. “You remember Cooper, Teresa, and Brad?”
Jimmy gave them all up nods. “Good to see you all again. Darren and Ravi you’ve met, and this is Chantelle.” He turned and beckoned over a petite woman with long teal-colored hair that was in twin braids. She was wearing black leather pants and a black corset top, and her heels were almost as tall as mine, yet I was still an inch or two taller than her.
“Hey,” I said. “Darren told me you’ve got an R32. Nice!”
Chantelle grinned at me. “And I’ve heard all about you and your Hachi-Roku! I so wanna check it out. What sort of specs does she have?”
“Wait until we’re done on the mountain,” Jimmy told her. “You can drool over their ’86 when we’ve met up at the bottom.”
Chantelle pouted. “Spoilsport,” she grumbled, but then turned and winked at me.
An RX-8 pulled into the rest area and Jimmy gestured for the group to follow him. “Jake’s here, so that’s all of us. Come on.”
I grinned at Cooper, unable to contain my excitement, and slipped my hand into his. We followed Jimmy, who climbed up onto a concrete picnic table so the entire crowd could see him clearly.
“Okay, listen up!” Jimmy called out, gaining the attention of everyone. “Thanks everyone for coming along to the cruise tonight. It’s good to see so many of our members out and about. Here’s how tonight’s gonna go. We’re doing the hill climb up to the lookout first, then we’ll circle down around the mountain and towards town. We’ll regroup in the parking lot of the Home Depot, where we’ll stay for about an hour. This’ll give everyone a chance to catch up and for you to get a look at everyone’s rides. Then we’ll cruise around town, following the route I posted in the chat. Any questions?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Alright. Time for the rules.” A few people groaned at this, but Jimmy didn’t look deterred. “These are in place for a reason, guys, and it’s why we can keep doing what we’re doing without getting shut down by Chief Ramirez, so quit your whining. Right, those of you with your fancy new cars take the lead for the hill climb, followed by us classic drivers. Spectators who want to pull over and watch at the hairpin will need to head out now, so you’re well off the road by the time we get there. Anyone whodoesn’t want to watch from the sidelines but follow along behind us will bring up the rear.”
A small group of people nodded to Jimmy and then left the group, heading for a family sedan and a truck, obviously planning to watch the action from the sidelines. Teresa gave me a quick hug, whispered, “Good luck!” and then she and Brad joined them so they’d get the best view. They really wouldn’t see much from the rear except for tail lights.
“When you get to the lookout, pull over there so we can swap over for the downhill run where classics will get first run,” Jimmy continued. “Remember, have fun, but don’t do anything stupid. The S-triple-C doesnotcondone dangerous driving, and anyone who’s caught putting the club at risk will have their membership suspended immediately. If you’ve been drinking or are under the influence of drugs of any sort, you cannotparticipate tonight, as per the terms and conditions you agreed to upon joining.” Jimmy’s expression turned stern. “I am not fucking around. We clear?”
There were sounds of assent from the crowd, and I had to wonder if there’d been an incident in the past that was the reason for Jimmy needing to spell out what should be common sense. Of course, common sense really wasn’t that common anymore, and given how easy it was for people to lose their heads when they were running on adrenaline, I could see why he thought it better to be safe than sorry.
“Alright, then,” Jimmy told us. “Let’s go and have some fun!”
A cheer went up, and then we all dispersed, heading for our cars. I got in behind the wheel and reached over and squeezed Cooper’s knee. He was grinning at me, his entire face lit up with excitement. “You ready?” I asked.
“Fuck yeah,” he replied, then pulled me in for a short but fierce kiss.
I waited until almost every car had passed by before I joined the queue leaving the rest area. I’d driven up to the lookout only once, and hadn’t been down the other side, having backtracked the way we’d gone, so I was happy to bring up the rear and follow others more experienced with the pass. It would also give me an opportunity to observe the driving style of my fellow club members. I ended up behind Chantelle in her Skyline, the R32’s iconic tail lights shining brightly, and we slowly crept forward until we could turn onto the highway.
It took about five minutes to reach the intersection that led up to the lookout. As we turned onto the road, I held back, allowing Chantelle to put some distance between us before I gained speed myself. Our cars might not have had the pure grunt of the newer models on the road with us, but they’d all had mods of some sort and still packed a punch. All it took was for the car in front to brake a little heavier or earlier than I was expecting and I’d find myself rear-ending them at speed. That wouldn’t be good for me and Cooperormy baby.
“Mind if I hijack your Bluetooth?” Cooper asked me.
“Go for it,” I said.
Cooper quickly connected to my sound system and then scrolled through his playlists. “Aha!” he cried in victory as he found the one he was after.
I burst out laughing as the countdown to “No One Sleep in Tokyo”by Edo Boys blared from my speakers. “You’re kidding me.”
“Rio, you’re driving a Hachi-Roku around a mountain at night with other street racers. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal tonotlisten to theInitial Dsoundtrack.”
I grinned at him. “Okay, you might have a point there.”
“I always do,” he said smugly.
Soon, Chantelle’s tail lights were disappearing behind a bend. As the road began to weave between towering cliffs on one sideand the sharp drop-off to the lake on the other, I gunned the engine. Cooper whooped for joy as I threw my baby around a corner, hitting the apex perfectly so I exited in line to take the next bend. I didn’t get the swooping feeling in my stomach that I did when I was driving downhill, but it was still immense fun. I loved every time I got to push my car to her limits, to test my skills, and to let loose.
Cooper was clearly having the time of his life. His excitement was contagious, and it made me so happy to be able to share this with him. We’d spent countless hours as children pretending we were in this exact scenario, and to be living it for real, to be sharing it together, was incredibly special to me. My heart was overflowing with the love I had for him, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold out for much longer. Ihadto tell him how I felt, and soon.
