Racing Dirty

by J. Lynn Lombard

  “Christian, it’s Izzy. Someone was here." She pauses for a beat, listening to Christian talk.

  I look at my car in the moonlight and rage flows through my body. My hands are shaking from pent up anger. What was a good day for both of us is now shattered. My car’s ruined, the windows smashed, the sides and hood are dented in.

  I hear Izzy speak again. There’s no emotion in her voice. “No, they’re not here. Xavier chased them into the woods." She shakes her head, not realizing he can't see her. “Yes, he is OK. He’s right here."

  She hands me the phone. “He wants to talk to you."

  I take the phone from her and she wraps her arms around herself again. I put it up to my ear.

  “Yeah.” I bark into the phone.

  “I’m on my way over now.” Christian says on the other end. I hear a car start and tires peel out. “What the fuck happened?" Christian asks.

  I close my eyes and take a deep breath, willing my body to calm down. “I don’t have any fucking clue. We were upstairs sleeping when I heard a loud bang. I ran down the stairs and opened my door. There was some guy out next to my car beating the fuck out of it. I yelled at him and he ran away. Fucking pussy." I growl.

  “Did you see him?" Christian asks.

  “Fuck no. The fucker was dressed all in black. All the fuck I saw was a dark fucking figure swinging a fucking baseball bat at my fucking car.” I growl into the phone, squeezing it in my hands. “Fuck." I screamed into the quiet of the night.

  “Calm the fuck down Xavier." Christian yells at me through the phone. “I’m almost there. I’m going to call this in. I need you to stay calm and think of Izzy."

  I cut him off. “I am fucking am thinking of Izzy." I scream into the phone. My adrenaline is still running high, sweat beading on my forehead. Christian takes a deep breath on the other line.

  “No, you’re not. You’re thinking of killing whoever did this. Look at her bro." Christian barks at me. I drag my eyes from my car and see Izzy sitting on the porch. Her legs are up against her chest, her arms wrapped around them. She’s folding herself into a tight ball, rocking back and forth next to the side of the house. Her head is down, and I watch her body shudder from fright.

  “Fuck." I scream again and hang up on Christian. I slowly approach her and will myself to calm down. It's not working, my body’s coiled tight. I sit down next to her and wrap my arms around her shoulders. She stiffens to my touch.

  “It’s Ok Izzy.” I tell her calmly. My voice is quiet, but the war raging inside of me is anything but quiet.

  “No, it’s not.” she responds quietly, her head still down. “You’re pissed, I’m crying like a fucking baby and whoever is doing this isn’t going to stop until they hurt me or you. I’m not stupid X, I can tell you want to murder someone and this is all my fault. If I didn’t come back home, you wouldn’t be in this situation.” Izzy sobs out. My heart breaks hearing her talk like that. I pull her tight against me, making her uncurl.

  “Izzy, listen to me. It’s not your fault. Whoever is doing this, it’s their fault not yours.” I tell her gently.

  She tries to interrupt me. “But.” she says.

  “No, no buts. I’ve been miserable without you. These couple of months have been some of the happiest times in my life. You being here with me, has completed me. So, what if there is a little crazy." Izzy takes a deep breath and looks at me straight in the eyes.

  “Xavier, you’re not listening to me.” she protests.

  I stop her. “Yes I am. You think this is your fault. You think if you would have stayed in L.A., all this crazy shit wouldn’t have happened to me. You’re wrong. Izzy, I’m a target just as much as you. If you weren’t here, I’d be going through this alone."

  Izzy relaxes a little against me. “Xavier, I still feel like this is my fault. You wouldn’t have some crazy stalker after you if I wasn’t here."

  I finally calm myself down. “Yes, I would. I’m just that charming, that I attract crazy women." I tease trying to lighten the mood.

  She sniffs and leans against me. “Yeah, you do.” I laugh a little, the tension leaving my body as she relaxes further into me.

  “Xavier.” she says. I look down at her.

  “Yeah Hun?" I ask.

  “Are you OK?"

  “I will be. This threw me for a loop, but as long as you’re safe, I’ll be fine.” I answer her, honestly. Izzy wraps her arms around my waist.

  “God, twice in one day I lose my shit. I’m so pissed at myself.” She mumbles against my chest. Headlights light up the driveway as a car turns down it.

  “Christian is here.” I say. Neither one of us move as he parks behind my smashed car. He gets out of the driver side and Mia gets out of the passenger side. Mia runs up to us and Christian stays back looking my car over.

  “Holy fuck." Mia says. She walks over and sits on the other side of Izzy. I give Izzy a quick kiss on the head.

  “I’m going to talk to Christian before the cops get here.” I tell her. Izzy nods her head and looks up at me.

  “Ok.” she says quietly. I kiss her lips gently then stand up. I walk over to Christian, anger radiating through my body again as I take in what used to be my car.

  “They sure did a number didn’t they.” Christian states.

  “Fuck yeah they did. I’m so pissed. We were right inside the whole time and didn’t hear a fucking thing. What the fuck are we going to do?” I ask him.

  “I don’t know bro. This is escalating again and it’s pissing me the fuck off. We have nothing, no trace of anything anywhere."

  I turn towards Christian, so I quit looking at what's left of my car. “Did you check up on that Craig Williams?"

  “Yeah, he’s clean. Has some gambling debt, but nothing else. Nothing that flags him as our guy. He races in Southern Michigan, I’ll keep my eye on him tomorrow night. The track asked us to man up and tighten security, so I’ll be on duty.”

  “Shit, I need to call Nolan.” I say.

  “I already did after I called this in. He will be here in a few minutes. He was uh, indisposed at the moment. I kind of interrupted him.” Christian says, his face turning red. I let out a laugh.

  “After weeks of not getting any, he finally finds some and gets interrupted? Bro he is going to be pissed." We both laugh as another pair of headlights turn down my driveway.

  “Fuck, here he is.” I laugh.

  Nolan slams on his brakes and jumps out of his car. His t-shirt is inside out, and his brown hair is messy. “Holy fucking shit." Nolan exclaims, as he approaches my car. “Who the fuck did this?"

  “I don’t have a fucking clue.” I answer.

  Nolan turns to Christian. “Bro, what a way to fuck up my night. I finally find a woman who wants to give it up and I get a call, leaving her high and dry, literally. Don’t these assholes know not to do this shit while I’m finally gettin’ some?"

  I bark out a laugh at Nolan. “Bro, I already got mine earlier." I wiggle my eyebrows at him.

  Nolan groans, running his hands down his face. “I don’t need to fucking hear it. I’m going to be suffering from blue balls for a while. That shit hurts, man."

  I hear Mia squeal behind us. I turn around quickly to see Mia glaring at me. “Are you fucking kidding me." She yells at me, her glare is enough to make my balls shrink if I didn’t know her that well.

  Izzy’s eyes meet mine, a small smile on her face and I figured she just told Mia I asked her to marry me.

  “Xavier. Get your fucking ass over here." Mia shouts from the porch.

  “Bro, what did you do?" Nolan asks as I walk over to the porch. A smile lights my face when I walk up the stairs.

  “Xavier. You better explain why I knew nothing about this you fucker." Mia stands up and punches me in the arm.

  I rub my arm like it hurt and shrug my shoulders. “I didn’t feel you had to know." I tell her, knowing that answer is going to get me hit again. Sure enough her tiny fist hits my arm.

  “Fuck hea
d, I’m her best friend. I have every right to know.” Mia huffs out. Christian and Nolan come up onto the porch.

  “Mia what’s got your panties in a bunch? It’s not like you were getting any and now suffer from blue balls.” Nolan says.

  Mia turns her glare onto Nolan. “Fuck you Nolan." She points a finger at me. “Ask this fucker what happened today."

  All eyes land on me as Izzy comes up next to me, bringing her left hand against my chest splaying her fingers over my heart. Nolan’s eyes snap down to her movement and his eyes grow wide.

  “Holy shit bro." Nolan shouts, excitement in his voice. “You finally got the balls to ask."

  I nod my head, “Yup.” I say popping the p.

  “You knew?" Mia asks Nolan, her voice jumps a few octaves higher.

  “Fuck yeah I knew. I helped him pick out the ring weeks ago.” Nolan responds, shrugging his shoulders, like it's no big deal.

  “Mia.” Christian says approaching her cautiously.

  “What." She barks out.

  “Why are you so mad?" He asks gently. Always the voice of reason between the two of them, he puts his arm around her shoulders. She releases a deep breath.

  “I’m not angry. Well I am cause this big fucker didn’t say anything to me, but I’m not.” Mia says.

  I look at her confused. “Well, I’m sorry Mia. I wanted Izzy to tell you, not me. You’re her best friend and I thought it would be best if she gave you the news."

  Mia’s shoulders slumped a little and a smile comes across her face. She pulls Izzy away from me. “I’m sorry. I’m really happy for you. He finally gets it right. You know how my crazy gets. Being hangorny does things to my mind.”

  Izzy laughs, and it sounds like music to my ears. “Christian, you really need to take care of that.” Izzy giggles.

  Christian shrugs his shoulders his brown eyes boring into Mia’s. “All in good time. I’m not one to rush things. Besides, she can’t say she is that horny anyways, maybe hungry, but not horny, unless you were faking it. Don’t you remember earlier Mia?"

  He gives Mia a look that makes her shiver and her face burns red. Before she can say anything, blue and red lights flood my driveway as the cops pull into the driveway.

  Christian turns to me, his cop mode in full effect. “Let me handle them. Just tell them what you saw and nothing else." I nod my head and follow him down the stairs.

  Chapter 27

  Xavier

  A few hours later, the cops finally leave with my smashed car on a wrecker. They’re taking it back to their forensic lab. They’re being tight lipped with any information they have and it’s pissing me off.

  Izzy and Mia are in the kitchen getting something to eat. Christian, Nolan and myself are in my living room. Nolan is sitting on the mahogany brown couch next to me, Christian in the matching chair.

  “Fucker, I can't believe you finally asked her. When did you do it? Where did you do it?" Nolan asks.

  “Well, we were at the hospital. Izzy came out from visiting Austin. She looked so broken and upset. Then she told me her biggest fear was being all alone. I told her that she will always have the three of us. She was so sad, that I felt it was the right time.” I explain.

  Just then the girls come into the living room with popcorn, warmed up pizza and ice cream. I raise my eyebrows at all the food they set down on the coffee table. Mia shrugs her shoulders and sits on Christian’s lap in the chair.

  “We need comfort food.” She says between bites of pizza.

  Christian laughs and takes a bite of Mia’s pizza. Izzy sits down next to me with a pint of cookie dough ice cream. She tucks her legs up underneath her butt and leans into me. I give her a quick kiss and steal the ice cream she has on her spoon.

  “You’re lucky I love you.” she grumbles. I laugh as I grab a handful of popcorn.

  “So, what are we going to do now?" Nolan asks as he picks up a slice of pizza. Christian is the first to answer.

  “I don’t think you two need to be alone. With the big race tomorrow night, we need to be on high alert. Xavier, did you check the garage and see if they messed with the cars?"

  “Fuck no, I didn’t even think about it.” I say shaking my head. My skin is on fire, burning from anger even thinking about that asshole having time to touch our cars.

  “OK, let’s go and check it out. Make sure the garage is locked up tight.” Christian says. We get up and head outside into the night. Mia and Izzy stay in the house binge eating.

  The night breeze feels good against my heated skin as I lead Nolan and Christian to the garage and unlock the door. I flip on the lights and my heart is hammering in my chest. I’m praying nothing is wrong in here. I wipe my hands on my jeans as I look around the garage. This is a big race for both Izzy and me. If we win this, not only will we be getting a big payout, but our names will be known in the whole racing circuit and will get invites to other big races across the country. Something we have been dreaming of for years.

  Nolan, Christian and I are walking around my car. Everything seems in order, nothing missing or out of place. We walk to the back of my garage where Izzy’s car is locked up tight.

  I flip on that light switch and my heart drops to my toes. Across the side of her car that I had specialized for her is all scratched out and DIE BITCH written in red paint. The paint is still dripping onto the floor.

  “Holy fuck." Nolan yells out.

  I grab a rag from the shelf behind me and begin wiping the paint off. Nolan and Christian do the same. The room is quiet as we try to wipe as much paint off as we can when I hear something metal hit the concrete floor out in the other room. I pause and turn on my heals, narrowing my eyes towards the noise.

  I get up and walk quickly and quietly toward my car. Christian and Nolan are right behind me. Just as I reach the doorway I spot a black figure near the door.

  “Stop." I demand.

  The figure stops just as they reach the door. They keep their back to us, hands are in the air, a black hoodie is over their head, so I can’t make them out. I approach them cautiously, taking in the fact that it’s a woman.

  Just as I reach her she speaks, her back is still to me. “I’ve warned the bitch to stay away. First, she takes you away from me, now she takes him away, she will fucking die." The venom in her voice makes me pause long enough for her to run out the door into the dark night.

  I finally snap out of it and follow Christian and Nolan outside. I spot them running down the driveway from the glow of the moonlight. I catch up to them at the end of my long driveway, my brain running in a million different directions. Her voice sounds familiar and should ring a bell on who it is, but nothing is coming to mind.

  “Xavier.” Nolan snaps a finger in my face.

  I turn to him, my face must be portraying what I’m feeling because he looks at me with sympathetic eyes.

  “We need to talk. But first we have to clean Izzy’s car.” Nolan says, regret in his voice.

  I nod my head and we walk back into my garage. I grab the paint thinner and a new rag. No one saying anything as we work. I keep looking at Nolan and he keeps shaking his head, telling me it’s not time yet.

  We clean up her car from the red paint and go inside my house. I enter first, Nolan and Christian are right behind me. I spot Izzy looking out the living room window into the dark night, her arms wrapped around her waist, a blank look on her face. I walk up behind her, needing to hold her and wrap my arms around her, pulling her close to me. I lean down so my chin is resting on her right shoulder and just hold her tight. She shivers and takes a deep breath.

  “What’s going on Xavier?" She’s trying to be strong, but she’s tight with tension.

  Nolan speaks before I can get a chance. “I know who that woman was and you’re not going to like it." I turn both Izzy and I around to look at Nolan.

  “What woman?” Izzy asks. Her voice is calm, but her body is trembling. Ignoring Izzy’s question, Nolan motions us to the couch.

  “You
’re going to want to sit down for this.” Nolan nods his head at the couch.

  He’s standing up pacing back and forth across the living room, running his hands through his hair. I lead Izzy to the couch and we sit down. She curls her body around mine and rests her head on my chest.

  “Ok, you have our attention Nolan, what is it.” I demand.

  Nolan stops pacing and looks out the window that Izzy was at. He’s lost in his own world for a few minutes, staring into the night.

  “This is going to be hard, for both of you.” Nolan says quietly. “It’s why I haven’t said anything yet. I wanted to find out more information before I told you, but with tonight’s incident I can’t wait any longer." He turns from the window and looks at us. “Do you remember the incident five years ago? Of course you do. It’s etched in all our brains for the last five years. You’ve all contemplated what happened and why. None of you knew who she was and why she did that."

  I interrupt Nolan. “Bro, you’re rambling. Spit out what you want to say." Nolan nods his head and takes a deep breath.

  “The woman is Marie.” Nolan says. Izzy body turns stiff underneath mine and she sucks in a deep breath.

  “Are you sure?" She asks Nolan.

  He nods his head. “Positive." One word and Izzy looks like she’s going to shatter into a million pieces.

  I’m so lost right now. “Who the fuck is Marie?" I ask.

  Izzy turns her head up to look at me, sadness is in her eyes. “She is the one who broke us up.”

  My heart just dropped out of my chest and fell into my toes. My stomach is churning. I’m going to be sick as bits and pieces from that night come flooding back to me.

  “What?" I ask, breathlessly.

  Nolan nods his head, but I don’t acknowledge him. I’m still looking into Izzy’s sad eyes. She takes a deep breath and sits up, pulling herself away from me. Mia and Christian are sitting quietly in the chair, watching us. I go to take her hand, but she stops me, holding up a palm towards me. My heart splits in two.