Pole Position

by H. M. Montes

I shook my head, “Fuck you.” I told her.

  She continued stroking my cock through my jeans, “I miss this, I miss you. The way the veins bulge around it starting at the base all the way to the tip. Remember the way you use to fill me up so much I would scream out from pleasure and pain? Hmm?”

  “You’re a fucking bitch.”

  “Mmm, talk dirty to me Jet.” She said then handed me a condom from her pocket.

  I stood there with the condom in my hand, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t cheat on Chassis. I shook my head no, reached back and unclasped her ankles from behind me. “Not gonna happen.” I told her and stepped back wiping her lip gloss off of my lips.

  “Jet, I know you still have feelings for me.” Riley whined and stepped towards me.

  “No Riley, I fucking don’t. What just happened will NEVER happen again with you. I would have given anything to at least meet my son but no you fucking ruined that for me.”

  “Jet, I told you I wasn’t going to be able to provide for him like he deserves.”

  “I fucking know OKAY. I understand that, but don’t you think you could have at least had the fucking decency to tell ME?” I yelled at her. She flinched then her eyes filled with tears.

  “I just…I knew that you would want me to keep him and I didn’t want to have to put my life on hold. I…I’m sorry.” She cried and tried to pull me towards her.

  I jerked her hands off of my chest, “Well, it’s a little late for apologies, I can’t believe what just happened…FUCK!” I yelled and walked away from her.

  I tried calling Chassis but she didn’t answer, I tried at least ten more times but the calls went straight to voicemail. I tried calling my brother, Jerod, and Mitch but none of them answered either. I had heard the music start for the stripping contest so I figured that they were all probably hanging out watching that show. I looked around the crowd but couldn’t find anybody from my race team, I spotted Carley “Hey do you know where my race team is at?” I yelled over the music. She shook her head no then turned and started talking to another lady. I decided to go check the RV to see if they were there, I walked in the living room area and back to the bedroom. Chassis was curled up on the bed sound asleep. My stomach rolled at the thought of what I had done with Riley and how it was going to break Chassis heart for me to tell her. I would wait until we left Boone on Saturday to do that, I wasn’t going to fight with her about it here.

  I took a shower, then climbed into bed behind Chassis, I tried to curl my body around hers but she rolled onto her stomach and scooted away from me. I knew that she had drunk a lot so I didn’t bother trying to pull her to me. I rolled over and laid there staring at the ceiling, the picture of my son was embedded in my memory. I laid there thinking about everything he was probably learning, I wondered if his adopted parents knew about me, I thought about the day that he may or may not want to meet me.

  The following morning I woke up around ten o’clock, I stretched my arm across the bed but Chassis wasn’t there. Scubbing my hands down my face I threw the covers back then got up and brushed my teeth and showered. After getting dressed I went to the hauler, Mitch, Jerod, and Jason were all standing around talking and eating breakfast.

  “Where the hell did all of you run off to last night?” I asked as I looked through the Ihop bag until I found a couple of breakfast burritos.

  “We couldn’t find you around one so we all decided to call it a night, Chassis and Asher were both tired and drunk so we figured it would be best to just go to bed.” Mitch told me then took a big bite of pancakes doused in syrup.

  “I got side tracked by Riley.” I told them around a mouth full of food. “Where are Chass and Asher anyways? Chass wasn’t in the camper when I got up.”

  Jason shook his head and glared at me, “Next time maybe you should answer your phone.” He told me.

  I yanked the picture out of my back pocket and threw it on the decking of my car, “Well there’s my son. Chase Michael.”

  Jerod grabbed the picture, “Shit man he’s like your mini-me.” He said then handed it to Jason who only nodded his head then let Mitch look at the picture. He didn’t say anything just laid the picture back on the decking of my car.

  “So did you and Riley, kiss and make up?” Jason asked rudely.

  Memories of the monumental fuck up flooded me, my stomach turned, I glared at Jason, “Fuck you man, she’ll leave me alone now at least.” I told him then walked into the hauler. I tried calling Chass it rang four times then went to voice mail, I waited a few minutes and tried again only to be greeted with her beautiful voice, “Hey it’s Chass leave a message and I’ll call you back.” I hung up then sent her a text, *Morning beautiful, where are you at? I’ve tried to call u* instantly the little delivered word turned to read. While I waited for her to text me back I put my fire suit on and my race shoes. I checked my phone again to see if she had sent anything back but she hadn’t.

  About an hour later I still hadn’t heard from Chassis, her and Asher were still gone and nobody seemed to know where they had went besides, “To town” was all Jason knew. Over the P.A. system they announced that A-modified heat races would be starting in one hour. The pit crew worked on tire pressure and spraying the car down with baby oil water to help keep the mud from building up on my car. We hurried to get the car over to the inspection tent then back over to our trailer before they called for my class. I put tear offs on my helmet and checked again to see if Chassis had text me back but she hadn’t.

  “What the fuck did they go to town for? She hasn’t called or text me back.” I said to Jerod.

  “Not sure, Carley went too they are probably shopping would be my guess.”

  I tried calling again when I got her voice mail I left her a message, “Hey it’s me, I’ll be running heat races in about twenty minutes. I love you.” I said then hung up.

  Thirty minutes later they called for the A-modified’s to line up at the staging area. Jerod motioned for me that it was all clear to pull out of our pit stall, then walked off as I drove to the lineup area. I was in the first heat race and would be starting on the third row inside. They motioned for us to pull on to the track, after circling one time the green light stayed on. The flag man waved the green flag and the guy in the race receiver yelled, “Green Green Green!”

  The laps ticked off as I passed car after car, Cameron’s was set up perfect and the engine was bad fast. With two laps to go I passed for the lead and pulled away from the rest of the field. “Good clean racin' boys, the Fifty Two J, Jet Crow was the winner. The A-qualifier will be right after the last modified heat race.” The guy told us as we pulled off the track to go through the scale area. Once back at the trailer I backed my car into the pit stall, revved the engine a few times then shut it off. Jason let my window net down.

  “This beast looks like its fucking fast.” He said with a big smile.

  “Ha, that’s an understatement!” I told him after I pulled my helmet and fire proof sleeve off.

  I finally got out of the car, went to the trailer to get a bottle of water, “Has Chass and Asher came back yet?” I asked.

  “Uh yeah, they said they wanted to watch from the grandstands today.” Mitch told me.

  “Why the fuck do they want to sit up there?” I asked then took a big drink of water. I checked my phone Chassis had sent me a text message, *Good Job!* ~ *Thank you why are you in the grandstands though?* ~ *Just wanted to watch from here instead of doing all the walking.* ~ *I haven’t seen you today or even got to kiss your beautiful lips though.* I waited for her reply but she never said anything back. I walked out of the trailer to where the pit crew was looking over the car, Jason made air pressure adjustments while Mitch and Jerod finished scraping mud. Everybody seemed to be unusually quiet, I figured it was due to the hangover they all probably had.

  Mom called me to see how the races had been going, when I told her that my main car was totaled she sounded like she was about ready to cry. I assured her that I was fine and
told her I had just ran a heat race and won it using Cameron’s back up car.

  “Tell your brother to keep me posted on how today goes and be careful Jet. By the way how is Chassis doing?”

  “I’ll tell him, I haven’t seen her yet today, she went to town earlier with Asher and another friend. They are sitting in the grandstands I guess.”

  “The grand stands? I never got to sit up there with you boys, your dad made sure of that. I’m sure the view is much different.” She told me with a laugh.

  “Yeah that’s what I was thinking but she said she wasn’t up for all the walking today, my guess is she might be a little hung over.”

  “Well take care of her Jet!” mom screeched into the phone. Then asked to talk to Jason.

  Just as Jason hung up with mom, they called for the A-qualifier race for the modified to line up at the staging area. I got in my car and buckled in, “Remember top four go to the big dance, you’ll have all day tomorrow off if you make the top four.” Jason told me as he locked my window net in place. I gave him thumbs up and started my car, Jerod motioned for me to pull out of the stall again.

  I was starting two rows from the back and needed to work my way up to at least fourth. We pulled onto the track and made one lap like usual, then out of turn four the green flag was flying. With twenty five laps I needed to be able to make it from almost last ,clear to the front. All the guys were racing and driving hard and fast into each corner. It’s not very often that you go more than seven or eight laps without a caution coming out but according to the guy talking to us through the race receiver we were doing, “Specfuckintacular!” On lap eighteen the caution came out for three cars that had tangled behind me and had to be pulled to the pit area. I was currently running in sixth with ten laps to go. Once the green flag dropped again, I found a high line and started passing car after car until I was right on the rear bumper of the leader. “White flag lap.” The guy told us as we pulled sideways off of turn four down the front stretch. The leader dove to the bottom as I slung along the high side through turn one and two, out of turn two we were neck in neck for the lead down the backstretch. Turn three came and we both stayed on the same line, him at the bottom and me at the top. As we flew down the front stretch under the checkered flag I blew out a breath. The guy came over the race receiver, “Fifty two J over eleven X by one tenth of a second. Great race guys, be sure to go through the scales and we’ll see you top four on Saturday night.”

  I pulled off the track to go through the scaling and tech area, after twenty minutes I drove to the trailer and backed the car up in front of the trailer. Jerod ran to the car and lowered my window net, “Great fucking race man! Next year I have to bring my car for damn sure.” He said as he patted my shoulder.

  Once I was out of the car, Cameron was all smiles, “Holy shit son, you looked like a million bucks out there.” He said and held his hand out.

  I shook his hand, “Thank you! This car is a god damn rocket I think I’ll let you keep the carnage inside our hauler and we’ll just take this beast back with us.”

  We all laughed as Cameron talked about the last driver and how he, “Tore more shit up than he could shake a stick at.” Were his exact words. We talked about the All Star race and agreed that it would be up to me if I wanted to race it or not. I told Cameron I would let him know Saturday morning.

  After numerous drivers and people had been over to talk to us and looked over the car we finally made our way to the concession stand.

  “Are the girls coming back to the pits or what?” I asked as put ketchup, pickles, and mustard on my cheeseburger.

  “I’m not sure what they are doing, I know they both said they have some assignments to do.” Mitch said.

  I nodded my head turned around and ran right into Riley. She smiled, “Great race out there, I think your good luck charm worked from last night.”

  I rolled my eyes and walked away from her without even saying a word. Once I was back at the trailer I checked my phone to see that Chassis had sent me another text telling me good job. I called her, “Hey.” She answered in her soft voice.

  “Hey, so how do you like the grandstands?”

  “I don’t mind it, they definitely don’t let people get bored up here that’s for sure. I’ve won a t-shirt and Asher has a new hoodie, they give them away up here!” She said with a laugh.

  “So, are you coming back out to the pits?”

  “Sometime, we both have papers we need to work on and get emailed in so we don’t get a zero.”

  “Well I’d really like to see you, I haven’t had a chance to even talk to you since the wet t-shirt contest last night.”

  “We’ll be out there sometime, I’ll let you know when.”

  “Chass, is something wrong? It sorta seems like you are avoiding me.”

  “No, I’ll..I’ll let you know when we are coming out there.” She said then hung up. I stood there looking at my phone. “What the fuck?” I said to myself.

  “What?” Jason asked

  “Chassis, if I didn’t know better I’d think she’s avoiding me. I apologized to her for snapping at her after yesterday’s wreck, surely she isn’t pissed about that.”

  Jason just shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something I couldn’t understand as he walked into the trailer.

  “What did you just say?” I asked

  He looked up at me and shook his head, “Nothing.”

  “Bullshit, what the fuck is going on?”

  “She…I think she just massively hung over.”

  “Right.” I said and shook my head.

  The rest of the afternoon we watched some of the other class’s race and visited with the race teams parked next to us. I decided I would go to the RV and take a nap then work on the assignments I needed to.

  I bought another cheeseburger then headed to the camper, once there I opened the door. There sat Chassis and Asher with their laptops on the table as their fingers flew across the keyboard.

  “I thought you were going to let me know when you were coming out here.” I said then kissed her on the top of her head before I sat down next to her.

  “Yeah, uh, sorry we haven’t been here long.” She said but never looked away from her computer.

  She would stop typing, flip through her notebook then start typing again.

  “So I think I’ve got a damn good chance at winning Saturday night, Cameron wants me to run the All Star race too.”

  “Awesome!” She said with a smile then flipped through more notes and typed more on her laptop.

  Asher looked up at me over her laptop screen then looked back at her screen, “Chass do you have the notes from Tuesday? I know I took some but I can’t find them.”

  Chass dug in her back pack pulled out another notebook, flipped through the pages then handed it across the small table to Asher.

  “Do you think I should run the All Star race? Cameron’s car is pretty fast.”

  “Sure, I think you would have fun.” Chassis said but never looked away from her laptop.

  I wrinkled my eyebrows together, “When are these due?”

  “Friday by noon.” Was all she said.

  “Asher will you give us a minute, I want to talk to Chass alone.” I’d had enough of Chassis being so short and cold towards me so I wanted to talk to her.

  “I’m right in the middle of this I’m not stopping now!” She told me with an irritated tone.

  I looked over at Chassis, “What the fuck is your deal? You won’t look at me, you barely talk to me and you act like you could care less about the races.”

  Her fingers stilled over the keyboard for a split second, “I just want to get this typed up so I can proof read it before I have to email it.” She said but never looked at me.

  “What the fuck ever.” I said then stood up from the table and walked back to the bedroom. I could still hear her and Asher typing away on their laptops as I laid there staring at the ceiling. I thought about what I had done with Riley and felt my own h
eart skip a beat as I thought about my son. I dozed off and was woken up three hours later by a very drunk Jerod.

  He was determined to get me drunk he said as he tried to get me to take a shot of tequila. I walked into the living area, Chassis and Asher’s laptops weren’t on the table and their back packs were shoved under the table. “Where’d they go now?” I asked Jerod.

  “Uhhh (he closed one eye) I think Wal-Mart? I can’t remember. Ask Mitch or Jason even though I think they might be a just as wasted as I am.”

  I pulled my phone out and called Chassis, it rang three times then went to voice mail. I sent her a text; *Where r u?* ~ *At the store, bbl* ~ *Like when? Soon?* ~ *Not sure will let you know when we r headed bk* ~ *Chass what is going on?* ~ *Nthng, just came to do some shopping w/ Asher and Carley* ~ *Well I’d like to spend some time with you to, can you fit me into your overly busy schedule sometime this weekend?* ~ *Yeah*

  I slammed my phone down on the table, “I sure wish I knew what her fucking problem is.” I grumbled

  “Who? Chass?” Jerod asked

  “Yeah CHASS, who the fuck else would I be worried about?”

  He shrugged his shoulders then walked out of the camper. I grabbed my phone off the counter and followed behind him. Lawrence greeted me with a gallon jug of his famous ‘Apple Pie’. “Dude that backup car is faster than shit!” He yelled. I nodded my head then poured me a cup of the apple pie.

  “That it is. So what’s going on tonight?” I asked.

  “Another stripping contest and the live band.”

  “Have you hung out with Chassis much?”

  “Eh a little, she got hooched last night.” He said with a big smile.

  I shook my head, “Yeah and she’s been fucking bitchy and avoiding me all damn day too. I’m guessing the hangover is kicking her ass.”

  “HA, probably! She won almost eight hundred bucks from the wet t-shirt contest. I think it was burning a hole in her pocket so they just had to go see what stores were in town.”

  I nodded my head then turned and grabbed two beers out of the cooler, “Well I guess I’ll drink while I wait for her to get back.”