Potential - S01 E255

Story 1 month ago

Potential - S01 E255

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 255

Candy tried to nod, but the back of her head was pressed against the wall. The girl's eyes were fierce with the same dark, intense anger Candy had seen in Deana's eyes. This can't be happening, Candy told herself, but it was happening. She wanted to puke. The pretend world she lived in was unraveling. She held Cindy like she would have held Gloria if somebody had hurt her. This nineteen- year-old girl knew the same hopeless, helpless terror that came when someone had the power to control you. Sally must have known Candy needed to figure it out on her own, so she only hinted at the truth.

In the pits, Harry patted Evan on the back and said, "We only got a few minutes, so I'll wish you luck now, even though you don't need it."

"Thank you, and thanks for all the pointers," Evan said. "I know they'll help.

"Be careful and listen to Cindy, and keep your visor down at all times.

Evan nodded and turned around. The silhouettes of Jason, KK and Billy Joe between the two haulers made his emotions heavy. It was one of the most important moments of his life, and his biggest fans weren't there. Candy had always cheered louder than the other mothers, and he always tried to make her proud. It would be great if Candy, Deana, and Gloria could be here, but they're not, he told himself, shook off the sadness and headed toward the fans who were there.

In the shadow of the trailer, Evan's eyes tried to adjust. The dirty blonde bangs and pigtails jutting from the sides of the girl's head made Billy Joe look exactly like Becky. They also shared a mouth that seemed too big for their face, and nipples that screamed for a bra. He raised his brows to Jason as a sign of approval, wondering if BJ shared Becky's propensity for risky sex. Probably no chance for it with the overprotective KK as her friend.

Ticket girl stepped in front of him and asked, "You excited or scared?"

KK knew about racing. She understood the highs and lows, the wild spikes of adrenaline and the crushing blow from a bad race. Evan was glad she was there. "Both," he said and asked, "KK, what does that stand for?"

She gave him a smug grin. "How do you know my parents didn't name me, KK?"

"Nobody knows," Billy Joe said and bumped shoulders with KK. "Right?"

"That's right" KK said.

Evan gave her a suspicious look, pointing at the red dirt stains on KK's knees. "Did you fall down?"

She stood on one foot, lifted her leg, and looked at her knee. "No, was kneeling," she said. "I was fixing Billy Joe's hair. I'm good at doing hair."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said. "Hey, make sure you don't yell my name when I race.

KK smirked and said, "But like yelling out names."

The flirty ticket-girl had taken on another persona, and it struck Evan that she was probably good at a few things other than fixing hair. "I'll keep that in mind, too."

She leaned in and pushed up on her toes. "Keep the shiny side up," she said and kissed him. 'BJ, give him a big fat good luck kiss."

That's weird, Evan thought but bent down for the Becky sized girl. Billy Joe's fingers combed through his hair, around to the back of his neck, and she pulled his face to hers. To prove she shared more than appearance with Becky, BJ shoved her tongue into his mouth. The girl's sensual mouth tasted like bubble gum and made him want more. "Okay, that's good," KK said.

"Wow, thanks," he said and shot Jason a look.

"She kisses good, doesn't she?" KK asked.

"Very good," Evan said. "Hey, I gotta strap in. See you after.

There is no drivers-start-your-engines at the local dirt track, just a rumbling line of cars waiting. Evan bumped the accelerator, blowing a dust cloud. The butterflies couldn't be held at bay with a harness. The line of cars started to move. He pushed the shifter forward. The car lurched.

The lines of cars were moving. Nobody knew Evan was a rookie, which meant they wouldn't give him space or cut him any slack trying to avoid a wreck. It scared him to think that they all thought he was Dale. All the guys respected Dale, and they ran him hard because he won a lot of races.

From the high-side of turn two, the cars flowed on to the back straightaway. There weren't any stands back there in what was referred to as no man's land. The retainer wall was a shorter version of the front straightaway wall without a catch fence. It hadn't happened yet, that Evan knew of, but if a car went over the wall, it would roll down the hill that was behind the track.

Evan felt every pebble, clump of dirt and divot under his tires. He started to zigzag like everyone else as they drove toward turn three. The track surface wasn't the way it had been during hot laps. The tacky red clay was gone. Dale's car fishtailed when Evan used some horsepower to clean his tires.

From the middle of turns three and four, Evan looked above the menacing concrete, through the chain link fence, and up the grass hill, but he couldn't distinguish one person from another. He turned his attention to the front straightaway. The bright lights from the grandstands reflected off the glossy dirt surface. It looked like greased asphalt and felt harder than pavement. Evan punched the accelerator. The car shot forward. He jumped on the brake pedal. His head jerked forward. This wasn't a go-cart race in broad daylight, and he wouldn't see Candy jumping and screaming for him. He knew the two girls, Jason and Cindy were up there. That would have to do.

On the front straightaway, driving toward the pit end of the track, the lights mounted on top of poles made the glare terrible, but Evan knew under race conditions the dust would be so thick that the glare wouldn't be an issue.

Evan tried to remember if the flagman had given them the next lap signal, but in his exciternent, he hadn't paid attention. How was he supposed to do it at full speed? This is the super stock division race, Evan reminded himself. Compared to the super late models it would appear they were barely moving.

In turn one, the bump that had upset his car during hot laps didn't have anything left to give. Qualifying and the previous races had ground it out. The dirt berm that grew throughout the night was already large enough to get a nice rim-ride, but it wouldn't be enough to keep him out of the concrete if he got on it too hard. Evan looked up at all the people lining the pit fence, it was the other drivers, pit crews, families, and friends. Harry would be up there and maybe Uncle JC.

Cindy said, "If you can hear me, shake, shake, shake your booty." He loved the sound of her voice. Right, left, right he whipped the steering wheel. 'Good," she said. Too bad he couldn't talk to her. "One more lap and it's go-time. Remember, it's just a Sunday drive.