Page 174 of Happy Hour

Air pressure, track changed, shoddy pit stops, a handful of cautions for debris, the entire race went this way and I wasn’t surprised to see I finished thirty-second.

If I kept this shit up—we could forget about any chance at the championship. As I sat right now, with four DNF’s I was now fourth in the race for the championship, not good in my mind.

With a new team, I understood the time for transition but this was out of our control. I still felt we were unstoppable but I also couldn’t see past the frustration in the heat of the moment.

When my anger past and gained some composure, I walked back to the motor coach to gather my bags and then head to Orlando.

Bobby stopped me, his expression similar to mine. “Hey dude, how’d you finish?”

“Thirty-second,” I mumbled pulling my sweatshirt over my shoulders and began walking again. “It was rough out there.”

“You did better than me; I ended up thirty-eighth.” Bobby kept step with me. “I wanted to talk to you about Darrin.”

“Oh yeah,” I turned towards him. “What about?”

A few lingering fans at the entrance to the drivers compound pushed forward for autographs to which we offered.

“I’ve heard some things in the garage...looks like he’s out for blood this time.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked grimly, tired of this shit. Everyone wanted to warn me about Darrin but had nothing to warn me about, no hard evidence as to what he had planned.

“He wants to end you career, Jameson.”

“Oh,” I said sarcastically stopping outside my motor coach. “And how does Darrin plan on doing that?”

“By wrecking you...” Bobby’s brown eyes held nothing by worry. “Listen Jameson,” he shifted his weight, deciding his delivery. “I’m not one to get caught up in this bullshit of he said she said, but when it comes to my teammate, a person who I have the utmost respect for, I pay attention. IknowDarrin—I’ve known him since my days racing quarter midgets. You’re not the first person he’s threatened their career with. And if he succeeds, you wouldn’t be the first person whose career was endedby him.” His expression was blank, his eyes gauging me.

“Who?”

“My best friend, when I was nineteen. We were racing out of Knoxville Raceway. Darrin and Kasey had been battling all season in the Silver Crown Series.”

“Kasey O’Neil?”

Bobby nodded. “The race wasn’t tapped so no one knowsreallywhat happened, but I was behind Kasey the entire time.” Bobby took a deep breath. “I watched as Darrin purposely clipped his left rear.”

Spencer walked out of the motor coach, leaning against the side as Bobby continued. “When Kasey’s car finally came to a rest against the guardrails there was nothing left. The roll cage failed and was crushed on top of him.” Emotion welled up in his eyes before collecting himself quickly. “He died on the way to the hospital from massive head injuries.”

“I heard about him,” Spencer said. “His dad races on the World of Outlaw series with our dad, Langley O’Neil, right?”

Bobby nodded. “Yep,” He shifted his feet and then looked towards me again. “Just be careful.” He stared at me with obvious doubt in his eyes. “I thought he hated Kasey, but Kasey was nowhere near the driver you are. I’ve never seen someone do the things you can do in a race car Jameson.”

“What do you suggest I do?”

“I suggest you steer clear of him.” Bobby eyes shifted to Spencer who snorted. “If you run into him on the track, let him go. It’s not worth it.”

“I will not pull back.” I replied undeterred. “If he wants to end my career, let him try. I’m going to race him the same as I race any other driver out there.”

Bobby shook his head, frustrated. “I’ll see you in Pocono.” He patted my back, shook Spencer’s hand and then walked towards the heli-pad.

Here’s the thing, I’d encountered cocky drivers before and what I learned most was ignorance to the situation. The more you knew; the more frustrated and involved you became with them and failed to concentrate onwhyyou were racing in the first place.

Once I landed in Orlando, I tried calling Sway but it was almost midnight her time so I assumed she was probably sleeping.

Aiden and Spencer came with me to Orlando and brought Lane. Once we landed, he was complaining about being hungry. Having a hungry 3-year old was something none of us were willing to deal with. This was how we ended up at an Applebee’s in the airport.

“Can you believe this fucking service?” Spencer complained looking over his shoulder. “It’s an airport, I’ll give them that much but seriously, I asked for a beer like an hour ago.”

“Keep your voice down.” Aiden hushed him when an elderly lady balked at his reaction. “You’re offending people.” Aiden’s eyes dropped back to the menu. He’d yet to figure out what to eat. After all, this decision usually took hours for him.

---