Page 32 of Black Flag

“Must be hard,”

He pressed forward.“Hard indeed,”

“This turned you on?”

He hung his head inshame. “No,youturned me on.”

“Sad.” I shook my headguiding his lips to mine. “Come here you possessive pervert.”

We didn’t get a chancefor things to heat up before Alley returned looking for Jameson. “Stop that.”She barked slapping at us tangled together. “Jameson, you have an interview inten minutes—get moving.”

Interviews were alwaysexciting so I decided it would be beneficial if not entertaining to attend.Sitting along the side of the stage with Alley, Jameson, Kyle, and Jimi did thefirst press conference since the accident.

Just a few minutes intoit, I was impressed by Jameson’s calm manner. They questioned himendlessly on his thoughts on Darrin, all of which he answered with vagueresponses.

What stunned both Alleyand I, was Jimi’s reaction to his thoughts on the wreck.

Jimi wasn’t a man ofmany words in the public eye.Never had been.Over theyears, he managed to avoid press at all costs, until now.

“Iwill notsitback and watch another driver try to kill my son,” His tone final. “These twohave been battling all year and I’ve let it go but Darrin will be heldaccountable for his actions if I have to sue NASCAR myself.” Jimi threatenedtriggering a loud cheer from the crowd gathered in front of the stage.

The reporter thenturned his questions to Jameson once again. “Jameson,” my eyes scanned towardJameson who was slouched in the director’s chair completely relaxed. “You andDarrin have been battling all season long with each other like Jimi said. Nowthat he’s been suspended, what do you think your chances are for a championshiphere in your first full cup season?”

Jameson nodded, hiseyes focused on the microphone as he tugged on the bill of his hat. “You know...we had a shot before the wreck.” Hishead skewed slightly toward Jimi. “Now...it’shard to say. We missed three races and took a massive hit in the points butWarnerLeddydid us a huge favor by getting in thecar at Watkins Glen and Michigan. I have an excellent team and sponsor whosupports me. We have amazing cars with Riley Simplex Racing.” He reached forthe water in front of him and took a quick drink. “If we can manage top tenfinishes and stay consistent, I think we still have a shot at it but all thoseaspects have to line up to do so.”

“Why do you thinkDarrin wrecked you after the race?”

Jameson let out asarcastic laugh. “That’s a question you should ask him. Only he knows why.”

We knew Darrin’s motivebut we didn’t knowwhyhe was so intently focused on it. He was obsessedand I had a feeling it wasn’t truly over between Jameson and Darrin.

Phillip was working onbringing a lawsuit forth with reckless endangerment but with lack of detailssurrounding the accident, they didn’t have much to go on.

While the prehearingconference was held last Monday, it wasn’t looking promising. What most failedto realize was when you raced in the elite levels of NASCAR, you followed therules governed by the sport. Besides that, most fines issued by NASCAR werebeyond any fine Darrin would have received if the accident occurred off thetrack. You had to prove without a doubt to the courts that Darrin’s actionswere inherent to the sport, something that would be difficult.

Another thirty minutesinto the press conference, I left with Alley and waited back at the motor coachfor Jameson.

Once there, I spottedAiden stepping out with a sandwich his southern grin boyish.

“Hey,” I said noddingmy head toward him with my own grin. “You spottingforhim tomorrow?” I couldn’t help myself and giggled.

“It’s a day race.”Aiden scrunched his nose. “I think I’ll be okay.”

The night race inBristol was not Aiden’s favorite. He once paid Tommy $1000 to spot for Jamesonif it was going to be a night race.

At Bristol MotorSpeedway, in the heat of August, perched on the towers outside turn two; thebugs would swarm by the millions.

Apparently, last yearthey had this big debate where Aiden basically refused to go up in the tower onnight races in the South.

Jameson would get akick out of this and would say something along the lines of: “If you hearAiden’s voice crackling—he just swallowed a cicada.”

Poor Aiden even went asfar as wearing a ski mask pulled down over his mouth so the bugs would say out.It wasthatbad.

I wasn’t inside themotor coach long when Jameson returned with my favorite smile plastered acrosshis face; abnormal for an afternoon with the media.

“Hi,” I mumbled againsthis lips, my legs wrapped around his waist.

He laughed. “Well,hello there beautiful,”

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