Page 36 of Dirt Driven

“No, he’s not driving,” Mom assured her.

Hayden stayed back and locked up the merchandise trailers while Mom, Lily, Rosa, and I escorted Kinsley back to the pits. A thick cloud of dirt hovered in the air, wind whipping around in a swirling motion as the cars roared by turns three and four. Jerry’s voice echoed from the loudspeakers near us. “Bouncing the right rear off the cushion and dipping down low into turn four, Rager Sweet takes over the lead from Rowdy Riley in the nine. Two to go this time by.”

Mom and me smiled at one another. Sure, Dad lost the lead, but we all knew how much Rager wanted a win this season.

Rosa, who was walking beside me digging through her nanny pack as she called it, snorted. “Driving would be a bit hard for Dave tonight.”

I glanced over at Rosa. “Why?”

“He was arrested.”

“Again?” Mom and Lily said in unison.

Believe me when I said that none of us were surprised by that, and we didn’t bother to question why.

“Ah, there it is.” Rosa found what she was looking for and held a juice box. “Here.” She handed Kinsley what looked to be orange juice in a carton.

Kinsley stared at the juice in her hand. “Is it normal to feel like my stomach is going to rip apart?”

“Yes” was another collective answer among the five of us.

“We need to get her to the truck before the cars start rolling off the track,” I added, fearing we wouldn’t make it to a vehicle in time. I seriously thought about commandeering someone’s car in the parking lot, but I had no idea how to go about it. If Dave hadn’t been arrested, this would have been a task for him. Not me. Or maybe even Casten. He had stolen a car once before.

We managed to get Kinsley into the pits and near Dave’s truck, but not in it. “Seriously,” she cried, clutching her stomach. “I think she’s coming out.”

Mom flagged down the safety officials in the pits to help us. The only problem was the ambulance couldn’t leave the track until the race was over. Lily acted quickly and got Kinsley laying down while Rosa held her upper body. By the time we had Caden’s hauler closed up, Zac, Jensen, Tommy, and Lane had returned.

“Sweet won,” Tommy told us, smiling as he peeked his head in the side door. “Why is the hauler—” We didn’t have to answer him once he noticed Kinsley spread eagle and screaming. “Where’s Caden?”

“On the front stretch.” Zac looked over Tommy’s shoulder. “What’s wrong? Oh, shit. Is she in labor?”

“Arie?” Rosa whispered, tugging on my hand. I didn’t answer her at first. I was too busy trying to see where the damn ambulance was. When I didn’t look over at her, she slapped my cheek. “Arie?”

I snapped my head her direction, nervously biting my nails. “What?”

“Is alcohol bad for pregnant women?”

All of us girls stared at Rosa. “Are you serious?”

“No.” She gasped, her eyes darting around the hauler and then to her nanny pack. “I was just joking. But it can’t be any worse than the drugs they give you to birth these little aliens.”

I blinked rapidly. “Did that orange juice have alcohol in it?”

“Did it?” she asked, acting as though she was perplexed as to why I would ask. If you knew Rosa, you would understand this was how most conversations went with her.

“How am I supposed to know?” I waved at her nanny pack. “You’re the one that stocks that damn thing. Be honest, do you give my babies alcohol during the day? Is that why they’re always ready to take a nap at noon?”

She sighed, as if she couldn’t believe I’d question her. “I don’t remember.”

“Is she really having a baby right now?” Tommy asked, peeking his head inside further.

“What the fuck do you think, Tommy?” Kinsley took a handful of mom’s hair and pulled. “Listen, I don’t want to have this baby here at a dirt track.” Her hand dropped immediately, her eyes wide. “There’s a lot of pressure.”

“Go get Jameson,” Mom told Tommy when Kinsley said she needed to push.

He did, probably because he wanted no part of this.

Dad joined the party, unwillingly. “Rager won.” And then he stopped. “No fucking way” were his first words at the scene before him. “Go get someone else.” Dad turned right around and tried to leave the hauler.

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