Page 73 of Blind Spot
I no longer raced, because I had finally obtained my NASCAR license, and I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. I stood off to the side and watched Charly with pride. She still worked for Jensen Pharmaceuticals, and she enjoyed the work that she did there. But tonight was where she truly shined.
Her vlog on street racing had exploded her social media followers and the support she had from the community. Our team and several others knew that she was making a documentary, and they willingly gave her the interviews she requested. There was a small handful who shied away from it out of fear it would lead to trouble, including JP, the DP man.
“I’m so proud of her. She looks like she’s in her element when she’s doing this,” Tunisia stated, coming to stand on one side of me, while Karter came to stand on the other side with KJ in his arms.
“She’s definitely in her element.” I agreed.
“You have to be proud of your wife, man,” Karter declared.
My face turned up slowly, and I couldn’t bite back the goofy grin that took over my face. I could never get tired of hearing those words “your wife,” or saying the words “my wife,” or hearing her say, “my husband.”
We had been married for a little under two years. We didn’t have a long engagement because we both knew what we wanted: a lifetime together with one another. We had only taken the time that we needed to create the wedding plans and implement them. It had been an emotional day because she missed her mother so deeply that she hadn’t been able to stop crying that day before she walked down the aisle.
It had gotten so bad at one point that she had called me back to see her, despite her persistence in the days prior that I could not see her before the wedding. I held my woman, reassured her that her mother’s spirit was there, and that she would be proud of her.
She finally assured me that she was ready to walk down the aisle. Her makeup artist had to come and redo her makeup, but my woman had finally made it to me.
Now tonight, she had made another leap in her life. She had gone from a vlogger to a filmmaker. The documentary had just concluded only moments ago to a standing ovation. Tonight was the first time it aired, and it was shown at Cherokee Springs University.
People had gathered around to congratulate her, ask questions, and I had even heard someone else extend an offer to work with her on another documentary. She turned from whereshe stood in the center of the room and extended her hand to me. I walked to her and took her hand.
“It’s time for me to make my speech,” she stated.
“Okay, I’ll be right here,” I stated, pointing at the floor.
“No. I want you at the podium with me.”
“You sure?”
She nodded as we hurried to the podium. I stood behind her as she looked out at the crowd of people and gave her speech. I looked out at our friends and family in the crowd, including our parents and my siblings. Ramon was in attendance with his girlfriend, Cielo, who didn’t take shit off him. Our relationship was rocky at best, but we were working on it.
Charly was speaking, and I turned my attention back to her.
“This is my husband, Dominic Garcia-Strong. Without him, tonight could not be. He became interested in racing when we were only fifteen years old. He knew nothing about the racing world at that time, but he was determined to find out all that he could. He knew that his older brother was focused on becoming a NASCAR racer, but impatient Dominic wanted to feed his hunger right away.”
She turned back to me and smiled. I winked at her before she turned around again.
“Dom got into street racing officially at the age of nineteen, and I hung around the meet-up spots watching every race and cheering for him. I started saving my money and placing bets on the races because I knew that he would win. I believed in him, but he also believed in me.
“It was Dominic who first gave me his keys and let me go on a country road. It was Dominic who helped me get my license, who helped me overcome my fear of speed, and fed my need for adrenaline. He was the one who pulled me into street racing and helped me get my first race. Dominic stood up for me and took matters into his own hands when no one wanted me onhis team. So it is because of this amazing man that I stand here tonight and honor him for his belief in me and for making this documentary a possibility.”
She turned back to me and reached a hand to bring me forward. Charly clapped for me, along with everyone else in that room. I wasn’t the type of person who enjoyed speaking in front of others. But I would say a couple of words since everyone was hollering “speech.”
“My wife is the hero tonight. She had the vision to tell the story about what happens in the streets and why people get into the game. She had the strength and desire to push through barriers so that she could share these guys’ and ladies’ stories with the world and tell of their struggles and victories alike. So while I may have pulled her into it, the only thing that I did was pull a loose string and watch her let go.”
I turned back to her and clapped. She finished her speech, and we greeted more people before we headed out.
“Are we going out to dinner or what?” Karter asked when we all stood outside.
A limo awaited us.
“Why are you still hungry, sir, when they fed us before the documentary?” Tunisia asked, glaring at her husband.
“I’m a big dude. I can eat.”
“Well, I’m full,” she stated.
“I am too,” Charly added in.
