Part II Continued
After dropping Joanne off at home, Roy raced home. He parked his old Mercury on the street and rushed inside, tossing his books aside carelessly aside before bolting upstairs and quickly changing.
He quickly ate some dinner and was back out by seven o' clock. His destination? The drag strip.
When Roy arrived, his usual opponents, Ricky, Mel, and Carlton were already there. Roy pulled up alongside Carlton and rolled down the window.
"'Bout time, DeSoto," Carlton sneered. "I was just beginning to think maybe you'd ditched us to take Joanne to the football game."
Roy shook his head. "I'd never miss this race. Where are the others?"
"Oh, they'll be here."
Roy was referring to the mystery opponents his friends always invited. They were often from other schools, but they were no match for Roy. No matter how keen they were or how hopped up their cars were. Roy was sure to beat them all. Good thing for them, Roy never raced for pinks.
While he waited, Roy turned on the radio. He always listened to it before a race for good luck. Before long, he heard some mean-sounding motors roaring his way. Here came the company.
"The company" turned out to be three tough-looking guys from a rival school. They were all greasers, dressed in black leather with their hair slicked into D.A.'s. Roy knew it was going to be a long night.
He started out against Mel for a practice run, of course, winning. Now that his engine was all warmed up, he was ready to take on the greasers. The first was named Dirk. He drove an old jalopy that sounded mean, but it wasn't anything to look at.
Roy beat him, hands down. The guy had more car than he could handle.
The next guy was a little tougher, but also beat with ease. The third guy did put up a fight, but Roy was just too fast for him. So came the usual outcome: Roy had beat them all.
The guest opponents drove off, angry and complaining, trying to pin some kind of blame on Roy. They said he cheated and all sorts of things Roy heard all the time.
"There's just no beating you, DeSoto," Carlton said when the racing was over. "You gotta get a patch for your letterman. And know what it's gonna say?"
"What's it gonna say?" Roy asked with a grin.
"Pull over for Rapid Roy."