A/N: And we're back with the much anticipated "date at the drive-in" chapter! Well, this is just the opener, actually. I'm dividing the drive-in date into four parts because I'm drawing four pictures for it, and it's easiest for me to post the pics separately with their own chapters on DeviantArt. Does that make sense? XP Please read and review and come check out the chapter illustrations. Link to all my Cars pics is in my profile.
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
GREASE IS THE WORD
"Wow. Most wins in a single season, and no one's broken the record yet? That is awesome," Vee said to Doc as she drove onto the lift inside the clinic that afternoon. Doc smiled appreciatively at her, but said nothing. "I mean, I knew you were a famous racecar and all, but I was lacking certain details. All I knew was that you'd won the Piston Cup and then quit racing after your big wreck."
"He won three Piston Cups!" Lightning said in Doc's defense. "And he didn't quit! He would've won even more if those idiots hadn't given up -"
"Yes, thank you, Lightning," Doc said, waving him away with a tire. "Mind moving aside? You make a bigger roadblock than Mack, you know."
"Gee, thanks," Mack grumbled from the threshold.
Lightning moved back with a mumbled apology. Doc drove around to Vee's other side where he pressed the lever to start the lift moving. When she was about three feet off the floor, he switched it off.
"So how long is this going to take?" Vee asked him.
"Not long," Doc replied. "I reckon all it'll take is a small adjustment, maybe replace a few bolts, and you'll be good as new." Vee gave him a doubtful look. "Well, maybe not good as new," Doc admitted with a smile. "But it ought to take care of that rattling you complained about."
The Hornet left her side to search in his cabinet. There was a great clanking, clattering noise of metal on metal as he set a tray with the required tools, over which Lightning continued to speak to Vee. "So what's your record speed?" he asked loudly.
"Oh, I don't know," she replied. "Back in high school I once came in first at two hundred and twenty-two miles per hour on the track team. Of course, that was when I was in shape." She looked from Lightning to Mack with a small blush. "I've been practicing a lot lately, and hopefully I'll lose some weight by the time the next season starts. I want to look good, even if I'm just a blur on the tracks."
"Eh, don't be so vain," Mack chided her. "You already look good. I told you that earlier."
"Of course you did," Vee replied flatly, "but only because if you'd said otherwise, you knew I'd have beaten the tar out of you."
Lightning snickered. Mack smirked at him but let it slide. "Aw, c'mon!" he said. "Are you saying a car can't be big AND beautiful?"
Vee thought about it. "Well, I guess, but I think it's hard enough work being beautiful," she purred, with an air of mock arrogance. "If I could just drop the 'big,' that would be a load off my mind right there. Plus I'd be a lot faster without the extra weight to slow me down."
Mack nodded reluctantly. "True, but I doubt you weigh all that much."
"Maybe not to you. How much can you pull, anyway? Forty, maybe fifty thousand pounds?"
"Yeah, something like that."
Vee smirked. "Well trust me, if I got on your back right now, you'd notice. And you wouldn't be too happy about it, either."
This time Mack smirked. "Pardon me, but I beg to differ. I'd rather have a hot babe on my back than a trailer any day!"
"Who wouldn't?" Lightning said with a snicker.
"All right, you two," Doc said, parking himself in front of Vee. "How about giving the lady some privacy here?"
"It's all right, Doc," Vee told him. "They aren't gonna see anything I don't want 'em to see, and certainly nothing a grown man hasn't seen before."
Lightning grinned wickedly. Mack noticed and nudged him with a tire. "Get it out of the gutter, McQueen," he growled.
"Oh, like you weren't thinking the same thing!" Lightning grumbled, shoving him back.
"Hey! That's my best friend you're talking about!" Mack replied, pushing him again. Lightning returned the gesture even harder.
Vee snorted and rolled her eyes. "Of course, if they're going to act like little boys, feel free to kick 'em out."
Doc worked wordlessly for several minutes while Lightning bored Vee with a detailed account of his near win at the Piston Cup tiebreaker race.
"Yes, I know. I saw it on TV," she mumbled for the umpteenth time. She glanced over at Mack, who looked at her as if to say, "Just grin and bear it and it'll be over before you know it."
"Hey, Hotrod," said Doc, turning to pick up a wrench, "remind me to teach you the fine art of putting a lid on it the next time we go out for a practice race."
Lightning stared at the older car, puzzled. "And how is that going to help me win?" he demanded, clearly missing Doc's point.
"Well, for one thing, you'll be a lot more aerodynamic with your mouth shut. That, and I'm not going to teach you any more of my tricks if you're just going to do more talking than listening."
Lightning opened his mouth to argue, but promptly closed it. He now opted to watch Doc make another adjustment. The Hornet continued to work on Vee for a few minutes. The sudden sound of metal clattering against the floor startled everyone at the clinic. Doc swore under his breath and pulled away from Vee to wipe his tires on a rag.
"Shoot Miss Vee, but yer rattlin' worse than ever!" a voice called through the doorway. Mack pulled aside to allow the tow truck to pass. Mater drove into the clinic and parked beside Lightning.
"That wasn't Vee," Doc said gruffly. "I just dropped some tools. You're a lot greasier than I thought," he added, turning to the Chrysler. "I'll see if I can't clean you up a little. It'll make it easier for me to finish that adjustment."
"Thanks, Doc," Vee replied.
"No problem. We can't have Mater going to the drive-in with a greasy date, although I'm sure he wouldn't mind," he said, giving the tow truck a fond smile.
"Shoot no!" Mater replied with a proud grin at Vee. "Ah likes gals with a little somethin' extra. Rust, dents, grease, you name it. Mama always said a little grease makes ya slicker 'n uhhhhh… well, somethin' real slick, anyways."
Vee chuckled. "Glad to hear you approve," she told him with a smile. "But for the sake of my reputation, I think I could do with a little less grease."
"Hey, now don't you go fergettin that grease is the word tonight!" Mater declared loudly before dropping his voice. "So, uh, maybe you oughtta jist keep the grease on fer luck," he added with a wink.
"Watch it, buddy!" Mack growled. "Don't forget I'll be there too!"
Vee laughed and shook her hood. "Don't worry, Mack. If he becomes a problem I'll beat him up just like I did you." Everyone laughed except Mater, who was now looking puzzled and somewhat fearfully at Vee. Only when she assured him that she was kidding did he laugh too.
It was ten minutes to eight when Mack pulled up to Flo's. With a sigh, he scanned the lot for his date, half praying she'd gone ahead without him. He felt guilty for hoping this, knowing full well that he had brought it on himself. Still, he couldn't help but wonder why the little Mazda had had such a sudden change of heart, and right when he'd just changed his own mind on the same matter.
If Tia had just said yes the first time, well, it would have been so much easier. But now that Vee was in town, everything was different. How her mere presence could complicate something as simple as a date at the drive-in was beyond Mack's comprehension. All he had to do was accompany Tia to the theatre and park next to her during the movie. That was all that was expected of him, yet, he would have preferred a date with Bessie over Tia. At least hot tar had its benefits.
After about five minutes of waiting, Mack drove up to the café and stopped at the door, which was as far as he could go. Peering in, he saw Flo wiping the counter with her back to him. "Hey Flo. Where's Tia?"
Flo turned to the big rig with a questioning look. "Oh, I don't know. That girl's always taking off. Doesn't matter if it's break time or not," the show car grumbled, slapping her rag down on the counter and turning her attention to a stack of trays. She picked them up and took them into the kitchen. "Why do you ask?" she called out.
Mack felt his face heat and was glad that Flo couldn't see him blushing. "Uh, well… because she's supposed to go to the movie with me."
"You asked her out?" Flo's surprised voice preceded her as she came back out into the diner. She stared up at Mack in disbelief.
"Yyyeah, no," Mack mumbled. "I mean, well, kind of."
Flo continued to stare at him.
"I can't really tell you how it happened, but somehow it did and now I've got to take her to the drive-in," he explained, blushing at the lameness of his words.
Flo gave him a pitying look. "Well, I can't say I envy you, and you sure don't look too happy about it."
Mack nodded in agreement. With a heavy sigh, he pulled away from the café, thanking Flo as he did so.
It was eight o'clock on the dot when Tia came zooming up the street toward the café. She screeched to a stop in front of Mack, the look on her face nothing short of deranged. "Where have you been?" she demanded hotly. "Don't you know what time it is? The movie's starting right now!"
Mack opened and closed his mouth several times, stunned. "I've been waiting here for the past ten minutes," he explained, keeping his voice level. "Where have you been?"
"At the drive-in, of course!" Tia huffed out an exasperated breath. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"You told me to meet you -"
"Come on," Tia growled, cutting him off. "We're going to be late!" And without another word she turned and sped off down the street. Tanks churning unpleasantly, Mack followed, keeping slightly closer to the speed limit.
Tia stood beside the entrance to the lot, glaring daggers at him as he caught up to her. Mack blushed, sorely wishing now that he'd asked out Bessie instead.
"You are SO lucky they haven't started it yet," Tia growled at him. Mack cringed inwardly at the coldness in her tone. He moved toward the entrance, but she held up a tire. "Not yet!" she ordered. "I'm waiting."
Mack frowned. "Waiting for what?"
Tia glanced around nervously, then moved aside as Sarge and Fillmore drove past, both vehicles arguing. Mack smirked at the two. From what he heard, it was clear that Fillmore had somehow talked Sarge into coming to the show, and the jeep was having second thoughts. They were followed shortly by Lightning and Sally. About a minute later Flo and Ramone rolled past, the former giving Mack and Tia an appraising look.
Tia continued her lookout, and on seeing the mounting frustration in her eyes, Mack did not dare ask again what she was waiting for. After a minute or two, the lights surrounding the drive-in lot were turned off, and the dark screen flickered to life. Tia sighed angrily, mumbling something that sounded very obscene. "Forget it. Let's just go," she said, turning to enter the theatre. Mack hesitated. "Hurry up!" Tia hissed back at him. Very reluctantly, he followed.
Tia drove along the back row, grumbling all the way. She picked out a spot and parked in a huff, shooting Mack an accusatory glare when he pulled up beside her. He looked down at her questioningly. "All the good spots were taken," she grumbled, nodding toward the rest of the lot, which was fairly packed. "Thanks a lot," she added bitterly, turning her eyes toward the screen.
"You're the one who wanted to wait!" Mack reminded her, as gently as possible. Tia shot him another nasty look and opened her mouth, clearly ready to shoot him a reprisal, but he cut her off. "And besides, I have to park in the back row," Mack said, careful not to sound argumentative. "I'm too big for others to see around me." At this, Tia closed her mouth, the look on her face softening somewhat. She turned away again, and Mack breathed a sigh of relief.
Far across the lot, in the very front row, he could just make out the unmistakable silhouette of Mater and, to his left, Vee. Her golden laughter rang out following a joke from the rusty tow truck, and her pristine left side gleamed like moonlight under the glow cast from the movie screen. At that moment, Mack would have given anything to be the one parked beside her.
A/N: To those of you who are wondering, the title of my fic, "I'll Meet You On Route 62," is taken from the lyrics of the song "Route 66." It will gain meaning later on in the story, so there will definitely be some relevance to the title.