3
McQueen
We finished lunch at Flo's. Cruz approaches me and her loss and the aftermath of her most recent racing season. Just like twenty-one years ago. I wasn't able to beat Storm, but Cruz deserves it.
Adelaide, Caleb, and Zachary park at the other side, and they never face each other. Sally parks beside them and watches, but no one utters a word. It gives me the feeling of awkwardness.
At least Caleb is trying to talk to Adelaide and Zachary. He calls their names, but Adelaide and Zachary don't even utter a word. Adelaide whispers to Mater. Zachary looks in the other direction. Well, I don't mind, and Adelaide probably doesn't care.
Everyone meets up at Willy's Butte. The meeting is important to us. Cruz makes it clear. Leah Tran made her debut. Jackson Storm beat me, and Cruz can't do the same. My kids are not obligated to race. Cruz ended it all.
Well, Cruz said she wanted to retire eighteen years ago. However, I told her not to oblige Adelaide into this mess. If she wants to retire and end the legacy without a protege, good for her.
"I'm going to retire as a racer." Cruz announces.
"Retire?! Another racer retires?!" Adelaide says.
"Another racer is taking over, and it's best for me to do this."
"No, Cruz, beat Leah! She's selfish! She only cares about herself!" Caleb says.
"So does Adelaide!" Zachary says.
"Zach, that's enough," Sally and I both say.
The boys don't utter a word, and Cruz and I continue on. Sometimes, Zachary can't shut up. Well, Caleb's alright, but Zachary and Adelaide are awful. Adelaide's the worst out of the three. Whatever Adelaide did two seasons ago was just…
No wonder I favor my two boys over Adelaide. Well, I favor Caleb a little more than Zachary. If I had a ranking, it would be Caleb at the highest for having a sense of middle ground although he has a weird sense of imagination, Zachary in the middle for some form of ground and loyalty although he acts like a jerk to Adelaide, and Adelaide would just be the worst. She's just awful. She misunderstands every single thing about me.
"Will you find another racer?" Sarge says to Cruz.
"No, Sarge, it ends here. I would like to coach the kiddos, but it's best to leave them out of this if they don't want to," Cruz says to Sarge.
"Cruz, change that! I'll take your place! You should coach me!" Adelaide announces.
"I guess I'll be coaching Adelaide then."
"Wait! Don't forget about me! Can I race too?" Caleb announces.
Wait, Caleb's joining alongside Adelaide?! Adelaide's definitely going to be a racer under the Hudson's Hornet Legacy, but Caleb…Well, he has Doc Hudson's name, so…I won't stop Caleb from joining Adelaide on the racetrack, but this seems like the last minute. Well, go ahead, Caleb.
"Caleb. Are you sure? You might crash," Adelaide says to Caleb.
"Adelaide, let your brother race." I say.
"No," Adelaide says.
"Dad, it doesn't matter," Caleb says, "I just want to be with Adelaide."
"Fine!" I say.
Cruz stops, and I tell the kids, "Please end this!" What's with Adelaide not allowing Caleb? Why did Adelaide do this? The last six years have been awful for the kids. I get Adelaide's will to do all this, but Adelaide not allowing Caleb…She should at least allow Caleb.
"I guess the new racers are Adelaide and Caleb McQueen then!" Cruz says.
Mater parks next to me as he gasps, leaving his mouth open, and his eyes widen over the news.
"Dad gum, your kids are going to race?" Mater asks.
"I guess so? Just as long as they're fine," I say.
"Fine?"
"Addy's been on edge, Caleb's entitled, and Zach's fine. He just has issues with Adelaide."
"They wanted this anyways," Sally says, "Shouldn't you let them race?"
"I guess so."
Everyone else and I congratulate and cheer for Adelaide and Caleb. The new successors of the Hudson Hornet Legacy? Good for Caleb and Adelaide, but Adelaide…is trouble. Please don't hurt us like this, kiddo. Adelaide smiles at me, but should I fall for it? No! She might repeatedly abuse our power. What has the last six years turned her into?
"Adelaide, do you promise me this?" I ask.
"Promise me what?" Adelaide says.
"Can you behave appropriately for everyone?"
"I'll try. I can't do it," Adelaide says, "What about Caleb? Isn't he too young? And he might—"
"How can Adelaide race if she's going to mess things up?!" Zach asks, "Caleb can, but Adelaide can't!"
"Not right now, Zach, I'm in the middle of something."
Adelaide rolls her eyes at Zachary while waiting.
"So what about Caleb?" Adelaide asks.
"We'll talk about this with Tex. Also, just please let Caleb do what he wants," Dad says.
"Well, I'm just saying that he might crash, and that's possible."
Everything's packed up and ready. The tires are packed in Cruz's trailer, and some valuables are packed with the tires.
"Goodbye, Sal," I say to her, "Also, can you please make sure Zachary behaves?"
"Don't worry, Stickers, I will," Sally says, "Anyways, what has Zach done wrong?"
"Interrupt me while advising Addy."
"He'll be fine…for now."
The kids and Cruz say goodbye to Sally. While they're saying goodbye to her, I say goodbye to Mater. It hurts being off road without my best friend.
"I can't believe both of the kids did this," Mater says, "Well, I know Miss Addy will do this. Caleb definitely won't."
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"Well, she talks to me for help, and she does crazy things…for…us. Oh, and goodbye, bud."
"Goodbye to you too."
Adelaide, Caleb, and Zachary wait for me. Mater and I say our final goodbyes. Luigi, Guido, and Caleb ride the trailer to the center while Adelaide, Cruz, and I drive on the open road.
Here it is: the center. We met with Tex Dinoco. However, a woman shows up at the center. What is she doing here? Is she a trainer? No, she can't be. Tex hired me when Cruz was around.
"Hello, Tex. When can Caleb and I begin racing?" Adelaide says to Tex.
"Oh, actually, you're not racing for me anymore," Tex says to Adelaide.
"Who are we racing for then?" I ask.
"Mademoiselle Brielle Renault," Tex introduces the woman to us.
"Bonjour, everyone," the woman says.
Has Tex told me about Brielle before? Has he ever planned on having Brielle take over beforehand? Well, Tex has been running Dinoco for a while, and he also ran Dinoco with Rusteze for twenty-one years.
"Brielle has been a trusted friend of mine, and she decided to become the owner of Dinoco," Tex says.
"It's been nice working with you, Tex," Cruz says.
"It's been nice working with you too."
"Bye, Tex, see you soon," Cruz says.
It's just me, Cruz, Adelaide, Caleb, and Brielle.
Brielle resembles a shadow with her black paint. Her accent stood out from Luigi and Guido's. It doesn't seem Italian, but it feels similar at the same time.
"Hello, Mademoiselle Renault?" Adelaide hesitates, "I didn't get it."
"That was actually correct," Brielle says.
"Oh, I'm Adelaide McQueen, and I'm the new racer."
"That's amazing of you! Speaking of new racers, we should get you ready."
I can't believe Adelaide and Caleb are doing this. Adelaide and Caleb are going to become racers soon, and I'm…well…they'll be amazing, right? Adelaide's just…, and Caleb's just…Adelaide has…and Caleb has…What can I say?
"Oh, excuse me, Brielle. Can Caleb register to race as well? There's one problem," Cruz says.
"What's the problem?" Brielle asks.
"He's underaged."
"We'll see what we can do. Come along."
We head in the racing center, and we climb up the ramps of the racing center as we follow Brielle's lead. We pass the same hallways. I waited before I had a talk with Sterling. The office changes a bit, but it has changed before. The office was once Sterling's. Tex bought Rusteze and owned that office. Now, Brielle has it.
I park at Adelaide right side, Caleb parks on Adelaide's left, and Cruz parks next to Caleb. The stack of papers standing on the desk, too thin to tower up, seems like ten to fifteen papers. Brielle puts a stack of papers on her desk.
"These are the contracts for the racers, and they have to sign it here. Caleb's contract comes with an extra page for underaged racers," Brielle says.
"You're still letting Caleb race?" Cruz asks.
"I'm not going to stick to the rules too much. However, if Caleb wishes to race, then I might as well give him the opportunity. He's a year younger than Adelaide, and that's fine."
"Mademoiselle, Caleb already turned seventeen. Can we wait longer or something? Also he shouldn't dare race on the track!" Adelaide says.
Oh, Adelaide, when will you…fine, have it your way! Well, Caleb's racing anyways, whether you like it or not! Shouldn't you be nice to Caleb or something? He's giving you a favor, and that's what you give him?
"Adelaide, what did we say?" I say.
"Fine, but we shouldn't—" Adelaide says.
"When you say 'but,' you're just going to imply 'no.'"
Adelaide's passion for this can make racing great, but it can get too far. How can I trust her? Those past six years, her behavior from one of Cruz's racing seasons, and just her…How can she handle this? She's just…
"It wouldn't matter, but you have to be responsible for him. Do you think you can handle it?" Brielle asks Adelaide.
"Yes," Adelaide says to Mademoiselle Renault.
"Ok, we're settled then, and now the children's numbers. The numbers for this sponsor are ninety-five and fifty-one. The coach assigns the racers available numbers, so Cruz is the coach?"
"Yes," Cruz says.
"Do you have an idea for their numbers?"
"Adelaide should be number ninety-five for Dinoco, and Caleb can be number fifty-one for Rusteze."
Brielle gets the racing numbers ready for us, and the assistants send the decals to Brielle's office. Mademoiselle Renault moves them and sorts them out: "fifty-one" decals with Rusteze decals and "ninety-five" decals with Dinoco decals. The number ninety five completes Adelaide. There's way too much of me in her, the arrogance and passion for racing. I guess it makes her a father's daughter. The number fifty-one does the same for Caleb, but he and the Fabulous Hudson Hornet don't share much in common. Caleb deserved to have his name.
Adelaide's bright blue paint suited Dinoco, and it served in blue for many years. Well, the Weathers family wore it with a humble smile. I'm already at the King's streak at seven Piston Cups. Adelaide's paint color almost resembles Sally's, but Adelaide's is a bit darker. Adelaide looks just like her mother.
Caleb's paint isn't Rusteze red, but his pink tones suit him for the sponsor. He almost resembles me…well in paint colors, not everything else. However, I changed my colors for Doc Hudson. I miss him.
Brielle leaves the office, and the assistants grab the decals with their forks. Cruz and I watch the view of Fireball beach. Twenty one years ago, I made a deal with Sterling and did all those crazy things for Florida 500. He involved Cruz into the chaos, monitoring me. That beach was such a waste of time.
While Adelaide and Caleb get their decals ready, Cruz drives to the desk and taps on a leg. Cruz calls Brielle's name, but they haven't returned. She exits the office, and does it again. However, Brielle arrives back in the office. Cruz was done racing. Adelaide and Caleb have their turns.
"Brielle? One more thing," Cruz says to Brielle.
"Yes?" Brielle asks Cruz.
"Can I become a trainer here again?"
"Are you sure about that?"
Well, I'm retiring as crew chief…My racing days are over, Cruz is taking over my place, and Adelaide and Caleb are the new racers. I don't need any access to racing equipment anymore. The era of Lightning McQueen has come to an end. Now…
"Yeah, I'm training the kids," Cruz says.
"Unfortunately, there's already another trainer," Brielle says.
"Oh, I'm done training Cruz," I say.
"Change of plans. You're hired."
Adelaide and Caleb return with their decals, and Adelaide shines bright in her white decals. Caleb shines with his golden yellow fifty-one decals along with Adelaide. Both their decals compliment their paint colors.
"They look awesome!" Cruz says to the kids.
"Good luck, kiddos!" I say.
"Thanks, Dad," Adelaide and Caleb respond.