8
Caleb
The situation between Sara, Leah, and Henry drives me into a swirling madness. They put us down like crazy. No one should see this except for Adelaide. I guess Adelaide knows now because of our recent encounter. I think Dad knew too, my first encounter with her.
Dad got me in trouble for mocking Chase and Danny, but the Leah incident…Well, the Leah incident is understandable, but being punished for the other two incidents is unacceptable. It's funny, but they're weak and inferior to Cruz. Cruz is better than everyone.
Maybe Dad was right in punishing me for the other two incidents, but I can't accept it. It's not my fault, but it's their fault they have nothing Cruz has. Cruz can race on dirt, but everyone can't.
Try to be the best, you nasty competitors, but my family's the best! No matter how hard you try, you're nothing, especially you, Storm and Hicks! We, the McQueens, are invincible! We can race on dirt and modern race, but you can't race on dirt! Ha! In your face!
The Hudson Hornet racing legacy borders old fashioned racing and modern racing altogether. No one can mess with us, and the best of the best can be in it. Cruz is the best of the best, and you can't say she isn't!
My family and Cruz have everything, but Mom and Dad say "bragging is awful, and no one will love you." "I drove and drove from LA and broke down here, and I never looked back. It's not about status, but it's about community." At least my parents love me for having a sense of middle ground at home, and I respect my family friends.
Adelaide, Zachary, and I actually respect our family friends. Well…Adelaide gets along with Mater, Flo, and Ramone while Zachary gets along with Luigi and Guido. He's fine around Mater though. It's just that…Adelaide and Zachary have biases.
Adelaide and Zachary also have neutrality between everyone else, but that's just it. I'm the one who actually has middle ground. That middle ground keeps everything in line, and Mom and Dad like me the most for it.
Adelaide and I find our garages with our racing numbers. We get ourselves ready, and Guido gets the impact wrench. The wrench chirps in rhythm, but Guido notices me panting. I tell Guido something.
"Cosa è successo?" Guido asked me.
"Leah, Sara, and Henry," I say.
Adelaide waits in her garage room next to mine. Guido gets the tire racks. I guess telling Guido something took a little more unnecessary time. Adelaide calls Guido and asks him for help. Oh gosh, I kept her waiting too long.
Guido and I stay silent, and he gets Adelaide ready for a few seconds. I'm ready. All the racers zoom in on the track. Should I wait for Adelaide or go? Adelaide's tires are put on, and we make it.
Oh no, we might deal with Leah, Sara, and Henry again, and the crowds are seeing this. The fans and press might cheer without mercy. Live! We're on live! Everyone at home is seeing this too.
Oh dear, oh goodness gracious, Mademoiselle Renault's there too? Could this get any worse? Time for me to get humiliated in front of everyone. I regret this. I regret this so much, and I wanna resign from this job.
Well, maybe I'm just overreacting. I technically have the Hudson Hornet's name, so everyone should respect me, right? I guess I was wrong. I don't have his colors, and I don't have bright blue eyes like Dad, Adelaide, and Doc.
The racers start slow and steady, but the crowd of racers makes us dead last. The racers focus on the race. What's going on? Maybe try and follow everyone else. The flag waves green, and everyone else accelerates.
Everyone else follows along the track. What should I do? What should I do? Go along with it! At least I'm getting the hang of it. Ok, good. Adelaide and I reach turn one, and we pass a few racers.
Static from a familiar voice turns on. It sounds like Cruz. Well, we should get these calls from our crew chief unless someone else takes over. No one else takes over Cruz's place. It's just Cruz running the show, our show.
"This is your crew chief speaking," Cruz says.
"Hi, Cruz," I say.
"Ok, you're good."
I pass the other racers. I'm close to the lead! Adelaide catches up. I stare at Adelaide. What do I have to do? However, Adelaide takes the lead, and I follow her. Adelaide and I reach turn two.
Turn two, halfway to finishing a lap. What else will there be? Sara's not gonna get me this time, right? Don't you dare…do this to me, Sara! My parents are watching this, and my family friends are watching too. Mademoiselle Renault is attending this as well.
I'm definitely liking Mademoiselle Renault taking over as Dinoco. She acts like Mom to me. Well, maybe it's her kind demeanor. I couldn't believe she allowed me with Adelaide like this. Let's see who wins, Sara! Let's see! You ain't messing with us! Cruz is here too!
Cruz talks to us through the speaker again. This is for real, right? Alright, advice time. Adelaide and I make it to turn three. I catch up to Adelaide, and neither of us lead each other. However, Adelaide passes me.
"How far are you?" Cruz says.
"Tenth place!" Adelaide says.
"Eleventh!" I say.
"Just try to catch up."
Adelaide and I take our time dodging racers as we go. We pass and pass more racers. We're five places in. Adelaide and I fall into a respective sixth and fifth place. However, the racers drive and take their pit stops. My tire pops, and Adelaide slows down, slower than ever.
Racers get flat tires easily, and the racer can notice it by hearing a pop and deflation. It's not good for racers to race with a flat tire. It could pop in seconds if overworked. I think Dad told us about that rookie who lost two tires before winning. That rookie sure refused to pit.
Racers go slow. Gas time. Adelaide probably ran out of gas. Good thing we can both pit at once. It wouldn't have to be a back and forth situation. Ain't that practical enough for us? Well, this might be inconvenient. We might be blocking the other racers.
"Cruz, my tire popped!" I say.
"Get to the pit stop ASAP!" Cruz says.
The pit sign signals our stop. The number fifty-one and ninety-five hang next to each other with our respective colors. The fifty-one hangs left, closer to the pit. We park next to each other. However, the road is wide enough for me and Adelaide.
The other racers feel weirded out by this, but they don't mind. Everyone including Mademoiselle Renault waited at the stop. Guido brings all of the tires, and Fillmore and Sarge gather up all of the gas.
We made it to our pit stop. Guido replaces all the tires in a snap. Adelaide is probably getting gas. We get back on track. We're pretty far with all the racers we pass by. Just stay away from the three competitors. It's not surprising they're in the top three. It's best to stay back and away from them.
If Sara and Henry gain up on us, gain on them and speed away. They might be stupid as tractors. Sara and Henry care about money and our status. Dad told us that Jackson Storm got to everyone's heads and manipulated them, and Dad told us that Chick Hicks crashed racers.
I pass the three of them, and they chase me. The chase makes me accelerate away from them. I reach turn four from my acceleration. We almost finish a lap, but Sara and Henry gain up on me.
"Aww the little boy is a wuss! Why are you running away?!" Sara says in a baby voice.
"Yeah, why don't you listen to her?!" Henry interrupts.
"That's such a shame! You should've used your common sense!" Leah interrupts Henry.
The same words shout all at once. Oh goodness, NO! Leah doesn't even care, and she and her friends keep picking on me. Pick on someone else instead of us. Such pettiness. Don't even take that pettiness on children!
Did you have to take this out on the youngest racers? We're not just any racers! You're messing with Lightning McQueen's kids, the kids of the seven time Piston Cup champion and one of the racers in the Hudson Hornet Legacy!
"Please stop it, you jerks!" I say.
Don't you dare spit words like this! That's unacceptable! I've dealt with Leah, but this draws the line! I'm gonna tell my parents about what you did! They won't be pleased! They excused me with the Leah incident, but you…YOU! You're…
I'm definitely talking to your crew chiefs about this nonsense behavior! Yeah, I already dealt with Henry's crew chief before. What gives! Sara's crew chief is…concerning me. They shouldn't encourage this to racers.