24

McQueen

Zachary and I explore the shelf of a bunch of stuff. Zachary tears up, but I embrace him. We'll be fine, Zachary, and we're united again. Adelaide has been loyal to us. Good thing you apologized to Adelaide.

"I'm sorry for being mean to Adelaide. Can we bring them to the Doc Hudson museum?" Zachary says.

"We could bring Adelaide to Doc Hudson's memorial stone. It's on top of the canyons of Willy's Butte, but we're missing something. Also, who else is coming?" I say.

"Caleb, Mom, Cruz, Mater, and you. The whole family and Cruz deserve seeing that place."

I almost forgot. It never felt right. Doc taught me how to drift thirty-two years ago, and I taught it to Cruz. Wait a minute, we almost forgot about it! Right, "turn right to go left." Every racer should learn that.

We all head to Willy's Butte, and Cruz and Caleb steer to the track. Adelaide shakes a little, and she stays on the side as Adelaide watches Cruz and Caleb.

Adelaide smiles as she watches the two at the starting line. At least, Adelaide's happy. We don't need to tear each other apart anymore. Caleb will be alright no matter what.

"Welcome to the Hudson Hornet Legacy Rite of Passing at Willy's Butte," Luigi says.

"I'm gonna beat you to the finish," Caleb says to Cruz.

"Woah, watch your tongue," Cruz says to Caleb.

"On your marks, get set, go!"

Luigi waves the starting flag, and Cruz and Caleb accelerate on the track. Caleb accelerates ahead of Cruz, but Cruz passes him. They turn and follow the method. They get to the turn where they drift. Caleb fails, but he gets back on the track.

Zachary bumps his tire near mine. Can't we wait longer? However, Zachary's tire bumps me harder. Ouch, Zachary! You don't need to do that! Zachary and I excuse ourselves to the side. Is Zachary okay? He really does want to show Adelaide Doc's memorial.

"Zachary?" I ask.

"Can we bring them to the surprise now?" Zachary says.

"Now? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Caleb drifts on the second lap, and the race finishes. Caleb meets up with me, Adelaide, Zachary, and Sally. Caleb is now an official member of the Hudson Hornet Legacy, and he'll be amazing in the far future.

"Congratulations, Kid!" I say.

"Doc's going to be proud of you," Adelaide smiles with tears as she approaches Caleb.

"Are you okay, Addy?" Caleb asks her.

"I'm fine, but that's amazing!"

I can't wait for Adelaide's rite of passing. We can't do it soon, but…Adelaide's gonna make it. I swear she will. Whatever she overcame at the New York Five Hundred, she can overcome the Hudson Hornet Legacy Rite of Passing.

"Are you ready, Addy?" Zachary says to Adelaide.

"To where?" Adelaide says to Zachary.

"Wait until we get there. Please don't ruin the surprise. I need to alert the others I invited."

Zachary, Caleb, Adelaide, Sally, Mater, Cruz and I drive up the canyons, and the memorial stone stands a few miles away from the edge. Nice view. "In memory of Doc Hudson. The picture of Doc Hudson stares at me. "1951-2009." It hasn't been so long. "He had a lot of stuff." I miss you, Doc.

I approach the memorial stone. Where is everyone? I stayed with the brand new memorial stone twenty-nine years ago.

"I'm so sorry, Doc," I said.

Sally and Mater waited beside me, and the view of Willy's Butte from high up sits in front of us. Wheel Well, good old days. I thanked Sally for that. The view was so much like it, but it wasn't. Willy's Butte was nothing like Wheel Well. It was a crying, empty wasteland.

"You ok, Bud?" Mater asked.

"Just Wait at Flo's!" I was facing Mater instead of that memorial stone, "I'm sorry about that, Mater. I just…"

"Need to spend some time alone thinking 'bout Doc? Yeah, he meant a lot to ya. Can I get Miss Sally to cheer you up?"

"Will it help?"

"I don't know, but you love her so much. She knew Doc for a while."

"I guess so. Also, you can stay here if you want. Forget about what I said a minute earlier."

My attention turned to the stone as the lonely sight of Willy's Butte faces me, but a few tires crunched. Two silhouettes of a Porsche and a tow truck zoomed in. Could it be Sally and Mater?

"Stickers!" Sally said.

"Sal!" I said.

"Mater told me about you. Are you still okay? I know this wasn't going to be the best day for you. Also, I bought you some take out if you're hungry. It's from Flo's," Sally pushes an oil can towards me.

"Thanks, also, I'm okay now. We can head home."

"Well, the view from up here reminds me of our first drive, and you might need to take your time for a while."

The three of us parked right next to each other. Sally parked on my left, and Mater parked on my right. We gazed at the Butte of Willy's Butte, and it looked calming. I was with Sally driving along Tailfin Pass. I guess Sally was right.

Sally, me, and Mater parked next to each other. It's so beautiful. It wasn't sad and empty anymore.

We reverse, steer, and drive away from the sight.

Adelaide, Caleb, and Zachary approach the stone. Adelaide roars with excitement. Too bad Adelaide isn't affected by this.

"Hi, Doc, it's me. Oh, my bad, I'm Adelaide, Adelaide McQueen…I'm your…pupil's daughter. I wanted to race just like you, my dad, and his student, Cruz.…Yeah, our first race at Charleston was a disaster. My little brother, Caleb, crashed, and I overreacted and ran away. I knew I didn't deserve that win, and my other little brother, Zachary, hated me…Oh, and they're fraternal twins…also, I never got along with my dad: like father, like daughter…The good thing is, I was brave enough to redeem myself in New York. I was a coward, but I made it. We have a new friend, her name's Leah Tran. She's one of us. I think that's enough. Goodbye for now," Adelaide says to the stone.

"I'm Caleb, and I just wanted to say thank you. You're an honorable figure. Adelaide admires you, and I'm named after you. That's it. Bye," Caleb says to the stone.

"I'm Zachary, and I feel sorry for mistreating Adelaide. She idolizes you so much that I decided to take her here as an apology to her. I owe this to her. See ya soon," Zachary says to the stone.

"You, ready for your rite of passing, Adelaide?" I say.

"I'm ready."

We drive back down as Adelaide smiles and stays as Adelaide follows us back down. We weren't in the right place. I haven't been the best father to her, but I did my best for her.

"Thanks, Zachary, for bringing me there," Adelaide says to Zachary.

"You're welcome, but good luck on your rite of passing," Zachary says to Adelaide.

"Also, I saved the front for you all. It's more close up, and you deserve it."

Adelaide leaves and meets up with Cruz.

Adelaide and Cruz park towards the starting line. Luigi waves the flag without presenting. Cruz and Adelaide accelerate on the track, and it's the same race.

Adelaide drifts without stopping on the turn. Adelaide and Cruz finish the race as Adelaide comes right back to us.

"Did you see that, Dad?!" Adelaide says eagerly.

"Should I tell Caleb and Zachary the truth about me?" I say.

"You have to tell them before it's too late."

I tell Caleb and Zachary the story of the hotshot rookie. I mention the road being destroyed, his humbleness in the race in LA, and I mention I was the rookie. I tell them about Doc Hudson's story too: the crash of '54 and how it affected him. I also tell them about the King's crash. That's about everything. Caleb and Zachary stare at me, but it's worth it.

"I'm so sorry, Caleb and Zachary," I looked down at the dirt, "for letting you down."

"I can't believe you did all that," Caleb says.

"Are you sure you really did all that?" Zachary says.

"It's all true," Adelaide approaches us, "but it's all behind him now. We just need to be ourselves and do our best for him. We were awful before, but we could be better if we just commit, communicate, listen, and not tear each other apart. Got it?"

Caleb and Zachary tear up, but they glance at each other and smile. I glance at Adelaide, but all Sally's voice from her speech echoes. She really takes after the both of us. Well, she takes after me a bit more.

Oh, shoot, I forgot about picture day. Everyone gathers themselves in front of Willy's Butte, and the camera sits in place in front of us. The camera snaps, but it fails. We roam around Willy's Butte until beeping from the distance comes closer. Could it be Brielle Renault? It is Brielle Renault!

"Bonjour, everybody," Brielle announces.

Silence rises.

"Brielle!" Cruz says to her.

"Did you get your job back?" I say.

"Oui, I bought Dinoco and Rusteze back!"

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle Renault!" Adelaide and Caleb swell with tears of joy embracing Brielle.

"I'm so glad to see you again," Brielle says to them.

I call Adelaide after Brielle talks to us. We haven't gathered yet, but Adelaide needs something. Caleb and Cruz return to their places.

"I think this photo of Doc is better," I slide the photo to her.

The photo doesn't just have Doc and I, but it has everyone else. I was in one of my racing seasons. All of us park together at my pit stop. Doc parked on the crew chief's station, above all of us.

"Can I still keep the other one?" Adelaide says.

"You could, but you should keep this one too. You wouldn't have to ask me about Doc Hudson," I say.

"Thanks."

Adelaide and I return to our places, but Brielle stays behind the camera. We scream "The McQueen family," and the camera clicks and flashes. We glance at our photo, fresh and printed. It's so adorable. My kids look so cute beside Leah.

Adelaide and Caleb drive to the track, and they race each other.

"Try and get us!" Adelaide chuckles as she accelerates.

"You sneaky child," I chuckle back.

Cruz and I catch up to Adelaide and Caleb, and we all race around the track.