Chapter 32 - I'm Sorry, Again.
"Edwin, boy, how you been livin?"
"Good Torrie. Damn you look good. How you been."
"Not bad. So you racing tomorrow?"
"Of course. You?"
"Of course. I'm going to be the grand champion of the whole meet."
"There is no such thing." Edwin knew she was just trying to get him going.
"I know but if there was I would win."
Dom watched her talking to Edwin. She laughed at something funny Edwin said. He did not know why he was always doing that with her. Picking a fight. She really could wear whatever she wanted. But he didn't want to see other guys look at her that way. Like she was a prize or something. Like they could win a race and take her from him as a prize. He was jealous of all the guys who stared at her. But she never gave any of them reason to think they have a chance. He was just over reacting. Time to go retrieve her from Edwin before he told her that he had done an overnight in jail for being caught racing. He was going to have to do something he hated to do. Apologize. Damn. He walked up to them. Torrie looked at him for a second then dismissed him and turned back to Edwin.
"Hey Edwin."
"Yo Dom, how you been?"
"Good man. Good Luck tomorrow man."
"You too."
"Well I gotta borrow my mechanic for awhile so we'll see you around Man."
"Sure Dom, see ya Torrie."
They walked away from Edwin back toward their own setup, Dom dragging a belligerent Torrie behind him. Dom told Torrie he was sorry and of course she could wear whatever she wanted but he just didn't want guys to think of her as anything less then a worthy racer. He did not want them to think she was just there to, well, just be. He wanted people to take her seriously. She explained to Dom that she was going to prove she should be the next day and it really did not matter what she wore. Dom told her he understood that now.
They met up with the guys and then all piled into Vince's car and went to get dinner. They came back and partied with the racewars crowd. They headed to the trailer and bed at all different times. Mia and Brian went first and everyone gave them a good half hour to be 'settled' before they went in the trailer. Jesse was the next to give up, then Leon. Then Letty and Vince. Torrie and Dom were dancing almost in a trance to the techno music. There were no words just throbbing beats. Torrie was dead on her feet though. She leaned back in his arms and told him she was heading to bed. He told her he was more then happy to go with her. They turned in and the trailer was packed but Torrie thought it was nice, unlike how she thought it would be. She thought it would feel cramped and awkward. But instead it felt close and cozy and safe. Like the house at night when you knew everyone was home and safe.
The next day Dom woke her up. Then he went along waking up everyone else. It was 9am. Torrie wandered out of the back room wearing Dom's old tee shirt and flip flops. Mia was wearing the same thing only Brian's shirt not Dom's. All they guys just had shorts on and Letty was wearing her own tank and shorts. Everyone was yawning and grumpy.
"So is someone making breakfast or are we going to hit burger king or something?"
There were groans of not another fast food meal all around. Mia agreed to cook. While Mia made breakfast they made plans for how the day would go down. Dom was not racing till the next day but most of the others could race today if they wanted. Torrie was definitely going to take off and race some. She wanted to race as many times as she could. She had her share of the prize money she had won at race meets in cash under the seat of her car. She was going to use it and hope it kept getting bigger not smaller. Leon was also going to race. Vince was undecided. Jesse didn't want to race at all this year and Dom was not going to make him. Letty was racing.
They ate and then got ready. Torrie put on black flares and layered two tanks. She put her hair up in a messy bun because she could not afford to have it get in her face today. She put on her driving boots and was ready to go. Dom walked in just as she was doing her makeup. He started to get dressed himself. He was going to wear typical Dom clothes. Black wife- beater and khakis. She was not sure if she was crazy or if the mood between her and Dom was different. She put it out of her mind and started to dig in her bag for her horseshoe chain. She stood up and started to try to fasten the clasp. She felt the chain be taken out of her hands as Dom did it up for her and kissed the nape of her neck. He wished her luck and she thanked him and left to find races.
She found out that what they were doing today was a sort of winner takes all race. You got in either line one or two depending on where the racewars guy sent you. Then when you got to the head of the line you raced who ever was at the head of the other line. Then the winner got their 2 grand. Then the winner went to a third or forth line depending on where they were told to go again. Then they raced again. The winner of the second race got 4 grand. And repeat till they had only two people left and a large sum of money. Torrie had to race some punk in a Honda Civic ricer and bet him easily. She got her money and moved to the second line. Here she raced a guy in a 300z who gave her a run for her money but her tenacity won the race for her in the end. She collected 4 grand off him and moved on. She raced again and bet a guy in a skyline. She bet him by about an inch but as Dom always said it didn't matter if you won by an inch or a mile winning was winning. She got 8 grand from him. If she lost a race she would lose everything. She could either keep racing or drive away with her money.
She decided to keep racing. May as well go for the gold she thought. That was something her dad always said. Her mom didn't know but if she would hurt herself in the garage and say darn or crap, her dad would always say "Torrie if you are going to swear go for the gold and say damn or shit. You'll feel better." She knew there were limits of course but he was right. She felt better when she used the full strength word and she imagined how good it would feel to go all the way to the top on day one.
She got in line for the 4th race. She got to the head of the line and saw she was against Vince. Uh oh. She was going to cause issues if she beat him. Guys hated to be beaten by girls. Oh well. Family or no V I'm doing my best to kick your ass, she thought. They got to the head of the line and she blew him a kiss. He 'caught' it with a sarcastic look and pretended to put it in his pocket.
The guy got their attention and started the race. Damn Vince was fast. She couldn't lose now. She wanted to win overall and tell Dom she had beaten everyone there was to beat. She thought she would finally be worthy then. She waited till the engine peaked and gave it the first hit of NOS and edged ahead of V. He came right back at her. She waited till the exact right second and hit her NOS. The race pedigree of her car over his helped her beat him by less then a second. The Maxima was fast but it did not have a chassis built for racing like the 240. She got the 16 grand prize and asked Vince not to go tell Dom anything yet. He agreed with a frown and Torrie continued on, knowing V was going to be sour at her for days.
She was now in the 5th race. There were only 4 cars. She and some guy in a Honda 2000 were up. He was a Tran. She knew from when Leon had pointed them out. She was so mad at them for what they tried to do to Jesse she smoked him solid. She more then redlined every gear but she left him in the dust. She got 32 grand from that race. The amount of money she had at this point was staggering. She added it up in her head and came up with 62 grand. The winner of the two people behind her had the same amount. She could either race that person and end up with 124 grand or quit now. The wars staff member had to know now. The other driver was game it seemed. Neither person knew who they would be up against.
Torrie made the split second decision to go for it. Really she was only out her original 2 grand if she lost and she had so much to gain. She pulled up to the final start line and looked to her left.
And saw her opponent was none other then Letty. Aw Fuck. She was not ready for this. She wanted to psyche her self up more before she had to race Letty. But damned if she was backing out now. Besides she had known this was coming for days. She revved up her engine and qued up what else, Lose Yourself. She knew that she had this in the bag unless she fucked up. Dom had told her that when he build Letty's car he had overlooked stuff that Torrie and her Dad had not. So Letty's car was not as new, was not a Silva. Torrie had the advantage there but Letty had home court advantage. She had done race wars before. But not this format. Oh well the time for thought was over.
The wars guy pointed at his eyes then Torrie, then his eyes, then Letty's. When both girls nodded he dropped his arms. Torrie took off and so did Letty. At first they were neck and neck. Then Torrie's engine peaked first and she got off her first hit of NOS. She jumped ahead. Letty's car hit that point and she hit her NOS. Torrie hit hers at the same time as Letty on the second shot. She crossed the finish line in what seemed like a dead heat with the other girl. After the two judges talked about it they agreed that Torrie had gotten over the line about an inch ahead of Letty. Torrie had 124 grand in her hand. She hid it under the seat and locked her car.
"Hey Letty, great race. I know you are a great racer. Dom told me my car had the edge but I hardly got you in the end."
Letty could tell that the other girl was just telling the truth she was not being condescending or trying to rub Letty's nose in the fact she lost. "Thanks. It was a great race. Your car is really fast."
"Thanks. Well I'm heading back to make up with Vince for kicking his ass." Torrie really wanted to tell Dom before anyone else did.
"I gotta do the same for both Leon and Brian so good luck. Oh, and I wont say anything about this till I know you got to tell Dom." It was obvious to Letty that is what Torrie really wanted to do.
"Thanks and good luck with the guys." Torrie smiled. She was glad it seemed like Letty and she could come to an agreement not to fight. Maybe Letty was sweet on a guy that was not Dom. That would be super. She headed off to tell Dom.
She drove back to their area and got out of her car with the money.
"Yo Dom. You here?"
"Back here Torrie. What's up?"
"Come here for a minute."
Dom came out from under his car, where he had been tightening something and wiped grease off his hands. He walked up to her. "Well?"
"Well first." She ran her hands up his back and kissed him like she he was water and she had been in the desert without for days. Then she said, "Hold out your hands and close your eyes."
Dom did as he was told. She handed him half the money. "Kay open em."
"Holy shit. Where did you get this?"
"I won it. Close your eyes again for a second."
He did so and she put the rest of the money in his hands. "K open your eyes again."
"How did you win this much money? There must be 80 grand here."
"Well no it is 124 really." Dom's jaw dropped open and he just stared at her. She explained about the round robin and how she had beaten Letty for the big win. Dom was surprised she had beaten all those people but happy for her. He put the money in the trailer and came over to Torrie again. She told him about how she and Letty had talked and everything seemed to be cool now. Dom was happy. However Torrie had more then paid off her dept to the team now. And they came to racewars just for fun. Well the team did not know that but they didn't even really need the money. His team never wondered why money was not tight like it had been before. Before the money Torrie had just handed him would have been three years worth of money to live on. Now he could afford to use it to buy her something nice or whatever. He couldn't let on to that though, which was too bad. What he could do was give her as much as he could make up a good story to cover.
"Say Torrie. This is not all mine. You only owe me 20 g's and that leaves like a hundred grand. 40 percent of that so 40 grand of it is yours. What do want to do with it?"
"Well I want to give 10 grand to Letty so she can get her own place or whatever. She only lost to me by less then an inch and it doesn't seem fair for her to walk away with nothing."
"That's very nice of you Torrie."
"Thanks."
"Well, you give her 5 and I'll kick in 5. That only seems fair."
"Thanks Dom. That's great of you."
Dom grunted. They walked back toward Torrie's car. She ran up to it and gave the hood a big hug. Dom laughed at her.
"Hey, he really came through for me today. He's a great car."
Dom just grunted again. Yes it was a nice car but it was NOT a he, nor was it the reason why she won. She won cause she was a good driver. But not as good as Letty if Letty came that close to getting her. It was just a fact. Torrie's car was way better but yet she hadn't smoked Letty. She won by less then an inch. In that second he knew.
"Edwin, boy, how you been livin?"
"Good Torrie. Damn you look good. How you been."
"Not bad. So you racing tomorrow?"
"Of course. You?"
"Of course. I'm going to be the grand champion of the whole meet."
"There is no such thing." Edwin knew she was just trying to get him going.
"I know but if there was I would win."
Dom watched her talking to Edwin. She laughed at something funny Edwin said. He did not know why he was always doing that with her. Picking a fight. She really could wear whatever she wanted. But he didn't want to see other guys look at her that way. Like she was a prize or something. Like they could win a race and take her from him as a prize. He was jealous of all the guys who stared at her. But she never gave any of them reason to think they have a chance. He was just over reacting. Time to go retrieve her from Edwin before he told her that he had done an overnight in jail for being caught racing. He was going to have to do something he hated to do. Apologize. Damn. He walked up to them. Torrie looked at him for a second then dismissed him and turned back to Edwin.
"Hey Edwin."
"Yo Dom, how you been?"
"Good man. Good Luck tomorrow man."
"You too."
"Well I gotta borrow my mechanic for awhile so we'll see you around Man."
"Sure Dom, see ya Torrie."
They walked away from Edwin back toward their own setup, Dom dragging a belligerent Torrie behind him. Dom told Torrie he was sorry and of course she could wear whatever she wanted but he just didn't want guys to think of her as anything less then a worthy racer. He did not want them to think she was just there to, well, just be. He wanted people to take her seriously. She explained to Dom that she was going to prove she should be the next day and it really did not matter what she wore. Dom told her he understood that now.
They met up with the guys and then all piled into Vince's car and went to get dinner. They came back and partied with the racewars crowd. They headed to the trailer and bed at all different times. Mia and Brian went first and everyone gave them a good half hour to be 'settled' before they went in the trailer. Jesse was the next to give up, then Leon. Then Letty and Vince. Torrie and Dom were dancing almost in a trance to the techno music. There were no words just throbbing beats. Torrie was dead on her feet though. She leaned back in his arms and told him she was heading to bed. He told her he was more then happy to go with her. They turned in and the trailer was packed but Torrie thought it was nice, unlike how she thought it would be. She thought it would feel cramped and awkward. But instead it felt close and cozy and safe. Like the house at night when you knew everyone was home and safe.
The next day Dom woke her up. Then he went along waking up everyone else. It was 9am. Torrie wandered out of the back room wearing Dom's old tee shirt and flip flops. Mia was wearing the same thing only Brian's shirt not Dom's. All they guys just had shorts on and Letty was wearing her own tank and shorts. Everyone was yawning and grumpy.
"So is someone making breakfast or are we going to hit burger king or something?"
There were groans of not another fast food meal all around. Mia agreed to cook. While Mia made breakfast they made plans for how the day would go down. Dom was not racing till the next day but most of the others could race today if they wanted. Torrie was definitely going to take off and race some. She wanted to race as many times as she could. She had her share of the prize money she had won at race meets in cash under the seat of her car. She was going to use it and hope it kept getting bigger not smaller. Leon was also going to race. Vince was undecided. Jesse didn't want to race at all this year and Dom was not going to make him. Letty was racing.
They ate and then got ready. Torrie put on black flares and layered two tanks. She put her hair up in a messy bun because she could not afford to have it get in her face today. She put on her driving boots and was ready to go. Dom walked in just as she was doing her makeup. He started to get dressed himself. He was going to wear typical Dom clothes. Black wife- beater and khakis. She was not sure if she was crazy or if the mood between her and Dom was different. She put it out of her mind and started to dig in her bag for her horseshoe chain. She stood up and started to try to fasten the clasp. She felt the chain be taken out of her hands as Dom did it up for her and kissed the nape of her neck. He wished her luck and she thanked him and left to find races.
She found out that what they were doing today was a sort of winner takes all race. You got in either line one or two depending on where the racewars guy sent you. Then when you got to the head of the line you raced who ever was at the head of the other line. Then the winner got their 2 grand. Then the winner went to a third or forth line depending on where they were told to go again. Then they raced again. The winner of the second race got 4 grand. And repeat till they had only two people left and a large sum of money. Torrie had to race some punk in a Honda Civic ricer and bet him easily. She got her money and moved to the second line. Here she raced a guy in a 300z who gave her a run for her money but her tenacity won the race for her in the end. She collected 4 grand off him and moved on. She raced again and bet a guy in a skyline. She bet him by about an inch but as Dom always said it didn't matter if you won by an inch or a mile winning was winning. She got 8 grand from him. If she lost a race she would lose everything. She could either keep racing or drive away with her money.
She decided to keep racing. May as well go for the gold she thought. That was something her dad always said. Her mom didn't know but if she would hurt herself in the garage and say darn or crap, her dad would always say "Torrie if you are going to swear go for the gold and say damn or shit. You'll feel better." She knew there were limits of course but he was right. She felt better when she used the full strength word and she imagined how good it would feel to go all the way to the top on day one.
She got in line for the 4th race. She got to the head of the line and saw she was against Vince. Uh oh. She was going to cause issues if she beat him. Guys hated to be beaten by girls. Oh well. Family or no V I'm doing my best to kick your ass, she thought. They got to the head of the line and she blew him a kiss. He 'caught' it with a sarcastic look and pretended to put it in his pocket.
The guy got their attention and started the race. Damn Vince was fast. She couldn't lose now. She wanted to win overall and tell Dom she had beaten everyone there was to beat. She thought she would finally be worthy then. She waited till the engine peaked and gave it the first hit of NOS and edged ahead of V. He came right back at her. She waited till the exact right second and hit her NOS. The race pedigree of her car over his helped her beat him by less then a second. The Maxima was fast but it did not have a chassis built for racing like the 240. She got the 16 grand prize and asked Vince not to go tell Dom anything yet. He agreed with a frown and Torrie continued on, knowing V was going to be sour at her for days.
She was now in the 5th race. There were only 4 cars. She and some guy in a Honda 2000 were up. He was a Tran. She knew from when Leon had pointed them out. She was so mad at them for what they tried to do to Jesse she smoked him solid. She more then redlined every gear but she left him in the dust. She got 32 grand from that race. The amount of money she had at this point was staggering. She added it up in her head and came up with 62 grand. The winner of the two people behind her had the same amount. She could either race that person and end up with 124 grand or quit now. The wars staff member had to know now. The other driver was game it seemed. Neither person knew who they would be up against.
Torrie made the split second decision to go for it. Really she was only out her original 2 grand if she lost and she had so much to gain. She pulled up to the final start line and looked to her left.
And saw her opponent was none other then Letty. Aw Fuck. She was not ready for this. She wanted to psyche her self up more before she had to race Letty. But damned if she was backing out now. Besides she had known this was coming for days. She revved up her engine and qued up what else, Lose Yourself. She knew that she had this in the bag unless she fucked up. Dom had told her that when he build Letty's car he had overlooked stuff that Torrie and her Dad had not. So Letty's car was not as new, was not a Silva. Torrie had the advantage there but Letty had home court advantage. She had done race wars before. But not this format. Oh well the time for thought was over.
The wars guy pointed at his eyes then Torrie, then his eyes, then Letty's. When both girls nodded he dropped his arms. Torrie took off and so did Letty. At first they were neck and neck. Then Torrie's engine peaked first and she got off her first hit of NOS. She jumped ahead. Letty's car hit that point and she hit her NOS. Torrie hit hers at the same time as Letty on the second shot. She crossed the finish line in what seemed like a dead heat with the other girl. After the two judges talked about it they agreed that Torrie had gotten over the line about an inch ahead of Letty. Torrie had 124 grand in her hand. She hid it under the seat and locked her car.
"Hey Letty, great race. I know you are a great racer. Dom told me my car had the edge but I hardly got you in the end."
Letty could tell that the other girl was just telling the truth she was not being condescending or trying to rub Letty's nose in the fact she lost. "Thanks. It was a great race. Your car is really fast."
"Thanks. Well I'm heading back to make up with Vince for kicking his ass." Torrie really wanted to tell Dom before anyone else did.
"I gotta do the same for both Leon and Brian so good luck. Oh, and I wont say anything about this till I know you got to tell Dom." It was obvious to Letty that is what Torrie really wanted to do.
"Thanks and good luck with the guys." Torrie smiled. She was glad it seemed like Letty and she could come to an agreement not to fight. Maybe Letty was sweet on a guy that was not Dom. That would be super. She headed off to tell Dom.
She drove back to their area and got out of her car with the money.
"Yo Dom. You here?"
"Back here Torrie. What's up?"
"Come here for a minute."
Dom came out from under his car, where he had been tightening something and wiped grease off his hands. He walked up to her. "Well?"
"Well first." She ran her hands up his back and kissed him like she he was water and she had been in the desert without for days. Then she said, "Hold out your hands and close your eyes."
Dom did as he was told. She handed him half the money. "Kay open em."
"Holy shit. Where did you get this?"
"I won it. Close your eyes again for a second."
He did so and she put the rest of the money in his hands. "K open your eyes again."
"How did you win this much money? There must be 80 grand here."
"Well no it is 124 really." Dom's jaw dropped open and he just stared at her. She explained about the round robin and how she had beaten Letty for the big win. Dom was surprised she had beaten all those people but happy for her. He put the money in the trailer and came over to Torrie again. She told him about how she and Letty had talked and everything seemed to be cool now. Dom was happy. However Torrie had more then paid off her dept to the team now. And they came to racewars just for fun. Well the team did not know that but they didn't even really need the money. His team never wondered why money was not tight like it had been before. Before the money Torrie had just handed him would have been three years worth of money to live on. Now he could afford to use it to buy her something nice or whatever. He couldn't let on to that though, which was too bad. What he could do was give her as much as he could make up a good story to cover.
"Say Torrie. This is not all mine. You only owe me 20 g's and that leaves like a hundred grand. 40 percent of that so 40 grand of it is yours. What do want to do with it?"
"Well I want to give 10 grand to Letty so she can get her own place or whatever. She only lost to me by less then an inch and it doesn't seem fair for her to walk away with nothing."
"That's very nice of you Torrie."
"Thanks."
"Well, you give her 5 and I'll kick in 5. That only seems fair."
"Thanks Dom. That's great of you."
Dom grunted. They walked back toward Torrie's car. She ran up to it and gave the hood a big hug. Dom laughed at her.
"Hey, he really came through for me today. He's a great car."
Dom just grunted again. Yes it was a nice car but it was NOT a he, nor was it the reason why she won. She won cause she was a good driver. But not as good as Letty if Letty came that close to getting her. It was just a fact. Torrie's car was way better but yet she hadn't smoked Letty. She won by less then an inch. In that second he knew.