Chapter 35 - The Best?
Kat sighed in frustration about 25 outfits later. What said I know I'm sexy while did not say Hey I'm a skanky bitch? She'd tried skirts and pants and tops and tanks and even her bikini top with pants and skirts. That came out looking too skanky even for how she dressed in the 'hood. She had time, maybe she should hit the mall. That sounded like a plan. Since the guys had never returned she left them a note telling them she went shopping and headed to the mall.
She looked around yet another store and didn't see anything. Then she saw a white skirt. It would be about mid thigh and fitted. It had a slit up almost to the hip on one side. She tried it on and loved it. She then had to find a top. She figured that a white top would work best, she thought that since she had gotten so darkly tanned in Japan it would look awesome. Her hair looked even paler then before but now her skin was quite deeply tanned. She found the perfect white top. It was fitted in the main section and made of sheer material. The sleeves were long and very full, but slit down the top and tied closed with little ties. It had little faux diamonds all over it and it almost seemed to be made of diamonds, they also were closer together where they needed to be to cover up the 'important' stuff. She was in love with it at first sight. She'd have bought it even if she didn't need a new top. With her new skirt it left just enough of her newly tanned belly bare to be sexy she though.
She then splurged even more on a pair of white knee high leather boots. She went home and put the whole outfit on together. If she wanted to send a message of being an angel any stronger she'd need a halo she thought and giggled. She knew a moment of panic about keeping all this white clean, but she resolved not to eat while wearing it at all. It did look good. Even if she did look a little bony from the whole Leon stressful situation. Her old dance instructor would think she looked great. She stuck out her tongue at herself in the mirror. She took the new outfit off and hung it up. She was going to check over her car. Sean and the gang were still not home. She'd really have liked Sean's help, but he wasn't home and no one was answering at Connor's. She figured she'd try again later but for now her car had to be checked.
She tossed on her scruffy shop cargos and a tank top and headed out to the driveway where the Skyline was. She popped the hood and started checking wires.
"Whatchya doin'?" Someone asked from behind her. She jumped and put a hand to her throat.
"Jesse, my god, you tryin' to give me a heart attack or somethin'?" She had been quite surprised by Jesse sneekin' up behind her.
"No, just wanted to see if you had bad nerves." Jesse answered and laughed at the look on her face. "So what are ya doin'?"
"Just goin' over the car before races tonight." Kat answered as she checked out the level of oil and antifreeze in her engine and tested the rad hoses.
"You're goin' to races then?" Jesse asked.
"Yeah, why? Is there some reason why I shouldn't?" Kat asked with a nervous look. Had Leon sent Jesse to tell her to stay home, or to try and make sure she wasn't going to be around that night?
"Nope, no reason. I just figured you'd take some time off since you just got home and all. Plus I didn't think you'd wanna risk messing up your car before you get to be in the big show." Jesse answered.
"Oh well, race wars is before import nights so I'll still be competing in the desert. I don't figure the car is any more likely to get hurt at races tonight then it is at race wars." Kat answered as she hit the ground and started to shimmy under the car on her creeper.
"What are you doin' down there?" Jesse asked her.
"Just checkin' it out Jesse. Just a habit I picked up back in the old neighbourhood. You never took anything for granted there and I still go over the car with a fine tooth comb before I race it anywhere." Kat answered as she checked out her ignition and checked for strange wires.
"Shit like that wouldn't happen around here Kat. It'd have to be someone off my team doin' it and we're not like that." Jesse sounded hurt, like he figured that Kat assumed that he or someone off his team would do something to her car, or try to harm her.
"I know that you guys wouldn't do that Jess, but I still have to check. I been racing here since 15 and I been doin these checks since then. Old habits die hard but in this case it'll never die because I saw someone once who found out their brake lines were cut the hard way, mid race and too late to avoid hitting a building at 140." Kat answered as she checked her rear brake lines.
"No shit? Stuff like that happened at your races?" Jesse couldn't believe it.
"Well, not all the time, but once was enough for me an the guys."
"I guess. Well, good luck tonight if you race Kat. I'll see you there. Hey, you should come to our place after. We'll be having a big party." Jesse stated.
Kat slid out from under the car, she had a little smudge of dirt on her nose. Jesse thought it was cute. He remembered Leon saying something about how cute she was when she got dirty once. "Is there some sort of conspiracy to get me to your party tonight? I've already had Vince over here asking me to go." She asked from her seat on the ground.
"No, I didn't know Vince was already here. I'd just like to see you after races is all." Jesse looked guilty. He held a hand out to Kat and helped her up.
"I'ma tell you what I told Vince. We'll see. I'm not makin' any promises." Kat told Jesse as she stood.
"Well, just think about it. Oh, but I wouldn't take that guy...I forget his name, the tall skinny guy you live with."
"Oh, Stacy?"
"Yeah, he kinda decked Leon in the face so maybe he shouldn't come." Kat tried to keep the smirk off her face and failed miserably. "Hey, it's not funny, he knocked him right down." Jesse looked indignant.
"I know. He told me he punched 'the punk' while I was gone. He told me he was sorry that he did it because I had asked him not to but he wasn't sorry he did it. And to tell you the truth Jesse, I'm not sorry he did it anymore either. I think I said I was sorry enough for 10 people and after what Leon said to me he had that punch comin'. But the guys won't want to go to your party. It's not really their scene."
"Ok, but I hope you come Kat. And maybe Leon did need a bit of a wakeup call."
"Good lord, I'll think about it. Besides do you and Vince really think seeing me in your house is gonna make Leon fall on his knees and beg for forgiveness? I think this is more likely to backfire which is why I'm not gonna promise till I have more time to think about it." Who was she kidden? She knew she was going. That's why she needed the new outfit. But she did figure it was going to end badly.
When she knew the car was safe she headed in the house and jumped in the shower. Then she did her hair. She got it smoother and straighter then it had ever been. She thought that it would go with her outfit best that way. Then she did her makeup. She used silver eye shadow and silver lipstick and black eyeliner and mascara. Then she got dressed. Everything she wore was white. She didn't bother with a bra since her top was lined in the front and it wasn't like she needed the support. She figured maybe she should wear one that gave her the allusion of having a bust but figured she rather be comfortable. She was likely average for her size but she saw herself as small.
Then she headed downstairs. It was 11 and there was still no sign of the guys. She called Connor again and this time he answered. "Yo!" Kat sighed. No matter how many times she told him the world was hello or at least Hi he still said yo.
"Hello" she emphasized the word "Connor. How are you?"
"Kitty cat! I'm great. How you been. You need to come down here with this brother o'mine next time. I ain't seen you in forever."
"I know but that brother of yours went down there while I was at work, so it's hard for me to go with him. Sean around?"
"Yeah, one sec. Yo Sean. Phone Bro." Connor shouted.
"Hello?" Sean answered the phone.
"Hey Boy, where are ya? Races in an hour you know?" Kat asked, trying to sound annoyed and failing. She loved Sean so much she had to be really mad at him to ever sound mad at him. She couldn't even pretend.
"There's races tonight Kitten? Why didn't you tell us?"
"I tried, but no one answered the phone all night and you left before I got home, remember. Get home Sean, I already checked the car and I'm ready to roll."
"Ok, we'll head home. Um Stacy and Kale are a little.Well.Happy. Is that ok?"
"Yeah, if you get 'em in the car and get home. I don't wanna miss the chance to race. You know we really do sorta need the money." Kat sighed.
"I know, I know. I'll be home in 20."
"Ok, bye." She hung up and went and plopped down on her couch and switched on the TV. She watched some random program while she waited. Well, she didn't really watch, she just kind of thought about her life and how screwed up it was while the TV provided background noise. She wanted to try Vince's theory that if she showed up at his house and partied like she didn't have a care in the world then Leon would be jealous enough to at least talk to her. But what if all he did was yell and kick her out?
She didn't know if she could handle that. She had to admit she was strangely intrigued by the chance to find out what had happened between Vince and his girl. She felt for the big guy, now more so then ever since she knew what he was going through.
But she didn't know if seeing Leon was good for her heart if he should refuse to have anything to do with her. She missed him so much after the short time they'd been together that she worried if she saw him again and he reused to have anything to do with her it might dump her right back where she'd been before her trip. But when she thought about it she was still moping around the house, hoping not to see him. So either they'd fight it out and either end up friends or giving 'them' another try or they'd fight it out and decide not to have anything to do with each other, in which case she would at least be able to walk past him in the street or races and know how to act.
She decided she'd go if and only if Vince came to get her. She wasn't going to just walk into the house. With that decision made she started to look for her guys. She was getting impatient to be off. Just then they noisily came in the front door.
"Kitten!" Sean called. "We ready. Let's go!" She walked out of the living room. Sean did a double take. "Whoa, hello there Angel. Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? What'd you do wit our girl Kat? Can't be the same girl, our girl'd have to have a trampoline to get here from where she's from."
"Sean!" She blushed.
"You look awesome. You showin' off for someone in particular?"
"Of course not Sean, whatever could you mean?" She gave him a little curtsy and smiled.
"You do look like an angel Kitten." Stacy stated. "I hope that's not for the punk."
"Stacy, don't you start shit tonight. Got it? If you're too wasted not to fight stay the fuck home." Kat didn't want to spend the night babysitting. "I got dressed up for me."
"I'm just joshen' ya Kat. I'm dead sober." Stacy made his got ya face at her.
"Beast! Here I was thinking I was gonna have to drag you all down in my car." Kat smiled.
"Nope, Me'n Kale'll take the Eclipse down." Stacy swung the keys around on his finger.
"Ok, let's go." They left the house and got in their cars. Kat noted with a smile that they were leaving after the Toretto's and they were therefore going to arrive after. She'd bet Dom'd be pissed about that. They roared off toward the industrial area of town where the warehouse was. They pulled in and were in fact the last to arrive. They parked and got out of their cars. Some people came over to them, mostly skanks. It seemed that the guys already had a fan club. Then the male racers realized who Kat was.
She was surrounded in half a second by guys introducing themselves to her and wanting to chat. She was overwhelmed but thankfully Sean realized and rescued her to go talk to Edwin. Edwin looked her over and licked his lips. He'd never thought of Kat like a girl before. He was just as guilty as most guys around the scene of thinking of her as just another racer, just another grease monkey. But tonight she looked good. He knew he had no chance, but she still looked good. Then she opened her mouth.
"Yo Bro! How we doin' this?" Kat asked. "Anything decided yet?"
"No, nothin' yet. But there's a third Skyline here tonight. I heard rumors of someone wanting to set a race up between the three of you. A sort of the best of the best of the Skylines in LA sorta thing." Still the same old Kat, with racing on the brain and bigger balls then half the men.
"I don't know Edwin. That'd mean racing." She trailed off. Edwin had heard what had happened between her and Leon. He didn't know what they'd fought over but everyone knew they'd fought. "Yeah, it would, but hey, that's just a rumor. No sayin' it'll happen or not. If it does you don't haveta get in on it."
"Yeah, I could refuse and look like a pussy, or look like I'm scared of beating.You know how it'd look. I'll haveta race if they wanna do it."
"Yeah, you would haveta pretty much but no saying the other two'd go for it."
"We can hope." Kat didn't want to race Leon. She'd give anything not to. Either she lost to him and it looked like her car was all show and no go, or she beat him and he never forgave her for making him look stupid by being beaten by a girl, a girl he use to date none the less. She saw Dom and Hector coming their way.
"Hey Edwin." Dom spoke first to the familiar face of Edwin. "How you doin' man?"
"You know Dom, same ol, same ol. How you doin'?"
"Good. Ready to roll. But it looks like the people don't wanna see me run tonight. They wanna see Skyline Vs. Skyline tonight. You in Kat?" Dom asked. If Kat wasn't mistaken Dom looked like he had pity for her, for being in this position. No one pitied her. She wouldn't have it. Fuck Leon. She was in.
"I'm in." She said simply and with a backbone of steel. No hesitation or uncertainty could be heard in her voice or seen in her demeanor. "Bring it on. Tell these other two.whoever they are to bring it." Kat raised her chin.
Dom looked at her with a mix of respect, and still pity. He respected her for taking the challenge and pitied her because either way, win or lose, Kat was going to lose. Either the race, or the chance to have Leon back in her life. Everyone seemed to think if she beat him, he wouldn't want anything to do with her. Maybe they were right. "Ok then. I'll tell the other two it's on." Dom walked away.
She turned to Sean and Stacy. "I hope I know what I'm doin'."
"What'dya mean Kitten? You're the best." Stacy answered her. Sean gave Stacy a look.
"She means if she beats whitebread he's gonna flip." Kale filled Stacy in. The look of understanding was obvious as it flashed across Stacy's face.
"Not just that. What if I'm good, and my car is great? What if against other Skylines I'm not the best, I'm just good. What if you take the cars away and make all the rides evenly matched I'm not any better then anyone else? What if it was always my car and never me? I might not be better then anyone else." Kat tipped her head back, closed her eyes and sighed. Then she prayed to a god that she wasn't even sure she believed in anymore for the answer to this puzzle.
"Kat, you're the best. It's not the car, it never was. It was always you. The car is only as fast as the driver can make it move. You designed it, you tuned it pretty much on your own this time, you drive it. It's all you Kitten, it's always been you." Sean tipped his head down to press his forehead against hers, he continued so that only the two of them could hear. "You are the best. We've always seen it. We've always known you didn't. But you can beat any of these punks. You're above us all Kat. Go get 'em. Just race Kat. Nothing else matters. Not what you drive or who you race against. It's always been about freedom for you. About speed and not being helpless anymore. You need the control Kat, you need to know that it's you that's handling all that power and keeping it on the road all alone, that you can control something as powerful as that car. We always known that you had the talent, the skill. We just gave you the car to show what you always had in you. You deserved the best car only because you are the best driver. You're never gonna be second in my book Kitten."
"I love you Sean." She hugged him tight.
"I love you too Kitten, go get in your car. And if you ever tell anyone I said anything that mushy I'll have to kill ya." Sean sent her to her car with a little shove and a laugh. She gave him the first totally genuine smile since before everything went down and got into the car.
"She's somethin' else isn't she?" Edwin asked.
"There'll never be another Kat." Sean answered and waved at her. She waved back from the driver's seat of her car. Sean saw Dom walking her way and kept a close eye on the other man. Sean still didn't like Dom. He didn't trust him around Kat any further then he could throw him. And since the two men were about the same size he didn't figure he could throw him too far.
"You ready Kat?" Dom crouched by her door and asked.
"Yep, like I said, bring it on." Kat turned her head to look at Dom.
"He's not gonna take it well if you kick his ass Kat." She gave Dom a look like she had no idea what he meant. "I know you know what I mean Kat."
She didn't try to front, she knew what he meant and he knew she knew. "I get you Dom but I didn't ask for this. If I back out I look like a pussy. Like I'm scared I couldn't beat these two and I know I can. If I ever want serious races again I can't back out of this. You gotta see that. I worked too damn hard to get where I am to throw it away over Leon Dom. Especially since he won't even give me the time of day anyway. I mean really, how much worse could it get then him pretending I don't exist? I've been slaving for the last 4 years to get here and I'm not thrown' that away on a guy that may or may not ever talk to me again."
"He'd have gotten over it sooner or later and gone to talk to you Kat, but if you beat him tonight I don't know if he will. Men and their pride you know." Dom looked dead serious. She knew he was telling her if it was him and Letty and Letty kicked his ass he'd never forgive her.
"Dom, it'd be so easy for either of these two guys to just say they're not racing some untried female driver, to say they're not racin' a chick. Everyone would just go along with them, say they're right not to want to waste their time. Everyone'll look at me like a quitter who's not ready to run with the big boys if I back out."
"Aight. I see where you're comin' from. I just hope it's worth it."
"It has to be." Kat answered and looked away. It was all she ever wanted; all she'd wanted for the last 4 years was to be the best racer. It couldn't not be worth it. She'd come too far, sacrificed far too much for her to decide it wasn't worth it now. So why'd a second chance with Leon almost sound better then winning this race? She got so mad at herself for that. Here was her chance to get that much closer to her dream and she was ready to throw it away over some guy who tried to crush her spirit anyway. She shook her head and looked up at Dom. "I'm ready, let's do this." Dom just nodded in the same accepting way he had when Brian had let him take off in the Supra and told Kat where to line up. He couldn't force her not to race Leon. But Dom knew when it came down to it that Kat's car outclassed Leon's, even with all Jesse had done to it and Kat was likely to win this one. Dom didn't think Leon could handle it. But Leon wouldn't back down either. Dom had tried that first. Dom gave her directions to the street they were racing on.
Kat drove to the spot and lined it up. The skyline between her and Leon was a bright red R32. It looked like the same year as Leon's. Kat figured she had this one in the bag, but she knew better then to be too cocky. She was pretty sure that her car was just as well built and tuned as these guys and that meant she had an advantage over them just because she had the V-Spec engine. She figured that the new kid coulda swapped his out, but she didn't figure he had. He still had the stock rims and seats. They were nice right from the factory, but what else had he skimped on? She'd be willing to bet that anyone running stock seats with no 4 point harnesses hadn't gone all out on his moddes. He was hoping to fall back on the fact that the car was the best. But he couldn't do that in this race because her and Leon had tens of thousands of dollars into their rides. Hell, Kat's racing seats were worth more then this kids rims. She figured that her rims, seats, paint job and light effects were worth half as much as the red skyline itself, in Japan, not what he could get for it in the US of course.
She'd never seen under the hood of Leon's car, he had an advantage over her there, but she'd ridden it in. She was fairly confident her car could out run him and out handle him. But he'd driven her car too and he knew any weaknesses. Of course Kat didn't think there were any. But she'd bet if there was Leon'd already found it and was figuring how to use it to his advantage. She was glad whoever'd decided how they'd line up had put the red car between them for a buffer. They had to wait for a chance to race and the drivers got out of their cars to wait. Vince walked up to Kat.
She smiled softly at him. She really liked Vince in a friendly way.
"Kat, see now, that is the kind of outfit I meant when I said knock 'em out. But I didn't think you'd end up racin' him. Might not be smart." Vince looked her over from head to toe and didn't know how Leon could stay away. And he didn't know how a girl as evil as he knew Kat to be looked so much like an angel. Well, evil in a good way but far from an angel.
"I know all that and more Vince but I couldn't say no. Everyone'd figure that I knew I couldn't win and then I'd never be taken seriously again. And I have something on the go that I can't mess up like that." She wasn't telling Dom's best friend she planned on kicking Dom's ass next to get herself NIRA but she wasn't going to do anything that would make people refuse her the chance to race Dom when she got the chance. She knew that there was always a line up to get a shot at him, but if she was the best they wouldn't not let her race him for the same reason she had to say yes to this race. If she challenged Dom in a few weeks after a few more wins against worthy racers then Dom couldn't say no or he'd look like he was scared she'd beat him. And she would, but he'd still have to give it his best shot.
"I guess you're right. But you still look amazing." Vince looked down at her. "I hope things all work out for you. You comin' over tonight?"
"I don't know. Depends how good you make it sound. You ever do body shots?" Kat asked, trying to remain serious.
"Nope, how do you do that?"
"It involves tequila, I'll show you the rest later. I hope you don't mind ol' Le being a little mad at you for a few days."
"Why?"
"Cause if he sees us doin' body shots he will be. But if I go over we are. You'll have fun. Just wait. We'll be hammered in no time." She grinned wickedly.
"Well, I tend to do stupid stuff when I'm drunk."
"Me too, I'm countin on it." She continued to give him the same evil grin.
"Ok, I hope you know what you're doin'."
"Nope, but by the time the ride stops, I'm gonna have had quite the run." She stood beside her car. Vince walked away.
Leon wondered when Kat and Vince had gotten so chummy. He watched Vince touch her shoulder and watched her grin at Vince. Then Vince walked away and Leon was left staring at the beautiful sight Kat made standing beside her car. The white of her clothes contrasted with the body of her car, but complimented her tigers. She looked like an angel in that outfit. It was all white and the shirt was so shear and filmy it had an almost ethereal look to it, added to the effect was the cloud of the palest hair he'd ever seen all around her, down her back and over her shoulders. Plus the way the streetlights hit it made almost a halo effect around her head. Only Leon knew first hand she was no angel. She was the devil in a white outfit.
She'd looked happy and confident while Dom, Vince, and her friend Sean were around but when she was left alone by the side of her car Leon knew she wasn't as confident and happy as she let on. She was so good at fooling the world, but she'd never been able to fool him. He could just look at her and know when she was fronting. He didn't know how she'd managed to keep her part in what had happened to him from him as long as she did. She couldn't really hide anything from him otherwise. He always figured it out. She didn't want to race him. He knew that. He knew if she'd refused she'd have been throwing away her dream just to save his pride. He'd striped her of hers on a sidewalk but for some reason he wanted her to toss her dream aside just to save him some embarrassment. Almost all she had was her skill behind the wheel but he'd wanted her to say it didn't matter even though he knew he should have gone and talked to her about it long ago. He found himself wishing he'd refused to race her. It was too late now.
Everyone got back in their cars and waited for the all clear. Kat was nervous. More nervous then she ever remembered being. She decided she needed some tunes to pump her up. She turned up Outkast's song The way you move. Her stereo was loud. She only had two 8 inch subs but they were in a ported band pass box and they were Fusion. They pounded as tight and loud as some people's setups with three times the subs. And they were light. She waited for Hector to start them off as she sung along.
"But I know ya'll running that 808, can you feel that B A S S bass." She almost shouted, trying to get herself worked up.
Leon heard the music pounding from her car and wished he had a stereo. His car was built for pure speed, he only had a cheap cd player and the factory speakers. He just knew she was over there pumping herself up for speed. The kid in the red car looked green. Leon knew he was nervous. It was only the kid's third race ever. How he'd ended up in a skyline Leon'd never know. He'd picked up the same stuff about it that Kat had. Factory seats and wheels. It wasn't a finished street car yet. But the kid was about to learn that the hard way.
Someone on Edwin's crew was on the scanner tonight. He relayed to Hector that the cops should be busy with a murder suicide in the hills. Hector leaned over and spoke to Dom, telling him that everything was good to roll. It was just a courtesy to Dom since Dom wasn't getting to race. Dom told him to start the race any time.
Kat was telling herself it didn't matter who she was against. She just had to forget about everyone but herself and move her car in the fastest, straightest line possible. That was all they did here, piece of cake she figured. She watched Hector speak to Dom. She hoped that Leon brought everything he had. If she figured that he let her win, either to try to make up with her or to be able to say he threw the race for her she'd make him rematch her till she felt he tried. She shut off her brain at that point and focused on Hector. All she allowed herself to think of was the race from that point on.
Hector raised his arms over his head. Kat felt her heart rate speed up, her mouth got dry and she felt the excitement pool in her lower belly, hot and heavy. She tasted the familiar, almost comforting taste of pennies and honey under her tongue. She threw the stick into first and the gears engaged with a metallic chink. She had the clutch halfway off and the gas halfway on. It revved the car enough to keep it still but gave her a small advantage over anyone who was going to try to pop their clutch when Hector dropped his arms. Neither of the other racers could tell she was doing this over the noise of their own cars and the crowd. Sean knew she was because he'd taught her to.
Dom could hear that her rpm's had gone up and he knew what she was doing. The girl was the real deal. She was smart. Dom did that trick himself. She was gonna smoke Leon. There wasn't anything that could be done about it.
Kat sighed in frustration about 25 outfits later. What said I know I'm sexy while did not say Hey I'm a skanky bitch? She'd tried skirts and pants and tops and tanks and even her bikini top with pants and skirts. That came out looking too skanky even for how she dressed in the 'hood. She had time, maybe she should hit the mall. That sounded like a plan. Since the guys had never returned she left them a note telling them she went shopping and headed to the mall.
She looked around yet another store and didn't see anything. Then she saw a white skirt. It would be about mid thigh and fitted. It had a slit up almost to the hip on one side. She tried it on and loved it. She then had to find a top. She figured that a white top would work best, she thought that since she had gotten so darkly tanned in Japan it would look awesome. Her hair looked even paler then before but now her skin was quite deeply tanned. She found the perfect white top. It was fitted in the main section and made of sheer material. The sleeves were long and very full, but slit down the top and tied closed with little ties. It had little faux diamonds all over it and it almost seemed to be made of diamonds, they also were closer together where they needed to be to cover up the 'important' stuff. She was in love with it at first sight. She'd have bought it even if she didn't need a new top. With her new skirt it left just enough of her newly tanned belly bare to be sexy she though.
She then splurged even more on a pair of white knee high leather boots. She went home and put the whole outfit on together. If she wanted to send a message of being an angel any stronger she'd need a halo she thought and giggled. She knew a moment of panic about keeping all this white clean, but she resolved not to eat while wearing it at all. It did look good. Even if she did look a little bony from the whole Leon stressful situation. Her old dance instructor would think she looked great. She stuck out her tongue at herself in the mirror. She took the new outfit off and hung it up. She was going to check over her car. Sean and the gang were still not home. She'd really have liked Sean's help, but he wasn't home and no one was answering at Connor's. She figured she'd try again later but for now her car had to be checked.
She tossed on her scruffy shop cargos and a tank top and headed out to the driveway where the Skyline was. She popped the hood and started checking wires.
"Whatchya doin'?" Someone asked from behind her. She jumped and put a hand to her throat.
"Jesse, my god, you tryin' to give me a heart attack or somethin'?" She had been quite surprised by Jesse sneekin' up behind her.
"No, just wanted to see if you had bad nerves." Jesse answered and laughed at the look on her face. "So what are ya doin'?"
"Just goin' over the car before races tonight." Kat answered as she checked out the level of oil and antifreeze in her engine and tested the rad hoses.
"You're goin' to races then?" Jesse asked.
"Yeah, why? Is there some reason why I shouldn't?" Kat asked with a nervous look. Had Leon sent Jesse to tell her to stay home, or to try and make sure she wasn't going to be around that night?
"Nope, no reason. I just figured you'd take some time off since you just got home and all. Plus I didn't think you'd wanna risk messing up your car before you get to be in the big show." Jesse answered.
"Oh well, race wars is before import nights so I'll still be competing in the desert. I don't figure the car is any more likely to get hurt at races tonight then it is at race wars." Kat answered as she hit the ground and started to shimmy under the car on her creeper.
"What are you doin' down there?" Jesse asked her.
"Just checkin' it out Jesse. Just a habit I picked up back in the old neighbourhood. You never took anything for granted there and I still go over the car with a fine tooth comb before I race it anywhere." Kat answered as she checked out her ignition and checked for strange wires.
"Shit like that wouldn't happen around here Kat. It'd have to be someone off my team doin' it and we're not like that." Jesse sounded hurt, like he figured that Kat assumed that he or someone off his team would do something to her car, or try to harm her.
"I know that you guys wouldn't do that Jess, but I still have to check. I been racing here since 15 and I been doin these checks since then. Old habits die hard but in this case it'll never die because I saw someone once who found out their brake lines were cut the hard way, mid race and too late to avoid hitting a building at 140." Kat answered as she checked her rear brake lines.
"No shit? Stuff like that happened at your races?" Jesse couldn't believe it.
"Well, not all the time, but once was enough for me an the guys."
"I guess. Well, good luck tonight if you race Kat. I'll see you there. Hey, you should come to our place after. We'll be having a big party." Jesse stated.
Kat slid out from under the car, she had a little smudge of dirt on her nose. Jesse thought it was cute. He remembered Leon saying something about how cute she was when she got dirty once. "Is there some sort of conspiracy to get me to your party tonight? I've already had Vince over here asking me to go." She asked from her seat on the ground.
"No, I didn't know Vince was already here. I'd just like to see you after races is all." Jesse looked guilty. He held a hand out to Kat and helped her up.
"I'ma tell you what I told Vince. We'll see. I'm not makin' any promises." Kat told Jesse as she stood.
"Well, just think about it. Oh, but I wouldn't take that guy...I forget his name, the tall skinny guy you live with."
"Oh, Stacy?"
"Yeah, he kinda decked Leon in the face so maybe he shouldn't come." Kat tried to keep the smirk off her face and failed miserably. "Hey, it's not funny, he knocked him right down." Jesse looked indignant.
"I know. He told me he punched 'the punk' while I was gone. He told me he was sorry that he did it because I had asked him not to but he wasn't sorry he did it. And to tell you the truth Jesse, I'm not sorry he did it anymore either. I think I said I was sorry enough for 10 people and after what Leon said to me he had that punch comin'. But the guys won't want to go to your party. It's not really their scene."
"Ok, but I hope you come Kat. And maybe Leon did need a bit of a wakeup call."
"Good lord, I'll think about it. Besides do you and Vince really think seeing me in your house is gonna make Leon fall on his knees and beg for forgiveness? I think this is more likely to backfire which is why I'm not gonna promise till I have more time to think about it." Who was she kidden? She knew she was going. That's why she needed the new outfit. But she did figure it was going to end badly.
When she knew the car was safe she headed in the house and jumped in the shower. Then she did her hair. She got it smoother and straighter then it had ever been. She thought that it would go with her outfit best that way. Then she did her makeup. She used silver eye shadow and silver lipstick and black eyeliner and mascara. Then she got dressed. Everything she wore was white. She didn't bother with a bra since her top was lined in the front and it wasn't like she needed the support. She figured maybe she should wear one that gave her the allusion of having a bust but figured she rather be comfortable. She was likely average for her size but she saw herself as small.
Then she headed downstairs. It was 11 and there was still no sign of the guys. She called Connor again and this time he answered. "Yo!" Kat sighed. No matter how many times she told him the world was hello or at least Hi he still said yo.
"Hello" she emphasized the word "Connor. How are you?"
"Kitty cat! I'm great. How you been. You need to come down here with this brother o'mine next time. I ain't seen you in forever."
"I know but that brother of yours went down there while I was at work, so it's hard for me to go with him. Sean around?"
"Yeah, one sec. Yo Sean. Phone Bro." Connor shouted.
"Hello?" Sean answered the phone.
"Hey Boy, where are ya? Races in an hour you know?" Kat asked, trying to sound annoyed and failing. She loved Sean so much she had to be really mad at him to ever sound mad at him. She couldn't even pretend.
"There's races tonight Kitten? Why didn't you tell us?"
"I tried, but no one answered the phone all night and you left before I got home, remember. Get home Sean, I already checked the car and I'm ready to roll."
"Ok, we'll head home. Um Stacy and Kale are a little.Well.Happy. Is that ok?"
"Yeah, if you get 'em in the car and get home. I don't wanna miss the chance to race. You know we really do sorta need the money." Kat sighed.
"I know, I know. I'll be home in 20."
"Ok, bye." She hung up and went and plopped down on her couch and switched on the TV. She watched some random program while she waited. Well, she didn't really watch, she just kind of thought about her life and how screwed up it was while the TV provided background noise. She wanted to try Vince's theory that if she showed up at his house and partied like she didn't have a care in the world then Leon would be jealous enough to at least talk to her. But what if all he did was yell and kick her out?
She didn't know if she could handle that. She had to admit she was strangely intrigued by the chance to find out what had happened between Vince and his girl. She felt for the big guy, now more so then ever since she knew what he was going through.
But she didn't know if seeing Leon was good for her heart if he should refuse to have anything to do with her. She missed him so much after the short time they'd been together that she worried if she saw him again and he reused to have anything to do with her it might dump her right back where she'd been before her trip. But when she thought about it she was still moping around the house, hoping not to see him. So either they'd fight it out and either end up friends or giving 'them' another try or they'd fight it out and decide not to have anything to do with each other, in which case she would at least be able to walk past him in the street or races and know how to act.
She decided she'd go if and only if Vince came to get her. She wasn't going to just walk into the house. With that decision made she started to look for her guys. She was getting impatient to be off. Just then they noisily came in the front door.
"Kitten!" Sean called. "We ready. Let's go!" She walked out of the living room. Sean did a double take. "Whoa, hello there Angel. Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? What'd you do wit our girl Kat? Can't be the same girl, our girl'd have to have a trampoline to get here from where she's from."
"Sean!" She blushed.
"You look awesome. You showin' off for someone in particular?"
"Of course not Sean, whatever could you mean?" She gave him a little curtsy and smiled.
"You do look like an angel Kitten." Stacy stated. "I hope that's not for the punk."
"Stacy, don't you start shit tonight. Got it? If you're too wasted not to fight stay the fuck home." Kat didn't want to spend the night babysitting. "I got dressed up for me."
"I'm just joshen' ya Kat. I'm dead sober." Stacy made his got ya face at her.
"Beast! Here I was thinking I was gonna have to drag you all down in my car." Kat smiled.
"Nope, Me'n Kale'll take the Eclipse down." Stacy swung the keys around on his finger.
"Ok, let's go." They left the house and got in their cars. Kat noted with a smile that they were leaving after the Toretto's and they were therefore going to arrive after. She'd bet Dom'd be pissed about that. They roared off toward the industrial area of town where the warehouse was. They pulled in and were in fact the last to arrive. They parked and got out of their cars. Some people came over to them, mostly skanks. It seemed that the guys already had a fan club. Then the male racers realized who Kat was.
She was surrounded in half a second by guys introducing themselves to her and wanting to chat. She was overwhelmed but thankfully Sean realized and rescued her to go talk to Edwin. Edwin looked her over and licked his lips. He'd never thought of Kat like a girl before. He was just as guilty as most guys around the scene of thinking of her as just another racer, just another grease monkey. But tonight she looked good. He knew he had no chance, but she still looked good. Then she opened her mouth.
"Yo Bro! How we doin' this?" Kat asked. "Anything decided yet?"
"No, nothin' yet. But there's a third Skyline here tonight. I heard rumors of someone wanting to set a race up between the three of you. A sort of the best of the best of the Skylines in LA sorta thing." Still the same old Kat, with racing on the brain and bigger balls then half the men.
"I don't know Edwin. That'd mean racing." She trailed off. Edwin had heard what had happened between her and Leon. He didn't know what they'd fought over but everyone knew they'd fought. "Yeah, it would, but hey, that's just a rumor. No sayin' it'll happen or not. If it does you don't haveta get in on it."
"Yeah, I could refuse and look like a pussy, or look like I'm scared of beating.You know how it'd look. I'll haveta race if they wanna do it."
"Yeah, you would haveta pretty much but no saying the other two'd go for it."
"We can hope." Kat didn't want to race Leon. She'd give anything not to. Either she lost to him and it looked like her car was all show and no go, or she beat him and he never forgave her for making him look stupid by being beaten by a girl, a girl he use to date none the less. She saw Dom and Hector coming their way.
"Hey Edwin." Dom spoke first to the familiar face of Edwin. "How you doin' man?"
"You know Dom, same ol, same ol. How you doin'?"
"Good. Ready to roll. But it looks like the people don't wanna see me run tonight. They wanna see Skyline Vs. Skyline tonight. You in Kat?" Dom asked. If Kat wasn't mistaken Dom looked like he had pity for her, for being in this position. No one pitied her. She wouldn't have it. Fuck Leon. She was in.
"I'm in." She said simply and with a backbone of steel. No hesitation or uncertainty could be heard in her voice or seen in her demeanor. "Bring it on. Tell these other two.whoever they are to bring it." Kat raised her chin.
Dom looked at her with a mix of respect, and still pity. He respected her for taking the challenge and pitied her because either way, win or lose, Kat was going to lose. Either the race, or the chance to have Leon back in her life. Everyone seemed to think if she beat him, he wouldn't want anything to do with her. Maybe they were right. "Ok then. I'll tell the other two it's on." Dom walked away.
She turned to Sean and Stacy. "I hope I know what I'm doin'."
"What'dya mean Kitten? You're the best." Stacy answered her. Sean gave Stacy a look.
"She means if she beats whitebread he's gonna flip." Kale filled Stacy in. The look of understanding was obvious as it flashed across Stacy's face.
"Not just that. What if I'm good, and my car is great? What if against other Skylines I'm not the best, I'm just good. What if you take the cars away and make all the rides evenly matched I'm not any better then anyone else? What if it was always my car and never me? I might not be better then anyone else." Kat tipped her head back, closed her eyes and sighed. Then she prayed to a god that she wasn't even sure she believed in anymore for the answer to this puzzle.
"Kat, you're the best. It's not the car, it never was. It was always you. The car is only as fast as the driver can make it move. You designed it, you tuned it pretty much on your own this time, you drive it. It's all you Kitten, it's always been you." Sean tipped his head down to press his forehead against hers, he continued so that only the two of them could hear. "You are the best. We've always seen it. We've always known you didn't. But you can beat any of these punks. You're above us all Kat. Go get 'em. Just race Kat. Nothing else matters. Not what you drive or who you race against. It's always been about freedom for you. About speed and not being helpless anymore. You need the control Kat, you need to know that it's you that's handling all that power and keeping it on the road all alone, that you can control something as powerful as that car. We always known that you had the talent, the skill. We just gave you the car to show what you always had in you. You deserved the best car only because you are the best driver. You're never gonna be second in my book Kitten."
"I love you Sean." She hugged him tight.
"I love you too Kitten, go get in your car. And if you ever tell anyone I said anything that mushy I'll have to kill ya." Sean sent her to her car with a little shove and a laugh. She gave him the first totally genuine smile since before everything went down and got into the car.
"She's somethin' else isn't she?" Edwin asked.
"There'll never be another Kat." Sean answered and waved at her. She waved back from the driver's seat of her car. Sean saw Dom walking her way and kept a close eye on the other man. Sean still didn't like Dom. He didn't trust him around Kat any further then he could throw him. And since the two men were about the same size he didn't figure he could throw him too far.
"You ready Kat?" Dom crouched by her door and asked.
"Yep, like I said, bring it on." Kat turned her head to look at Dom.
"He's not gonna take it well if you kick his ass Kat." She gave Dom a look like she had no idea what he meant. "I know you know what I mean Kat."
She didn't try to front, she knew what he meant and he knew she knew. "I get you Dom but I didn't ask for this. If I back out I look like a pussy. Like I'm scared I couldn't beat these two and I know I can. If I ever want serious races again I can't back out of this. You gotta see that. I worked too damn hard to get where I am to throw it away over Leon Dom. Especially since he won't even give me the time of day anyway. I mean really, how much worse could it get then him pretending I don't exist? I've been slaving for the last 4 years to get here and I'm not thrown' that away on a guy that may or may not ever talk to me again."
"He'd have gotten over it sooner or later and gone to talk to you Kat, but if you beat him tonight I don't know if he will. Men and their pride you know." Dom looked dead serious. She knew he was telling her if it was him and Letty and Letty kicked his ass he'd never forgive her.
"Dom, it'd be so easy for either of these two guys to just say they're not racing some untried female driver, to say they're not racin' a chick. Everyone would just go along with them, say they're right not to want to waste their time. Everyone'll look at me like a quitter who's not ready to run with the big boys if I back out."
"Aight. I see where you're comin' from. I just hope it's worth it."
"It has to be." Kat answered and looked away. It was all she ever wanted; all she'd wanted for the last 4 years was to be the best racer. It couldn't not be worth it. She'd come too far, sacrificed far too much for her to decide it wasn't worth it now. So why'd a second chance with Leon almost sound better then winning this race? She got so mad at herself for that. Here was her chance to get that much closer to her dream and she was ready to throw it away over some guy who tried to crush her spirit anyway. She shook her head and looked up at Dom. "I'm ready, let's do this." Dom just nodded in the same accepting way he had when Brian had let him take off in the Supra and told Kat where to line up. He couldn't force her not to race Leon. But Dom knew when it came down to it that Kat's car outclassed Leon's, even with all Jesse had done to it and Kat was likely to win this one. Dom didn't think Leon could handle it. But Leon wouldn't back down either. Dom had tried that first. Dom gave her directions to the street they were racing on.
Kat drove to the spot and lined it up. The skyline between her and Leon was a bright red R32. It looked like the same year as Leon's. Kat figured she had this one in the bag, but she knew better then to be too cocky. She was pretty sure that her car was just as well built and tuned as these guys and that meant she had an advantage over them just because she had the V-Spec engine. She figured that the new kid coulda swapped his out, but she didn't figure he had. He still had the stock rims and seats. They were nice right from the factory, but what else had he skimped on? She'd be willing to bet that anyone running stock seats with no 4 point harnesses hadn't gone all out on his moddes. He was hoping to fall back on the fact that the car was the best. But he couldn't do that in this race because her and Leon had tens of thousands of dollars into their rides. Hell, Kat's racing seats were worth more then this kids rims. She figured that her rims, seats, paint job and light effects were worth half as much as the red skyline itself, in Japan, not what he could get for it in the US of course.
She'd never seen under the hood of Leon's car, he had an advantage over her there, but she'd ridden it in. She was fairly confident her car could out run him and out handle him. But he'd driven her car too and he knew any weaknesses. Of course Kat didn't think there were any. But she'd bet if there was Leon'd already found it and was figuring how to use it to his advantage. She was glad whoever'd decided how they'd line up had put the red car between them for a buffer. They had to wait for a chance to race and the drivers got out of their cars to wait. Vince walked up to Kat.
She smiled softly at him. She really liked Vince in a friendly way.
"Kat, see now, that is the kind of outfit I meant when I said knock 'em out. But I didn't think you'd end up racin' him. Might not be smart." Vince looked her over from head to toe and didn't know how Leon could stay away. And he didn't know how a girl as evil as he knew Kat to be looked so much like an angel. Well, evil in a good way but far from an angel.
"I know all that and more Vince but I couldn't say no. Everyone'd figure that I knew I couldn't win and then I'd never be taken seriously again. And I have something on the go that I can't mess up like that." She wasn't telling Dom's best friend she planned on kicking Dom's ass next to get herself NIRA but she wasn't going to do anything that would make people refuse her the chance to race Dom when she got the chance. She knew that there was always a line up to get a shot at him, but if she was the best they wouldn't not let her race him for the same reason she had to say yes to this race. If she challenged Dom in a few weeks after a few more wins against worthy racers then Dom couldn't say no or he'd look like he was scared she'd beat him. And she would, but he'd still have to give it his best shot.
"I guess you're right. But you still look amazing." Vince looked down at her. "I hope things all work out for you. You comin' over tonight?"
"I don't know. Depends how good you make it sound. You ever do body shots?" Kat asked, trying to remain serious.
"Nope, how do you do that?"
"It involves tequila, I'll show you the rest later. I hope you don't mind ol' Le being a little mad at you for a few days."
"Why?"
"Cause if he sees us doin' body shots he will be. But if I go over we are. You'll have fun. Just wait. We'll be hammered in no time." She grinned wickedly.
"Well, I tend to do stupid stuff when I'm drunk."
"Me too, I'm countin on it." She continued to give him the same evil grin.
"Ok, I hope you know what you're doin'."
"Nope, but by the time the ride stops, I'm gonna have had quite the run." She stood beside her car. Vince walked away.
Leon wondered when Kat and Vince had gotten so chummy. He watched Vince touch her shoulder and watched her grin at Vince. Then Vince walked away and Leon was left staring at the beautiful sight Kat made standing beside her car. The white of her clothes contrasted with the body of her car, but complimented her tigers. She looked like an angel in that outfit. It was all white and the shirt was so shear and filmy it had an almost ethereal look to it, added to the effect was the cloud of the palest hair he'd ever seen all around her, down her back and over her shoulders. Plus the way the streetlights hit it made almost a halo effect around her head. Only Leon knew first hand she was no angel. She was the devil in a white outfit.
She'd looked happy and confident while Dom, Vince, and her friend Sean were around but when she was left alone by the side of her car Leon knew she wasn't as confident and happy as she let on. She was so good at fooling the world, but she'd never been able to fool him. He could just look at her and know when she was fronting. He didn't know how she'd managed to keep her part in what had happened to him from him as long as she did. She couldn't really hide anything from him otherwise. He always figured it out. She didn't want to race him. He knew that. He knew if she'd refused she'd have been throwing away her dream just to save his pride. He'd striped her of hers on a sidewalk but for some reason he wanted her to toss her dream aside just to save him some embarrassment. Almost all she had was her skill behind the wheel but he'd wanted her to say it didn't matter even though he knew he should have gone and talked to her about it long ago. He found himself wishing he'd refused to race her. It was too late now.
Everyone got back in their cars and waited for the all clear. Kat was nervous. More nervous then she ever remembered being. She decided she needed some tunes to pump her up. She turned up Outkast's song The way you move. Her stereo was loud. She only had two 8 inch subs but they were in a ported band pass box and they were Fusion. They pounded as tight and loud as some people's setups with three times the subs. And they were light. She waited for Hector to start them off as she sung along.
"But I know ya'll running that 808, can you feel that B A S S bass." She almost shouted, trying to get herself worked up.
Leon heard the music pounding from her car and wished he had a stereo. His car was built for pure speed, he only had a cheap cd player and the factory speakers. He just knew she was over there pumping herself up for speed. The kid in the red car looked green. Leon knew he was nervous. It was only the kid's third race ever. How he'd ended up in a skyline Leon'd never know. He'd picked up the same stuff about it that Kat had. Factory seats and wheels. It wasn't a finished street car yet. But the kid was about to learn that the hard way.
Someone on Edwin's crew was on the scanner tonight. He relayed to Hector that the cops should be busy with a murder suicide in the hills. Hector leaned over and spoke to Dom, telling him that everything was good to roll. It was just a courtesy to Dom since Dom wasn't getting to race. Dom told him to start the race any time.
Kat was telling herself it didn't matter who she was against. She just had to forget about everyone but herself and move her car in the fastest, straightest line possible. That was all they did here, piece of cake she figured. She watched Hector speak to Dom. She hoped that Leon brought everything he had. If she figured that he let her win, either to try to make up with her or to be able to say he threw the race for her she'd make him rematch her till she felt he tried. She shut off her brain at that point and focused on Hector. All she allowed herself to think of was the race from that point on.
Hector raised his arms over his head. Kat felt her heart rate speed up, her mouth got dry and she felt the excitement pool in her lower belly, hot and heavy. She tasted the familiar, almost comforting taste of pennies and honey under her tongue. She threw the stick into first and the gears engaged with a metallic chink. She had the clutch halfway off and the gas halfway on. It revved the car enough to keep it still but gave her a small advantage over anyone who was going to try to pop their clutch when Hector dropped his arms. Neither of the other racers could tell she was doing this over the noise of their own cars and the crowd. Sean knew she was because he'd taught her to.
Dom could hear that her rpm's had gone up and he knew what she was doing. The girl was the real deal. She was smart. Dom did that trick himself. She was gonna smoke Leon. There wasn't anything that could be done about it.