Author's Note: Haha! I'm so glad I finished this! I hope you guys enjoy, and don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile! It concerns this story. Also, no spoilers for Cars 3 please! And finally, Pancho and Francisco are based on two cars my grandfather own and since I live by him, I get to see them every day and ride around in them! So yeah, there's that. Follow my instagram art account (at _.ezeray._) for sneak peaks and drawings of my characters! Also, thanks for all the reviews and readers! Much love goes out to all of you guys! And huge thanks to all of you who LITERALLY read the whole thing in, like, a day or two! Amazing! Okay, I'm donew with my shpeal. Enjoy!
Chapter 25: The Choice
A week past and the same event tool place. Harley sneaking out, Doc watching her. Finally, he couldn't keep quiet about it any more. Harley was first to wake up and was already at Flo's, so were all the other townsfolk. But Doc didn't care if he made a scene in front of them. He already had in the past more than once. Harley had toted her small radio to the café and the were listening to the final race of the season.
"We're here on a fine morning in the Los Angeles Speedway! We've got clear sky's, nice weather-"
"And some great competition!" Harley giggled as Darrell Cartrip interrupted Bob Cutlass.
"Right you are Darell! And all eyes are on the King, Strip Weathers, and Chick Hicks." Bob added.
"Man, I'm excited for some good ole racing today!"
"I think we all are. This stadium is packed! We're going to go down to Kori Turbowitz. Korina? What do you have for us?"
"Hey Bob and Darrell. I'm down here on the ground floor where I'm talking to the King himself. Mr. Weathers, what's your plan for today?"
"Mrs. Turbowitz," Strip said in the cool voice of his. Harley jumped at the sound of his voice.
"Uncle Strip!" she said and the others chuckled at her reaction.
"Today, I run my race and leave it to the Manufacturer Himself. See, the good Lord doesn't tell you what His plan is, so all you can do is get up in the morning and see what happens next. Today, I intend to do just that." Harley smiled at her uncle's voice.
"Those are some wise words, Mr. Weathers. Best of luck to you."
"Thank you." Harley was excited. She wanted her uncle to win his third Piston Cup so badly.
"Do you think he's got a chance at winning?" Flo asked Harley with a smile. "A chance? He's got it in the bag!" she said.
"I'm ready to get the show on the road! Let's go racing!" Darrell reflected Harley's own excitement. But it was all soon shut down. Literally. Doc came up and didn't hesitate to turn off the radio, which was followed by "aw's" from everyone else. Harley looked and Doc with a very upset expression.
"What the heck, Doc? It's the final race of the season! Uncle Strip's gonna-"
"I don't care." Doc said forcefully and Harley reversed.
"Whoa, Doc, what's got up wound up?" Ramone asked.
"Yeah, what's the matter?" Sheriff asked as he drove up to him.
"The matter is Harley. She's been out and about every night at Willy's Butte." He said without looking away from the young Cadillac. "Isn't that right?"
"Uh, well, um."
"Don't lie to me, young lady." Doc said as he drove closer to her. "You've been down there speeding around Willy's Butte in the dead of night. What are you thinking!" he rhetorically asked. "What if you got hurt? Do you know how many time Sheriff and I have seen other cars crash there?"
"Well, I was being super careful." Sheriff drove up to them.
"Harley," he said, "I thought you were going to stop this sneaking out business?"
"I was! But I… um.. well, you see, I had a dream-"
"No dreams… dreams have nothing to do with this." Doc said as the two men look at her waiting for an answer.
"I can explain. It's quite simple, actually. I, uh." Harley tried to think up of something that would prevent her from getting into any trouble. As she struggled, Flo drove up to defend her.
"Leave the poor child alone. It's a small town, the girl just wanted to have some fun."
"Fun?" Doc asked. "Fun is not putting yourself in a position of my getting yourself hurt, Flo!" Doc snapped.
"Well, there's not much of anything else to do here!" Flo snapped back.
"She could've flown off the cliff side on that turn, and you know it!" Sheriff added in.
"Ey, even if she did, she's got a whole town to make sure she's okay!" Ramone added in as he drove up to side with his wife. The three adults argued, shouting at one another. Harley looked at them then looked behind her at all the worried faces, a few others such at Sarge and Fillmore can and added to the already loud argument. Sarge sided with Doc while Fillmore went with Flo. Then Guido went with Flo and Luigi, with disbelief, sided with Doc. The words flew all around Harley as she was in the middle of it all. She closed her eyes, wanting it all to go away.
"Racecars are terrible cars! They only care about themselves!"
"I do think her uncle breaks that stereotype!"
"Speeding is illegal!"
"So is loitering around a convenience store, but me and my Impala friends did it anyways!"
"You have to go by the rules! Listen to your general! Don't let anyone in your squadron get hurt or killed!"
"But doing what makes you feel free is always important."
"È cresciuto! Farle fare quello che vuole!"
"Let her do what she wants!? And what of that gets her hurt?"
All the words jumbled together until Harley had to do something about it. She needed to tell the truth. She had to make her voice about what she would do with her life right then and there.
"Stop! Stop it! Just shut up everyone!" she shouted loudly with a very upset tone that surprised everyone quiet. She huffed then took a second to clear her mind. "Doc…" She said as she looked up at him confidently. "I know how you feel about racing. I could tell you never did approve that my uncle, my dad, and Damien were and are Racecars. It seems I'm always meeting a racecar or at least having some connection with them."
"Harley, what are you getting at?" Doc asked. She took a deep breath. She knew all eyes were on her, everyone was wondering what she would say next.
"Doc, I know what I want to do with my life." She looked around at all the faces. "I don't want to sell tires. I don't want to be a painter. I don't want to be a cop, or a restaurant or shop owner, or a firefighter, or a military car. I don't want any of that. I don't even want to be a doctor." She paused and looked Doc right in the eyes. "It runs in the family…"
"Harley… don't." Doc said as he listened to her.
"I'm sorry, Doc… but I want to be a racecar." She waited for a response but only got a look of disappointment.
"No. I'm sorry, but you're not doing that." as he began to turn around and leave.
"And why not!" Harley asked, making him stop and turn around to face her again.
"Because I know how racecars are like. You don't need that life! It's full of bad decisions and bad cars." he stated firmly.
"How can you be so sure?" Harley continued to challenge.
"I just know, Harley." He said getting annoyed.
"How though? How do you 'just know,' Doc?" She continued on.
"I just do, okay! I've had to deal with plenty of racecars in the past! They're all the same!" He snapped.
"Is my uncle the same?" Harley questioned further.
"No, I have respect for your uncle. It's everyone else."
"But how are you so certain of that? What else are you hiding?" Doc paused and looked dumbfounded by her question.
"What do you mean 'What else?" he asked.
"Years ago, when Damien was here, I heard Sheriff talking about you. He thought you were hiding something from all of us." she said and Sheriff looked shocked that she knew about that.
"Sheriff?" Doc looked over at him as if he had betrayed him.
"Doc… come on. When you came back after the first time you were gone. All those injuries. I knew betting than to think you just slid off the road. But I never asked you about it.." He said with a sad look.
"You all need to calm down…" Doc said in a low tone. "I'm not hiding anything!" he said fed up with the feud.
"Then why isn't anyone allowed in your garage!"
"Because it's messy and has dangerous equipment that could hurt someone! Especially a child!" Harley shook her hood.
"And the clinic doesn't? Yet I live there!" now Doc shook his hood.
"That's different! The clinic is organized and safe! And for the love of Chrysler forget about Damien!"
"Why!" Harley retaliated.
"Because I don't trust him!" Doc said and turned back to leave to the clinic again. "Now that's enough! Drop this ridiculous argument! You're not going to become a racecar!"
"No!" He stopped and turned back.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"You heard me!" she snapped. "You can't control my life!"
"Yes I can!" He yelled back. "You're going to stop this and you're going to go to room!"
"No I'm not! Now tell me the real reason you want me to forget Damien!"
"Enough about Damien! I told you, I don't trust him!"
"Is it because you don't trust him or because you're selfish!" Flo gasped while the other gaped with surprised faces. Doc reversed out of shock.
"What did you say, young lady?" he asked.
"You heard me. You're selfish!" Now Doc held an angry look in his eyes with his eyelids deeply furrowed.
"How have I ever been selfish?" Harley shook her hood unafraid.
"When you got rid of Damien." she said with furrowed eyelids.
"Got rid of him. I let him go because he had recovered!" Harley scoffed at him.
"Liar!" she accused. "He wanted to say goodbye and you wouldn't let him! You told him to leave! You got rid of him!" Tears began to form in her windshield. Doc shook his hood and calmed his voice.
"Harley, I-"
"Did you know Jeremy was in jail!" she suddenly asked. Doc hadn't heard that name in a whole, and he really never wanted to.
"I… I thought you forgot about him…"
"I did… just when my uncle talked to Jay Limo, he brought him up and i remembered everything…." Doc looked at her sadly. "Did you know he was in jail?" she repeated.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Doc asked as the air got thicker.
"Just answer me…" Harley said coldly. "Did you know?" Doc hesitated then spoke.
"Yes."
"How long did you know…" She asked with unforgiving eyes.
"... ever since he was convicted…" Harley's expression didn't change.
"I don't speak courtroom, what does that mean?" she demanded.
"Since he was first found guilty…" Harley gritted her teeth.
"So with him in jail, I could have safely seen my mother, right?" Doc looked at her with less anger.
"Harley, it's-"
"Am I allowed to see her? To talk to her!" she asked forcefully.
"Yes…" Doc said and suddenly shame started to tint his eyes.
"Then why haven't I?" Doc looked down. The crowd watched him and waited for an answer.
"I just want what's best for you…" Harley scoffed as her eyes burned holes straight through Doc's pride.
"Because you wanted what was best for me, huh? No… you were just being selfish…" the tears ran down her fenders. "I haven't talked to her since I ran away from her and Jeremy… I remember her saying she would find me... and she never did.." Doc was speechless. He had no idea how to respond to anything anymore. "I'm going down to Willy's Butte. I'm going to start practicing everyday until I get that turn down. And I don't care if you approve or not." With that Harley took off and didn't even glance back. Doc sighed and shook his hood as he looked down.
"...Doc.. you okay?" Sheriff asked. He didn't answer him and instead turned and left to the clinic. He knew he was in the wrong just as much as Harley was for being disrespectful, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that she wasn't going to change her mind. At least not anytime soon. Sheriff watched Doc leave then looked over at the direction Harley took off in.
"What are we going to do?" Flo asked him.
"I… I don't know…" was all he could say. Then he started to drive towards the clinic. "I'm going to talk to Doc. You should go make sure Harley's okay." He decided. Flo nodded and they both split up leaving the rest to quietly go to their homes and wait for the dust to settle.
Sheriff slowly drove into the clinic and saw Doc turned away from the door.
"Doc…?" he asked but got no response. "Doc-"
"She's making a bad choice." he said. Sheriff sighed and shook his hood.
"She needs to make her own mistakes. Otherwise she'll never learn." Sheriff tried to convince him, but Doc only shook his hood.
"No, she doesn't need to make those mistakes. She doesn't need to race…" Sheriff sighed and Doc turned around to face him. "Every racecar I've ever met has been selfish centered and self-indulgent. She-"
"He uncle isn't.." Sheriff cut him off. "Do you think her father was?" Doc silently looked at him then sighed.
"I'm sure he was a great car…" he said as he looked down.
"Then trust her." Sheriff insisted. "Trust her to be a great car."
"I… I trust her.. it's everyone else I don't trust…" Doc looked up. "Before I came here, I met several cars that would hurt her. She doesn't need any of that."
"What happened?" Sheriff asked. "What happened before you came here?"
"Before I came to Radiator Spring? I got hurt. That's what happened. I got hurt and I don't want that to happen to her. She's safe here!" Doc said and sighed. "But she has a point.."
"What do you mean?" Sheriff asked curiously.
"When I came back that first time and I was hurt, it was Jeremy who did it." Doc continued to look away. "He wanted to keep Harley, but her mother signed her away so easily. I couldn't tell her that. And maybe I was being a little selfish for getting rid of Damien so harshly. But I just wanted to keep her safe. It's no coincidence that I met Jeremy and Charles Storm in one night. On top of that, Damien shares an apartment with Charles? It does add up… I just want to keep her safe."
"Then trust her." Sheriff said, getting Doc to look up. "Trust her to make the right decisions." Doc glanced away then towards the direction of her bedroom.
"I trust her…" he said, "but she doesn't realize everything that comes with the choice she just made…"
"How can you be so sure…?" Doc looked up at Sheriff as he spoke.
"Because I've heard stories and I've seen several crashes on the news. Racing is a dangerous, good for nothing sport. One I don't want he to have anything to do with…" he sighed then began to drive out of the clinic. "But it's the choice she made… she'll find out sooner or later." Sheriff followed him, but the Doc started to go around to his garage, "I just hope she doesn't get hurt in the process." With that he disappeared into his garage, leaving Sheriff outsides throng at the KEEP OUT signs. He sighed then drove off the his post beside the town's billboard.
Meanwhile, Flo had made her way to Willy's Butte and saw a very angry thirteen-year-old speeded around it and kicking up dust. She got to the curve, drastically swerved all over the place, then came to a stop having a layer of light brown dust covering her silver paint. Flo sighed, shook her hood then made her way down to talk to her. Harley stamped her tire on the ground.
"Why is this so hard!" she whined then tracked back to the starting line only to find Flo there.
"Hey, sugar." She said sweetly.
"Hey Flo…" she muttered, but didn't stay to continue talking. She darted off again, missed the turn again, muttered something under her breath and went back to the start.
"Do you want to talk?" Flo asked still parked at the starting line.
"There's nothing to talk about…" Harley said then took off again, repeating the same cycle. Flo sighed as she watched her go.
"She's as stubborn as Doc…" she said then waited patiently for her to come back.
"Why are you still here!" Harley snapped.
"I'm here 'cause you need me to be here!" Flo snapped back. The sudden force in her voice brought Harley back to reality.
"Wh-what?" she asked as she looked up at her.
"Look, Harley. Being the only sane woman in this town, I've tried my best to be like a mother to you." she said. "When I was ten, my father died." Harley's anger started to melt away as Flo spoke. "My mother was the most important car to me after that. She worked her tail fins off everyday for the rest of her life to support me and my siblings. Then I decided to become a show car. She didn't support me after that. But Harley," She lowered herself to be at a perfect eye level with the younger car, "She just wanted me to be safe. She let me live out my dream and always called to be sure I was safe. She never did like my choice, but she made sure I was safe. When I met Ramone and decided to stay here, she was the happiest car at my wedding."
"But that's… she was…"
"Doing exactly what Doc is doing now." Flo finished for her. "It's not being selfish. It's living for someone else." Harley looked at her. "I know how important a mother is. And I know your mother thinks about you and still loves you. You will see her again at the right time and in the right moment, but for now, your stuck with me." Harley smiled up at her with a smile. "If you ever need someone other than Doc or other than any man for that matter to talk to, I'm here. I, like Doc, want what's best for you, and I want to help you."
"Flo… do you think racing is a good idea?" Harley asked and Flo sighed.
"Little Harley, that's for you to find out on your own," She said. "You've made your choice. Whether or not it's a good one is up to you." She said than began to reverse. "Although, I'm not going to be the one to stop you." she then turned to leave, but before she could take off, Harley sped to her side and nuzzled her in a hug.
"Thanks Flo." Flo stopped and smiled, nuzzling her back.
"Anytime, Harley." After a few moments Harley back away.
"I,uh… I have a turn to get down." She said with a smile. Flo have her a slight nod then left. Once she got back to her café, Sheriff was just getting there. "So, how's Doc?" she asked him.
"Eh, he'll be fine. I'm not sure whether or not he's ever going to approve of Harley's choice," He said a she looked back at the clinic, "but I do know he's going to back off a little."
"Well that's good." Flo said. "Harley understands a little about Doc's actions. I talked to her and she's blown off some steam. But she's not quitting on racing." Sheriff sighed.
"Well, we have five years of keeping Doc and Harley in check." Sheriff said and chuckled. "Hopefully they don't run each other -or any of us for that matter- out of town."
"Hah!" Flo said then nudged him with a tire. "As long as we're here, that's not ever going to happen!" She then put her voice back into a serious tone. "But when Harley's eighteen, she can make her own decisions and leave." she looked at Sheriff with concern. "I'm not sure how Doc's going to handle that…"
"Doc will be fine, I'm sure.." Sheriff said, but he wasn't so convincing. "But five years is a long time. Maybe she'll get over this racecar dream of hers." He said and shrugged his tires. "But who knows… Doc did raise her. And we all know how stubborn of a car he is." Flo chuckled.
"Ain't that the truth."
