Chapter 27: Un Choque Cultural
Eight Months Later: June 1998


As the months past, Harley continued to train herself at Willy's Butte. Doc never encouraged her, never supported or approved of her choice. But he had learned to accept it. Not her racing, but accepting that she wasn't going to change her mind about it. He'd still go down to the butte with her to make sure she was safe, and he would even give her a few pointers as just a few small things he "managed to pick up out of small talk from other cars." Which wasn't entirely a lie. He didn't always go to watch her. At times, he would send Sheriff to keep an eye on her for one reason or another, but Harley didn't mind. It was obvious that the tension around the topic of racing was still an ever existing factor in their father-daughter relationship, but the time the spent away from each other seemed to help ease the tension.

One summer day, Harley was driving home by herself from a solo practice. All the townsfolk were at the cafe as she drove up, and it made her smile. The only family she ever had all in one place on a daily bases. She drove and parked beside Doc, dust covering her tires and sideskirts.

"Did you have a good practice?" Doc asked and she nodded. Ever since their first big argument, Sheriff and Flo had now kept a close eye on both of them, making sure nothing the tension around racing got too out of hand.

"Yeah, it was fine." Harley said without looking up at him. "That turn has gotten easier. And I'm starting to get up on that wall a little smoother." Doc nodded but didn't say much after that.

"So. What do you want to do for your birthday?" Doc asked and the stiffness of the conversation quickly dissolved, causing Flo and Sheriff to share a look and relax.

"My birthday? Isn't that, like, next month?" Harley asked having no idea what time of the year it was. Being in a slow and sleepy town meant that Harley didn't quite keep track of time. Doc chuckled in response.

"You do this every year." He muttered with a smile. "It's June, Har. And your fifteenth birthday is coming up."

"Can you believe it Doc?" Sheriff asked and drove up to them. "Little Harley is going to be fifteen. We've had her for almost a decade now!" He looked at Harley who had matured in look and personality much over the past nine years. Suddenly an excited Impala came out of seemingly nowhere.

"Wait, did you say fifteen?" He asked and looked from Sheriff to Doc and finally to Harley. "Flo! Mija's going to be fifteen!" He said and rose up on his hydraulics. "How long do we have until then?"

"Two weeks." Doc said calmly.

"Two week!" Ramone looked shocked at the time limit and lowered back down. "Ay Dios mio! That's not enough time!" He said then started to rush off. "It's alright, we can pull this off!"

"Wait, Ramone!" Harley called out. "What's the big deal? It's just another birthday!" He suddenly braked hard and turned back to them. He slowly drove up with a look of disbelief on his face as if everyone knew the answer to that question.

"Just another birthday?" He repeated and drove back to them.

"Well, every birthday is important, I think." Doc said with a half smile.

"But none more important than this one!" Ramone held a look of concern seeing that none of them understood the importance of the upcoming date. "This is her fifteenth birthday! A Quinceañera is in order, man!" Ramone said and took off in a flash of sunset orange. "I got some phone calls to make!" Seeing the still confused faces of her friends, Flo laughed and drove up to meet them.

"He hasn't celebrated a Quinceañera in a long time!" she said as she watched her husband dash for the phone inside the café.

"Uh, okay…" Harley said as she too looked at the excited Impala. "But what is a quince-whatever?" she asked. Flo turned back to the three cars with confused expressions.

"A Quinceañera is a very special celebration in the Mexican culture!" Flo enthusiastically said. "After marrying Ramone, I learned so much about his heritage, and let me tell you, it's all so beautiful! Especially the traditional Quinceañera. It's basically a big ceremony -followed by an even bigger party- that celebrates a young girl's transition from leaving childhood to becoming a young woman of society!" Harley smiled at the thought of a huge party just to celebrate a girl growing up, but for the same exact reason, Doc looked upset.

"No, no, no." He said waving a tire. "Becoming a woman? She's still just a kid. Let her be a kid! Tell Ramone we're calling it off!"

"Oh, come on, Doc!" Harley whined. "I think it's cool!"

"Well I think it's rushing..." Doc said and started to drive off to Ramone. "Trying to make her into a woman… I don't think so.." He muttered, then Flo stopped him.

"Doc, you can't make her stay a little girl forever. She's gotta grow up one day." She protested.

"Yeah, well not at fifteen." He continued on. "How about twenty? No, twenty-one. Yeah, that's a good age." Flo meanwhile scoffed at him.

"Being a judge, you should know better than anyone that she's a legal adult at the age of eighteen, right?" Doc shook his hood.

"Nope, never crossed my mind." He kept driving forward then Flo pulled up in front of him with a very serious face.

"You know, when she is eighteen, she gets to decide whether to move away or not. She's a legal adult by then." Doc had reluctantly stopped and listen to what the retired showcar had to say. You have to be read to let her go, and if you can't even handle a Quinceañera, then I have no idea how you're going to handle her racing career…"

"Easy," He scoffed, "I won't… she's still young; there's still time for her to change her mind."

"You know as well as I do that that's not going to happen…" Flo scowled at him. Finally Doc gave in and he sighed, sinking onto his tires.

"...Yeah…" He looked beyond Flo and saw Ramone babbling into a microphone with the biggest smile on his face. "Okay fine…" he said the turned around to park himself back beside Harley. Sheriff had left and drove past the judge and straight to Flo.

"So… you convinced him?" He asked as he watched his old friend settle himself back in his previous spot.

"Mhm, Mama can convince anyone of anything!" She said with a sassiest of tones. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a crazy Impala to calm down." She chuckled and drove off to her cafe.

A week past and Ramone had set up his paint room to prepare for the amount of cars he would have to paint, or rather, his cousin Rosia would have to paint. It was common for the woman to get together and prepare themselves as well as the girl who would be coming of age. He had also opened up all the stores that had been long since closed so that once the Cozy Cone was filled up, more cars could have a place to stay the night. Not that many would be wrapping the party until well into Harley's curfew that had been long ago established by Doc and Sheriff.

Ramone had already asked Guido and Luigi to be the padrinos of the tires and hubcaps. Flo put herself in charge of being the padrina of the tiara and traveled far out of the county to get the perfect crown for their princess. She kept it hidden in her cafe until the day of the party. Ramone would be the padrino of the doll made to look like the birthday girl, and knowing her, Ramone called a few friends back in East L.A to get a Cadillac CTS-V doll that had a blue and purple paint job. He told all his relatives who were going to be able to make the celebration the theme colors without even running it by Harley first, because he remembered that her favorite colors have yet to change.

The cake, the music, everything was being taken care of. As Harley passed by Ramone's House of Body Art and Flo's V8 Cafe to get to and from Willy's Butte, she could help but snicker as the two ran into each other and continually talked about the upcoming party.
Finally, it was three days before the big event. Harley awoke to her usual arguing alarm. And stretched out her axles with a big yawn. She drove out of her room and headed for the front of the clinic. She then stopped as she heard a distant sound.

"What could that be?" Asked the doctor of the clinic from behind her.

"Ah!" She quickly jumped and spun around. "Oh, it's just you.." She said relieved. "Morning Doc." He nodded to him slightly.

"Good morning.." He said, but was more focused of the distant hum. "What's goin on?" He asked as he drove out the door. Harley followed close behind him curious herself of the sound, but also wary of it. Once outside, the morning sunlight glittered on the horizon. "What is that?" Doc asked to no one in particular. Harley only shrugged as she eyes the moving horizon.

"Heat wave?" Harley asked.

"No, we'd feel that…" The suddenly, they both realized what it was at the same time. "Oh dear Lord…" Doc muttered. "I figured Ramone was only going to invite five, maybe even ten cars…"

"That seems like way more than five or ten…" Harley said as the herd of cars approached. "We, uh, we better wake up Ramone…" Doc nodded in agreement and the two quickly went over to the House of Body Art and let themselves right in. Once inside, they found Ramone, already awake making a few touch-ups on his new bright blue and glistening purple paint job. After hearing the two cars drive in, Ramone turned to see them with a never ending smile.

"Ey! Morning Doc! Morning mija!" He said with excitement. "Only a few days left!" he announced then Doc drove closer up.

"Yeah, I know, but listen. A crowd of cars are coming this way and-"

"They're here! Que maravilloso!" He said and began to drive out to meet them, but stopped him in his tracks.

"Yes, there here. But Ramone, how many cars did you invite?" Doc sternly asked.

"Uh…" He parked himself for a few seconds as he thought about it. "Well, of course I call my cousin Rosia… Pancho and Francisco, I'm sure they brought their wives so that's… what five so far?" he said then continued to thank. "My uncle, my mom of course, my Tia Lupe and sister Velia, her daughter Marie…"

"So… you invited your whole family?" Harley asked. Ramone looked up then laughed.

"Haha! Oh boy, I wish. Tio Polo can't drive this far, so he's still over there in L.A with his kids to take care of him. You know, his wife died a few years ago, and that really stumped his mobility. It's just not the same driving around when the love of your life is no longer with you to drive by." Harley had sad eyes.

"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that…" She said.

"Ah, it's okay. It was better for her." Ramone continued on. "So anyway, about only half of my family will be here!" Doc's eyes widened.

"That's still a lot of cars! Where are the all going to stay?" He asked with concern.

"Well, the Cozy Cone first off, then the old shops I reopened. I spent all last week cleaning them up." Ramone reasoned. "And if that's still not enough, a few of my guys can drive up to Wheel Well and clean that place up." Doc sighed, knowing that by then, that's sure to be enough room for the painter's family.

"Alright." He said then drove out.
"Hey Doc! Just look on the bright side!" Harley said as she chased him down. "A little business for everyone's coming, that's for sure!" Doc looked over at her and couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He said and as they smiled they shared a moment, one that Ramone didn't want to interrupt, so he went back to cleaning up his shop with a warm smile on his face.

"Ay!" Came a shrill scream from the left. "Is that her?" a woman with a clear Spanish accent asked.

"Y donde estas Ramone?" Another woman from behind her asked. Harley looked as the cars all approached her.

"This is his shop, obviously. 'S got his name on it!" an old male Chevelle asked. Ramone came rushing out and suddenly didn't care about Doc and Harley's little moment as he sped in between them.

"Mi familia!" he called out.

"Ay! Ramone!"

"Ramone!"

"Mijo!" several cars came right at him and surrounded him in a circle of attention from his family and a few friends. "Where's Flo?" his mother asked.

"Heh, more worried about seeing you daughter-in-law than your son, huh?" Ramone joked.

"Of course! With you, the poor woman must have gone crazy!" she joked back.

"Ha!" Ramone laughed. "Come on everyone! Let's go to my wife café and get a bite to eat!" he rose his voice loud to be heard. The rest of the cars -many of them being some kind of Chevy- cheered in agreement. All the women rushed to the front to get the the café first. Harley and Doc both sighed know that this would be an absolutely crazy next few days.

Once at the café, Harley went to the second to last spot to park on the right side, where she usually parked with Doc, and watched as a bunch of women went in and out of the café making food and delivering it to everyone else. Doc was off talking to Sheriff, so Harley just sat and looked around at all the new faces. She was alone for a few minutes until she unknowingly caught the eye of one of the younger cars. He stared for a few seconds before making his way away from his father and straight to her.

"Hola." He said and she slightly jumped, not seeing him approach.

"Uh, hi.." she said, silently praying that he understood English.

"Como estas?" he asked and she just stared at him blankly.

"¿Que es mal? ¿No hablas español?" he asked but she only shrugged.

"Uh, I'm sorry, I don't speak much Spanish…" she admitted.

"Shame on Tio Ramone for not ever teaching you a language as beautiful as you are." The young car said. He was a 2006 Camaro that was dark gray with lime green side accent hash stripes and hood spears. He had an obvious Spanish accent that was as smooth as liquid gold and as inviting as the ocean on a hot summer day. Harley smiled and slightly blushed at the comment. "I think your beauty might even surpass that of the natural poetry of Spanish.." His smile matched his suave voice. "Name's Miguel.. and you must be the Quinceañera girl."

"Uh, y-yeah." she said smiling back. "Name's Harley." she said and he slightly bowed his hood to her.

"It's an honor to meet you." Harley giggled and he noticed. His green eyes brightened.

"So, uh, Tio Ramone.. what does that mean?" Harley asked genuinely curious, but also wanting him to keep talking.

"Tio. It's Spanish for uncle." Harley then snapped out of her trance.

"Wait, he has a nephew?" she asked and Miguel chuckled.

"Well, sure. He's got, like, four sisters." Miguel said as a-matter-of-factly.

"Really!?" Harley was shocked Ramone had never told her this before.

"Yeah, well five. But one of his kids sister's died when she was one or two." Miguel explained and looked down. "No one really talks about it… I don't know what happened." he looked up and saw his dad smiling away with another red Impala and Ramone. "But Ramone does… he doesn't like talking about that part of his life..." the Camaro showed a vulnerable part of himself, but it was only for an instant before he snapped into his confident suave persona. "Anyways, my dad's not actually his brother, but since the poor guy only had sister, my dad and that red Impala over there were like his kid brothers. So I call him Tio."

"Oh…" Harley said as she took in all the information and chew on it for a few seconds. "So, you are all from L.A?" She asked.

"Yeah. But some of the older cars came from Mexico and called East L.A. home." he explained. "Like my grandpa and Ramone's dad. They came from Mexico, crossed the border illegally, of course." Harley looked shocked.

"Illegally?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course." Miguel explained then chuckled. "They couldn't get here legally, but when the one president passed that law or whatever in '86, my family and Ramone's family got amnesty. Then the rest is history." he smiled warmly. "My entire family that was alive during that time remembers the day well. It's still one of the most important days in my family's history. My grandpa became a U.S. citizen a few years ago. My grandma died do before she could." he saw the same look on Harley's face then brightened up the story. "But hey, she used to always say that the U.S is crazy and that so long as she could flipped tortillas, she'd be a Mexicana, even if that meant she'd die one. Guess she was right." Miguel smiled at the fond memories, and it must have been contagious because Harley was soon smiling herself. "And what's your story, chica?" he asked she looked at him for a few seconds then shrugged.

"Well, my dad died. My step-dad's in jail, my mom is Manufacturer knows where and I'm here with that blue Hudson Hornet over there." Miguel seemed taken aback with how calm she was about all of it.

"Whoa…." he said and thought it all over. "Ramone didn't tell us any of that…. Damn…" he said and then returned to being smooth as butter. "But looking at you, it makes since that you've been under a lot of pressure…" he smiled with a sparkle in his eyes. "Because diamonds go through the same pressure, but still pale in compassion of how your beauty shines…" Just under Harley's eyes on her hood, she blushed and being such a light color, it was easy to see, even if it was slightly there.

"Hehe.. uh th-thanks." she stuttered causing Miguel to chuckle.

"Thank you for existing." He said and chuckled. "But I guess I should thank your father and mother… May God bless your mother and give your father rest." He said. "I can tell Ramone hasn't taught you much about our culture, but that's okay. Us Hispanics see family as the most important thing in the world."

"Even more important than painting?" She asked assuming East L.A. was were Ramone learned his trade.

"Haha, yeah." He chuckled, getting the joke. "Even though my dad and Ramone obsess over that stuff, they'll both tell you that la familia is probably the most important component of our culture. Life in our neighborhood doesn't revolve around kids or adults; it revolves around the whole family. From the babies to the elders." Harley looked at him adoringly.

"Sounds very close knit." She said and Miguel nodded his hood.
"It is. Which is why we all invaded your little town here." He looked around then chuckled. "Well, not all, but most." he looked at his dad, the red '62 Impala and Ramone all catching up. "Do you remember your father?" He suddenly asked without looking back at Harley.

"No. I was about two when he died…" she said and smiled warmly. "But my uncle says I'm a lot like him." Miguel turned back and smiled himself.

"I can relate." He admitted. "My mother died when I was five or six.. But my dad says I act like her sometimes." Harley giggled again.

"That's cute." she said and now Miguel slightly blushed, but because of his darker paint, it was much harder to tell.

"Yeah… My mother used to not let any caro run her over. She was the boss no matter what," he lifted his hood slightly with pride. "And I'm the same. I may not be as big or strong as some other guy, but ain't no car gonna run me over."

"I like that.." Harley said and he smiled at her. "I'm like dad because I… well" she hesitated to say then spilled it out anyways. "My uncle says I was his, uh, spirit. You know, pasion." Miguel slightly tilted his hood as he listened with a small smile. "If he wanted to do something, he did it. Like marrying my mom." She then laughed, "my uncle was so against it -he's my mom's brother- but my dad wanted to have one wife, and nothing could stop him. That's how I am about racing." Miguel then lifted himself again, but this time out of surprise.

"Racing? Like, racing racing? On a track? With other cars?" He asked with raised eyelids.

"Uh… yeah.." Now Harley wasn't so sure about him.

"Dude! A girl racing!?" He asked, with the same disbelief making Harley upset.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" She asked, becoming mad.

"Nothing! It's cool! Like, really cool! The only female racer I can remember is Louis Nash! The First Lady of Racing!" He said moving his tire up as if presenting an animated title. "She was a Piston Cup legend!" He said with stars in his eyes. Harley smiled at his excitement. "Oh! I can't wait to tell my dad that you're gonna be a racecar! He loves racing! He watches as many races as he can, so long as his job doesn't get in the way. Damn! Just imagine it! Harley!... uh… heh, what's your last name?" Harley answered through her laughs.

"Haha, Stockrim. It's Stockrim." Just as she thought his reaction couldn't get any better, his jaw dropped.

"Like… like David Stockrim? The David Stockrim?" He asked with wide eye. Harley simply nodded while smiling wide and giggling. "I can't believe it! You're David Stockrim's daughter!?" she nodded again and he back up from shock. "¡Ay Dios mio! ¡Estoy hablando con la hija de David Stockrim! El próximo legendario automóvil de carreras femenino! Esto ... esto es increíble!" While Miguel laughed hysterically, Harley giggle at his excitement having no idea that he had just called her the next legendary female race car. "Is it your birthday or mine? Do you realize how much my family loves your dad? God, we made an altar for him on the next Dia de los Muertos after he died! He's my dad's favorite racecar to this day! Man, we have a lot of respect for that car!"

"Even though he quit because of me?" Harley said shyly.

"Of course! Like I said, la vida es toda sobre la familia para nosotros." Seeing Harley's slightly confused expression, he translated for her. "Life is all about the family for us." He calmly said and Harley smiled warmly.

"Thanks." She said and he smiled back and nodded. "Do.. uh… do you want to see me do my morning practice?" His eyes again widened and his smile got brighter.

"Uh, Hell yeah! Seeing a professional racecar practice. Wow, this is going to be epic!" He said and jumped up slightly.

"Well… I'm not a professional racecar." harley admitted and he rolled his eyes.

" Yeah, not yet," he said "but I can still say I went to one of your practices once you've lit up every screen in America! With that gorgeous smile of yours." Harley again blushed slightly as he smiled warmly. "Let me go tell my dad where I'm going so he doesn't freak out later." He said than began to drive off.

"Tell him Willy's Butte! Ramone knows where that's at!" Harley called out and Miguel slightly turned back and nodded.

"Got it!" He shouted back then spoke to himself. "My future girlfriend is going to be a future famous race car… and she's beautiful… oh this is too epic to be real." he said then drove up to his father. He was a 1968 Chevrolet Impala that was royal blue with a pearl finish and black racing stripes. His friend parked beside him was a bright red 1962 Chevy Impala with chrome lining his sides, windows, and sideskits. They were equally as happy as the young Camaro, but for different reasons. It had been years since they saw their friend -and big brother figure- the light blue and bright purple '59 Chevy Impala in front of them.

"Hey Miguel!" Pancho -the blue and black Impala- said after catching him in his side mirror.

"Dad!" He called out as he sped over. Ramone lifted high into the air to see over his two friends.

"Ey! His not so tiny anymore!" He shouted and Miguel slowed from embarrassment.

"Tio Ramoooone.." he said with a grunt making Ramone laugh.

"You and those hydraulics. Do you ever not use them?" the red Impala Francisco asked.

"Nope!" Ramone said with slight attitude as he lowered himself back down.

"Ey Papá!" Miguel said and drove up. "I'm going to, uh, Will's Butte." He said and Pancho looked at him confused.

"Where?" He asked and Ramone waved his tire.

"Ah, he means Willy's Butte. It's a short drive down that road. There's a dirt race track down there." He explained.

"Oh yeah, I remember you telling us about that back in the day!" Pancho said and Francisco nodded.

"Yeah, random wanna be racecars would go down there as they passed through town, right?" Ramone chuckled.

"Heh, yeah. A lot of them ended up being Doc's best customers." The Impala's laughed while the Camaro just looked at them.

"Okay then…" Miguel said looked at Francisco and Ramone then turned back to Pancho. "Okay I'm leaving. See ya later!" He quickly said then turned decided to tell him about David Stockrim later.

"Adios, Mijo!" Pancho called out and Miguel waved back. He then met back with Harley who was waiting in her same spot patiently.

"Alright, Belleza, let's go." He said then turned to the road. "Lead the way." Harley chuckled.

"What bayesa mean?" She asked, pronouncing it with no accent whatsoever.

"It's the highest level of the word "beauty" in my language..." he said with the most charming of smiles.

"Well then, I'm honored." She said and drove to the road and, as he said, lead the way. As they drove off together, Sheriff and Doc were still talking about their current situation and upcoming party, but he soon became distracted.

"What's wrong?" Sheriff asked and saw that Doc was looking passed him.

"Who the heck is that.. And why the heck is he driving with Harley… alone?" Doc asked owning up to the over protective parent in him.

"Doc, I'm sure it's nothing." Sheriff said, but Doc only shook his hood with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing always turns to something." He muttered. "Especially with a teenage boy…"

"Well," Sheriff said thinking about it, "you've got a point." Doc then looked back at his old friend.

"I think-"

"We're gonna follow them aren't we?" Doc nodded with a serious expression. "Okay." Sheriff said and the two men who had remembered their own trouble making teenage years, drove off behind Harley and Miguel, but far enough behind them to where they could see the two kids but so that they didn't see them. Spying parenting at its finest.

Author's Note: No joke, this is my LONGEST chapter so far! Thank you, yes specifically YOU, for reading this far into the story! And thank's for putting up with me thorwing in my heritage! A few of the things in this are real things in my life, like Tio Polo, Francisco, and Pancho. And some of the death. Sorry about all the mentions of death... heh... ANYWAYS! the poll is now extra tied *long sigh* so don't forget to Vote if you haven't already. Also, follow me on Instagram and you can vote again there on one of my posts! I'm over at _.ezeray._ So yeah, thanks for the support guys! Hope you enjoyed! I'll be gone for a week, so this will be the last chapter I post until I come back, so it's kind of fitting that I broke 4,000 words with this one. The BIGGEST chapter for the BIGGEST movie! (Cars 3 comes out tomorrow and I'm watching it and I'm HYPED) Okay. I'm done babbling. Thanks for reading!