Author's Note: Hey again! First off, y'all should go follow my OFFICIAL In the Fast Lane Instagram page ( ezziesharley ) I post sneak peeks, edits, hopefully I'll start posting other stuff such as voice actors, theme songs, etc. So yeah, go check that out! Speaking of which, I have posted mini-bios of my ocs on there with little aesthetic boards for them (the main/important ocs that is) On Dez's, Charle's and Ryan's there have been small changes in age due to the fact that my timeline wouldn't make sense if it wasn't changed. So there's that.
Oh, and can you believe this the FORTYITH chapter!? I can't! We have officially passed the chapters that I had been planning for a YEAR! There are of course stuff here that I have been planning, but there is also stuff that just kind of happens. Smokey's addition is a great example of that! Wasn't planned, but I'm glad I did it! Anyways, a couple major scenes that have yet to come have also been in the works for a while now *cough* ch. 41 *cough* but you know what I mean. I've finally caught up with myself.
Again, thanks for reading, I love hearing y'alls feedback and seeing how many views this gets. This story is honestly keeping my sanity tied down to earth. It is my comfort and stress reliever. Y'all have no idea how much writing this story has helped me. So for that, thank you.
If you enjoyed this chapter, please review. I love to read them and they are like my energy drink for writing. If not, that's cool too! Thanks for the read! And don't forget, there's a fun poll about the story in my bio! Enjoy!
Chapter 40: We Can't
"Bitch.." Ryan watched the black Corvette disappear around the corner as he muttered away and went for another drink, only to realize his cup was empty. "God, I hate her." Smokey gave Ryan a sideways glance.
"Hate's a strong word, Lee," He said while watching for his reaction.
"Good." He asked a passing waitress for another drink as she drove by and Smokey scoffed.
"So there's obviously some history between you two." Ryan nodded and refused to look at the old truck.
"I'd like to keep it like that." Ryan then glared at Smokey. "Between us. And in the past." The waitress came back with his fourth drink. Losing herself in her thoughts, Harley was completely zoned out of their conversation.
"You sure?" Smokey egged on.
"I'm pretty damn sure." Ryan sipped at his drink then glanced over at Harley, "Hey kid, you good?" She suddenly snapped out of her trance and looked over at the other two.
"What? Yeah. I'm... totally fine." Ryan knew better than to believe her, but with the memory of his first racer and his death along with the appearance of Dez, he was done with stories.
"Hm.." he then went back to his drink.
"You know what?" Harley suddenly spoke up, "I've had, like 5 gallons of water to drink, I'll be right back" Ryan scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"Be quick, we'll be leaving soon." Harley glanced at his drink then back up to him. In her mind, she figured they wouldn't be leaving for a while.
Disappearing into the bathroom, Harley was quiet. She even put herself into neutral to make as little noise as possible. The words Dez spoke kept echoing in her mind.
'And then he broke out..' Being filled with terror, Harley stared at herself in the mirror. It couldn't be true. He could not be out.
"I see you took my advice." Came a voice at the door. Harley quickly spun around and saw her only exit blocked by a black paint job. Harley's eyes were wide, yet her eye rims were furrowed. She had a look of panic mixed with fear. "Hey, hey, calm down. Relax, kid, it's just you and me here." Harley reversed slightly and Dez sighed. "You dropped the name, didn't you?"
"What do you mean?" Harley asked, still keeping her distance.
"Well seeing as you're sitting fender to fender with Muff, I'd say you took my advice. Dropped the last name." Dez asked with one eye rim raised. "Just going by Harley Davis aren't you?" Harley was hesitant to answer, but she couldn't deny that something about Dez was completely different from when they first met. She seemed to be.. kind.
"That's none of your business" Harley ended up saying anyway.
"Maybe you're right," Dez said and looked down at her hood.
"Did you follow me?" Harley saw an opportunity to interrogate the Corvette. She took it. Dez looked back up.
"Well, I am the one who told you where to find Muff." She admitted, "Wasn't I?"
"You sent me on a wild cab chase!" Harley barked, "You told me to go straight north!"
"And?" She asked innocently, "you found her, right?"
"Her? Found who?" Harley asked as she thought back to the cars she met on her journey.
"His sister." Harley studied Dez. What was she getting at? "I knew her daughter would probably know where Muff was. She loves her uncle. One of the only cars who do in fact." Dez again looked down at her hood with slight regret.
"Why… why would you do that?" Harley asked, now curious about what this car's game was.
"I wasn't going to tell you where he really was," Dez said without looking up, "at least, not with my guys around."
"Why?" Harley asked and got Dez's attention brought back up to her.
"In my line of work, kid, you learn never to trust anyone." Dez looked at the teenager in front of her. She studied her. If she wasn't going to at least try to escape, then maybe she'll listen.
"How do I know your guys aren't outside right now?" Harley continued on with her questions.
"They're not-" before she could explain, Harley raised her voice.
"How do I know!" Dez was slightly startled by the outburst and took a second to think about what to say.
"You're just going to have to take my word on that.." Harley wasn't yelling, so Dez continued, "I fired them after the job was over. Well, paid them off really."
"What… job…?" Harley asked, suppressing her stuttering habit.
"Harley, you have to understand, I had to do it." Harley backed up.
"Do what!" She spat in fear and frustration.
"Meeting you wasn't.. chance," Dez explained. "It was part of the job.." She paused to see her reaction, but she just sat there. Sat still. "I.. I have a connection with someone. And he has a long time connection with someone else. When we were together, I thought they were friends. Turned out they were just acquaintances." Harley furrowed her eye rims confused. "Okay... let me start from the beginning."
"That's probably a good idea," Harley confirmed.
"My name is Dezeray Ashton. I go by lots of nicknames. Back when I was first being called Dez, it was because I met someone. He was a gambler, I was a bartender. It came as no surprise to anyone. We got close and he started to take me to all the races he'd make bets on. He'd always bet on your dad, Harley. David was a great racer, and as a rookie, he was the best car to gamble with." hearing her talk about her father made Harley's tank turn. Just her voice saying her dad's name was enough to upset her. "I can't tell you how much Charles won." Dez continued. "He also liked to bet on your uncle too, still does. He loved his racing more than the next guy.." Dez had a certain kind of joy in her eyes. The memories were fond of her, but that quickly faded. "Going to all those races got me out of a job. I started living with Charles and that's how I met him. Jeremy Miler.
"I thought he was an okay guy, but I soon found out he was a conman. He liked to steal and bribe. And he was obsessed with winning. And racing. Though he never made any real bets like Charles. Instead, he kept records of all the stats, he watched every race. He left a mess around the house, and he treated women like garbage. We got into a fight one time, but Charles never stepped in to help me," Dez looked so disheartened, "He was… scared. He would never admit it, but he was. I ended up yelling at Jeremy saying that if he loved racing so much, why doesn't he just do it. I told him to leave and sure enough, he did. And I remember seeing him on t.v. a couple years later. He was a crew chief now. I thought it was bizarre, but Charles never did. Come to find out, Jeremy had a huge plan in the works for years. He wanted to get his tire in the racing world and own it. He wanted to train the best racer the world had ever seen and be the one to get all the praise, glory, and of course, cash. He wanted an empire with his name on it. That's why he started to coach your dad." Harley felt sick. Very, very sick. "He knew if he could get his tires on him and away from.. from Muff, he could train him up to be unstoppable. A force to be reckoned with. The best racer on the face of the planet. And he was on the right track. He would've gotten exactly what he wanted. But then… Harley, you're dad did something no other car had ever done before." Harley swallowed hard, but her throat was dry.
"...What?" She asked her as her entire body was struck with fear.
"He said no." Harley was slightly confused but soon got the message when Dez looked back down to her hood. "He told Jeremy no. He quit. He had you… and he paid the price.." Harley had tears in her eyes. They filled her windshield with heartbreak and fear. And guilt too. "After that, Jeremy did something crazy. He disappeared, changed his name and then... He married your mom. How he accomplished that, I have no idea. He decided if he couldn't have David, he would have something that came from two amazing fuel lines. Something better than David. A Weathers and a Stockrim. It was almost too good to be true, but here you are.." Dez looked deep into her eyes. "Harley, you were born to be a racer." As she spoke, it wasn't inspiring, it wasn't encouraging. It was a warning. Dez looked away from her again and instead looked at the mirror. Harley followed her gaze and they sat there looking at their reflections. "Jeremy has this.. weird saying. 'Don't challenge a Charger. Or you'll be the one paying for it.' Harley, your dad paid for it. And so did I." Harley looked back at Dez.
"What do you mean?" Dez looked very sad and very heartbroken.
"I broke up with Charles. I finally left him only a couple of years ago. But Jeremy has a way with words. He made sure that Charles kept full custody of my Jackson. But that's what I get for telling Jeremy no.." Dez looked back at Harley with a sad smile. "It's funny. He turns four today." Harley didn't know what to say but instead looked down.
"Well…" Harley spoke in a small voice. "At least he didn't... Kill you." She then looked over at Dez with sincerity in her eyes. "Jackson still has you here... Even if he can't see you now, he will one day." Dez smiled softly but it soon faded and she looked back down.
"Harley… Jeremy never kills anyone." Harley's expression quickly changed to one of slight shock and intrigue. He never did? Then what about he dad?
"What do you mean?" Harley asked. "Is my dad…?" Dez thought hard about how to arrange her words.
"Jeremy… he doesn't like to get his tires dirty." She started. "If he wants to get rid of someone, he has someone else," she gestured to herself with a tire, though held a look of regret, "do it for him. But with a transgression against him as big as saying no…" she shook her hood, "That's one of the worst things you can do to him in his eyes." Harley shuddered. "He won't kill you for saying no. No, he does something much worse." She again looked into the Cadillac's eyes. "He will torment you until he thinks you've fully paid, or until he loses interest in you. He puts you on death row for as long as he wants. And he has his ways of making sure you can't leave until he's done." Harley thought it wrong for hoping her father was alive now. She almost wished it were true and that he died a long time ago when she was just a baby. She never knew something could be worse than death.
"Dezeray…" she asked with a shaky voice. "Is my dad… alive?" Dez looked away and once again stared at the mirror.
"Harley…" The amount of fear in her voice was an amount that could only be formed from years of torment, "Your father… your father was dying for many years… and has been dead for many more…" The Corvette's eyes were void of any and all emotion except for fear.
"What does that mean?" Harley persisted.
"It means what it means, Harley." Was all Dez could say. She stared blankly at the reflective piece of glass in front of her, but Harley could only assume she wasn't staring at her reflection at all. She was staring at every memory Jeremy had ever scarred into her brain. "I never truly met David. I have no idea what Jeremy did to him. All I know… all I know is that he was the first to refuse Jeremy…" A tear ran down her fender, "...and you were the last." Five simple words. That's all it took to overcome Harley with an unimaginable amount of terror. They repeated and echoed in her mind.
'You were the last.' Harley said to herself in her own head. And it wouldn't stop.
"How long have you been with Muff?" Dez suddenly asked.
"What?" Harley was confused by the seemingly random question.
"How long have you been with Muff?" Dez repeated with more urgency as she blinked her tears away.
"Uh, about a month, why?" Dez nodded and disappeared into her mind for a brief moment.
"Good…. Good, that's good." She muttered, "Okay, listen carefully, is it scouting season yet?"
"How do you know-"
"Is it scouting season yet!" Dez cut her off.
"Yes.." Harley figured she should just save her questions.
"Good. Perfect. Then Muff won't want to stay in one place for very long." She again went to her mind palace to think through everything she knew about Ryan.
"Dez?" Harley asked after the seconds kept ticking by.
"Harley!" Harley was taken aback by her sudden raised voice. "Harley, listen. As long as you stay with Muff, you'll be fine." She inched closer to her, "Muff likes to move around in a very random pattern. He's pretty well known, and hated, so he has to. He's been here a month at least, which means he'll be leaving soon. My guess is that he's headed to his cabin up in the Rockies-"
"The Rockies? Like the Rocky Mountains?" Harley asked surprised.
"Yes, the Rocky Mountains!" Dez then was quiet and lowered her voice. "He owns a good amount of land there, don't ask how, the guy's got cash. Anyways, he owns a track there, so don't worry about practice or anything. But he also doesn't like to stay in the mountain long, claims it messes with his paint." Dez rolled her eyes and scoffed, "He claims a lot of things." Harley wanted to ask how she knew so much about her coach but decided against asking. "I never told Charles you were headed to find Muff, I just told him that I found you. I told him we talked and…" She paused and looked down.
"And what?" Harley asked.
"And I gave him your emblem." There was a slight silence. Harley didn't know how she felt about that. It was from Doc. All she had left of him. Now it's with Charles... From one blue car to the next.
"Okay.." Harley said with uncertainty.
"Stay with Muff. Don't screw anything up." Dez warned. "Don't tell him your real name, don't tell him your past. Knowing him, he won't even ask about it. If y'all are here, I bet you're getting a new paint job. Miss Maude?"
"Yeah, how did you-" Again Dez cut her off.
"Good." She approved. "Being around Muff is going to be enough to keep you safe. Once you get good though…" Dez sighed. "Try and not to get noticed too soon."
"What?" Harley asked now upset by the request.
"Just don't get noticed! You're a girl. And you're going to be racing, so that will be hard to accomplish. But you're going to have to." The young Cadi shook he hood.
"So you're asking me to race bad?" As Dez nodded, Harley scoffed, "No, I'm not doing that."
"You're gonna have to!" She again raised her voice, but quickly brought it back down. "Jeremy can and will find out where you are based on your races. The less attention you get, the harder it is for him to find you." Harley thought it over. Maybe Dez was right, but was she really going to risk not taking the opportunities presented to her? "You have to trust me." There was a slight pause.
"Okay.." she muttered in defeat. Dez took a deep breath and nodded then Harley did the same.
Together, Harley and Dez both left the bathroom and were about the split ways when a loud crash was head towards the back of the bar. They looked at each other aking what that could be without speaking and drove over to the noise.
"God! This is why I can't stand you!" It was Ryan. He had his eyes narrowed at Smokey. The table was misplaced as were their empty glasses. Ryan then caught Harley in the corner of his eye and quickly spun to face her.
"Ryan?" Before she could ask him what was going on, he raised his voice at her.
"Where were you!?" He yelled. Harley hesitates to answer but did so regardless.
"I, uh, I was gone for, like, five minutes." Ryan gave a loud scoff.
"Five? More like fifteen! Hell, twenty even!" Smokey slowly made his way around the shoved table to confront the upset Mustang while Ryan looked over and noticed Dez. "Oh, great, were you talking to her?"
"Does that really matter?" Dez answered with a hint of venom. It was as if her previous emotions had just flown out the window. Dez glanced over at the disheveled table and scoffed. "How many have you had?" She asked with a look of disgust.
"Why do you care?" Ryan snapped back.
"Because of Harley here be-"
"So you were talking to her!" Ryan had the utmost amount of bitterness in his voice.
"Harley is a kid!" She yelled back. "How many!"
"Just five, you moron!" Ryan shouted, "I am well aware I have a kid that I, for some godforsaken reason, decided to take care of!"
"Five of what?" Dez tried to bring her voice back down, but Ryan only revved his engine to add fuel to the flame.
"Only five of whatever the hell I wanted." Smokey then decided to add his input.
"It's Lee, five of the hardest stuff they got." He calmly said
"Oh, you stay out of this!" Ryan turned back to Smokey, though he just ignored him and turned to Dez.
"Ma'am, I do apologize for Lee's behavior," Ryan glared at him but bit his tongue for a moment longer. "Whatever has happened between you two, I'm sure it isn't as bad as what he has made it out to be." That was it. Ryan was done with the truck.
"Not as-!" he started and his engines revved again, "You have no right to say that! You have no idea what happened! Not as bad!? I'll show you not as bad!"
"Oh, come on, Lee! It can't possibly be-" Smokey was upset, but now it was Dez who cut him off.
"No, he's right." She said though she didn't sound defeated. She sounded strong. She was getting on the offense, but Ryan couldn't see this.
"You're agreeing with me?" He said, his volume lowered. "How's that taste?" Dez stared at him with a hard look.
"Like straight liquor.." There was tension and it was growing. Growing fast.
"Lee, why don't we just-" Smokey continued to get cut off.
"I thought I told you to stay out of this!" Ryan yelled back at Smokey again.
"This argument was between you and me!" Smokey shot back.
"You say it like we disagree on something small as a tick!" Ryan growled, "You have no room to talk about anything!"
"Muff, stop this!" Dez yelled and he swung back to face her.
"Do not call me that!" His voice was filled with anger, more anger than Harley had ever seen him have before, "Don't you dare call me that EVER again! Got that!? My name is Ryan! Not Lee, not Muff, not Rye, not even Ryan Lee! RYAN! I go by Ryan! Just Ryan!" Dez rolled her eyes.
"It's just a stupid nickname!" She shot back.
"Stupid, huh? Is that so?" He seemed to have actually taken a blow. Why Harley wondered. She also decided to do her wondering further back before this turned into a real fight. Ryan didn't seem to notice, so she was in the clear. Though still staying close, she just wanted to be out of the crossfire.
"Yes.. stupid.. " there was a pause. It was the same pause that comes before ever gun fight. The first shot had been fired. Everyone in the bar knew it. Everyone was too scared to intervene.
"You have no right to even have an opinion," Ryan said, his voice lowered and much darker.
"Maybe you're right…" Dez said back, lowering her voice to equal his "Oh, there's that liquor again." Ryan tried his best to contain himself physically, but it was proving to be quite the challenge as they held each other's glare.
"Ah!" Ryan finally broke and slammed his tire into the ground. "Why! Why are you-! You're always-! Dammit!" He swung back to Smokey.
"Thanks for the drinks, but Harley and I have somewhere to be!" He said sarcastically. "We're done here! In fact, we're done with all of this! Harley, we're leaving! Hope you like mountains!" Ryan pushed past Dez. "Actually, I don't care what you like!"
"Muff, would you just calm yourself!" She snapped at him.
"Calm? Calm!" He repeated, "To hell with calm! And to hell with you!" Ryan tensed up even more.
"How long, Ryan!" Dez snapped back "How long are you going to lord this over me!"
"However long I want to, dammit!" He looked away with an enraged look of hurt in his eyes. Harley read them loud and clear.
"Why can't we just.. just move on from this!" Dez demanded. Ryan looked back at her with so much hate.
"You don't get it. You just don't get it! We can't, Dezeray! We can't!" There was silence. Ryan was breaking and so was Dez. "Why is it-! Why are you-! You're-!" He had no idea how to even say anything. All the thoughts in his mind were going by too fast, there were too many emotions to keep up with.
"I'm what, Ryan? What the am I.." Dez said in a surprisingly calm tone, but Ryan only gritted his teeth.
"Everywhere!" He finally spat "You! Are! Everywhere!" Harley hadn't noticed it before, but there were frustrated tears filling his windshield. Dez seemed unfazed by it completely. Harley, on the other hand, was in complete shock.
'Can this day get any crazier?' Harley thought as she saw the impossible happen.
"You and I both know that's impossible," chilling voice. For a moment, Harley had thought she was answering her, but of course, she wasn't. Her full attention was on Ryan. The tears kept forming but had yet to fall. Even Smokey wasn't sure how to handle the situation, so he continued to remain silent. Ryan Lee Muffler had tears in his windshield. That was newsworthy in the eyes of anyone who knew him in the slightest.
"Then why are you?" Ryan's voice had gone down. His fire of rage had burned itself out. All that remained were the embers of pain. Real breaking pain. "You're always everywhere…" For a long moment, there were no sounds. No words. Nothing but the soft sound of Ryan's attempts at refraining his tears.
"I'm sorry." Dez finally replied in a voice so soft, Harley wasn't sure if she had spoken at all. She was begging to bend under the pressure. Tears of regret began to take over her eyes. "I…" She then looked away from him, she couldn't take seeing him anymore as she made her confession. "I had a job.."
"You had a job… you always have jobs…" Ryan continued to stare intensely at her. He was burning holes right through her paint job. "You… always…" a tear finally made its grand escape as it ran down Ryan's fender. "I just never thought I'd be one of them… I thought…" He stopped himself and finally turned away. Dez closed her eyes tight. Taking its turn falling down her fender was a tear followed by a couple more.
"...Ryan…" Harley spoke up. He turned towards her and tried to sniff the tears away. He would not cry in front of her. "I… I like mountains…" She was as calm as she possibly could be. He eyes were slightly wider than usual, but she tried not to look scared. Ryan looked at her for what felt like a century before even moving. He gave a slight nod and looked away.
"Let's go then." He said and without even glancing back at Dez took one more jab at her."Go find yourself a new job."
