Chapter Five
Trixie had just stepped into the shower when the phone started ringing. "Damn, I should've known this would happen." She turned off the water, grabbed a towel and ran to answer it.
"That better not be Speed," she said, hesitating for a moment before picking up the receiver from its cradle. Hello?" Her voice was a bit cold sounding.
"Hey girl," came a familiar female voice, "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
"Hi, Janine. Sorry, I thought you might be Speed calling to beg for my forgiveness."
"Uh oh. I gather things didn't go well last night."
Trixie sighed, "Sure didn't. Guess who had dinner with us?"
"No!" Janine exclaimed.
"Yep. Turns out the blonde bimbo is Speed's new neighbor," she said disdainfully. "She and her father moved into the empty house next door."
"Oh wonderful. That must've made your evening just peachy."
Trixie proceeded to tell her the details of Dallas' shameless flirting and Speed's obvious lust for her. "Janine, the only bright spot was Pops making that deal with Mr. Maverick. At least his business will make some much needed money."
"That's something good that came out of that disaster." Janine said. "Um, How did you get home?"
"Speed drove me," Trixie said with a heavy sigh. "That was probably the worst part of the whole evening. It was so quiet in that car, you could hear a pin drop. Then, when we pulled up in front of my place, he made a half-hearted attempt at an apology."
"Did you accept it?" Janine asked.
"Nope. He crossed the line last night." Her voice became a whisper, "I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to forgive him."
"Oh babe, I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault that I chose to date a man with a wandering eye."
"Huh?" Janine was perturbed. "Chose, not choose? Aren't you guys going out anymore?"
Trixie pondered this for a moment. "I'm not sure. The way we left things last night…Well, let's just say it doesn't look good." She wiped a tear from her eye. "Damn him and that Texas whore…"
Janine hated to see her friend so upset. "Listen, I was just calling to see if you wanted to go shopping. You know that big sale is going on."
"I guess so." Trixie's sniffles could be heard over the phone. "I did tell him that I had plans for today. Let me finish my shower and grab some breakfast. Half an hour sound good?"
"Sure. And don't bother with breakfast we can stop at 7-11. I love their coffee!"
---
Janine pulled her car out of the 7-11 parking lot. Trixie sipped her coffee. "Hmmm…This hits the spot." She half-smiled, the coffee and buttered bagel had perked her up a little bit. "I'm looking forward to running my credit card up to the limit."
"I've got two cards with me today," Janine said with a laugh. "But, before we go to the mall, I have to swing by the track."
"The track? Why? You're not in Sunday's race." The last place Trixie wanted to go to was the track.
"Um, I have to get my jacket," Janine said, her face reddening.
"Oh?" Trixie asked suspiciously.
Janine's blush deepened. "I... uh…left it in Sparky's car last night."
Trixie's face lit up. "You went out with Sparky?"
"Yeah, he took me to the movies and a bite to eat afterwards."
"Janine, that's great! You know, I kinda had a feeling you guys might get together. Just last week, Speed and I were talking about just that. Speed said…" She stopped talking and shook head. "No…I don't want to think about him, talk about him and, especially, see him."
"Maybe you should stay in the car while I get my jacket."
"I plan on doing that," Trixie said as they pulled into the track's parking lot.
"Okay," Janine said. Patting Trixie on the knee, she alighted from the car. "Be back in a few minutes."
Trixie watched her walk off. In the distance she could see Sparky talking to another young man. Even with his back to her, Trixie knew who it was. "Oh God, I hope he doesn't see me." She sunk down into her seat.
Janine watched Sparky's face break into a big smile when he saw her. "Hi!" she exclaimed as he waved her over.
"Hey, Janine! I thought you said you weren't going to be here today," Sparky said, trying not to let Speed see his exuberance at Janine's surprise showing.
"I'm not going to stay. I just came to get my jacket, I left it in your car last night."
"You left your jacket in his car?" Speed asked curiously.
Janine ignored him. Sparky was the one to answer his question. "We went to the movies last night."
Speed stared at his friend, a grin slowly playing across his face. "A date?" Sparky nodded, blushing a bit. "Oh man, that's great!" He turned to Janine. "I always thought you guys would make a good couple."
"Oh, did you?" Janine asked with an odd coldness to her voice. "Just like you and Trixie, right?"
Speed gulped and backed up a few steps. "Uh yeah, sure…"
Janine shook her head in abject disgust. "You make me sick." She put her attention back on Sparky. "I really did have a wonderful time last night…"
Speed gaped at her for a moment, then walked away from them. "What's with her?" He scratched his head wondering why Janine was so filled with animosity. He wandered out to the parking lot.
Trixie saw him approaching and shrunk even lower. "Don't see me, please don't see me…"
Her wish almost came true as Speed nearly walked by her. But, a movement in the car caught his eye. He peered in the automobile. "Trixie?"
She slowly sat up. "I'm waiting for Janine to get back."
"She's with Sparky. Hey, did you know they went on a date last night?" he asked, trying to charm her with his best smile. It didn't work.
"I know all about it," she said, wishing he would leave.
"Oh." He started to sniffle, then sneezed. "Sorry, getting a cold."
Trixie gave an "I don't really care" shrug. She said nothing.
He sighed, his index finger making little circles on the car door. "Um, I was kinda surprised to see you here, after last night…"
"It wasn't my idea, believe me." She turned her face straight ahead.
"Well, since you are here, I guess it's okay if you want to hang out. I wouldn't mind if you wanted to watch me practice."
"Excuse me, but I don't need your permission to be here!" Suddenly, her anger erupted. "You egotistical ape, who the hell do you think you are?"
He was taken aback by her sudden rage. "God, now what did I do?"
She forced her self to calm down. "I'm not even going to bother…" she muttered.
Janine had just arrived back at the car and witnessed what had happened between Speed and Trixie. She turned to him, eyes dark. "Speed, I think maybe you should go back to your pit. Sparky has the Mach Five all ready for you."
"Yeah, I guess I should." He took one last look at Trixie before slowly heading away, once again confused about what he'd said to anger her.
"I can't believe him," Trixie said. "I swear he's either truly rotten to the core, or the stupidest guy in the world."
"I opt for the latter," Janine replied as they watch him slowly trudge back to his pit. "For a guy who's supposed to be so smart, he sure does some idiotic things."
"Tell me about it." She heaved a heavy sigh. "He's the last person I wanted to see today."
Janine opened the driver's side door and sat down next to her. "I'm sorry. I should've waited until tonight to get my jacket back."
Trixie forced a smile. "I guess that means you're going out with Sparky again?"
"Yep." Janine beamed. "Tonight, and hopefully tomorrow night and the night after…"
"I'm so happy for you. Sparky's a great guy. I'm glad you two connected with each other."
"Me, too," Janine said as she started the car. She glanced over at her friend, feeling sorry for her. She couldn't believe how horribly Speed was treating her.
Just as they were ready to pull out of the lot, they noticed a commotion in a nearby pit. There was a group of young woman in coveralls watching as a red racecar pulled up to them. It was obvious that they were mechanics. "Hmmm, I didn't notice them before." Janine said.
Trixie's eyes narrowed, there was something vary familiar about that car. "They must've been waiting on the sidelines for that car to pull up." She groaned as she watched a blonde emerge from the car. "Oh great…it's her."
"That's the infamous Dallas Maverick? Pretty…in a slutty, shallow kind of way," Janine remarked.
"Just keep watching her. I guarantee she makes a bee-line for Speed."
Sure enough, she headed towards the Go Team's pit, going directly to Speed. They watched as she moved closer to him.
"Let's get out of here before I kill them." Trixie's voice was surprisingly unemotional.
Janine looked over at her. "Okay…" She pulled away, worried about Trixie's oddly detached manner.
---
Speed watched out of the corner of his eye as Janine's car left the lot.
"Who was that?" Dallas asked.
"Nobody," he said sadly, "Just nobody…"
Sparky looked at him, what did he mean by that? "Speed, what happened over there?"
He gazed down at the ground. "Nothing of importance."
"Yeah, sure buddy," Sparky said, though he didn't believe him.
Speed turned to Dallas. "You wanna go for a cup of coffee or something?"
Her seductive smile widened. "Darlin' Ah thought you'd never ask." She put her arm in his, her body rubbing against him. He returned her smile and led her over to the commissary.
The Go Team's mechanic stared after them, incredulous. "I can't believe he'd betray Trixie this way." He went over to the Mach Five. "He's so messed up over that girl that he forgot to practice. How does he expect to win Sunday's race if he doesn't practice?"
