Heartaches

Chapter 83

By KellyQ

The mob made their way to the bleachers. Mina, Trudge, the twins, and Rally made their way to their sets. The rest of the kids talked amongst themselves. Team Unicorn, Team Taiyo, Primo, and Laster sat in their assigned spots.

Crow and Brave drove to the starting line. Brave scanned the crowd and spotted the kids cheering for Crow to win before he averted his attention back to the starting line. Grow smiled and gave the kids the thumbs-up.

"On your mark, get set, go!" MC's voice boomed.

The two competitors pulled on their clutches with their left hands and eased back on the throttles with their right hands, shifting gears with their left feet. They both eased off on the clutch as they used their left hands and twisted the throttles as they continued their accelerations. Dust and carbon dioxide trailed behind them. Together, they zigzagged around the ditches, and drove up the ramp. Crow and Brave glided in the air and landed down.

MC watched their races closely. It seemed like the way they were racing was a little choppy due to lack of training, but their riding style was the same. The obstacles were a little different. There were no stacks of pipes, but there was a ramp to drive up and glide across and land. The first part of the obstacles was riding over fine packed dirt. Both Brave and Crow did a good job of handling their motorcycles.

The crowd was cheering for Brave more than Crow. Brave glanced around the arena; He liked the fact that everyone was chanting and cheering for him. Brave decided to do a daring stunt on his motorcycle. He got the opportunity when he bike drove over. Brave popped the clutch so that the motorcycle was on its back wheel.

Brave controlled his motorcycle playfully. "This is how you drive!" He started to weave around, screaming like he was on a roller-coaster ride.

Crow frowned as he tried to stay clear. "You're driving like a reckless kid!"

Brave pouted. "Aww! You're no fun!" He whined.

Crow scoffed in response. He wasn't sure if Brave was playing or being serious about the race. By this point, the kids were glancing around the arena. The youngest with chestnut colored hair pulled back in a low ponytail looked at her friends. She wore a long pink dress.

"What are we going to do?" She asked timidly. "Crow can't even hear us!"

"We're just going to have to try harder and make sure that Crow can hear us!" The eldest said. He had spiky black hair and brown eyes that held a lot of maturity. He also wore a red sweater and black pants with matching red tennis shoes.

The rest of the kids nodded their heads in agreement. They all turned their attention back to the race. The two eldest held up a banner that was a poor drawing of Crow. All the kids started to cheer Crow on. It took a few moments for their voices to reach his ears, and when he looked in their direction, Crow was touched.

Brave watched with envy. "Those kids … are they yours?"

"I look after them – so in a way, they are!" Crow answered. "I'm in this so that they could have a good future!"

"I love little kids too! They're like angels …"

Crow couldn't help but smile. "Bagels? Talk later?"

"Sounds good to me! I want to met those kids!"

"They got only three more laps to go!" MC said, watching the two competitors talk.

Brave and Crow nodded their heads and continued doing the obstacles one more time. The clock was ticking when their motorcycles reached finished line. The buzzer went off when the wheels rolled over the white line. The crowd cheered and clapped.

"It looks like we have a tie!" MC announced. The kids waved the banner. Crow and Brave gave each other a fist-bump, each feeling good about what happened. "Next up are Harald and Yusei! Both competitors get ready!"

To Be Continued …