Woot! Okay, so thanks again to MereMcQueen314, Lackofmonkey, and Darkey Ashland for the awesome reviews! They made my day! :D Anyway, I'm happy with the way this chapter turned out, and I hope the readers enjoy it, too. All reviews are super appreciated, whether it's critique, comments, thoughts, anything! Enjoy~
Radiator Springs, despite its growth over the past years, was still a blast from the past.
Georgia drove down the smooth black stretch of road that was Main Street, passing a hut all decked out in fluorescent lights, peace signs, flowers, and beads that formed a curtain over the entrance. She was tempted to stop there, to take a peek and see what the outward flare was all about, but she was more enticed by the idea of seeing her parents.
The car sped up a little, passing an old military surplus hut, a motel made out of caution cones, a knick knack shop - this town had it all. She liked the old timey feel it gave off, especially at night, since the neon was all lit up and the town was a little quieter. She could understand why her mother and father had chosen this place as their home.
She pulled into Flo's V8 cafe after the long drive, wondering where her parents might be hiding, or where their house might be as a vibrant cherry red Miata drove up to her, parking a few feet away with a huge, white smile. "Welcome to Flo's V8 Cafe! I'm Tia - what can I get for you?" The little Miata was lively, considering how late it was, but it was nice of her and Georgia was thirsty.
"Somethin' hot and strong," the Southerner replied, smiling at Tia. The Miata was gone in a flash, disappearing into the cafe to ask Flo what drink was the hottest and strongest.
Georgia settled down on her tires, looking around and admiring all of the neon. This is place is beautiful... I remember I used to dream about places like this when I was a kid. She had always loved driving through cities at night when she and Lynda would go to The King's races. The city lights were so bright and so appealing, but it was ten times better now that she was older.
"It's nice, ain't it?"
Georgia shifted her gaze to rest on the car parked in front of her, and immediately her eyes dropped to the bull horns on his fender. She lit up like a Christmas tree. "Tex!"
The Texan laughed, driving around to park beside her. "I haven't seen you in years, Georgia Rian. When your mama said you would be in town, I figured I'd wait around to see my favorite niece."
"I'm your only niece," Georgia laughed, shaking her hood.
Tex nudged her with his tire as Tia drove up with the hottest, strongest thing she could get her tires on. "Here you go, Miss," Tia said, setting the drink down in front of her.
"Thank you, Tia," Georgia replied, pulling the drink towards her. The canister was hot to the touch, warming her tires and calming her tank. Tia turned to Tex, but he smiled and said no thank you with such a syrup-y drawl that even Tia's incredibly wide smile widened. When she drove off, Georgia looked back to Tex. "So how's everything been with you? It's been, well, forever since I saw you last."
The golden Cadillac shrugged his tires. "Keepin' my eyes out for a new racer for Dinoco. There's a lotta good talent out there this season, you know."
"Got your eyes on anybody specific?"
"Not yet, although that Sage VanDerSpin has been burnin' up the practice track," Tex answered casually.
"What about McQueen? He's still with Rust-Eze, right?" Georgia still followed racing - just not as much as she had when she was younger.
Tex nodded. "If he wasn't, I'd already have a new racer for Dinoco." The Cadillac sat back on his tires, shaking his hood. "Well hell, Georgia. I'd have a new racer if that Hicks boy hadn't cheated. He had all the grit and determination that I was lookin' for, but he ruined it for himself."
"You would have sponsored him?"
"I'm not sayin' I would have, but I'm not sayin' I wouldn't have offered it to him, either," Tex responded, looking at her pointedly.
Georgia sipped her fuel, nodding as she let his words sink in. I wonder if Chick has thought about this?
"But that's enough about Dinoco," he finished, with a voice that Georgia recognized enough to know that he meant he was done talking about it. "So what have you done with yourself lately? Strip says you're still livin' down near that old practice track."
"Yeah," she confirmed. "Never had any reason to leave." Tex saw in her expression the same calm neutrality that Strip usually kept, but her voice betrayed that expression. It was like Lynda's had always been, descriptive and emotional, and even when their voices were void of emotion - that was when they were the most telling. Georgia's voice was flat.
Tex nudged her with his tire again, smiling at the younger car. "Well, I think your mama's right when she says you oughta move out here."
Georgia's eyelids went up slightly, but her adoptive uncle's smile seemed to shatter whatever was bothering her. "Does Papa still think so, too?" she asked with a playful tone. "It seems like that's what everybody's thinkin'." The moment of discomfort, however slight it was, was gone now, and both cars settled back in on their tires.
"They're just lookin' out for you, Georgia Rian," Tex commented.
"Speakin' of which," she started, finishing up her drink, "would they still be up at this hour? If they aren't, I'll jus' stay at the motel and surprise them in the morning."
In the morning, Georgia awoke to a cute little car popping out of a caution cone-themed alarm clock. It was eight in the morning, the time for warm sunshine to pour through windows and get her day on its way. She gave herself a few minutes to wake up, her eyes adjusting to the walls of the Cozy Cone, which were a vibrant orange color. They blended well with the incoming rays of light.
Georgia stole a glance out the window, catching a difference in the shades of light. Unlike home, where the rays were soft and buttery like homemade breakfast, they were warm and particularly burning, but crisper and fresher than she had seen them in a while. Georgia drove out of her caution cone in time to hear the National Anthem being played over the radio - and it was sharply interrupted by Jimi Hendrix's rendition.
The car laughed to herself as an old war veteran started shouting across the way, towards the hut that had all been decked out with peace signs and flowers.
"Respect the classics man!" she heard in rebuttal as she drove over to Flo's. She and Tex had agreed to meet there this morning, and from there he would take her to the Weathers household. She was excited to see her parents again, as it had been so long since they had moved out of the house. It was funny, she thought, that they had moved out instead of her.
Georgia pulled into the cafe, watching as the same Miata from last night drove over to her. She wore the same vibrant smile as she introduced herself. "Welcome to Flo's V8 Cafe! I'm Mia - how can I help you?" Georgia looked confused for a second. Did she just say her name was Mia? I thought it was Tia. Is her voice different...? No, I'm just hearing things. I really need some fuel.
"Good morning," she greeted, smiling. "I think I'd just like something caffeinated." With that Mia - or Tia, or whatever her name was - drove off to get her drink.
Georgia was able to get a better look at the town now that it was daylight. While everything was beautiful at night, it was just as stunning during the day. It was a simple town, despite its expansion after McQueen set up his headquarters here. She noticed two little Italians arguing over their tires (at least, that's what she assumed based on the yellow Fiat's words), and a large fire truck watering some flowers here and there.
She was distracted for a few minutes and didn't see the car driving towards her.
"Georgia Rian!" The accent was as thick as ever, and just his voice made most of the cars in the cafe lot turn their eyes.
Georgia jumped, turning to see who it was that had scared the crap out of her like that - this would be the second time somebody had surprised her in the past 24 hours - and she half expected it to be Tex again. Tex always loved doing that in the morning... Especially if I had a hoodache.
Her hunch was correct.
"Mornin', Tex!" She tried to sound as boisterous as he did, but the sleepiness hadn't left her yet.
He drove up in front of her right as Mia arrived to deliver the fuel. With a quick thank you exchanged for the fuel, Mia disappeared to drop off a few other canisters. "Hurry up and finish up that fuel," Tex told her. "We've got to get a move on before your parents leave the house."
Georgia hurried to finish her drink, used to rushing her breakfast down from all the days she had practice. She felt a twang of familiarity in her engine just being around Tex so early in the morning; it gave her the feeling of anticipation and nervousness, but she reminded herself that she wasn't training today. She hadn't trained in years.
After her short-lived breakfast, the two cars drove from Flo's and along a back road, which was dusty and scattered dirt throughout her rims. The road took them around a freshly painted white fence, behind the old brick buildings. They were headed towards a house positioned out behind the older buildings, the fresh white panels a total contrast to the maroon bricks just across the way.
Tex drove up the ramp and onto the porch, moving to the side so that Georgia could come up to knock on the door with her tire. She heard no voices on the other side, no engines, no tires stirring about. She frowned, looking over at the Cadillac. "Did they go out already?" She had assumed since Strip was retired already that they would sleep in and spend the days leisurely.
"We must've just missed them," he answered, looking around.
Georgia's eyelids went up again as she looked at Tex curiously. "Tex?"
He grinned mischievously, winking at her as he drove down off of the porch. "Go around back and see what you find there. I'll be at Flo's if you have any questions."
"Questions? Why would I have questions? Tex? Tex! Wait..." Georgia started off the ramp, but he had already disappeared back down the road in a cloud of dust. She sighed, shaking her hood. "Sometimes I wonder what goes through his mind." She drove around the back, which was had patches of grass here and there, but for the most part was dirt. The back porch was adequately sized, large enough for two or three if not four or five cars. She drove up the ramp and onto the porch, which smelled of lavender.
Mama always liked the way lavender smelled in the morning. Georgia drove up to the small table, atop which there was a canister. It was placed right in the center, tempting her to pull it from its spot and see what was inside.
Inside was a small piece of paper written in her father's tire writing. JR - go to the statue of Stanley in front of the courthouse. Don't ask questions, because you'll just confuse yourself if you try to think about it. In big, overdramatic letters, he had signed 'The King'. She shook her hood, tucking the note into her rim and driving away from the house.
"The statue of Stanley in front of the courthouse? Hmmm... What is he up to now?" Georgia drove onto the pavement, already able to see the courthouse. It towered above the other buildings, an imposing feature of the town. It seemed like it would be the figurehead, and if so, it served its purpose well. There was a statue of an old model car with golden teeth sitting in front of the courthouse, just as the note had described.
She read the plaque aloud. "Stanley, our founder. Hm." She drove circles around the statue, careful not to disturb the flowers at all. Tucked beneath one of the statue's back wheels was another note, but this time it was in her mother's tire writing. Your father thinks this is all really hilarious, dear, so I decided to play along. Anyway, you should have already noticed the beautiful flowers sitting beside the statue. Nudge the pot carefully.
"What the heck...?" Georgia put the new note with the other one, carefully reaching down to nudge the orange flower pot.
As soon as her tire came in contact with the pottery, she heard tires squeal against the dirt and a large shadow overtook her. She looked up with wide eyes to find the same large fire truck that she had seen earlier parked before her, a sort of panicky look on his face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know these were your flowers! My parents are kind of slightly insane and they left me a note leading me to this flower pot..." I must sound insane.
The fire truck's expression calmed, a smile coming over his grill as he reached into one of his own rims to pull out a third piece of paper. After he handed it over to her, he disappeared back into the courthouse, which also seemed to be the fire station. "Um, okay. Thank you!" she called after him, unfolding the paper. "My parents are nuts." It was her father's writing again. Go over to Casa Della Tires and talk to the little blue forklift. His name is Guido.
Georgia had to admit, her parents had definitely caught her interest.