The morning after.
The atmosphere in Tej's Garage was nowhere near as hectic as it was the day before, although Tej did have the stereo on, pumping the garage with some slow hip-hop. It was business as usual. Already many of the regular customers were parked inside and outside there for their regular tune-ups. Saturday usually meant a night of racing afterwards though nothing as big as last night. Last night was of those "Tej specials" that come along every now and then.
Following the events of last night, a tow truck had to be called to pull back Jimmy's wrecked Golf R32 from the docks and back to the garage. After the race which had everybody talking, Alex offered to help with anything involving the Golf. Saturday was his day off after all so it wasn't a problem.
He also offered to chip in some of the money he had won that night in order to fix the Golf. Tej thought that was a little too much generosity as it was and instead offered Alex full use of his garage and the tools inside for his tune-ups. Alex accepted graciously. He loved the opportunity to be able to tune his ride in a professional garage again.
Suki was asked by Tej to take Jimmy to the hospital. The kid looked alright after the crash but Tej didn't want to take chances. Jimmy was like a little brother to him. As for Rome, he went home to his own garage at the other side of town but he did promise to meet with them at the next event which will, in all likelihood, pretty soon.
It was still pretty early in the morning and the only people in the garage were Tej and Alex, the latter lying down on a rolling tray and under the Golf. Tej was standing by on the side.
"How's it looking?" asked Tej.
"Not too bad," said Alex from under the car. "But not too good, either."
Alex slid himself out from under the car and got back onto his feet. He brushed himself off and put down the flashlight he was using on top of a large tool chest.
"The engine block itself is probably fine," said Alex. "The radiator, the intercooler, and the air filter are done though. You're gonna have to replace them completely. The front suspension and the brakes, particularly at the side where the flat was, was heavily damaged and we'll probably have to rip that out and get a new set. The front axle will need some realignment."
"That shouldn't be too hard. I got a few of those parts lying around somewhere. Gonna have to order out them brakes, though."
"What about the body work?"
"I'll manage that."
Tej moved around to the passenger side of the car. The front fender and the door looked crushed but nothing that he couldn't fix. It will take him the better part of the day though and that didn't even include repainting.
"Don't worry," said Alex. "I'll stick around to help out."
"Don't you have other things to do?"
"I…honestly don't. I usually spend my weekends tuning my car. But I finished working on it yesterday and now I don't have anything to do on it until the boost gauges I ordered arrives."
"Well I don't feel real comfortable with you giving me all this help for free, you know? I'm not a charity case."
"Well you could pay me. I could use another part-time job aside from my pizza gig."
Tej chuckled. Alex continued to stare at Tej with a determined look on his face. Tej eventually noticed this and he stopped chuckling.
"You're serious?"
"What? You think my life-long ambition is to deliver pizzas for a Columbian guy with a napoleon complex? I'm not just good at the mechanical stuff, you know. You've seen what I can do behind the wheel. Let me race for you. Plus I'm sure you can use an extra pair of hands around here."
That was something that made Tej curious about Alex. In all his years as an underground race organizer he had never heard of anyone throw down a purse as high as Alex did the night before. Usually for amateur events the purse for a race would be a few hundreds to a grand or two. 2 to 5 grand were usually thrown down for the more advanced guys. Upwards of 10,000 dollars will be put down by the high rollers.
Double or noting rematches were rare, let alone triple or nothing. The bank Alex won that night, 18,000 dollars in cash, was unheard of, at least around Miami. There was also something about the way the kid challenged the guy, as if drawing him into that race. It was stuff like this that made Tej want to know more about Alex but he didn't think this kid would open up to him just yet.
"You mean like the money you won last night?" asked Tej.
"Well, I'll probably won't be racing the stakes that high next time. Besides that was just to work for my advantage."
"How's that?"
"People probably think I'm a chump right now and I was only luck during that last race. Give them a modest bank to bet on and they'll challenge me on the drop of a hat."
Tej thought about this and realized he was right.
"Just give me enough chances to prove myself a bit more," continued Alex.
"I don't think Jimmy will be really cool with this. I mean he's supposed to be my racer."
"The kid definitely has talent but he's still green. I can teach him stuff that'll have him eating the competition."
"I'll bet. It's a tempting offer and all…"
"Man, quit playing like you're gonna pass this up. I know that you're a man about your money. You know that with me and Jimmy racing for you we'll rank in more cash than you'll know what to do with."
Both Tej and Alex were quiet for a few moments but both men were smirking with mutual understanding. Alex knew already that things were finally going his way after all this time.
"Alright," said Tej. "We'll see what you can do. I'll go get the new radiator form the back."
"I'll get the tools ready."
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A few hours later.
Suki's pink S2000 came to the front of the garage a little bit after lunch. She and Jimmy ate a little lunch after she picked him up from the hospital. Aside from the bruise on his arm which he got from hitting it at his own door there was no other injury on him. That was good on two fronts. First, that meant that Jimmy was in no critical condition, and second, Suki didn't have to make up a big excuse for Jimmy's street racing activities. She simply said he got into a bar fight with a drunk.
"We're lucky all you got was that bruise on your arm," said Suki. "That crash could've been a lot worse."
"But it wasn't and I'm fine. Stop trippin' already."
"I knew it was a bad idea for you to take a challenge like that."
"I had a flat!"
"That's no excuse. If you were half the driver you were supposed to be back there, you would've checked your car after leaving it like that. You're also lucky that both Alex and Tej think that the Golf can be saved. You're not ready for this."
"Yeah, I am. You'll see in my next race!"
"Which will be a long time from now considering the damage to the Golf. What if Alex wasn't there to do a rematch? That would've been a major loss on Tej's part."
They both got out of the S2000 and Suki lead the way into the garage. Jimmy was a little bit upset. He had all the confidence in the world that he was a good racer. To get this from Suki, who he considers a very good friend, is just frustrating. Jimmy didn't even bother considering the fact that Suki has been racing much longer than he has and surely had some time-tested wisdom in her head.
He was also pretty upset that Suki brought up Alex. Sufficed to say nobody saw him coming. Alex had been delivering pizzas for the garage for just under two week, sometime more than once a day (Tej really liked those meat lover's specials), and in that time he has gotten on friendly terms with all of them. Occasionally he would ask for a chance to prove his driving skills.
Almost every time he said that they all just pretty much passed it off as a joke. After all, the guy can barely deliver a pizza on time! Where the heck did he learn to drive? Well wherever it was it taught lessons well. Last night left everyone no less than very impressed at Alex's skill behind the wheel. While Jimmy himself was pretty amazed, he wasn't too keen on finding out he had such competition on his hands.
Suki came through the front door where the general store was located. There they sold the usual stuff like motor oil, lubricants, belts, windshield wipers, and a myriad of other car accessories. Behind the cashier's desk was one of Suki's girls worked during the day who greeted them as they came in.
"Nice to see you back from the hospital Jimmy," said the cashier girl. "Saw you're nasty crash last night. I'm surprised you can walk."
Jimmy sighed exasperatedly. The cashier girl took this as a sign that she should drop the subject for today. A stern look from Suki confirmed that suspicion.
"Anyway, the Golf's in the back and Tej is already working on it along with that pizza guy."
Both Suki and Jimmy looked a little confused. "Alex is still here?" asked Suki.
"Well, he did mention today was a day off. He's been helping Tej since last night. You guys can go see him if you want."
"Sure."
Suki and Jimmy exchanged brief looks with each other before heading toward the garage are through a door behind the cashier's desk labeled "employees only." The first thing they heard was Tej's music playing in the background. What they didn't notice was Alex's presence or anyone else's for that matter. The garage was empty except for the cars.
"He ain't here," said Jimmy.
Suki swiveled her head around the garage's space. She was inclined to agree with Jimmy until her eye caught something and she did a double take.
"No he's here somewhere," she said.
"What makes you say that?"
Suki nodded towards a car. "That."
Jimmy looked in that direction and found that he was looking at the bright orange Silvia S15 that was now a bit popular among the race goers last night. The ride that was distinctly Alex's. The S15's driver side door was open. Alex was probably doing something to clean the interior or something. Both Suki and Jimmy moved closer to the car to get a better look at it.
Ever since last night Suki has been a bit fascinated by the S15. She only got a taste of the car when she decided to tag along with Alex in that race. She only knew the obvious modifications like the C-west body kit and the NISMO rims. But she also wanted to look at the suspension, the brakes, and especially…
"Pop the hood," she blurted out like an order.
"Who? Me?" responded Jimmy.
"The door's open isn't it? I have to see this."
"You do know this ain't your car, right?"
"That didn't feel like a normal SR20 engine during that race. I have to see what's under the hood."
Jimmy shook his head but eventually went to the driver's side, leaned into the car and found the lever he was looking for. The hood popped up an inch. Suki quickly stepped forward and opened the hood all the way up then prop it on the stand. It was as she expected and at the same time, as she didn't expect and this mixture of feelings showed in her face. Jimmy walked around to see what she was looking at. He also seemed to be pretty surprised at what he was looking at.
Suki was right. The normally SR20DE powered Silvia S15 had clearly undergone an engine swap modification. In place of the usual 2.0L I4 engine was a big 3.5L V6 engine. No wonder Suki felt something weird about the car.
"I thought that engine tone didn't sound right for a S15," said Jimmy.
"Yeah, he actually swapped the old SR20 out for a VQ engine." The tone in her voice pretty much suggested that she was impressed.
"It's a VQ35DE engine too."
"HR," said a voice from the side.
Both Suki and Jimmy quickly turned their heads to find Alex standing there on the side, leaning against a Honda Civic Type-R. He had an entertained look on his face when they realized that he must've been watching them stare in awe at his car for a short while now.
"It's actually a VQ35HR," said Alex.
The VQ35HR was the successor of the VQ35DE which can be found in the popular Nissan 350Z. The 'HR replaced the 'DE during the 2007 year models. The 'HR was a vast improvement over the limitations of the original engine. That said the new engine shared less than 20 percent of its parts with its predecessor. That made the engine very hard to tune since aftermarket parts that worked for the original 350Z didn't work for the new engine.
However tuning this fantastic engine wasn't impossible and Alex managed even that. He installed a Greddy twin turbo kit which was newly developed and specific to the new engine. The kit included new cast-iron exhaust manifolds, turbochargers, wastegates, air filters, twin-core front mounted intercooler, a piggy-back ECU and all the plumbing needed.
Alex also managed to throw in Greddy performance camshaft, high flow fuel injectors and iridium spark plugs for good measure. To complement all the modifications to the engine he also installed NISMO flywheel, limited slip differential, and high performance clutch to the transmission. And just for the heck of it, there was also a NOS direct port nitrous oxide kit mounted in the back in the trunk.
The engine under the hood of his Silvia S15 was now pushing over 700 HP. That's a lot of power for a car that, through some weight shaving, had a curb weight of just a little over 1000 Kilograms. But the engine was just the tip of the iceberg as far as Alex was concerned. In addition to power, he did plenty of modifications to the cars handling abilities to match.
For the suspension, he installed TEIN Type N1 coilover springs, pillowball tension rods, and a performance sway bar. For the brakes, he installed Brembo race compound brake pads, cross-drilled and slotted rotors, and 6 Piston racing calipers. The C-West GT-Type body kit and GT wing did well to make the car more aerodynamic. The cutom-made roll cage made the body more rigid. The aforementioned NISMO rims were wrapped in high performance TOYO tires for high grip.
Everything about the car screamed top performance. The only thing spoiling the theme of performance was the fact that Alex refused to go all the way with stripping his car of unnecessary weight. He had already removed the backseat, floor carpets, and spare tire, replaced the two front seats, the steering wheel and some gauges, but other than that he kept the interior stock, refusing to remove the radio and CD player, the speakers, most of the interior trimmings and the air-conditioning system.
He figured that since this was the only car he owned at the moment he might as well make some small compromises to performance to make the car easier to live with.
Alex spent nearly 3 months and a ton of cash building that car. When he first found it the S15 wasn't even worth a second look but after a long while and a lot of devotion he built a machine that would dominate the streets and then some. It was a shame though that the car would not get a chance to achieve its original purpose for which Alex intended. But it was a great car and Alex loved it nonetheless. Also he had already proved its worth on the regular racing scene in Miami.
Alex would tell Suki and Jimmy about all of this later.
"Nice to see you guys back from the hospital," said Alex. "Nothing serious, right?"
"…Yeah, just a bruise on the arm. Nothing else," replied Suki. "What about you? I'd expected you'd go home by now."
"Nah I expect to be able to at least replace the radiator by the end of the day. And maybe later get a new intercooler when Tej's get's back."
Jimmy smirked. "Man, you act like you work here."
"I do now."
Jimmy's smirk faded. "What?"
"That's right," said Tej's voice from another direction.
The three of them turned to the door leading to the store front. Tej had just came in carrying a cardboard box. Tej turned to Alex and tossed him the box. Alex was caught a little off0guard but managed to grab the box with both arms. He noted that it was a bit heavy.
"There's the new radiator," said Tej.
"I'll get right on it," replied Alex.
With that, Alex disappeared into the back where the Golf R32 was being fixed. Both Suki and Jimmy turned their sights now towards Tej who was fully expecting their looks of curiosity.
"You hired him?" asked Suki.
"Well, I have been a little understaffed since Jose and Alejandro bailed on the shop last month." Note to self, thought Tej, stop hiring Cuban immigrants. The disappear faster than a professional drifter's tires.
"So what, no more pizzas for us?"
"Nah, we both agreed this is part-time work. But the thing is I didn't just hire him for his mechanical skills."
"Then what is he really here for?" asked Jimmy.
"To teach you how to handle your ride."
Jimmy went wide-eyed. "What?! I don't need him!"
"Yes you do, brah."
"No, I don't!"
"Yeah, you do. From what I saw last night you do. Really, Jimmy, if not him then I would've found somebody else. You really ain't that ready for the streets yet. You need training."
Jimmy let out an exasperated sigh. "I can't believe you guys!"
"We don't think you suck, Jimmy," said Suki. "We just think you need a little more work."
"Then why can't I do it on my own? I can just practice on my free time and stuff."
"Jimmy, you can't practice by yourself unless you know the right things to practice. Then you'd be just practicing bad habits and going nowhere. Trust me on this, I've been there. Alex obviously knows how to handle a car and he could teach you a lot, you know."
"So you really think this is what's best?"
"Jimmy…" Tej's tone was now very serious. "Do I have to remind you why I quit racing?"
With that Jimmy was silent. He knew the story well enough. Tej was once a street racer as well but an accident he experience during a race one night forced him to quit the sport. Jimmy remembered that from the start, Tej was never really comfortable with his decision to start racing on his own but e eventually convinced Tej to give him a chance.
He looked back on his few first victories. They were all against amateur racers like him and most of the time his victories seemed to have simply been due to luck. And in almost all his races he was a little bit reckless. He couldn't remember just how many times his Golf R32 narrowly missed lampposts and fire hydrants on the side walk doing over a hundred miles per hour.
"I'm letting you race for me," continued Tej, "but I'm not letting you make my mistake."
Tej left it at that and walked away. Suki had nothing left to say and Jimmy wasn't about to wait for her to come up with something. Jimmy walked away a little dejected. Suki was left standing there with nothing to do.
Suki suddenly found herself being drawn to the Silvia which still had the hood open. She slowly walked closer to it and peered into the engine bay a little deeper. She was quite impressed how the engine didn't look like a swap and looked like it truly belonged there. She caught a glimpse of the two large turbochargers under the engine block. She'll find out about those soon enough.
All this though, as much as it made her praise the car, made her very curious about Alex who up until two weeks ago was a total stranger to her. Now he pops out of nowhere with a car and skills that don't fail to impress, and for her it's rare to be impressed. That worried her.
The last time she was impressed by a white guy with a cool car and slick driving he turned out to be a nationally wanted man with a rap sheet as long as a drag strip. That guy was lucky to be able to get some redemption and now he was half-way around the world. The last Suki heard about him was that he was somewhere in Asia, still racing.
Suki wondered if Alex was the kind of guy to keep a few skeletons in his closet.
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Somewhere else in the city.
In a barely lit garage somewhere near the Florida Keys, Bull and his posse were hard at work. The place they were working in was a fairly large establishment that looked more suited to scraping cars rather than fixing them up. Everywhere you look you would a piece of scrap that came from some kind of car. There were a few cars there that have obviously seen better years.
Among those examples was the busted Toyota Supra with a crushed rear end. Bull had since abandoned that car. No matter, it wasn't his real car anyway. Just something he won off another puck racer in upstate New York. It was of little consequence to him.
This was not the case with what the crew where building. It wasn't done yet but one glance and one could tell that when it would be done it would be something to behold. Bull stepped back and looked at the near finished car he and his crew were working on. He couldn't help but smirk. It was a beautiful sight indeed.
"Whoever you are," he mumbled to himself. "Wherever the hell you came from…This is not over yet. Not by a long shot."
He stared long and hard at his beautiful new 2006 Ford Mustang, tuned to perfection.
"See you soon, pizza guy," he said while letting out a smirk of content.
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Author's note: Sorry about being a little late on this one. I just started on my school's internship program and this last week was mostly me adjusting to a new office environment. Sorry about the lack of action here but I felt I should tone down a bit after the last two chapters.
Oh, and by the way, I'm sure some of you would spot the reference to Brian O'Conner in this chap. What's up with that? Well, let me explain: When Tokyo Drift came out Universal also released a PS2 game based on the movie. In that game you can race against characters from the movie. That included Brian who, according to the game, had to flee to Japan after "the heat in Miami got too much."
And because I have yet to see the 4th movie I'm gonna stick to that little tidbit as the primary explanation of Brian's absence in this story for the moment. However I do plan to cast Brian in a later story arc where he will have a major role.