Alexia looked over the vehicle Lamar had guided her to. All cars in the lot were unlocked, so she had let herself inside and was adjusting the seat and mirrors to her liking. This one was a red 2010 Übermacht Oracle, a four-door fastback sedan with a V8 engine that stood out against the other two-door cars on the lot.
"That's a German car right there, baby," Lamar said proudly. "They got the autobahns and shit, so you know it gotta be fast. Crank it up, let's see how it purr."
Reaching up, Alexia found the keys nestled between the sun visor and the roof. She stuck the keys in the ignition and turned them clockwise, but the car started up with all the ferocity of a kitten, its engine barely audible over the other idling cars in the lot.
Lamar couldn't hide a bit of disappointment. "Well…it ain't exactly a Turismo, but I guess you could upgrade the engine later on."
"I…get to keep this?" Alexia asked, her hands gripping the wheel.
"Of course, boo," Lamar said with a smile. "You need a car, don't you? Ain't no gangstas out there takin' the bus to work, baby. Believe me on that."
Alexia betrayed a smirk at Lamar's comment. She revved the engine a couple of times, although this barely made more noise than the cold start. Much like Alexia herself, the car was quiet and unassuming. It wasn't likely to attract attention, so even if she didn't know much about cars, it fit her needs perfectly as a fugitive.
"Alright," she said. "I'll take this one."
"That's what I'm talkin' bout, man." Lamar caught sight of another Skull, an older-looking man holding a clipboard. "'Ay, Reese, my friend here's gonna take this ride."
"Hmm." Reese looked unimpressed as he came over and wrote something down. "You'd better pay up this time, LD. You know the boss doesn't like cheapskates."
"In fairness to me, man, the boss don't really like most people." Lamar pointed at Alexia. "Apart from her, I guess."
"Yeah, the boss has told us plenty about her," he said, looking at Alexia. "I'm Reese Davenport. I manage the Skulls' finances, and I'm also the bookie for our street races…You ever raced before?"
"N-no, first time," she said, her voice tremoring a bit.
Reese clicked his tongue. "That's tough, man. The other initiate you're racing against is pretty good."
He took his pen and pointed across the lot, to a collection of Skulls gathered around a black Cheval Fugitive. Alexia could barely make out the person in the driver's seat, apart from a short, stubby arm and golden blonde hair that was braided into tight pigtails.
Alexia rubbed her eyes in disbelief. One of the Skulls moved out of the way, and the image was confirmed: a little girl, no more than eight or nine years old, sitting behind the wheel of a car. The girl was wearing a white T-shirt under some denim overalls, her tiny feet clad in a pair of white light-up sneakers. Her hair was long and moderately curly, her carefully braided pigtails resting on her shoulder blades. The only un-childlike thing about the girl was her face, which was contorted in what looked to be a permanent scowl as she looked at the other Skulls, exchanging short words with some of them. They had presumably gathered around her car out of interest, which Alexia could hardly blame them for.
Noticing the look of complete befuddlement come over Alexia, Reese couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yeah, her name is Noël," he said. "She escaped from the LS County Mental Hospital last week – I think she killed her mother, or something like that? Pretty hardcore…But apparently, she's known how to drive since she was in kindergarten. We're in desperate need of getaway drivers right now, so the boss wanted us to recruit her ASAP."
Alexia whipped her head to look at Lamar, her eyes demanding an explanation. He shrugged in reply, probably not knowing much himself.
"Personally, I've got my money on her," Reese continued. "You wanna change your bet, LD? There's still time."
"N…nah, I'm cool on that, man," Lamar said, placing a hand on the roof of Alexia's car. "The boss got his faith in this girl right here, so I'ma do the same, you feel me?"
"Fine by me." Reese shrugged. "The race is gonna start here in ten minutes…What about you, kid?" He looked back at Alexia. "You wanna put anything down on yourself?"
Alexia shook her head. "I'm pretty broke right now, unfortunately."
"Ah, well, I'm sure that'll change soon," he said with a brief smile. "Working in finance, I can tell you that a lot of money comes into this crew. You work hard enough, and you'll earn yourself a piece. That's how it's always been around here."
Reese patted Alexia on the shoulder, then walked away, calling out to the others that it was the last call for bets on the race.
Alexia felt her stomach drop. She looked back at the little girl in the Cheval Fugitive, and this time Noël caught sight of Alexia. They studied each other across the parking lot for a while, and an immense feeling of discomfort ran through Alexia's veins; at first, she hadn't believed the girl had actually killed her mother, but the more she studied her, the more Alexia noticed that her eyes seemed to reflect no light whatsoever. These weren't the curious and overly trusting eyes of a child. Noël's were the shrewd, calculating, and cunning eyes of someone who knew the world and just how horrible it could be. Maybe Noël had been abused in some horrible way, in which case Alexia figured she should have some sympathy.
She waved at Noël, attempting a smile as her black hair fell back into her face. Noël appeared to scoff in response, waving her right hand in disgust while giving Alexia the middle finger with her left. Alexia's breath caught in her throat, a shocked pallor freezing her smile to her face.
Lamar couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Man, ain't this somethin'? I ain't never raced against a little kid before, but maybe you and me can beat her if we team up."
Lamar put a reassuring hand on Alexia's shoulder.
"So hear me out, baby," he said in a hushed voice. "At the start line, I'll keep her busy, ram her car a lil' bit. I won't do enough to hurt her or nothin', I'll just try an' keep her penned in. That way, yo' ass can get a head start. What you think?"
Alexia frowned. "You're really gonna cheat to help me win?"
"There ain't no cheatin', man," Lamar corrected her. "Like I told you, it's street rules."
"Street rules…" Alexia repeated. "I still don't even know what that means. Is it just full-blown anarchy, or what?"
Lamar laughed a bit. "I mean, they don't want you killin' the other racers, but other than that, anything goes." He shrugged. "Look, you wanna join this crew, man, you gotta be prepared for anything this city throw at you. Expect the unexpected and shit, you know?"
Alexia exhaled through her nose, her shoulders drooping as she pondered.
Lamar wasn't saying it directly, but by this point, it was rather obvious to Alexia that he was being paid by her uncle to help her win. She supposed she was a fool for expecting Remus, the leader of a ruthless gang of killers, would want to fight fair, especially in matters pertaining to his beloved niece. Not only would a victory net him and Lamar a decent payout through their bets on her, but Alexia would also receive some cash via her winnings, cash that she knew she desperately needed.
An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. When she was a kid, Alexia remembered her uncle having at least a little personal integrity. He was no saint, but Remus had always carried a strong distaste for people who took advantage of others. He'd taught Alexia how to use a gun because, as he'd put it, women were often taken advantage of by men, and he'd wanted her to be able to defend herself if the need ever arose.
Cheating his own crew members out of money wasn't something she ever saw him wanting to do, but surely, she thought, he had his reasons for this. Maybe the criminal underground was just a different playing field from what she was used to. Lamar had told her that it was okay to play dirty via this mysterious 'street rules' doctrine, so maybe she was just overthinking it. She tried to tell herself she should trust her uncle and his judgement, instead of undermining his efforts to help her succeed.
She looked up at Lamar. "Okay. But seriously, don't hurt that girl. I'm not gonna be responsible for crippling a little kid."
"Of course, baby. Don't trip," said Lamar. "Look, I'ma go over and look for a ride, okay? Just follow me out to the street when it's time to get lined up."
Alexia nodded as Lamar ventured out into the lot. She assumed he didn't want to race in his personal car, the Albany Emperor, because he was intending to play dirty, sabotaging her competitor. Besides, that car was way too slow and heavy to be any good at racing.
She looked down at the instrument panel on her new sedan and flipped her headlights on. At least, she thought, the city was much brighter at night than the backroads of South Yankton, especially the dirt track that her family lived on, from which the Milky Way was visible at night during the summer. Even if there was more traffic, she would at least be able to see the moment when she collided with another car head-on, killing herself and probably the other car's occupants as well.
Alexia blinked, shaking her head to rid herself of such thoughts. The way she saw it, if this was her only way of getting into the Black Skulls, then she would give it her best shot. She told herself that her goal would be crossing the finish line – if Lamar and her uncle ended up losing their bets, that was their fault for taking a risk on her. She decided that, even if she had to drive a bit slower to avoid other cars or let the little girl overtake her, she would cross the finish line and become a member of the Skulls.
She picked up her gun, which she had left in the passenger seat, and stored it in the glovebox, propping the owner's manual against it so it wouldn't move around too much. Closing the glovebox, she noticed a GPS mounted on the dashboard. Turning it on displayed a map of the city, with the planned route of the street race highlighted in yellow. A series of checkpoints dotted the route, which Alexia guessed was how the Skulls kept track of the racers, making sure they didn't just drive around the block and come back, claiming to have driven the whole route.
Yet another part of this 'street rules' nonsense that didn't really apply, she thought.
Alexia noticed the little girl again. This time, Lamar was with her, engaging in what she assumed was pre-race banter, which Noël didn't seem to appreciate at all. The look of pure, unfiltered hatred on her face as she looked up at Lamar was unnerving, like a serial killer posing for a mugshot. However, Lamar didn't seem to notice this. He took the girl's much smaller hand in his and shook it, a shit-eating grin on his face. As he was walking away to his own car, Noël discretely gave him the middle finger as well – Alexia supposed this was one of Noël's habits, but it was nonetheless jarring to see a little girl flipping the bird.
Finally, the call went out for the racers to line up in the street. Noël, who seemed eager to finally drive her new car, floored it out of the parking lot and onto Eclipse Boulevard, her tires screeching on the asphalt. Lamar followed a few seconds later in a black Felon GT, a two-door convertible that he handled competently.
Alexia shifted her car into drive and navigated slowly around the other parked cars. She felt the eyes of the other Skulls on her, which Alexia assumed meant they must be judging her. As the start line grew closer, Alexia's chest began to feel heavy. The lights of downtown were suddenly blinding, and the air in the car was stifling. She cranked up the A/C, her black hair swaying in the artificial breeze. The other Skulls navigated to the end of the parking lot facing the street so they could watch the start of the race.
Alexia stopped to Lamar's left. He was lined up in the middle, with the angry little girl on his right. Lamar flashed a peace sign at her, which she returned half-heartedly, the hand that delivered it shaking like a twig in a thunderstorm.
Her attention was drawn to the front of the line of cars. A woman strode confidently out to the middle of the street, carrying a pistol in her right hand. The woman was blonde and incredibly tall. She wore nothing but a black string bikini and a pair of black heels, baring a tight hourglass figure and several tattoos inked into her bronzed skin. She was wearing something on her head, which Alexia didn't recognize at that moment. Despite the seductive outfit and the loaded gun in her hand, the woman's face was pure and unscarred, her sky-blue eyes glistening in the headlights of the racers as she smiled, although something about this smile unsettled Alexia.
The woman clapped her hands together.
"Okay, guys, welcome to the crew!" she said cheerily, like a camp counselor, her long blonde curls bouncing off her shoulders. "Now, I want a good clean race, okay? No shortcuts, no using your guns, no killing the other racers, and most importantly…" She held a finger up. "Don't. Get. Caught. If you're arrested, your membership in the Skulls is terminated. Got it?"
"Got it, baby!" Lamar shouted out of his window. "'Ay, what's yo' number?!"
"I'm taken, pal!" She stuck her tongue out at him and grinned. "You're gonna have to masturbate to the thought of me!"
"Ah shit, don't say that, baby! I love you!"
"Hey, if you got any smack I can shoot up, then we can talk! Otherwise…" The woman blew a wet raspberry while displaying her middle finger to Lamar.
She pulled down the object on her head and putting it over her face. It was a rubber skull mask, painted charcoal black, the eye sockets covered over by black mesh. Alexia's uncle had told her that everyone in the crew had some variation of this mask, both to protect members' identities and to look intimidating. The higher-ranking members even had armor-plated skull masks that covered the entire face and head, making headshots much less likely to be fatal. Alexia had bought her own skull mask before coming to Los Santos, but all she could afford was a flimsy rubber mask, which she'd bought for three dollars at a local thrift store and was unlikely to last long.
The woman's own mask hid her wild and crazy blue eyes, bringing more attention to her body, which was marred only by the purple track marks under her elbows. Watching her mother's descent into alcoholism for twenty years had been enough to turn Alexia away from drugs, but she wondered how essential drug use was to fitting in with the other Skulls. The last thing she wanted was to become a junkie, like the bikini-clad girl in front of her, although she couldn't help but envy the woman's confidence in her body.
One of the other racers revved their engine impatiently. Looking to her right, Alexia saw it was the little girl, who looked laser-focused on the road. The woman in the skull mask placed her weight on her right hip, raising her gun above her head, and firing at the polluted sky.
The racers accelerated, missing the woman by mere inches. A cheer went up from the gathered Skulls, which Alexia could barely hear over the collective rpms of the three engines.
Looking to her GPS, Alexia saw the first turn, a left onto Las Lagunas Boulevard. Her fingers were bone white as she gripped the steering wheel, trying not to focus on the commotion to her right, even though she could still see it through her peripheral vision. As promised, Lamar appeared to be engaging the girl, ramming her car a bit to keep her from making the turn. However, the little girl drove like the devil, and Lamar was visibly struggling to keep her away from Alexia. Eventually, Noël managed to get an angle on him and clipped his rear bumper, spinning him out and almost flipping his car over.
Lamar barely managed to control the Felon GT, which rocked on its two left wheels before coming to a stop, almost hitting a brick wall. Looking in her rearview, Alexia could see him shaking like a leaf in his seat, his face much paler, staring after the two girls as they disappeared from his sight.
Alexia kept right onto Clinton Avenue, but Noël wasn't done yet. She was coming in hot on Alexia's rear bumper, trying to spin her out in the exact same way. Panicking, Alexia slammed on the brakes and turned right to the curb. Noël, not expecting this, flew past Alexia and crashed through a streetlight, which fell and almost hit a prostitute that was frequenting the street corner. The woman screamed, diving into an alleyway as Noël's car barreled down the sidewalk like an escaped bull. Alexia was still ahead and made the next turn, a right onto Elgin Avenue, the crazed little girl slowed but not stopping in her pursuit.
Distracted by the vehicular carnage in her rearview, Alexia almost didn't notice the rear bumper of a minivan quickly approaching. She jerked the wheel to her left, crossing the median, only to be greeted by the flashing lights and deafening horn of a city bus. Her body clenched with anxiety, she veered back to the right, using the much wider four-lane road ahead of her to avoid the head-on collision.
Alexia gasped for breath, her veins ice-cold and her heart beating madly against her chest. She struggled to comprehend how she had done that, avoiding two accidents as if it was nothing despite her limited driving experience. Even Noël had been slowed down by the bus, almost hitting it as she chased after Alexia, her hateful little eyes peeking over the steering wheel. By this point, Alexia knew she would be out for blood. She stepped on the gas and overtook a convertible in the right lane, following Elgin as it winded its way east of Vinewood.
Eventually, Elgin Avenue untwisted and became Occupation Avenue, which was flanked by City Hall and an endless row of cheap apartment buildings. With no curves this time to slow her down, Noël floored it, her headlights trained on Alexia's rear bumper. Even if she hit the brakes again, Alexia knew the girl wasn't going to overtake her and that this time, she was fully intending to hit her.
Alexia looked around desperately for something, anything on the road she could use to her advantage. She saw a few cars up ahead at an intersection, turning left onto Occupation from Alta Street. Maybe, Alexia thought, if she could go between those cars, then Noël wouldn't have enough room to clip her bumper.
She felt the adrenaline surge through her veins, her temples beating like war drums in her ears. Noël was about a dozen feet from her and was coming in for the kill, and Alexia saw this as her chance. Without thinking, she slammed her right hand on her horn. Some of the cars stopped before the intersection, alerted by the horn and seeing the two cars about to run the red light. Out of the cars already making the turn, Alexia saw a hole between two that had taken the left and right lanes.
She had to take the chance or be hit and possibly killed by Noël. She floored it, just barely squeezing between the gap of the two cars, which closed soon after. Noël was forced to swerve to avoid hitting anyone, losing her pursuit of Alexia for the moment as she was pushed to the curb by traffic.
Alexia avoided yet another bus as she entered a tunnel, which she saw led to a parking lot. She imagined traffic probably clogged up this tunnel at peak shopping hours, but at this time of night only a couple of cars were in the tunnel, which she easily overtook. After running another traffic light, the road became Carcer Way, which led to the high-end neighborhood of Rockford Hills, where the Black Skulls' headquarters were located. Unlike the usual criminal's den, this neighborhood was filled with designer stores frequented by celebrities during the day, but which were dark and empty at this time of night, their concrete walls echoing the revs of Alexia's engine and that of her pursuer.
The girls hung two consecutive right turns, which took them deeper into Rockford Hills. Alexia didn't bother to look at the street names – her only focus was on the psychotic grade-schooler behind her and the sparse traffic ahead on a two-lane road that ran next to a lush golf course. Sweat poured down Alexia's scalp, her black bangs pasted to her forehead. The constant adrenaline rushes were wearing on her by this point, and she doubted there was anything up ahead that could help her. She floored the accelerator in a desperate attempt to get away, but the little girl's car was much lighter and faster and had no trouble keeping up.
At this thought, Alexia perked up – she knew that in traffic accidents, the heavier cars and trucks often won out. Knowing that Noël was going to hit her, perhaps she could use her car's extra weight to her advantage. If she could orientate herself correctly, Noël's car might suffer more damage, maybe even to the point it would be undriveable, allowing her to win.
Alexia grimaced, her fingers tightly gripping the steering wheel. She felt terrible for thinking such things towards this girl, who only wanted to be in the Skulls like she did. However, Alexia remembered the promise she'd made to herself.
She was going to cross that finish line no matter what.
Noël's car was about six feet away. She was so close that Alexia could see the whites of her young eyes, which were crisscrossed with red. Just like she'd done to Lamar, Noël went to the left of Alexia's bumper, which Alexia had been anticipating. As soon as Noël jerked her wheel to the right to spin her out, Alexia cut to the left. The crunch of metal on metal was deafening, and the impact threw Alexia forward in her seat. Her tires continued to grip the road, but just barely, screeching against the pavement as she turned right onto Eclipse Boulevard, Noël following close behind.
This time, Noël allowed about a dozen more feet between her and Alexia before moving in, making a sharper turn into Alexia's bumper. She fended this off as well with great difficulty, although she heard bits and pieces of her car falling off and scattering on the pavement.
Her mind locked itself to the sound of metal and glass striking the asphalt, tinkling as it fell, kind of like the little bell that her high school English teacher always kept on her desk to get the class's attention. One day, while the teacher was out of the room, another girl had pushed Alexia into this desk, which was made of metal and had very sharp edges. Alexia's stomach had hit the desk, activating the bell as the wind was knocked out of her. She'd lain writhing on the floor, struggling for breath as the rest of the class had laughed at her. Cassandra Simpson, one of her main bullies in school, laughed loudest of all, because she was the one who had pushed her.
But she hadn't laughed for very long, Alexia remembered. Something had overtaken her then, something that had always existed but that she'd managed to keep inside until that day, on what would end up being her very last day in high school.
She'd taken a pair of scissors from the teacher's desk. She'd lunged at Cassandra, stabbing her over and over again. She remembered seeing more blood than she'd ever seen before, smearing the white tile floor, but she'd kept stabbing, aiming specifically for Cassandra's stomach and chest as screams filled the room. Eventually, some of the boys in the class were able to get her off Cassandra and restrain her until the police arrived.
Cassandra had lived, but just barely. Alexia had later learned that she'd went into hypovolemic shock after losing over 50% of her blood. As for Alexia, she was charged and convicted of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. She was only sixteen at the time, a first-time offender, so the court had taken a degree of mercy: two to five years in prison, the first two of which would be served in juvenile detention, followed by several more years of parole. She had been lucky to get even the possibility of early release, but if she'd screwed up, she would have served the remaining three years in an adult prison. However, she had stuck to the court's strict program of counseling, anger management, and continuing education, earning her GED while incarcerated and securing an early release.
For her part, Alexia truly was remorseful, and there hadn't been any other violent incidents in the last four years. However, with each sickening crunch of metal on metal, each chiming of glass as it bounced off the asphalt, she could feel her vision going dark and her stomach churning. Time slowed to a crawl, the tinkling sound echoing in her brain. Her eyes were locked on Noël, who was turning her wheel for another hit.
Seeing this, Alexia tapped the brakes. Her front bumper collided with Noël's right rear fender. She kept going, steering the wheel as hard as she could while mashing the gas, her front bumper scraping Noël's fender as she tried to turn out of the maneuver, but the weight of Alexia's car far outmatched her own. Noël's car was sent spinning, its tires skimming the pavement, bumping over the curb and crashing hard into a concrete wall, the little girl's head slamming into the freshly deployed airbag.
Alexia's car screeched to a stop a few feet away. Breath returned to her lungs, her chest lightening and her muscles unclenching. The sound of Noël's horn droned through the night air as Alexia regained clarity, realizing what she'd done. Noël lay motionless in the driver's seat, her blonde pigtails spilling over the airbag. Alexia could see a tiny bit of blood leaking out of the pocket created by Noël's head. After all that talk about not injuring the girl, she'd gone and killed her, over a race that she hadn't even needed to win to get in the crew.
She immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and sprinted out of her car and over to Noël, her brain seized in a mindless panic. Opening the car door, the smell of oil and gas inflamed her nostrils and traveled down her throat, making her cough. Noël still wasn't moving, slumped forward into the bloody airbag.
"Oh God, please don't be dead. Please don't be dead…"
Tears were streaming down Alexia's face, her throat constricted with sobs that she struggled to keep down. Even if Noël had tried to hit her first, she was only a child. How could she get so angry at a little girl that probably didn't know any better? Seeing the engine begin to smoke, Alexia reached over Noël and unbuckled her seatbelt, then lifted her out of the passenger seat, carrying her a good distance from the car and laying her down in a grassy area next to the road.
Alexia held her breath as she knelt beside the girl, whose blonde pigtails spilled over the grass. Blood was running down from the right side of her face, staining her white T-shirt and overalls. She put a hand to Noël's mouth and felt warm air pushing against her fingers.
The breath left Alexia's own lips in a huge sigh. She hadn't killed the girl, but Noël was knocked out cold. She figured a collision of that force would have a greater impact on someone so small.
Noël's stomach rose and fell with regular, unlabored breaths, not showing any sign of a lung injury. Alexia remained kneeling beside her for a moment, trying to decide what to do next. She looked at Noël, then over at her new Übermacht Oracle, which had been wrecked in fending off the girl's assault. Her left taillight was busted, the front bumper hanging on by a couple of screws. However, due to its heavier weight, the Oracle was much less damaged than Noël's Cheval Fugitive, which lay like a beached whale on the sidewalk, its V8 engine fuming with gray smoke.
An idea crossed Alexia's mind, one that her anxious and tired brain couldn't help but latch onto. She'd gotten angry and had hurt someone again, but this time, she had a chance to make things right. She knew that both her and Noël just wanted to join the crew - according to Lamar, all they had to do was cross the finish line.
Alexia stood up. She picked Noël up off the grass, cradling the girl's head in her arms as she walked over to her car. She placed Noël in gently, buckling her seatbelt and shutting the passenger side door. Climbing into the driver's seat, Alexia looked at her GPS and noticed the finish line was only half a mile away. If Noël was still out by the time they got there, she could give her to the other Skulls, who would surely know where to take her for medical attention. She guessed that criminals probably wouldn't want to go to hospitals and risk being ID'd.
She heard a soft huff of air beside her. Noël's head lolled to one side, her mouth partly open and releasing regular breaths. Alexia looked at her for a moment, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Noël," she said, unsure if the girl could hear her. "I know you were just playing by the rules, or lack thereof…and I know you wanna be in the crew. The others told me anything goes in these things, for 'street rules', or whatever the hell it is." Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at the street. "Well, let's see how they like this for 'street rules'."
Buckling her own seatbelt, Alexia accelerated, trying to drive gently for Noël's sake.