"Okay, I have a question for you guys," I tell my kids as we sit at the dinner table a few days after Mia left hospital.
"What's going on Mama?" Mia asks me and I smile.
"Well, you're Uncles, Aunt, and I are going to do a bit of racing for pinks, do you want to come? Even though I KNOW that you should be staying home," I ask them and their smiles grow.
"YEAH!" They yell at the same time and I laugh, they then quickly get up from the table and start running to the door.
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! finish your dinner first!" I call out and they come running back to the table, they quickly finish their food and we go out to the car.
"Mama, can we be in the car when you're racing?" Mia asks me and I shrug.
"Well baby, I don't know if Mama will be racing, it might just be your Uncle Brian and Uncle Roman racing," I explain as we climb into the car, and I start the engine as my children buckle themselves up.
"Ready?" I ask and they nod.
"Can you drive fast?" Luka asks me and I smirk and peel out of the driveway.
~~~~~~ 10 minutes later ~~~~~~
I pull up to the road where the race is going to be and I spot Tej, Suki, Jimmy, Brian, and Roman off to the side so I pull over and park by Tej's truck.
"Here she is," Roman says and I smile as I open the door.
"What took you so long?" Brian asks me and I slightly glare at him.
"I'm sorry, the fact that I have twin children who need to eat 3 meals a day slowed me down," I tell him sarcastically as Luka and Mia climb out of the car, Brian then walks over to me and drags me by the arm away from my car.
"What the hell are you doing? Why are they here?" He asks me and my glare intensifies.
"They wanted to see the world that their parents grew up in!" I tell him and he scoffs at me.
"They are 4 years old, they don't need to be in this world, are you stupid?!" He says and I slap him across the face.
"You have no right to dictate how I raise my kids! Not since you abandoned me when we were younger!" I say and he glares at me, grabbing my wrist.
"GET THE HELL OFF OF ME YOU BASTED!" I yell and I yank my arm out of my brother and I walk away.
"Are you okay Mama?" Mia asks me as I get back to my car.
"No baby, mama is not okay, I want to kill your uncle for putting his hands on me, and I know if your dad ever found out then he would hurt your uncle," I tell her and she nods her head but then her eyes go wide.
"Uh-oh," Mia says and I look at her in confusion.
"What's wrong Bubba?" I ask her and she points in the direction I came from.
"Luka is talking to Uncle Brian," Mia says and my head snaps over to watch as my son kicks my brother in the shin, causing him to fall to the ground.
"Luka!" I call out and he comes running back to me as the others laugh at my brother's pain.
"Yeah, mama?" He asks me with a big grin on his face.
"That wasn't very nice, but also... good shot!" I say and I high-five him as Roman helps Brian stand up as we hear the cars coming.
"Okay, stand right by my side and don't move, by the kick you delivered Luka, Mama might be racing," I tell him kids and I feel them place their hands on my jean-covered legs as the 1969 Yenko Camaro SYC and the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T roll down the street.
"Here they come," Tej says as Roman and Brian lean against Roman's car.
"Fonzie and Fabio, glad you could join us," Roman says as he and Brian step forward.
"We heard you boys wanted to get rid of those cracker jack toys," Fabio says and I smirk.
"No, actually we just figured those cars you got, deserve better drives, which is why we're gonna take them off your hands," I call out from where I'm standing which pisses them off.
"You know, why don't we settle this now?" Fabio demands while trying to step forward but his girl stops him.
"Wait, wait, wait, how about we settle this on the blacktop huh? Each car does a down-and-back, tag-team style, for slips," Tej interrupts as he walks over to us along with Suki.
"Loser walks home," Suki says and Fonzie smirks.
"We came to race, although, instead of those cracker jack toys, we'd prefer to take that 1970 Dodge Charger off the lady's hands," Fonzie smirks at me while I glare at him then looking back at my car.
"Load 'em up then," Tej says and they nod, walking over to their cars, Brian and Roman then walk back over to me.
"What you got Marls?" Roman asks me and I sigh.
"The Hemi's putting out about 425, and that Yenk WILL snap a speedo in about 5 seconds flat, so you need to pull something out of your ass to be able to win this," I tell them and they nod.
"How about you take my place, Marley?" Brian suggests and I look at him in shock.
"What?" I ask and he sighs.
"I saw your record at Race Wars, you were the fastest car there, I know you can do this," Brian says and I sigh, nodding.
"Okay, let's do this, but do you think we should save the spray for the ride back?" I ask them and they nod.
"The return trip," Brian agrees and I nod.
"Done Deal," Roman says.
"Alright, let's do this, Bro," Brian says.
"I'm getting that orange one," Roman claims and I laugh.
"Well, it's a good thing I like blue better," I joke as he runs over to his car.
"You ain't ready Fabio!" Roman calls out as he pulls up to the start line.
"All right, you each got a barrel to go around down at the end of the road here, second waves got to sit tight until your partner crosses the line right here! The first team to go down and back twice wins the race, at which point, the loser will hand over them keys, otherwise, you'll be eating breakfast through straws from now on, ¿comprender?" Tej asks Fabio who nods.
"I get it," he says and Tej turns to Roman.
"Oh this means you too," Tej says.
"I got it," Roman says and grips his steering wheel, Tej then walks back over to us and I sigh in worry.
"All right, let's race!" I call out and they start revving their engines, which excites my kids who are jumping around and cheering for their Uncle.
"Come on, baby, you got this, Rome! This dude ain't serious," Suki calls out.
"Let's go, Uncle Roman, let's go! Let's go, Uncle Roman, Let's go!" Luka and Mia cheer causing me to smile and shake my head.
"Yeah, you gone, homey, I got this, this is done! You about to lose your car!" Roman calls out in excitement.
"Do it Rome! Let's go!" Suki cheers.
"Come on, bitch, you got it man," Jimmy cheers him on and I smile at my friends.
"You think I'm worried about this fool, man? This is nothing!" Roman says and revs his engine, but that is drowned out when Fabio's engine roars.
"Oh no," Suki says and I sigh.
"Got to smoke him, got to smoke him, got to smoke him," I mutter to myself along with Roman who I can see is gripping the wheel.
"Alright, here we go!" Tej says and gets back in front of the cars.
"It's alright baby, I'm gonna handle this," Suki says, walking in front of Tej who just puts his hands on her hips.
"Handle it," he says and I shake my head.
"Ready, and GO!" Suki yells, causing Roman and Fabio to speed off.
"Okay, quickly in the car if you guys want to race," I tell my kids who quickly run over to the car and they strap themselves in.
"Are you sure it's the right idea for them to be in the car while you're racing?" Brain asks me and I glare.
"You know, until you have kids of your own, which I know won't be for a long time, then you can tell me how to raise my kids, but until then, BACK THE HELL OFF OF MY PARENTING!" I yell at him and then enter my car.
"Get ready," I tell them as we wait for Roman to cross the finish line, Fabio is the first to cross which means Fonzie speeds off.
"Come on Roman," I hear Brian mutter, all of a sudden, Roman crosses the line and I speed off after Fonzie.
"Okay, let's catch him," I tell Luka and Mia who nods in excitement, all of a sudden I see Fonzie is already heading back, I get an idea and I sigh.
"Hold on, Mama's gonna do something dangerous, please don't tell your father," I tell them as I swing the car onto the other lane that Fonzie is on and we play chicken, we continue until he 'chickens' out and turns onto some sand.
"YEAH!" I yell as I swing around the barrel that Tej was talking about.
"Let's go, Mama!" Luka yells and I speed up as I come up beside Fonzie, it becomes a rat race between the two of us, going back and forth until I finally just get in front of him as we cross the finish line.
"Come on, Marley, Bring it home! We got two new cars!" Roman cheers as I quickly turn around and pull up to my friends.
"Yeah!" I cheer along with my friends as Fonzie and Fabio get out of their cars and Suki and Tej jump into them.
"Y'all ain't ready, homeboy! Get to walking Fabio! Use them bus tokens, partner!" Roman cheers as we drive off.
~~~~~~ an hour later ~~~~~~
"I got you, I got you, I got you," Jimmy chants from where he is sitting at the table.
"Is that right?" Tej asks him and he nods.
"We race for cash, but when I step on the gas, mu nitrous goes blast, leave your ass in the past, tej you about to lose your garage," Jimmy claims as he looks at his cards.
"Whatever, man," Tej says in his normal laid-back way.
"I'm a low-budget mechanic, but I overcharge, Pay me!" Jimmy says as he slams down his cards.
"Let's go, man, pay me my money, I told you, man," Jimmy rants but Tej just smirks.
"I'm happy you're happy man, I'm so glad, this is my garage boy, Royal Flush, given his to me man," Tej says as he shows his cards and I laugh as Luka and Mia play go fish in front of me.
"You got to talk to him, talk to him," Jimmy whines.
"Damn, you can't play and play it for long," Tej says and Jimmy continues to whine until Suki speaks up.
"Put that money back on the table, you know it's my next hand," Suki says and the boys look at her in shock.
"That's my girl," I mutter and smile as Brian walks into the garage.
"Jimmy, how are you going to pay me back if you keep losing to Tej like that?" Brian asks him.
"How are you doing, bro?" Brian asks him.
"Real good," Jimmy says and they continue playing.
"I'm going to crash Tej, I'll catch you tomorrow," Brian calls out and walks out to his boat house.
"Goodnight Uncle Brian," Luka and Mia call out.
"Goodnight kids," Brian calls back and I laugh.
"Alright, let's get you guys home, goodnight everybody," I call out to everyone surrounded by the table and I get an unfocused goodbye back, causing me to laugh.
"Race you to the car Luka!" Mia calls out and she runs out of the garage.
"Hey!" He calls back and runs after her as I walk calmly out of the garage door.
"Come on Mama!" Mia calls out to me and I smile and unlock the doors, we all climb inside and I sigh as I start the engine, hearing the kids start to bicker.
"Okay, if you two continue fighting then you will not get any ice cream once we get home," I tell them and they stop immediately, I then drive home and make sure that they are completely comfortable in their beds.
"Sweet dreams guys, I love you, so much," I whisper as they start to fall asleep, I quietly sneak out the door and once I have shut it completely, I sigh and collapse on the couch.
"Oh god, why is my life a bloody mess," I mutter to myself as I lay a hand on my forehead while I close my eyes.
I know it's a pretty shit chapter and I know I made Brian out to be a pain in the ass but it is all a part of my plan. ;D
enjoy this chapter
