Lightning was suddenly standing in front of him with the phone to his ear.
"Sally says hi."
Doc huffed, looking away from the window. "Hello, Sally."
Lightning followed after him as he'd gotten up from the chair to make coffee at the kitchenette.
"She wants to know if she's going to need to brush up on Georgia's state laws in case we need a lawyer."
"I don't think that'll be necessary."
Lightning was pleased to see him smile, though.
Doc listened to Lightning's side of the conversation as he explained their trip so far. He told Sally that she'd be enamored with Thomasville, that it was so different from Radiator Springs but still held that small town American charm. He mentioned that he hadn't been able to see much yet but would be leaving again once situated at the hotel.
"No, I think the track will have to wait till tomorrow." He looked toward Doc questioningly.
Doc only raised a brow and gestured in a whatever you want to do manner.
"Yeah-...ok." Lightning grinned at whatever Sally had said. "I'll call you again when we get back tonight...love you too. Bye."
He looked expectantly at Doc. "We goin' back?"
Doc snapped the lid onto the travel mug he'd brought and reached for the keys on the counter in answer, as they left the hotel suite he commented facetiously. "You have your lawyer on speed dial?"
"Yeah, just in case I end up in hot water."
"Smart kid."
While Lightning would have been content to sit in Smokey's kitchen and flip through photos all evening, he had a different plan in mind.
"Meetin' up with some folks who'd love to meet you."
He gave Doc a hearty thump on the back with his hand as he passed. "You too!"
Doc had wanted to push this particular instance back as far as possible, like right before they'd be boarding the plane again. That had been wishful thinking, he knew, and once faced with the inevitable, he realized it would be better to get the worst out of the way all at once at the beginning of their trip, as opposed to drawing it out painfully throughout the week.
Lightning paused when they'd made it outside, looking over Smokey's truck appreciatively. His eyes lit up.
"Is that a Hudson?"
"Yeah. Had to pay for mine, though. Well, a portion anyway." He shot a wry look at his brother.
"I didn't know they made trucks."
"Piston sponsors didn't work quite like they do today, kid." He explained as they climbed into the truck. "But Hudson Motors put a lot of backing behind us and preferred to see Hudson vehicles used."
"Kind of like this." Doc commented, pulling an extremely old looking magazine ad from the visor over the passenger seat. "I can't believe you still have this."
Lightning read the vintage ad as Smokey replied.
"Hey, it's my truck, in a national magazine."
The page was faded, had been unfolded and refolded so many times he was afraid it would rip in two if he breathed too heavily on it. An illustration of Smokey's truck was in the middle, with a trailer pulling The Hudson Hornet behind.
The newly improved Hudson Cab Pickup!
3/4 Ton Built for hard work in high style!
Used by the team of The Fabulous Hudson Hornet!
"Wow...this is incredible!"
"Doesn't take much to impress him does it."
"No, it doesn't." Doc grinned.
Lightning smiled sheepishly and handed the ad back to Doc as they pulled into an old gravel lot.
"It's different than today...snap a few pictures, throw it in Photoshop-..." He trailed off as he followed the two into the building.
It was loud, hazy with smoke as a group in one corner started a game of pool. The sound of the break echoed across the large room. From the opposite corner he heard excitement and shouting, and it took him a moment to realize it was in reference to them.
A man had stood up in the corner, holding his bottle up. "Look what the cat dragged in!"
"Pinch me, Moon. I think there was something in that batch of moonshine, I told you it was bad and now I'm hullucinating." Another beside him added.
"Jesse Hudson!"
"It's the great Fabulous Hudson Hornet!"
"That is not Hud." The only woman in the booth commented. "He's too old."
"Speak for yourself, Lou." Doc said with a grin.
She was the first to get up, meeting them as they approached the table. "I should hit you but I just can't."
"My teeth appreciate it." He grinned as she wrapped her arms around him.
"And you're the kid we see him barking at all the time?" The first man who'd shouted asked rhetorically.
"Yeah." Lightning brightened. "That's me."
Once introductions had been made around the table, they shuffled about to make room for the newcomers.
"Still at this hole in the wall-"
"Can't all be under that bright flashing neon." Scott offered good naturedly.
"That was never your style anyway." Doc agreed.
Smokey felt the need to interpret for the kid, who had no context for any of the recent conversations.
"Don't think you've ever realized how much you and he have in common."
"Huh?" Lightning looked away from the group and their conversation to listen to Smokey.
"Hud was always a country boy, through and through, but unlike the rest of us, who were content with the little places like this and the small time tracks, he had to be out there on the newly certified tracks and dragged us all with him. They'd been racing longer than him, but he took over the whole show in a year."
"Really?"
"Mmhmm." He looked toward his brother before looking back at Lightning. "Won his first race in some beater car, dragged me to the track that same afternoon just to show me these new cars..."
"You really should be taking that check straight to the bank."
"I will! But Henry, you've got to see these cars. They're incredible."
"Yeah, I'm sure they're fabulous."
He rolled his neck as he followed his younger brother around to the edge of the bleachers. "Can't I see them from here?"
He looked over to see heat rising off the metal grand stand seating in waves, they needed to get out of this heat, Jesse was still covered in dirt, his hair damp with sweat but his enthusiasm outweighed his exhaustion.
They needed to get home and see Ruth.
"Jesse-"
"Just watch, Henry, five minutes, it's all I'm asking."
He sighed. "Alright..."
He leaned against the fence and watched as a sleek right-out-of-the-factory Hudson came on to the track.
"That's one of those new Hornets isn't it?"
"Yeah."
As the vehicle started out, he wasn't sure what Jesse had found so mesmerizing. "It seems to handle well..."
"Watch."
"I'm watching..."
When the Hornet finally got up to speed, Jesse leaned out to see it on the far end of the track, hitting his brother's arm as it came around toward them.
"This is what I meant- watch!"
"I'm watching!"
The Hornet hugged the inside wall, and while a little sloppy, the driver drifted around the turn before speeding away from them again, throwing dirt and gravel.
"It's a nice car..." Smokey grimaced, waving away the dust cloud that Jesse ignored.
"It's a great car! It's not a V-8 but it's lighter, and with that low center of gravity it's got to have great handling!"
He was a little concerned with where this conversation was going, and that fear was confirmed by the look on his brother's face.
"I need one."
"He what?"
Doc was startled by Lightning's incredulous response to whatever Smokey had just said and the conversation died as they all looked toward the kid.
"You called yourself The Fabulous Hudson Hornet before ever actually racing one?"
There was a moment of dead silence before Moon broke into a grin and chuckled lowly, the others following soon after.
"Yeah, I did." He smirked, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.
"We gave him a hard time for that one."
"Yeah, but that didn't last long."
"Some drivers moved to different circuits within the first year."
"Not sure why I stuck around."
"Because you like challenge."
"True."
Lightning was struck with a sudden sense of familiarity. Sitting there in the booth, while obviously different than being out at the Butte, he was reminded of his own friends from the Piston Cup series, or at least those who used to be in the series with him. He was reminded of Cal, Bobby and Jr, and the easygoing camaraderie between their inner circle of friends.
Doc seemed different amongst these people somehow. Lightning watched and listened vaguely as he was relating something from one of the many races they'd participated in since he'd become Lightning's crew chief. It was still the same Doc, but he was lighter. Maybe he felt like he held less responsibility here than he did in Radiator Springs. Lightning had gotten the sense over the years that Doc had taken it upon himself to protect the town and the people of that town. He'd been intensely involved with the negotiatons of the headquarters when it was still in the planning processes, and nothing ever seemed to happen there without him knowing. Maybe it was because it had been his safe haven, maybe it was because that town had been forgotten at one time too.
All Lightning knew, or cared about at the moment, was that Doc looked more at ease than he'd seen him in a long time.
Maybe this trip had been the best idea he'd ever had. He couldn't wait to call Sally.
He didn't wait. Instead of waiting till they got back to the hotel, he called as soon as they returned to Smokey's.
Doc commented that they'd be on the porch when he was done, and to tell everyone hello for him.
He sat on the steps beside Smokey, a pleasant quiet falling over them and he could just make out Lightning's voice inside. He could tell the kid must have moved further into the house as his voice faded. Glancing down at the glass in his hand, he spun the ice in his drink and was struck with the memory of the night he'd been dismissed from Piston. He stared ahead of them into the dark.
"I left because I'd failed."
Smokey was silent. He'd had his say, it was his brother's turn.
"I left because I'd failed at the one thing I thought I'd ever do. I failed Ruth, I failed you. All I knew at that point was what made an engine tick. How were you supposed to have a successful business if you were stuck paying an employee you couldn't afford."
He could tell Smokey wanted to cut in but continued.
"I couldn't stand knowing that everyone was going back out there and I wasn't. I knew they'd want me to either work on their cars or be involved somehow and I couldn't stand the sight of that track. I was tired of going through town and dodging everyone's questions."
If it wasn't curiosity, it was pity, and he had gotten tired of both.
"When I finally ended up somewhere and stayed for more than a day, I thought of calling home, but then I'd pick up in the morning and start all over again."
Smokey was surprised by his next statement, and leaned back somewhat to look at him.
"I have no excuses."
A heavy silence fell over them, Smokey shifted, shaking his head as he huffed.
"You're worth more than a paycheck, you knew that, right?"
Doc only worked his jaw, setting the glass aside. "Ruth-"
"Knew it was her time. Jesse." He took a deep breath. "We got her the best medicine and team of physicians money could buy. She knew we were doing everything in our power to help her, she was always more at peace with her situation than you were. You never learned to let go."
That didn't mean it hadn't completely crushed him to see his younger sister succumb to an illness no one knew how to treat, but he'd been the head of the family for nearly a decade by then and had to keep moving.
"You two were incredibly close, sometimes I think what they say about twins is true." He reached out and grabbed his brother's shoulder. "But you never failed her."
Doc continued to stare through the thickening darkness, finally looking back toward his only living relative and muttering thickly.
"I am sorry, you know."
Smokey grinned, thumping him roughly on the back with his hand.
"I know."
