The Race-X

With the rest of the day to myself, I moved down to the center city. Underneath the guise of transparent sky scrapers, a market of fresh goods sat with all the different ethnicities selling home grown food, flowers, and crafts. It was my favorite place to go and grab lunch to take home. I slid my hoverboard into the magnetic lock crate, punching in my social security information so that I would be the only one to lock it and unlock it. After the board was securely locked, I headed into the ocean of moving bodies, finally able to be in an element where I wasn’t surrounded by the constant thought of racing. My first stop was to pick out flowers to lie at my father’s grave marker, along with a six pack of his favorite beer. The nice thing about the market was that nobody bothered you, and you didn’t bother them. People moved about their own business, and you only talked when spoken to. No bickering sales people to try and get you to buy yesterday’s meat for half price, or to try their new drink that hadn’t been approved by the health department yet. The owner’s just sat back underneath the shade of their tent, only moving every so often to rearrange a display or freshen up the inventory.

I weaved in and out, making my way to the floral shop where the scent of nature’s beauty filled my nose. It was hard to stay in a somewhat sour mood when you had the earth’s perfume tickling your nose. The older Hispanic woman who had seen me on an annual basis smiled knowingly as she looked over in my direction. I got the same flower set each year. Queen Anne ’s lace symbolized sanctuary, Statice for remembrance, and one stem of Lilac. When I reached the booth she was tying up the white ribbon and wrapping them in degradable plastic. I went to reach for my wallet, but she shook her head.

“On house today child.”

“Please, you don’t have to do that,” I held my wallet open in my hand.

“Today, I want to,” her dirt speckled hands went to cup my chin. Normally, I would have been very distraught at the action. But for some reason, her gesture warmed me. “Great things will happen for you soon, sweet child. Keep your head and faith up.” Her free hand moved to close my wallet and she patted my cheek.

I didn’t realize that tears had clouded. Before anyone could notice them, I blinked rapidly. With a squeeze of her hand, and an ‘I’ll repay you someday’, I headed off to the next destination. The alcoholic booth was nowhere near as pleasing to the eyes or nose as the floral booth was, but it had what I needed. I dipped my head under the much lower tent top, instantly met with the frigid air that kept the beverages cold. My dad had been a big fan of Andechs, always going on about how Germans needed to drink their German beer. My mom used to call him an absolute nut before she put his shotgun in her mouth, but she never once bought him anything other than Andechs. The drunk who owned the booth didn’t recognize me like the woman at the floral shop, so into the back of the shop were the German beers were kept I slipped. I pulled two six packs down from the shelf, one for my dad’s gravestone, and one for my fridge. Like clockwork on the anniversary, I would buy a six pack and drink it in a weeks’ time. I never had much of a penchant for the alcohol my dad loved, but doing anything other than that seemed disrespectful.

Struggling to keep both containers and bouquet of flowers in my hands, I made my way to the counter. With each slow and measured step, I was sure I was going to drop something. And I don’t think the owner would let me off with just paying for one six pack of beer. The reach my arms made was close to pathetic, and everyone who saw me struggling knew that as well. But no one made an attempt to help me to the counter. I could feel the pack that struggled to stay still under my left arm start to slip. This was it, this was the end. I stopped in my tracks and closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable smash of the glass as they hit the floor.

After several minutes of silence, I gathered that they hadn’t hit the ground. Or that they were falling in some sort of slow motion to taunt me. I opened my eyes, shocked to see that glass and beer hadn’t sprayed the floor. Instead, it was held by the handle in front of me. All eyes were on me and whoever was holding the six pack, which made my stomach flip. Who in the world could be holding a silly six pack of my dad’s favorite beer and manage to captivate an entire audience? As I readjusted my hold on the pack, I took the rescued container back, and the savior was revealed.

My first thought was that this wasn’t going to be good for Kit’s public image. Nor was it going to be good for the public’s perception of me as his girlfriend. But I stood frozen as he flashed his signature smile, making me feel like a troll in front of him. Of all days where I would put the minimum effort into looking nice, would be the day that I ran into the man I had been harboring a crush on for months. Oh this wasn’t good at all.

“Careful,” he laughed, crossing his arms awkwardly in front of him. “Wouldn’t want to get charged for breaking and buying.” He chuckled.

“Why would I?” my voice came off a lot harder than I had intended. That was my punishment for trying to be sultry. Not like I knew how anyways. Quinn raised an eyebrow, and I shook my head.
“Sorry, weird day.”

Quinn nodded, pulling his own six packs from the counter next to us. “You could say that again.”

“Sorry, weird day.”

He laughed again, a much heartier version of his chuckle. My stomach dropped through my legs and through the cracked tiles. Everything I had been dreaming about, seeing from afar, was standing right in front of me. Quinn Silver, with his silver hair propped tightly up on his head in a glorious quiff, with his square jaw, and piercing green eyes. A hot mess was what I was. Quinn began to walk towards the counter, my feet having to move twice as fast to keep up with him.

“Should I know you? I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

I narrowed my eyes. This could be a trick question. He could know me, and know that I was dating an opponent. Or, he could just remember from seeing me once or twice from afar. For one thing, there were pictures of us. Not looking all chummy like we were now, but definitely in the same shot. When Kit had placed third last year, Quinn’s team, second place Portugal, and Kit’s team had taken a picture with their racers. Naturally the racers stood at the front of the picture, but if you squinted really hard, you could see me in the background; right behind Kit’s raised hand. I shook my head.

“No, I don’t think we’ve ever met before. I’m Evan.”

Quinn looked at me for a few more unbearable seconds before his crooked smile burst onto his dimpled face. “Nice to meet you Evan, I’m Quinn.”

“Yeah,” I blushed, cursing myself for being such a school girl. “I know who you are.”

“Oh, a fan?”

I scrunched up my nose. “I don’t know if you could exactly call it that.” I tried to pull a serious expression but couldn’t keep it for long. His smile was contagious, and I knew I was screwed.

“So, Evan,” he plopped his six pack of beer up on the counter, oblivious to the gaping mouth of the store owner as to who had just wanted to check out in his shop. “Care to pop open a few of these bad boys and get to know each other?”

At that moment, I cursed how my life had played out up until that point. Dating his number one opponent, a part of his number one opponent’s team, and in need of paying her dad some respects. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, shaking my head. “I wish I could…but I already have plans.” Oh how there was nothing I wanted more than to share a rooftop and a couple bottles with the man that had been the apple of my dream, but this wasn’t how I was going to remember my dad.

Quinn nodded, gesturing for me to put my own six packs up on the counter. “Then let me at least be a gentleman and pay.”

I shook my head. “Don’t get chivalrous on me Silver; you just saved a six pack, not my life. But don’t fret, I’m sure you and I will be seeing a lot of each other soon enough.”

He wore a suspicious expression, but shrugged. “Suit yourself Evan. And I do hope you mean soon, I look forward to saving your precious beer bottles from an impending doom once again,” he handed over money to the man behind the cashier who still stared at him in awe. “Until we meet again Evan.”

Quinn took a low bow with his six packs and winked; a signature move that had me in a puddle in a matter of seconds.

And then he was gone. Just like that. I was able to stare at the top of his silver head as he was last in the crowd. Then he was gone completely, not even the stark outline of his hair visible to me anymore. Trying to get rid of the smile on my face, I turned to the cashier who was now staring at me expectantly, trying to place where I was famous. I shook my head.

“You won’t know me from anywhere. I just want to check out.”

Disappointed, he rang my two packs up, and I swiped my card. My stomach was in knots twisted so tight I didn’t think I could properly breathe. I murmured my thanks as he handed over my receipt and bag, and I couldn’t scurry out of that place fast enough to feel a relief of cold air wash over my face. That was something that had not just happened. I moved through the crowd quietly, my cheeks being flushed the only sign that I was moving at a fast race. All of a sudden, my holacell popped up in front of my face, showing Kit’s contact name. With a twinge of guilt in my gut, I screened it and silenced the phone so that my calls would be forwarded to an automatic voicemail. I wasn’t ready to face Kit, let alone talk to him about the choice the boss man had given me.

Upon arriving back at my hoverboard, I punched in my social security number, sliding the cases and flowers into the pouch so that they would remain somewhat unharmed as I zipped my jacket back up over my face, my goggles fogging with the rapidity of my breath. Cuffs in place, I took off like a bat out of hell. A bullet fired from a gun. Whatever it was that the kids now referred to as fast, I was that. My dad’s resting place was a good forty five minutes fly from where I had just been, and the time in the air gave me time to reflect. What the boss man had offered me was something much better than I deserved. Hell, it was something better than what I would have thought to let an employee of mine dream about. Which meant he had to believe in me too, otherwise he never would have encouraged it.

I weaved out of the way of a group of eager college kids on their way to some sort of Race-X meet up, based on the get up of their pants, and the way they swerved on their boards, drunk and giggly. Not that I could blame them, I too, had once fed into the giddiness that came with being a fan of Race-X. I still did. My board dropped altitude as the sight of the church came into view, a mass of headstones hidden behind the large steeple. With each second I came closer and closer to the tomb I had memorized as his, I felt the knot in my stomach turn from something joyous, to something that made me feel sick to my stomach. Two years since my dad had died. I was twenty six years old, about to turn twenty seven in a matter of days, and I still couldn’t deal with the death of the only family member I had come into a new world with. I slid off the board, locking away the hovcuffs and pulling out the market purchased items.

As I popped open two beers, one for me and one for the old man, I let a long sigh out through my nose. It had been a long year since I had last visited the marker of his grave, and I tried to collect my thoughts to tell him everything. A long swig of the biter alcohol slipped down my throat and I pressed the pad of my fingers along the engraved fingers. “Hey dad,” I said, feeling each individual groove of his name. Wind picked up as I spoke, playing with the idea in my head that maybe my dad was still here on earth. My jacket provided the perfect isolation, and I curled up against the stone and buried my head into the crook of my neck.

“It’s been a mediocre year, you know. Work is work, it’s gotten twice as hectic since last year, but you know, that’s to be expected. Let’s see what else, oh; I got a tattoo of your birth and death in Roman numerals. Hurt like nobody’s business, but it was so worth it,” the tattoo was located on my side, right on top of a rib. I thought the pain was next to unbearable, and promised myself that I would never go through a pain like that again. “Zeus has gotten really fat, I’m pretty sure the vets are going to tell me he’s a diabetic cat soon, I don’t know how I’m going to get him to go on a diet when he refuses to eat anything but wet food. You’d probably let him starve out dad, but then you’d give in. you were always a sucker for the googly eyes.” I took another long sip. “Kit and I are still dating. He says he loves me now. But I’m not sure I love him back. He’s great and all, you would like him. But I don’t think you’d want me to be with him forever. We were supposed to have dinner tonight, but I don’t think it’s going to happen anymore.”

Another long swig of beer.

“You see, Leader-X made this really big announcement today. You would have dropped to your knees if you had been able to hear it. Dad, he added another team to the U.S. representatives. And not just a new region or anything, but to represent himself. Can you believe that? It’s like,” I smiled, staring at a twinkling sunset. “It’s like I have a fairy godmother or something, and this is her giving me a chance. A chance to, I dunno dad, get out there and go after my dreams. Sign-ups are tomorrow, and get this, boss man told me to go for it. And…..and I’m going to sign up for it dad. I know, I might not be a good racer, and I might not even get past the first round, but I have got to do this.”

Another tip of the bottle into my mouth.

“Kit would absolutely freak out if he knew I was going to do this. Which is why I think the end of our relationship might be coming to an end dad. But like you always said, if he’s not challenging you or pushing you to do your best, is he really all that worth it?” I licked my lips, the taste of alcohol a whisper on them. “And Kit doesn’t want me to pursue racing. So that just means I have to, right?”

Naturally I didn’t receive an answer, but the gust of wind that swept through was good enough of an answer for me. I pulled my knees inside the jacket, curling my head back into the high collar. With my eyes shut, I imagined the scenarios if I made it onto Leader-X’s team. All the shock I would cause from the garage. The look on Quinn Silver’s face as I stepped up to plate to race against him. Kit’s dropped jaw when I skated over the finish line. I was so far into the fantasy that I had created in my mind, I wasn’t even aware I had begun to drift off to sleep.