Page 97 of Trading Paint
“I don’t understand her at times,” Tommy said shaking his head.
“It’s Alley, she’s a bitch. I stopped trying to figure her out a long time ago. She’s beyond any normal sense of comprehension.” I groaned looking at my spare helmet. “What the fuck am I going to do...I don’t have any tear-offs for this one!”
“Sucks to be you,” Alley yelled back over her shoulder and flipped me off.
They all blamed me for that goddamn tornado still. It was not my fault. I couldn’t control the weather.
The night was horrible in and out of the car. Ever try muscling around an 800 horsepower sprint car and keep your vision clear at the same time?
Itain’teasy. I ended up with a fifth place finish and was surprised with it. Tracks like Williams Grove were difficult to find a good exit on the corners subsequently causing your car to slide up the track. I must have pegged the outside wall a half a dozen times in the feature but I finished.
I got another surprise when I headed back to the hauler to find my sister-in-law, in labor, in my hauler. If you thought I was picky about urine being in my truck, well, I was no more excited about whatever it was that was about to come out inside there.
All the safety vehicles were surrounding my pit and my first thought was who did my brother get in a fight with but when I saw Alley lying down, I knew she was in labor. Never in my wildest dreams did I suspect that she would have that baby inside there though.
I don’t know who screamed louder, Alley from pain, Spencer from fear, or me, from total disgust at the mess it made in there.
“That was disgusting.” I finally said when they wheeled Alley and the new baby away.
“That was beautiful.” Emma said through her hysterical tears.
“I’m with Jameson,” said Justin who stopped by my pit to make sure I wasn’t in another fight. “That was disgusting.”
I couldn’t step foot inside my hauler after that. All I saw was the blood and obscene amounts of whatever the fuck that was that came out of her. I’d never seen a baby born and now that I just had, even though the paramedics were mostly in the way, the mess it left behind insured me that I didn’t care to see what made that.
Spencer headed to the hospital with Alley while Tommy and I cleaned up. Well Tommy did, I gaged most of the time and then ended up putting the hauler up for sale after that. It was damaged now.
I called Sway later that night and let her know Alley finally had the baby. I had yet to see him but Spencer called and told me he was perfect and healthy. Mom and dad were on the next flight from Mooresville to Mechanicsburg where we were. Sway wanted to come but couldn’t because of school. I felt bad for her and she cried because she couldn’t come.
These were the times that bothered her the most. We were her family and a new addition, Lane Anthony Riley, was added and she wasn’t there. I got to see Lane later that night and he was adorable. He looked similar to Spencer when he was a baby but with Alley’s blonde hair, nose and eyes.
The following weekend when we were in Concord North Carolina Justin and I took Spencer out for drinks to celebrate his new fatherhood. Well, Spencer drank. We stole his drinks when the bartender wasn’t looking.
I don’t remember much about what happened that night but when I woke up on the beach, naked, I was concerned.
This wasn’t the ideal situation for a number of reasons. I didn’t know where I was and I didn’t care for the beach for the obvious reason of sand being on my skin, and oh yeah, I happened to be naked.
It couldn’t have looked any worse.
I went to get up to bolt for cover, though I had no idea where I was going to run too and tripped over Justin and a girl, who was also naked.
I’ll admit I looked away from Justin but thegirl,she was worth taking a double take at.
It wasn’t Ami and I had a feeling he wasn’t going to be happy about it when he realized that something may have happened between them as they looked awfully cozy.
I soon found my clothes a few hundred feet away and then finally, Spencer, curled up with a bottle of rum. At least he had clothes on.
I left all of them on the beach. I had to get the sand off my skin and then figure out what in the hell time it was. I had to be in Lake Odessa by four that afternoon so now was not the time to stall. We weren’t far from a life guard station so I got washed off, spotted the rental car in the distance and then found the guys again.
“I’m so screwed.” Justin looked remorseful. “What the fuck happened last night?”
“Are you serious?” I groaned rubbing the back of my head. “I have no idea where we are let alone what happened.”
“We’re at the beach.” Spencer grunted walking up with a limp.
We both laughed and then stopped when we realized how badly it hurt our heads. “We need to get going.” I told them and washed the last of the sand.
The girl on the beach confirmed what we didn’t want to hear. Though Spencer and I had stayed away from her, Justin did not.
