Page 147 of The Champion
“No yelwing!” he told me and scurried to Sway where heusually hid.
“What is with him?” I asked rubbing my shin confused whymy youngest kid was kicking me. Casten was a funny kid. He never paid muchattention to me and usually when I’d get home he’d give me this slow once overgaze that went up and down as if he was saying to himself, “So, you’re my dad?”
Talk about feeling inadequate. It was if he thought Iwasn’t anything special.
Ignoring me, she picked him up and held on to him as shecontinued to put the food away as if nothing happened. Something did happen anddamn well wasn’t going to again. I spent the next two hours lining up moresecurity guards and a new cell phone for Sway along with more security camerasat our house and the one in Washington.
“Jameson, this is un-called for.” Sway told me when Ihanded her the new phone later that night. “We don’t need to be hounded bysecurity. Van is enough.”
“You leave me no choice in the matter, Sway. You andourchildren will be protected from this bullshit!” I snapped harshly. “You shouldhave told me this was happening.”
“You have been acting strange since that guy in our hotelroom in Indy, what’s your deal?”
The fact that she didn’t understand why this wasimportant wasn’t lost on me. She of all people should understand why. I walkedaway before I once again lost my temper but as we laid in bed that night goingover the schedule for the next week before we left for Charlotte, I confessedmy fears.
Air Wrench – Sway
I gazed at him as his strong hands ran threw his hair ashe watched the flames from the fireplace. Letting out a sigh, I wondered whathe was keeping to himself when he turned to me, his face radiant in the glowfrom the dancing light.
He smiled softly when I entered the room, returning thesmile.
Snuggling against his chest, his hands cradled around mesecurely.
“All of this with Rusty and Garrett makes me remember.”He whispered into my hair before softly kissing the side of my neck.
“Remember what?” I asked curiously, though I had a senseof what he meant.
His fingertips ran up my shoulder into my hair, trailingacross the scar that remained on the back of my head. “What should never beforgotten.”
In a sense, it shouldn’t be forgotten. Darrin taught us avital lesson about protecting ourselves. It had been five years since theaccident and we couldn’t forget. Every time I washed my hair, I felt the scarleft on my scalp. Even so much as the smell of blood, a dark stairwell orhospitals would remind me of that time in our lives. There were even times whenI looked at Axel and thought of it. But it wasn’t a bad thing as we used it asa reminder of how quickly everything could be taken away from us.
What Jameson was telling me was that he too was remindedand that when he overreacted, it was his way of surviving it.
So because of this Garrett fellow called me about twenty timesa day to breathe in my ear, he amped up our security. Axel was in pre-schoolnow and since we were on the road so much, we ended up getting a tutor insteadof public or private school.
Lane, who just turned nine, was pulled out of fourthgrade at Park View Elementary School in Mooresville because he got into afist-fight with another kid over Jameson. It wasn’t just our kids who wereaffected by this. All the Riley kids were. This left us hiring our ownteachers. And it wasn’t that we didn’t want them having interactions like this,it was just getting dangerous given the following Jameson now had. I wouldn’tsay that he was as famous as Brad Pitt but almost everywhere we went, he wasnoticed. In turn, our kids were noticed.
At the completion of the Outlaw World Finals, the seriesannounced Jimi would be inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inKnoxville Ohio. He’d won over eight-hundred career wins and won his twentiethchampionship this year. Greatness, that’s for sure.
Jameson had always been in awe of his father’s raw talentin a sprint car but when he was inducted into the hall of fame, that awe wassurpassed greatly and replaced with reverence.
Similarly, already looking up to Jimi, Axel was in heavenwhen we took him to Knoxville with us.
Between Jimi being inducted into the hall of fame,Jameson winning the championship this year and changes being made at GraysHarbor, we had a busy off-season.
Thanksgiving flew by since we were in Irwindale with thekids for Turkey Night. Jameson won while Justin, the usual winner of the eventfinally took second to him.
After the awards banquet, we spent Christmas in New York.The kids enjoyed the city so much we decided to stay. Once New Year holiday wasover, it was back to preparing for racing.
We had the three drivers on the Outlaw team, Axel racingthe USAC quarter midget Jr. Animal division and then the dealings with thetrack.
For a long time Grays Harbor had needed attention soJameson and I poured some money into the facility by adding grandstands, moreconcessions stands, and made the entire facility a place where children werewelcomed, complete with a playground in the pits.
With the addition of another bodyguard, Clint, thestalkers seemed to be lying low. We still had the occasional crazed fan,obsessed pit lizards and strange packages delivered to the house but havingsecurity around helped. The nice thing about Van and now Clint was that itwasn’t like they were security. Van was part of the family now and Clint lovedto play jokes on everyone when he wasn’t on guard. Put him in a room withJameson, Spencer and Aiden and they were trying to figure out the best way toembarrass each other. I didn’t mind that as much as it made me feel safe andprovided entertainment at the same time.
Our lives were moving forward. Axel was six now andracing as much as he could. With the roof on the track at our home inMooresville—I was lucky to get him to come inside—especially when Jamesoninstalled lights.
I never worried much about his safety out there becausefor one, we had cameras installed in the house so that I could see him on thetrack. On top of that, he wasn’t allowed on the track without a parent outthere or someone with enough sense to come get us if he wrecked.
