Page 43 of The Legend
“Do youpay attention to anything I tell you?”
Heshrugged, “Mostly.”
“Mostly?”
“Well,there were times this morning, and in the past, that I’ve lost interest whenyou’re talking. It’s only natural.”
“You needto act more responsible if you ever want to be left alone again. This willnever happen again.”
“I knowwhat I’m doing, dad. Last night was just a little out of control. I’m certain,at future parties, I can do better crowd control.”
“I’mcertain you don’t have the faintest goddamn clue what you’re doing,” I said tohim. I stood now towering over his five foot two frame, “now go clean the pool,make sense?”
“No.”
“Toofucking bad, do it.”
Tommyreturned, when he finished cooking dinner for me and the boys, about the timeCasten had the rubber gloves on again and I was half way through my secondsix-pack of beer.
“Be readyat four if you’re coming with me tomorrow,” he said to Casten.
“Four am?”Casten asked in horror dropping the mop. Tommy nodded. “I don’t think so. Thisisn’t a dairy farm. I never get up that early, ever.”
I laughed.My family made me crazy. Arie and I ended up talking later that night.Apparently, she had been left at the gas station before the fire had been set.Either way, they were both grounded. Naturally, she blew up at me for groundingher. What teenage daughter wouldn’t?
I wasn’tpleased about all the damage to the house and our property. I made sure all thekids, including the cousins, worked around the property to repair everythingthat was broken including the gate. They weren’t getting away that easy. Theyall tried to act like it was no big deal and they didn’t trash it that bad butif you saw it, our house look like a bunch of crazy monkeys got loose.
A fewthings we couldn’t figure out how they had been destroyed so we went back tolook over our surveillance cameras in the house and property. We watched thatshit for hours and on reply sometimes. I’d never seen a party like that beforeand honestly, I was proud of my kids in some strange sense. If I was there age,that would have been one kick ass party. I was not impressed with themdestroying my GTO or my trophy truck and they would be repaying me for that. Ialready had Noah and Charlie working at the shop after school and you get bettheir asses would be there for years to come now. Those fucking trophy trucks ahundred grand a piece and my GTO. That was a collector’s car! I was beyondpissed and they knew it.
Swaydidn’t feel the need to talk to Casten about the girl in his room and neither didI. He was fourteen and I had a feeling he was already sexually active but Ididn’t know for sure. He seemed much too young to be having sex in my opinionso we talked to him about being responsible, locking doors and what not, thehouse rules so to speak and taking precautions to prevent pregnancy anddiseases. It’s not as though we condoned our kids having sex in our house butwe weren’t stupid either. I understood my feelings at that age and if myparents had told me not to sex, I would have done it anyway regardless.
My theoryon Casten being sexually active, and I never told Sway about this, wasconfirmed when he came with me to Fontana a few weeks after the street fireshenanigan.
ThatSaturday morning, we were sitting outside my hauler waiting for qualifying tobegin when a girl walked up. She looked young, maybe sixteen or seventeen, withbleach blonde hair and very tan. She was your typical California girl you sawat these races. Nevertheless, she wasn’t very bright, her first mistake.
Keep inmind, Casten hadn’t improved on his humor. He still took advantage of the weakand made it his own game. Now was no different.
She askedfor my autograph, which I gave her and then moved on to the next fan waiting ina line of about twenty people. As always in the paddock, they seemed toaccumulate out of nowhere.
Out walkedCasten with just a pair of khaki shorts and flip-flops on. This was usuallywhat he preferred to wear so we never commented. I don’t know why he felt theneed to half dress himself but he did. At least he had pants on. It was animprovement from when he was two.
There hewas sitting in a folding chair beside me looking down at his phone when hecaught a glimpse of the blonde girl that stuck around after I signed her tanktop. The girl was looking at Casten, as he looked up at her.
What didCasten do?
The littleshit raised his hips, moved to a slouching position and let his sunglassesslide down his nose. Looking up at her, he said, “You looking for a ride orsomething, sugar?”
He saidthis just loud enough for her, a few bystanders, and me, to hear.
The girlblushed, hell, I think I blushed. Casten must have felt he scored and sparkedconversation with her. Kyle overheard as well and shook his head after tellingme it was time for qualifying. “He’s definitely a Riley.”
I leftafter that paying no mind to my flirting son and walked toward the grid toqualify. After securing the pole position for Sunday’s race, I signed a fewautographs and then stopped by the bathrooms in the infield. I heard the moansof a woman before I even made it two feet inside the door. Did I walk out? No,I just stood there. I wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t the first time I hadheard people having sex in the infield. I’d even witnessed it a time or two.
“You like that,don’t you?” I heard in a low raspy voice I recognized as my son, Casten. Thatlittle shit was fucking that girl in the bathroom.
Walkingout, I shook my head as Tate came around the corner. We ran right into eachother.
“Oh,” herighted himself and grabbed my shoulders to keep me from falling too, “Sorry‘bout that Jameson,”
