“Kent’s right,” I argued. “We’ve been going nonstop, so why not take a little break? It won’t change anything, except maybe help blow off some steam.”
I didn’t add that if anybody needed to blow off steam, it was me.
“I’d like to give it a try,” Jon said. “We still have a few hours of daylight left.”
“All right, let’s do it!” I said and got out of the car, headed after Kent.
I was nearly at the building when I heard the sound of a gaspowered engine firing up. I circled the building to see a row of colorful, miniature race cars ready to be taken for a spin. Kent had started the first one and had moved on to another.
“They’re easy to start,” Kent called over the sound of engine. “Flip on the red ignition, open the choke, and pull on the handle. Easy peasy.”
I chose one of the carts, and after a quick once-over, I saw that it was more or less like starting my father’s riding lawn mowers. I powered it on, pulled the cord, and was rewarded by the deep, loud rattle of the gas-burning engine. It was a powerful go-kart. I was looking forward to taking it on the track.
“Everybody take one!” Olivia shouted.
She was holding an armload of helmets that she must have gotten from the office. Olivia was up for fun, but she didn’t like taking chances. At least not where there was potential for injury. Jon followed behind her with several more helmets. We all tried them on until we found one that fit. All but Tori.
She sat alone in the shade of the buildings.
“I’ll get her,” I said.
I jogged to her and held out a helmet.
“C’mon,” I cajoled. “It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t need to have fun,” she said flatly.
“I hear you,” I said. “It does feel a little… disrespectful.”
“You could say that.”
“Look, this is it. After tomorrow, things are going to change. I don’t know what we’ll find in Nevada, but I’m pretty sure that whatever it is, we won’t be together much longer.”
“We’re not together now,” she corrected.
I held out the helmet and said, “So then why not have a last hurrah?”
Tori looked at it, then stood up and grabbed it. Did I detect a small smile?
“Stay out of my way,” she said and strode for the track.
Five karts were powered up and purring. They were so loud that we had to shout to be heard.
Olivia and Jon were already strapped in, ready to go.
“It looks like a Grand Prix–type course,” Kent yelled. “Go around clockwise.”
I gave him thumbs-up and put on my helmet.
Tori snapped on her helmet and buckled into a kart, as did Kent.
The first to take off was Olivia. I could hear her screaming with excitement from behind her helmet and over the roar of the engines. She drove out of the pit area, turned left onto the track, and was gone. Jon sped out right behind her. I was next. I settled into the padded seat, secured the safety straps across my chest, buckled up my helmet, and jammed on the gas. The little go-kart lurched forward, and with a roar of the engine, I was off.
I sped out of the pit area and in seconds I was on the wide track. I’d driven go-karts before, but never on a track this big. In a word, it was awesome. After I figured out the nuances of handling the powerful little car, I jammed my foot to the floor and never picked it up. There were long straightaways and sharp turns on the snaking track. The trick was to cut the angles and avoid swinging wide, which would kill your speed.
I easily passed Jon and then Olivia. Both were driving conservatively, slowing down on the curves and not jamming it on the straights. I flew by each with a loud “Wooo!”
“Come back here!” Olivia called playfully. “I’m gonna get you!”
I figured I was the class of the track—until Tori cut me off on the inside in a tight turn and sped past. She even had the presence of mind to throw me a wave as she flew by. I was so busy watching her that I didn’t notice Kent coming up on my other side. He blew by almost as fast as Tori, and I got a taste of my own “Wooo!” as he shot past.
I didn’t care. I was having too much fun. For those few minutes I felt like a little kid again, because I was. There was nothing to worry about but the next turn, nobody to fear, for they were only trying to pass me, and no mystery about how it all worked. There was no death. No betrayal. No murky future.
It was perfect.
I lost sight of the others and ended up driving on my own for a good long time. That was okay. I was having a blast pushing that little go-kart to its limit, drifting into turns and speeding on the straights. For those few minutes all the dark thoughts and memories were washed away, or at least pushed so far back so that I didn’t think about them. It was all about the pure joy of a mindless yet thrilling activity.
After four or five laps I realized that I had to pee, so I pulled the car into the pit and killed the engine. No sense in wasting gas. I popped off my helmet and jogged for the building to see if there was a working bathroom.
When I rounded the corner to far side of the building, I saw something that rocked me and forced me to skid to a stop.
Standing together in the shadow of the awning over the bathrooms were Kent and Tori… making out. It was such a stunning sight that I didn’t know what to do at first. They were locked together in a full-on, mouth-open, passionate kiss.
I almost shouted something. I’m not even sure what it would have been.
“What’s going on?”
“You’re kidding?”
“Seriously? Kent?”
“Does Olivia know about this?”
All those words went through my mind, but none came out of my mouth. Instead, I backed away quickly. They didn’t even know I had seen them. For some reason, I no longer had to pee.
I walked back to the track, holding the helmet tightly under my arm, not sure of how I should be feeling. Was Tori’s anger and disappointment in me what drove her to Kent? It was hard to accept that, because I knew she thought he was a tool. And what about Olivia? As far as she knew, Kent was a puppy dog who would do anything for her. Was this fair to her? And did it matter, since she was coming after me every chance she got? She was an emotional girl. This could really hurt her.
Or me.
Tori and I had a complicated relationship. I had told her that I loved her, and I meant it. But things had changed since then. I had let her down in a big way. She wanted nothing more to do with me and seeing her with Kent proved it.
I had officially lost everything I cared about.
“Back on the track!” Kent called as he ran past me, headed for his go-kart. “Had to tap the bladder. Admit it, Rook. This was a good idea, right?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Excellent idea.”
He had no idea that I had seen them.
Kent got back into his go-kart, and I got into mine. He took off a few seconds before me. I rolled out near the finish line, turned left, and punched it. This second go-round was a whole different experience. It wasn’t so much fun as it was… necessary. I put the pedal to the metal and never let up. I cut corners so tightly that I rumbled over gravel. On one corner I cut inside Kent. It was a dumb, dangerous move, but I didn’t care. He had to pull out of the turn to keep from hitting me as I flew by.
I eventually passed Jon and then Olivia. As I rounded the final curve before the finishing straight, I had the fleeting thought of driving the go-kart right off the track, through the parking lot, and out onto the road. Why not? There was nobody to stop me. I could just hit the road and keep on going until I ran out of gas.
But I didn’t. I pulled the car into the pit and, breathing hard, killed the engine.
Kent pulled in behind me.
“What was that!” he screamed angrily. “You could have killed us both.”