Grip - 3. Chapter 3

Boomer was shaking in his seat. His has clamped onto the steering wheel with a vice-like grip. He was breathing a gallon of air a minute and his vision, hearing, and sense of touch were blurry at best. But otherwise he was uninjured considering the spectacular crash he went through. The car was done, however. The radiator was broken and leaking. It was in no shape to continue driving let alone racing.

Already a crowd was growing near the Peugeot 206 but first to reach the car were Mrs. Cooper and Max. Mrs. Cooper quickly opened the driver side door to look at Boomer.

“Boomer? Are you alright?”

Boomer was shaking in his seat, still gripping the wheel. He looked wearily at Mrs. Cooper. “Yeah…I…think I’m fine,” he said in a cropped tone.

“Anything broken?” asked Max. “Aside from the car that is.”

“No…no, noting. I’m okay.”

“You wanna get outta that seat?”

“…Sure.”

Boomer struggled to unbuckle his harness. Though he was ok physically, he still needed Mrs. Cooper’s help in order to get out of the car. And even then he couldn’t stand up straight just yet. Mrs. Cooper continued to whisper reassuring messages into his ear to help him recover.

For his part, Max was glad that Boomer was ok but something was bothering him about the crash. It shouldn’t have happened. He knew the Peugeot 206 GTi and he’s seen a few examples of it in action before. A turn like that at that speed should’ve been no problem for the car and driver. Then there was that understeer and the way the wheel seemed to dig into the ground which caused the car to flip. That wouldn’t happen unless—

Max had a feeling. Something wasn’t right. He took one last look at Boomer to make sure he was ok before he headed around the front and towards the left-side front wheel.

Meanwhile, Vlad’s purple ‘Cuda pulled up to the scene. Vlad stepped out of the driver’s seat and Jae stepped out from the passenger seat. The crowds made way for them as they went for Boomer.

“What happened?!” asked Jae. “Is he hurt?!”

“No he’s fine, Jae,” said Mrs. Cooper, “just a little shaken up.”

“What happened to the car?” asked Vlad.

“Flipped after coming out of the corner.”

“How the hell did that happen?”

“It doesn’t matter,” said a new but familiar deep voice among the group.

Everyone look towards the source. Jae recognized him instantly. It was the driver of the Maserati who was Boomer’s opponent in the race. He came back and he took his posse with him. Jae and the others knew little about him. All they know was that he goes by the alias “Bull.” He recently came to Moscow from New York and he brought quite a reputation with him.

He’s been cleaning house at almost every race event he’s been in for the past couple of months. Jae knew it was a mistake allowing Boomer to race this guy in the first place but he never expected things to go this badly.

“It doesn’t matter because in the end, he still would’ve lost to me,” said Bull. “Suck-ass drivers like him don’t belong on the tarmac among real racers.”

“Hey, man you shut your mouth!” shot back Vlad.

“Or what? You can’t argue the fact that the race in mine. You guys got no right to complain. You challenged me, remember?”

Vlad was silent, but fuming. Jae and Mrs. Cooper couldn’t do anything.

They continued to argue for a bit more with Vlad trying to be the antagonist he was known to be from time to time. While all this was happening, Max was on one knee feeling around the flat left side front tire. He had his hand feeling across the surface of the tire.

He knew what he was looking for. This situation wasn’t anything new to him, much to his regret. He saw the signs and he wanted to know for sure. He continued to feel all over the exposed surface of the tire and after a few short moments, he found what he was looking for. And when he did, he got pissed.

“I want my money,” said Bull.

“What?” replied Jae.

“The race was for one-forty-four.”

“Hey, man, can’t you just wait a little, I gotta make sure my boy’s alright here.”

“Screw that! Just shut up and give me the money that I won!”

“Bullshit!” exclaimed Max as he slowly got up from where he knelt near the wheel.

Everyone in the crowd turned their attention to him now, Max looked hard at Bull. Fitting name, he thought, too bad it was only half accurate.

“What the hell did he just say?” said Bull.

“That win was not legit. Neither is your claim on that cash. You didn’t win anything. You don’t deserve the win and Boomer didn’t deserve that crash.”

On the other side of the car, Vlad looked at Max curiously then turned to Jae. “Who’s this?” he asked.

“The pizza guy,” replied Jae earning him a raised eyebrow from Vlad.

Bull seemed to have gotten a little irritated but that show of bravado from Max. “Big words from you there pal. Got anything to back them up?”

Max simply smirked. “I know a flat tire when I see one.”

Bull was quiet for only a moment before bursting in a fit of giggles. His posse followed suit and so did a few people from the crowd. Mrs. Cooper, Boomer, Jae and Vlad were all looking at Max curiously, as if the young man had gone mental or something. Max took all this in stride.

“Yeah, well so do I,” said Bull. “Hell, everyone with an IQ over 10 knows what a flat tire is, jackass!”

“Yeah, maybe,” replied Max, “but not everybody knows a knife stab when they find it.”

With this the laughter died down. Bull looked a bit surprised by this and so did Mrs. Cooper and the others. Jae was darting his sights between Bull and Max, thinking about the implications of what Max just said. If that was true then Boomer’s crash was…

“And you say I’m full of bullshit?” retorted Bull.

Max was holding back a grin. He had played this game before and he played it well. By the time he was done this jerk would be walking away with his tail between his legs. It was all about set up. Play the words right and this guy would fall right into it.

“You can check it for yourself, if you don’t believe me.”

“So, you’re accusing me of cheating?!”

Strike one. Max smirked a bit but it was barely noticeable. “Cheating? Who said anything about cheating? Who said anything about you cheating?”

Bull was taken aback. He knew he had just fallen for a trap. The worst thing for a guilty party to do is accidental self-implications. Distrust is one of the hardest things to get rid in a person. Jae now narrowed his eyes. Things were getting thicker. Mrs. Cooper, Boomer, and Vlad also seem to be getting the drift of things.

“All I’m trying to say is,” continued Max, “that the win was not legit, regardless of who did or if there was any cheating.”

“That’s crap! This is the streets! Anything goes on the streets! I don’t care if his tire blew or not, a win is a win and a loss is a loss!”

“Whatever, bro. That may be where you come from but they do it a little different here.” Max looked towards Jae. “Right?”

Jae looked a little confused for the moment before knowing what he would do. He turned towards Bull. “He’s right! We may be on the streets but even here we have a little something honour, brah. You can’t call that a win, I don’t care who you are. The money’s not yours yet. If you want it that bad, you’re gonna hafta wait till we set this up again. Then we’ll run this with the same rules.”

“To hell with that, brah!” retorted Bull. “I haven’t got all night to wait for you boy over there to go find his balls again!” He turned to Max. “Unless this ass-wipe can put his money where his mouth is, our discussion here is done! The only way I’m giving you a chance to get your money back is if punk over here throws down!” Bull pointed to Max during that last sentence.

Strike two. “Sure, I can deal with that.”

Bull was again taken aback. This time so were Jae and the others. The crowds were giving off a resounding “oooh” at the blatant, if not casual, acceptance of Bull’s challenge to Max. No one seemed to have been expecting that except maybe Max himself. And in truth, it was. Bull was digging himself deeper into the trap and all Max had to do was close and lock the hatch.

“On one condition, though,” said Max. “Triple or nothing. Either that or you’re just not worth my time and gas.”

The crowds slowly started to cheer. Max was smirking more noticeably now. Jae and the others were getting increasingly concerned about, mostly because they never expected any of this from Max. After all, he was just a pizza boy, right? Mrs. Cooper made sure that Boomer was strong enough to stand on his own then swiftly moved to Max’s side.

“Triple or nothing?!” said Mrs. Cooper. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Max turned to her, his pale blue eyes sparkling from beneath the brim of his hat and replied: “This guy is not worth racing. However, One-forty-four grand times three is Four-hundred-and-thirty-two thousand. That’s the only way I’ll take this guy on. Relax, Mrs. Cooper, the cash won’t be a problem.” He turns to Bull again. “What do you say, bro?”

“You think you can ask for that much money, just like that?!” retorted Bull. “I’m the goddamn Grip-King…”

“Self-proclaimed,” Jae stated holding up a finger and interrupting.

Strike three. You’re out asshole. “This is the streets. Anything goes on the streets.”

Around them the crowds were cheering and screaming for Bull to accept the condition. Bull was silenced. He knew right then and there that he was in a trap he couldn’t get out of. He was played and he dug himself in too deep. Max was now staring him down. He knew that the only way this guy could save face was to throw down the cash and accept the conditions. He had nowhere to go because he knew how much of a punk-ass he will look like if he backed out of his own challenge. All that was left to do was to smoke him on the tarmac.

His reputation along with his bank was now on the line, and Bull was silent for a while but eventually said: “Fine…”

Max smirked wide. “Ok then. Give me a minute to fetch my car. I’ll see you at the starting line.”

Max started to walked towards the warehouse where he parked his car not giving anyone else a second look. Mrs. Cooper followed him in after giving one last glance to her friends then quickly caught up to Max and they walked into the warehouse together. Bull was fuming as he got back into his Maserati and drove back in the direction of the starting line. All the while, Jae, Boomer, and Vlad were standing there confused.

“What the hell just happened, man?!” asked Vlad.

“Man, I have no clue,” said Jae, “but I got I feelin’ It’s gonna be a long night, brah.”

* * *

Inside the warehouse.

As expected with the atmosphere of the general area, the place was filled with cars, all of them tuned and modified. Many of the tuners inside were have speaker battles instead of races. Speaker battles were all about watts and not horsepower. The majority of the cars had their trunks open showing off their impressive stereo and light systems trying to out-sound the other guys.

Max slowed in his walk to appreciate the loud thumping beats that shook the building to its foundation. Mrs. Cooper was right next to him the whole time, only not as calm as he was.

“Max do you have any idea what you’re doing?” she asked. “You just challenged a guy for over Four hundred grand.”

“Technically, he challenged me.”

“You reeled him into that and you know it. And what was all that talk about Boomer’s flat tire. You really think he stabbed it to cheat?”

“Maybe after this, I can show you myself where the tire was punctured.”

“But how do you know this guy cheated?”

“I’ve been through this before. And the signs were all too obvious. The flat was suspicious enough but when he came up to scene like that, demanding the money first in a hurry, it was just too convenient for him. And the way he answered me when I told everyone about the flat…”

“Setting all that aside, are you sure you can even take this guy on?”

Max stopped in his walk, right in front of a car. Mrs. Cooper didn’t notice this at first but when Max pulled out a key from his pocket, pressed the button on the infrared remote, and made the car beep, she did notice. And the moment she did she was rendered speechless.

Sitting right in front of her was the Arden XKR she’d duelled on the expressway.

She slowly turned her sights back to Max with a flabbergasted look on her face. Max smiled back at her. “Like I said before. You’ve already seen what I can do, Mrs. Cooper.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that look, you started that thing we had on the expressway.”

Max moved towards the driver side. He motioned for Mrs. Cooper to take the passenger seat. Mrs. Cooper hesitated a bit before walking around the front and taking the passenger side door and they both climbed in together. Max fell into his seat like he belonged there. Mrs. Cooper had to adjust herself to the seat. She got a chance to explore the interior as well.

The front seats were replaced with Recaro racing seats complete with four-point harnesses. The inside was reinforced with a custom roll cage. The back seat was completely removed and the back areas seemed to have been spray painted black to match the rest of the interior. The steering wheel was also made by Recaro with added buttons labelled “N20” with easy thumb reach. Beside that was the notorious paddleshift transmission that enabled the driver to either use it as one would a standard automatic gearbox, or an automatic gearbox featuring faster shifts by using the sport mode. Alternatively, the driver could take full manual control of the gears by means of two paddles situated behind the steering wheel, affording the driver optimum control in fast driving.

The stock RPM gauge Speedometer were replaced with professional racing gauges from Auto Meter. Other than that, everything looked stock, although it looked like Max did remove the carpets on the floor to save a little weight.

“Let’s go,” said Max as he started the engine which rumbled to life.

In neutral, the XKR purred as softly as a kitten. But there was no doubt it was fast when it stretched out its claws. The car expressed its additional power in the form of a deep growl, produced by a sports silencer system with the four chrome-plated tailpipes.

Max stepped on the gas, the 21” wheels spinning up as it pounced forward and out of the warehouse.

* * *

At the starting line.

By then, Bull was waiting at the starting line again, digging into his pockets and trying to come up with the agreed upon purse for the race. Jae, Vlad and Boomer were waiting anxiously on the sideline leaning on Vlad’s ‘Cuda. As for Boomer’s Peugeot 206, they managed to push it to the side lines with some help from the crowds. They’ll just pick it up later.

One of Bull’s friends was leaning on the hood of Bull’s car, “and he wears a pidorka…”

“So when is your boy gonna get here?” asked Bull as he paced to and fro in front of his car. “How do you even know this guy?”

“He delivers pizza to us,” answered Jae honestly.

“And he thinks he can race!?”

“I don’t know. Ask him when he gets here.”

“What? Is that all you can say?!”

“I barely know the guy! And what does it matter anyways? Your challenge, your race! You worry about who he is, man. I’m just the organizer.”

Bull turned away annoyed. Vlad then turned to Jae. “Hey, man, I’m not too comfortable with this cat, Max. I know it’s his race now and all but it ain’t like you to just let somebody from outta nowhere to take the line like that. Can this guy put it down or what?”

Jae was about to say something when he heard the sound of engines coming their way. When Jae saw it coming out of the corner of his eye, he just had to smirk. “Somehow, yeah, I think he can put it down.”

Vlad, and just about everyone else there, turned towards the end of the straight where the black and orange XKR was driving towards them. The crowds slowly started cheering at the approaching car. When the XKR was about ten yards away, the car did a sudden 180 degree turn and reversed right alongside Bull’s Maserati.

The doors of the XKR opened and both Max and Mrs. Cooper stepped out. Max raised his hand and showed that he held an impressively large wad of cash. Jae took this as his cue and walked in between the two cars and their respective drivers. Max handed his cash to Jae for his keeping. Jae then turned to Bull who pulled out his cash from his pocket and handed it down.

“Okay then,” said Jae, “do I have to review to you both how this works?”

Bull’s response was to get into his car and slam his door shut. Jae took that as a no. He then turned to Max since he knew he never explained the race rules to him yet. But Max waved him off.

“Don’t worry man, I got this.” He said as he shucked his overcoat then got back into his own car, tucking the coat into the back.

Jae shrugged and went to his position in front of the two cars. As Max was getting himself comfortable in his seat, He was a bit surprised when Mrs. Cooper got back into hers. He looked at her inquisitively as she buckled up again.

“You’re the one who said you wanted to show us what you got,” she said. “Well, here’s your chance, pizza boy.”

“Well, alright then,” he placed his gloved hands on his steering wheel. “I’m just a little worried about the weight handicap.”

Mrs. Cooper smirked and nodded. Then she suddenly realized what the comment implied and instantly frowned. She turned her head towards Max with a look. “Excuse me?!”

Max didn’t have time to answer back. At that moment, Jae had already dropped his hands and yelled “GO!” The race was on.

The Maserati was off the line first by a few milliseconds. Max was off the line, pressing Mrs. Cooper back down onto her seat. Bull in his Maserati and Max in his XKR were neck and neck throughout the first stretch. It almost seemed like the revs were completely synchronized. The whole stretch Max was looking at Bull through his window, studying his moods.

“Um, Max?” said Mrs. Cooper. “The corner?”

Max let off the gas and let the Maserati go ahead, long before the corner hit. Max kept his eye on the Maserati as Bull took the corner aggressively going in a wide arc. Max smirked as he gently eased the XKR through the hairpin turn not even attempting to catch up. By the time they came out of the corner, the Maserati was at least four car lengths ahead of the XKR. Max continued to watch the Maserati carefully as it made the next corner into the wide area where Boomer crashed. He was just about getting the gist of Bull’s driving style.

Cheat or no cheat, no doubt this guy had some skill worth taking seriously. Max estimated he must’ve been racing for at least a year, maybe went to a school somewhere that gave him a few techniques. As for the car, it was no hack job. It was tuned professionally though he doubted that Bull himself did most of the tuning, considering how he handled that car. Drivers who tuned their own cars usually either adapted their driving style to the car or vice versa. It was painfully obvious that Bull and his machine were not in harmony

“Max,” said Mrs. Cooper, “you do know this is a race, right?”

“I do.”

“Then why don’t you drive like it?”

“Don’t worry, I got this. I just want to give this dude something to think about.”

Max decided to show off a bit by drifting across the corner in a wide arc, much to the enjoyment of the crowds that were watching. Max was easily able to catch up to the Maserati but still made no attempt to overtake him. Instead he stayed right on his bumper. It was the same story through the next four corners.

The XKR matched the Maserati’s every manoeuvre and remained at a modest two car lengths away up to the last, quarter mile straight before the start/finish line. During the straight both cars easily reached a top speed of 160 miles per hour before they both had to brake hard for the last corner. Waiting at the start/finish line, the crowds cheered at the sight of the two cars as they appeared out of the corner. Bull’s Maserati looked to be securely in the lead, much to the chagrin on Jae, Boomer and Vlad.

Bull was about to laugh in celebration at the knowledge that the first lap was his when suddenly he heard the rumbling of an engine suddenly pass by him on the left. He looked through his window just in time to see the XKR zoom past him and cross the line before him.

Max grinned as he watched the Maserati became smaller in his rear-view mirror. However instead of punching it, Max stepped on the brakes and pulled back. He let Bull pass him and Max stepped on the gas again and manoeuvred himself behind the Maserati’s slipstream.

Inside the XKR, Mrs. Cooper looked at Max curiously. Max simply smirked back.

“That should be something for him to think about,” he said.

Mrs. Cooper slowly curved her lips into an understanding smile. She figured out his game now. There was no doubt that Max was the better driver here and he wasn’t about to let that guy, Bull, forget about it. She tightened her harness and sat back for the ride.

In his Maserati, Bull just got a hit of the nerves. In all likelihood, he came to the same conclusion that Mrs. Cooper had a second ago. And it showed. His driving seemed to have gotten a little bit more sluggish now though only the keenest person would see it.

Nothing he could do about now but race with all his got and he knew deep in his got it wasn’t that much. He powered on through the first two corners and soon both cars were in the wide open space again. Bull was fully expecting Max to make a move here and Max entertained that notion well.

Max made some purposely half-assed attempts to overtake just to see how Bull would react. Predictably enough, the Maserati moved in to block in the attempts. He was getting nervous now, thought Max. He pulled back and let Bull gain a bit of a lead. For the next four corners, the story would be again the same: Bull in the lead and Max on his tail pipe. Finally they came up to the long quarter mile stretch.

“Alright, now we end this,” said Max.

If Mrs. Cooper wanted to see Max’s skill, she was satiated then and there. Max popped the clutch, slammed the brakes, shifted gears, turned the wheel, and slammed the gas again, and counter-steered in almost one fluid motion putting the car into an inertia drift, manoeuvring the XKR alongside the Maserati. The XKR and the Maserati were now neck and neck going down the stretch, the XKR matching the Maserati’s pace. To say Mrs. Cooper was impressed was an understatement.

Bull and Max came face to face through their open windows. From his expression alone, Max could tell that Bull was having a very hard time trying to keep his composure. Max kept a straight face and winked at Bull right pressing a little harder on the gas pedal, blasting through the supercharger and putting the XKR into a lead of two feet.

That was all it took for Bull to move desperately, and it was also what Max was counting on. Bull reacted by igniting his nitrous adding about 150 horses to his engine’s power output instantly. The Maserati zoomed forward and regained the lead. Bull looked at his rear-view mirror and watched the XKR grow smaller in the distance. What he didn’t see was Max grinning in satisfaction.

Bull was so preoccupied with keeping his lead that he failed to notice that the final turn at the end of the stretch was less than 400 feet away when he shot his nitrous. When he did realize it he tried to stop by applying both the foot brake and the handbrake simultaneously and tried to turn the car sideways. It wasn’t nearly enough.

The Maserati went into an uncontrolled spin and ended up hitting the stack of containers which defined the walls of the track at about 60 miles per hour, rear bumper first. The resulting crash completely crumpled the back end of the Maserati just shy of the rear axle.

The crowds around the start/finish line watching let out resounding “whoa’s” at the sight of the crash. A second later, the crowds cheered as Max’s XKR came out of the corner at high speed and sprinted towards the line. Max ended the race in some style by sliding the car across the finish line passenger-side first, sending up some smoke from his tires. Almost instantly the crowd converged on his car.

Inside the XKR, Max turned towards Mrs. Cooper. “So what do you think?”

Mrs. Cooper playfully grinned back. “Well, you got some talent, pizza boy. Where’d you learn to drive like that?”

Max kept his smile but turned away from her. “Now that would be a really long story.”

“Maybe you can tell it to me sometimes.” Mrs. Cooper then unbuckled herself from the seat and opened the door to let herself out. She dug through the designer leather jacket she wore, producing a cigarette and lighting it with a flourish. Puffing a long drag she sighed as she relaxed back against the car.

Max let out a chuckle and soon unbuckled his own harness and got out to a cheering crowd. He looked around and looked at all the applauding people around him. It felt good, he told himself. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to win a race:

It felt perfect.