Grip - 12. Chapter 12

Somewhere in Moscow

“I swear when I get my hands on that boy,” said Jae threateningly. He was wearing Max’s pizza cap, a black windbreaker, and black nylon pants.

He was currently riding on the passenger seat of Vlad’s Plymouth ‘Cuda on their way to Dinamo. Following a short distance behind them was Mrs. Cooper in her pink Lamborghini. Jae’s sentiments towards Boomer were understandable. He’d tried to explain to him that he wasn’t ready, and even after all that Boomer had still gone ahead without so much as leaving a note.

It started when Boomer said that Mrs. Cooper asked him to go on an errand with her and that he was going out. Jae believed him at that point. About an hour later while hanging out with Vlad, Jae discovered that he couldn’t reach Boomer’s cell phone. At first he assumed low battery. So he called Mrs. Cooper instead to check up on that errand they were on. Imagine his surprise when Mrs. Cooper answered that she never asked Boomer to go with her on any errand.

It didn’t take too long for Jae to piece the puzzle together. Mrs. Cooper contacted Max and told him about the situation. Max, in return, had told them about the most likely place Boomer would be and they all seemed to agree with him. Max, who was already on the road at the time, went on ahead while keeping the rest updated through text messages. Now Jae, Vlad and Mrs. Cooper were following as fast as they could.

Max’s last message indicated that he made contact with Boomer but he hasn’t said anything after that. If there was a race or anything like that, Max didn’t say. Jae was naturally worried as much as he was angry.

“Why doesn’t that boy ever listen to what I say?” He complained loudly.

“Chill, man, I’m sure Max has got this,” said Vlad, trying to reassure his friend.

“But he hasn’t said anything for almost half-an-hour already, man. I keep getting this vibe that something already happened.”

“I’m sure they’re fine. I trust that dude, Max.”

“I’m just hoping Boomer hasn’t gone into a race yet.” Jae murmured as he watched the city whisk by the window of the car. His eyes soaking in the dim twilight-lit buildings in amongst the shadows.

“Why’re you so worried, man. I think Boomer should get back into racin’. He’s been working out his driving with Max and Mrs. Cooper for the past week. And it’s already been a while since that crash of his.”

“What I don’t want is for that kid to be challenging the wrong people. Boomer’s too cocky. He’ll try to challenge somebody he has no chance of winning against.”

“But you have to admit, man. He needs a race. He needs to learn some lessons. Only a real race is gonna show him what’s wrong and what’s right with him. Both Max and I see it that way. Win or lose he has to learn somthin’ out of this. This might really be a good thing for him.

“I just don’t know.”

Meanwhile in the Lamborghini, Mrs. Cooper was worrying by herself. Like Max and Vlad she also believed that an authentic race would be good for Boomer at his stage of development as a driver. Only unlike the two guys who were very eager about the idea, she was a little hesitant. Vlad described her worry as one a big sister would have over a little brother. Mrs. Cooper and Boomer did after all share a sibling-like relationship.

She was basically waiting on a text message from Max who had already notified them that he found him and was able to talk to him. She just didn’t know what was talked about or if Max actually stopped the race.

Just then as if on cue her cell phone beeped to indicate a massage was received. Mrs. Cooper noticed and quickly grabbed her phone and displayed the message. A quick glance away from the road at the sender’s name to see it was from Max. It was a very short message but she read it over and over. After reading it a seventh time, she smiled in satisfaction.

Mrs. Cooper then switched lanes and accelerated a bit until she was side by side with Vlad’s side of the ‘Cuda, her windows sliding down on the cold night air.

“Hey guys!” she called out over the sound of the wind.

Vlad and Jae noticed her. She indicated with a motion of her hand to bring down the windows. Vlad rolled down his window. Mrs. Cooper showed them her cell phone and quickly tossed it across her car and towards Vlad’s open window. Vlad caught the device with his shifting hand He took a look at the message displayed on the phone. He smirked.

“Well how about that…” he said.

“What?” asked Jae.

Vlad handed the phone to Jae so that he could read for himself. Jae grabbed the phone while giving both Vlad and Mrs. Cooper a curious look. He then looked at the message. The Sender’s name at the top read “Max” and the short two word message simply read “He won.”

Slowly Jae curved his lips to a satisfied smile. He eventually looked to the side and saw Vlad’s smiling face that was bordering on giggling at him as if to say “I told you so”. Jae quickly wiped the smile off his face and tried to look as serious as he could and tossed Mrs. Cooper back her cell phone.

“I’m still gonna kick his ass when I get him,” said Jae with an authoritative tone.

Vlad started laughing at his expense.

* * *

Back at the parking garage.

Viktor has just arrived on his GTO only to find that Boomer was already celebrating. The crowd was cheering and he was just eating it up. Viktor was naturally furious but at the same time he was very anxious. Of the corner of his eye he saw Bull and the rest of the posse. They didn’t look pleased at all.

Viktor pleaded with his eyes but Bull only responded with a cold glance suggesting that he never wanted to see him again. That was their deal. Viktor had failed and now Bull had no more use for him. Viktor was finished. He turned back to Boomer and the look of elation on the kid’s face drove Viktor off the deep end.

He slowly started stepping towards Boomer at an increasing pace, his teeth gritted. Boomer only noticed him at the corner of his eye as Viktor approached. Viktor started to raise his fist Boomer was caught-off guard by the gesture and backed away from Viktor who simply drew closer and closer. Viktor was about to take a swing when suddenly another fist came from the side and knocked him right in the chin.

Viktor sprawled onto the pavement much to the surprise of the crowd. Boomer watched as Viktor fell then looked up to see that the fist that nailed Viktor in the chin belonged to Max. His eyes travelled over the black militsiya jacket, the fur-hat and the hard eyes, and he meekly pushed himself away.

“Man, I hate sore losers,” Max commented. He then stepped over Viktor and went to Boomer. “You okay there kid?”

“Dude, I’m better than okay,” he replied.

“How’s that victory taste?”

“Sweet. Better than anything!”

“Told you you got it. I was watching you. Good thing you figured out that he was braking too hard and went for the outside line. Though I expected you to get that part a little earlier.”

Boomer nodded. Yeah, yeah. I guess I was just too frustrated. Couldn’t focus enough.”

“But that’s changed now. You’re that much closer to becoming a real race car driver. Just you wait and we’ll turn you to an expert driver yet.”

In the meantime. Viktor was just recovering from that punch to his face. He looked up from the floor and found Bull looking back down on him with an expression of disgust. Viktor was instantly afraid for his life at that point. Bull leaned down a little bit closer to Viktor’s face.

“Don’t ever show your face around here again,” hissed Bull.

Now rendered completely beneath his notice, Bull ignored Viktor as he stepped over him and closed on Max and Boomer.

Max caught the movement from the corner of his eye and remained tense, plastering a look of indifference on his face as he pretended not to notice Bull’s approach. When the other man had finally closed to less than three feet away, Max turned painting a look of surprise on his face at the ‘sudden’ appearance of the New Yorker.

“Well, well, well,” said Max, his head and hat tilting a little as he cocked it around to look at Bull over his shoulder. “Enjoying the night air are we?”

“You got some guts showing your face around here, pizza boy.”

“Oh, you remember me then?” Max chipped lightly.

“A cocky-ass driver like you, how could I forget?”

“Well, I do tend to leave an impression on people. So do you actually. Heard you’ve been getting around, beating down racers left and right. In a new ride too. You’re moving up in the world, aren’t you?”

Bull’s solid expression didn’t falter. “You must be proud of your boy here.”

“Oh, have no doubt about that.” Max reassured.

“He seems pretty pleased about it himself. He seems to think he’s pretty good.”

Max looked through the corner of his eye and watched for Boomer’s reaction. Boomer’s elated expression was gone and he now tried to look as serious as he could. But Max could tell that the comment affected him on a certain level.

Max was looking more serious now. “He is pretty good.”

“Well pretty good isn’t good enough. You tell your boy there that he just doesn’t walk up to guys like me binging only that weak shit. There’s no way he could ever match up to me and he shouldn’t even bother trying.”

“How would you know?”

“I’ve seen him drive. He’s no good.”

“All you saw was what could happen when you get a flat.”

Bull was silent but for only a minute. His voice was escalating from those last few sentences and he noticed that a crowd has started to grow around him and Max. Max pretended not to notice the crowd coming in and forced down a smile. Bull was once again heading into what would be an uncomfortable position.

“Instead of complaining about how “weak” your opponents are why don’t you go find someone who think is your level.”

Bull grinned with a steely look in his eyes. “Why? You think you’re up for the job.”

“I said on your level, not above it.”

A series of “ooooh’s” emanated from the crowd. Max didn’t like coming off as arrogant but in some situation he simply couldn’t help it. Bull was one of those cases where Max had to show just how much of his cockiness can he actually prove. Max may be arrogant from time to time but he never bite off more than he could chew.

“You know I heard you’ve been talking shit about me too,” continued Max. “Now I’m not one to blame a guy for hating somebody he lost to. Trust me, been there done that. But are you just gonna talk shit or are you actually gonna put it down. Make up your mind ‘cause frankly I’m getting pissed off.”

More “ooooh’s” from the crowd. Bull was starting to show on his face that he was getting uncomfortable. Now Max was once again dominating the conversation. He was wondering whether he should make the challenge instead and call Bull out to a race. No sooner did he think about it, Max rejected the idea. He was never one to put forward a challenge anyway. He was usually the one accepting challenges but at the same time he wasn’t above conning someone he wasn’t particularly fond of into a race. Which was what he was doing to Bull.

“You think I’m gonna back off?” said Bull. “You think I’m just gonna walk away?”

“That would be the smart thing for you to do right now.”

“Well screw that! You want a challenge? You got one! I’m calling you out to one last race!”

The crowd started cheering now. Max hadn’t expected this so early but it seems that Bull really wanted that rematch. Fine, he’d give it to him.

“Where and when?” asked Max.

Bull stared down Max with a steely look. “Night after tomorrow. There’s a little something a few guys organized going on at the MKAD. Starting line is at the Tsvetnoy Bul’var on ramp. You know the place?”

Max remained cool in his expression, refusing to show intimidation. “Near to the old Moscow State Circus? You wanna settle this at the MKAD, huh?”

“Yeah. We’ll race around the city. With you that makes six drivers. Buy-in is a million roubles, winner takes all. You up for it?”

“I’ll take you on. Whatever you can bring, pal.”

“I’ll tell them you’re coming then. When this is over you’re gonna regret ever messing with me, pizza boy.”

“We’ll see won’t we?”

Max flashed Bull a confident grin. Bull kept his steely expression as he walked away. Bull eventually disappeared into the crowd and Max was sure that was the last he’d seen of him that night. A challenge has finally been laid down and it looked like it wasn’t gonna be a walk in the park. Well, Max was nothing if he wasn’t confident. He liked having stacked odds. Without them, life would just get boring.

Boomer walked up to him with a concerned look. “You sure you can take this guy?”

“He’s got some skill and from what I’ve heard a decent ride. He will be tough but I know I can beat him.”

“The MKAD goes all the way around the city, and it’s riddled with militsiya.”

“Yeah, I know. You know the road, huh?”

“I’ve seen a few races held there. They used to call it ‘The Road of Death’ because that’s what it was when it first opened… Dude that’s a long stretch of icy highway and open straightaways. The Bull guy is packing a Roush!”

“Yeah, it would seem like he’s got the advantage there. Based on the last race I had with him he’s best at high speed driving. This kind of race is something that would really suit him.”

“If it’s so perfect for him, why’d you still take that challenge?”

Max gave Boomer a wry smile. “Don’t look down on my Jag, Boomer. You have no idea what the cat’s capable of.”

Boomer looked at Max curiously.

“Besides,” continued Max. “Right now you shouldn’t be so worried about me.”

“Then who should I be worried about?”

Max pointed behind him. “Them.”

Boomer looked behind him and saw Jae and company standing a few feet away and Jae did not look particularly pleased at the situation. Boomer swallowed nervously. Max sighed exasperatingly.

* * *

Elsewhere in the crowd

Mister Cooper did the math in his head, it worked out to a quarter million. Standing back and away from the others and keeping out of sight of Mrs. Cooper he circled closer to where she’d parked the Lamborghini.

His hand dug through the pocket of his heavy coat and pulled out the switch blade, he could be in and out with the memory card and it would all be over.

A quarter mill…

There were things that Mister Cooper could ignore, like the odd red-letter bill, parking tickets… and of course Taxation… but to pass over a chance to get his hands on a quarter of a million dollars and his memory card, that would make his life tremendously easier.

He caught sight of the black Mercedes sitting across the road from the lot, the man with his cigarette bobbing with each puff. The cloud of smoke coiling around him as he exhaled, unaware that Mister Cooper had spotted him.

Mister Cooper cursed under his breath. They were watching her, he knew that to make any kind of move then would be stupid. He backed away from the car and slipped away the knife. Like any good predator, he knew that the best things came to the man who was willing to wait for them.

Looking across the lot to where his ex-wife was standing with Jae he nodded thoughtfully. There was plenty of time, and if he managed to cause a little collateral damage in the process, so much the better.

If there was to be a race, then Jae would hold the money. And if he were to loose that money… Mister Cooper couldn’t help but smile at that thought.

* * *

The next day.

It was in the middle of the afternoon, during those lazy hours just between lunch time and sundown. Max returned to his day job of pizza delivery and that was keeping him pretty busy. And in the meantime when Max traded his four wheels for two, the Jaguar XKR was sitting at a spot inside Jae’s garage, under Boomer’s care.

In his absence, Max asked the guys a favour of doing the usual tune-up and check-up. He had already told everyone about the race he was gonna have tomorrow evening. As such, he wanted to prepare his car as best he could prior to the race. At the moment Boomer did the usual stuff: oil change, diagnosis, etc. Max also purchased some new oils and engine cleaners that Boomer had also put in as part of the maintenance. And in doing so he learned a lot about the XKR.

He knew already that the engine was an Arden modified 4.5 Litre V8 that was tuned, but to see it up close like this was something else. The engine was a work of art, he thought. Everything worked harmoniously as if it was built out of a single piece of metal. Any real tuner would’ve been able to tell that this car was not built, it was crafted.

Many amateur tuners think that tuning a car simply involves slapping on a new part or replacing an old part with a bigger version. That kind of mentality often led to their downfall. Too often would an inexperienced tuner would put something in his engine that while does increase power will often do more harm than good. Sometimes people will be putting in a turbo in one day to add a little power but they soon cause the engine to seize due to excess heat.

Boomer even personally knew someone who accidentally blew his engine after carelessly installing a nitrous kit. One push of that magic red button and that guy’s racing days was over. Boomer has heard countless stories of custom jobs gone bad, some of which he thought were just too dumb to be true, like that one story where a guy tried to make his car more aerodynamic with a new front bumper but because it was incompatible it ended up blocking the intercooler which, again, caused overheating and blew the engine.

A real tuner wouldn’t make such mistakes. They know exactly what they wanted out of their engine and each individual part. A real tuner would make sure that any modification is not just some bolt-on extra but an extension of the engine’s body and capabilities. They would often mix and match certain parts to compensate for the other like adding a bigger intercooler along with a new turbo. Tuners would also often spend days running their cars through rigorous trial runs in order to fine tune even the simplest of parts. This assured that the car would actually last.

Boomer stood there over the open hood of the XKR admiring the engine for a long while. He had already finished all the maintenance work Max had requested on his short list and only had one last thing to complete. As a final part of the maintenance procedures Boomer had to take the XKR on a test drive. This was mainly to get those engine-cleaning oils to do their jobs.

Boomer was excited, yet nervous. After looking at that engine and hearing stories about Max’s victories over the last couple of weeks, he was giddy about trying out the car for himself but he was also apprehensive about it. Should he wait for Max to get off work? It would be hours before he got back to the garage.

“Problem?” said a familiar voice from behind.

Boomer looked behind him and saw Mrs. Cooper coming. He was so focused on the engine that he completely failed to notice pull-up the front drive way.

“Uh, no, nothing,” replied Boomer. “It’s just that…”

“What?”

“Well, here” Boomer reached into his pocket and pulled out the to-do list Max had given him. Mrs. Cooper gave the list a once over and snickered once she read that last item.

“So why don’t you go do it?” she asked.

“I just got a close look at this thing and…it’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before. It really is something else. I can’t really describe it. I don’t know if I should really drive this thing or if I could.”

“What do you mean by that? You think this car will be too much for you to handle.”

“Mrs. Cooper, last night I finally learned just how much of an amateur I am compared to you guys. A car like this is way out of my league. I know that now.”

“Well it’s not like Max wants you to keep the thing. He wants you to learn something.”

“What’s that?”

“Just get in the car and I’ll show you.”

* * *

Less than half-an-hour later.

Boomer and Mrs. Cooper, riding in Max’s Jaguar XKR, were back at that place with the old and disused warehouses that Boomer had been using as a makeshift slalom course not too long ago. Boomer parked the car carefully at is usual starting/finishing point.

Mrs. Cooper pulled out a stopwatch that was sitting on the dashboard. “Okay, just do what you do here and I’ll time you like the usual.”

“Are you sure about this? I mean, Max told that a simple spin around town was enough.” asked Boomer. Up until now he had been driving the car like a normal commuter vehicle and it acted like nothing special. Now Mrs. Cooper was telling him to take the car all the way.

“I’m sure you’ll learn something from this. Don’t worry about it. Go on my mark.”

Boomer took a deep, apprehensive breath and revved the engine a few times. It roared like some beast impatient to be unleashed. Boomer shifted into first gear as Mrs. Cooper started to count down.

“Okay, ready in 3…2…1…Start!”

Boomer floored the gas. The wheel spin was enormous but the tires still provided plenty of grip for the car to shoot of the starting line fast enough to catch Boomer by surprise. He felt like he was actually pushed back into his seat as the car continued to accelerate. He reached the first corner of the course much faster than he was used to. He put all his training to the test here.

He turned in and the grip alone caught him again by surprise. The car had so much of it. This was far from the usual understeer he would experience with his Peugeot 206 GTi when turning at high speeds. The XKR had so much of it that Boomer had to worry more about turning in too far and spinning out. He quickly corrected it and seemed to do a better job at the next corner. The steering, he felt was extremely precise and he found himself trying hard not to over-turn the wheel.

He shifted up a gear and sprinted down the first straight and somewhere down a third of the way Boomer felt the twin turbos kick in with maximum boost. The sudden bust of power was unexpected and again something he had to adapt to very quickly. Boomer managed to adjust himself to the power just in time for the next corner where he realized he had to hit the brakes to make that turn.

He shifted down a gear and hit the brakes. Again, Boomer was caught off guard since as he hit the brakes hard he felt like he had hit a wall. Only his harness prevented him from knocking himself out at the steering wheel. Boomer recovered from that hard braking but nearly oversteered the car again going into the next turn.

And so it went that Boomer struggled to control the car all the way from start to finish. By the time he reached the end of his course Mrs. Cooper revealed that his time was no better than what it was with his Peugeot 206 which struck him as odd considering the obviously superior performance of the car.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “I was sure I would get a faster time in this.”

Mrs. Cooper pocketed the stopwatch. “That just goes to show you what it means to drive a car you built with your own hands. Max built this Jaguar from scratch and he knows it better than anyone else. He’s the only person that can bring out the full potential of this machine and no one else.”

“This car…The way it handled, the power from the motor…”

“I was pretty surprised myself during that first race with Bull. This is car really is beyond your average tuner.”

“I don’t think I can do that run again.”

“I don’t think it’s recommendable. Let’s just drive back to the garage.”

“Sure.”

Boomer did as was suggested. He eased out of the lot and minutes later was back on the MKAD headed back to Jae’s garage at a reasonable commuter’s pace. For the first few minutes they drove without speaking. Mrs. Cooper had turned on the radio and that kept her entertained for the duration of the trip. Boomer could care less about the music as he had dozens of thoughts running through his mind.

His mind kept replaying that earlier run through the warehouses. He recalled every sensation including how his muscles burned at the end of the run. The ordeal was physically draining to him and that has never happened before. He wondered if Max, having had to drive this car regularly, felt the same way. Did he struggle the way he did on that run? Or was he really just that good a driver? Was Max really the genius driver Boomer thought he was?

“Hey Mrs. Cooper,” called Boomer.

“Yeah?”

“How long do you think Max has been a street racer?”

Mrs. Cooper looked thought full for a few seconds. “Well, you don’t get that kind of skill and tuning know-how overnight. I’d say he’s been doing this for quite a while now. Almost professionally even. In some of the talks I had with him, he’s kinda hinted that he’s been racing for more than five years.”

“You think he’s always been that good?”

Mrs. Cooper chuckled. “No way. I mean like he said before. He likes to train you because he said you remind him of what he used to be like when he was younger.”

Boomer gave Mrs. Cooper a curious glance. “You think he meant that.”

“Boomer, as much as racing movies and comic books will have you believe, no one is born with a natural talent to drive. No, Max did it the old-fashioned way. He learned everything he knows. Just like you Boomer, he made his own mistakes and found his own weaknesses. He learned from those and developed himself into what he is now.”

“You think…You think I’ll ever be like him? Will I ever be as good as that?”

Mrs. Cooper gave him a bit of a big sister smile. “Max thinks so. And so do I.”