Tales of the Underground: Velocity - 15. Chapter 15

I always assumed I would be uncomfortable showing affection for someone in front of my friends, but right then and there it all felt so natural.

Elijah shook his head a little trying to get comfortable, I wonder if he knows how much I appreciated him coming over tonight. I slowly began to rub his shoulder but he flinched in pain. I guess his body was finally starting to react to the rough workout he had just come from.

Matty was still watching us in shock. He opened his mouth but quickly shut it trying to find the right way to phrase what he was gonna say. “So how much does Eli know?” I stared him down trying to get him to shut up. Eli was dozing off so I don’t think he heard what Matty said.

Jacob whispered something but I couldn’t make out what he had said. Matty made eye contact with me and nodded like he understood.

“Alright that’s more than enough for me.” Jacob said standing up

“Yup” Matty agreed “I’m gonna go home and just let this all sink in.”

“Wait” I stopped them before they could reach the stairs “Can we try and keep this all on the down low?” They both nodded and said their goodbyes. I could tell they were kinda relieved Eli was sleeping. I don’t know if they’ve figured out how to be genuinely nice to him. Come to think of it, that’s probably my fault. The whole time I’ve been friends with them I’ve treated Elijah like a doormat, whether it was ignoring him or constantly cracking jokes about his sexuality. But that all changes tonight, the jokes that were once rooted in hate will change to ones rooted in friendship. I hope he realizes how we treat each other, I hope I realize how many more gay jokes I’m gonna get. Oh well, I deserve them for the way I’ve acted. After all that’s our language of love around here, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I sat there and let Eli rest for a little longer. I couldn’t tell if I was doing it more for me or for him. It was nice getting to just hold him. He was a peaceful sleeper, every now and then he would gently move his head a little closer to my neck. I could feel him gently breathing, and couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in that perfect mind of his. Finally he woke back up.

“Where’d everyone go?” he grumbled sitting back up and stretching.

I couldn’t help but laugh “Home.”

“Oh, sorry dude. I hope I didn’t ruin anything.”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t. I don’t think you could even if you tried.” He placed his head back on my shoulder and I figured he probably wouldn’t be able to bike back to his house. “Do you want to spend the night?”

A big grin spread across his face “Sheesh, at least take me out to dinner first, what am I one of those 5 dollar whores?”

“No, I don’t mean it like that.” My face turned a bright shade of red. “I mean, I do want to take you out for dinner on Monday though.”

“Relax, I’m joking.” Now his face started to turn red “I wish I could but Dad will kill me if I don’t get back home soon. He only let me go out because he said I could use the bike ride over. Dinner on Monday sounds nice though.”

“Then at least let me drive you home.” I said starting to play with his hair.

“You can’t, you dope. You don’t have your license.”

“Just let me worry about that.”

Eli thought it over for a few seconds “Fine, but only because I really don’t want to bike home.”

We both headed out towards my car but I raced ahead making sure there was nothing too obvious inside. I took my helmet and wedged it behind his seat and hoped he wouldn’t notice it. Finally he got to the passenger door, opened it and collapsed into the seat.

When I started the engine Elijah jumped surprised by the sound of it. “Sorry babe, I guess I should’ve warned you.” He shook his head to signal it was okay, and closed his eyes.

Taking him home was probably the slowest I’ve ever driven in my life. I wanted to make sure he could rest easy. Every now and then I would glance over and watch him sleep. When we finally pulled up to his house I gave him a gentle tap on the shoulder, he thanked me and gave me a kiss goodnight. I’m lucky he was too sleepy to really get a good look around the car. I was a few observant moments away from having my cover blown. I watched as he walked to the front door, but when I noticed his dad’s squad car parked in the driveway I pulled away. No reason to tempt fate tonight.

When I finally got back home I reassured my dad that the minivan should be working fine now. He nodded and told me to thank Jacob the next time I saw him. I stopped before going upstairs and watched him for a minute. I really hope he accepts me when it’s time. I’ve lost enough already, we all have.

He glanced away from the TV for a minute “Everything alright buddy?”

“Yeah” My heart started racing and the thought of coming out cross my mind for a second but I fought it back. “Everything’s great.” I slowly made my way into bed and reflected on the day.

The once big secret I had fought to hide so violently it almost cost me my best friend was finally out of the bag. The best part is my friends actually accept me for it. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I don’t know. There aren’t many words to describe the thrill of it all. It all seemed so unimaginable before and yet here it is. I fell asleep with a smile on my face that night.

I rolled out of bed somewhere around noon the next day. God I loved Saturdays. I sat on the couch and watched TV with my sisters all day. I sent Eli a few good luck texts but I know he was too busy either trying out or preparing to try out to respond. It was nice to just spend a lazy day with them. It’s no wonder I’m so deadly on the track, you have to be aggressive when you have 4 sisters. Everyone goes on about how tough it is to have brothers, well go have 4 sisters and then come back to me. Yet I wouldn’t trade a second of it for anything in this world, well maybe time alone with Eli but that’s neither here nor there.

When night finally fell and it was time to go out and race I couldn’t have been more excited. I went my usual route and picked up Jacob then Matty.

“Ready to win Lightening McQueer?” Matty joked climbing into the backseat

I made eye contact with him using the rearview mirror “Dude, did you really just make a Cars reference?”

“What? It’s a solid movie.” He shrugged. Jacob and I couldn’t help but laugh.

Suddenly my phone started ringing and Jacob immediately swiped it from the center console.

Please don’t be Eli, Please don’t be Eli, Please don’t be Eli

“Oh hey Eli”

SHIT

“Your prince charming can’t come to the phone right now, he’s a little busy.” I saw Jacob begin to smile out of the corner of my eye.

“Not cool.” I said trying to reach for my phone, but I was too busy trying to keep the car on the road to be able to grab it.

“What’s that Jamie? Oh okay I’ll pass that onto Eli.” Jacobs smile turned more malicious

“Don’t you dare.” I pleaded

“Jamie said you looked extra sexy last night.” I could hear Eli laugh through the phone knowing I didn’t actually say that “Okay I’ll let Jamie know. Talk to you later.” Jacob placed the phone back down “He said you looked extra sexy too.” Matty started to laugh uncontrollably

“You’re such a dick.” I said shaking my head

“Oh please, I probably just helped get you laid bro. You owe me one.” Jacob said proud of his actions. At least it’s nice to see them being so cool about it.

“Ewwwww” screamed Matty “I don’t want to think about that!”

“Good! I don’t want you to!” I screamed back.

We finally got to the tunnel the crowd once again watched to see if The Kid really was here. Jax made his way over to the car.

“You really are the people’s champion Kid.” He said with a smile

“What can I say? Everyone loves me.”

“Especially your boyfriend” Jax joked, Gears and Gizmo started laughing hysterically at the irony. “Alright, it wasn’t that funny” Jax said confused.

I groaned “My “boyfriend” is actually really my boyfriend” I watched to see if he was taken back at all by it “I came out to them last night, and they’re yet to act like adults about it!” I slowly started to raise my voice at them with each word. I don’t know why but I felt comfortable telling Jax about everything.

“Oh, good for you Kid.” He said patting me on the back. “I hear that’s a tough thing to do.” I guess Jax really didn’t care one way or the other. “Anyway you have the 2^nd race again tonight. Remember get in and get out, you have no reason to hang out here after you finish.”

“Sounds good, hope you placed money on me again tonight.”

He rolled his eyes and sighed “I did.” He finally admitted “here” he handed me a small black flip phone “This is a burner, only me and Pit have the number. It’s how we’ll be letting you know about races from now on. Do not let anyone else get their hands on it.”

I nodded and Jax walked back to his post. Gears and Gizmo got to work prepping me for the race. My opponent and his crew started walking past me but stopped when he got in front of me. My opponent yelled something at me I couldn’t make out and spit at my feet. I moved my jaw side to side and stared him down. The anger in my surged, I’m gonna run him into the ground.

Gears watched starting to get nervous. “Why didn’t we install a roll cage today?” he sighed.

“We’ll do that tomorrow, but for tonight I’ll be fine. I’m not letting a pussy like him take me down.”

Finally it was time for my race and I pulled up to the starting line staring down my opponent the whole way. He laughed, grabbed a wad of cash, put it in his mouth and shook his head back and forth. I rolled my eyes and put my focus back on the road.

The woman took her normal spot and explained to rules. “On your mark, get set, GO!” she screamed.

I took off with a perfect start. I even managed to take the turn out of the tunnel pretty well. When we got up to the highway it was empty. Good, now Jacob won’t bitch about me accidently dragging someone down. I slammed the gas pedal to the floor and let my engine open up. My opponent did the same and stayed with me the whole way. When we pulled up to the U-Turn he pulled even with me. He looked into my eyes and I instantly knew what he was thinking. I preemptively swayed into his car and saw the fear in his eyes as I rammed him over the small rail and off the bridge.

HOLY FUCK!

I stopped for a few second not daring to look over the edge. Finally I put it into gear and raced back down the U-turn and back into the tunnel. I crossed the finish line and jumped out of my car. I ripped the helmet off my head, threw it into the car and instantly realized everyone was staring at me. I had to do something. I had to put on a show. I slid across the hood of my car, walked up to his crew and spit at their feet. The crowd exploded and his crew stood there in shock.

I started to nervously shake but I took a breathe and thought of everyone in my life I had to live for. Suddenly the nerves turned into anger. Whoever that man was, he would’ve killed me if I hadn’t done that. “He’s done!” I screamed at them. Jax ran up and started pulling me away. I swung at him trying to get him to release me. “Have fun planning his funeral!” I screamed hysterically laughing. I had completely lost control of myself at that point. I watched laughing as one of his crew fell to his knees. Jax picked me up and shoved me into the back of my car. I saw him run up and say something to Gears and Gizmo before climbing into the driver seat. Another man walked up to Gizmo and handed him the winnings, he stared at Jax before returning to his post.

Gizmo climbed into the passenger seat while Gears jumped into the seat next to me and grabbed my arm.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS DOING?” I screamed out of anger. Jax put it into gear and started pulling away. “Are you fucking insane?!”

Jacob started to shake my arm “Jamie, clam down…please…calm down ”

“I am calm!” I shouted still not in control of myself “Why the hell are you guys doing this?!”

Jax pulled up to the highway and pointed at the smoking car flipped over on the other side of the road. What looked like a big tow truck was on the scene trying to clear the wreck. “That’s why.” He said unphased

Matty rolled down his window and threw up.

There was no question about it, the other racer was dead.