Chapter 37 - Race

Like any normal man, I liked turbos. The fast cars were amazing, and I really enjoyed them. The combination of liking fast cars and being high was not a good one. Of course, drunk driving was forbidden, but being high was completely free since, according to Stefan, it didn't interfere. Eventually, someone always got hurt in the races, and it was probably because of the use of something.

Some competitors didn't race but had their own cars. They paid professional racers to race for them. The prize money was split equally between the parties. That's how I managed to acquire my second car. Stefan took pity on me, a poor teenager who had messed up. He paid me to race several of his cars, and this increased his children's anger. When I got enough money, I bought one of his old cars and then started tuning it and making it my own, almost like a version of the old one, only better. Perhaps because the original bodywork was his, he was curious to know how powerful it was.

"You haven't raced in a while, Dorian. It must be rusty," Stefan's eldest son, calling himself Joel, said. He was a boring guy, and he was one of the ones who ran often. At the time, he had been one of the most jealous of me.

"More than what you call a car? I doubt it," I said, trying to get the upper hand. I wasn't too keen on being hassled, especially by clueless people like him. Joel was the worst of the four brothers. I didn't like him at all.

"Why don't we compete and find out?" he said, trying to get on top of me. Joel looked like he'd been smoking for a while. He was certainly more stoned than I was. "I'll let you choose which category you want," he said. Joel raced well, I must admit, but on the whole, I'd won against him more often than not. Even months apart, I probably shouldn't have been in such bad shape.

"Are you still running? I thought you'd be as retired as your father by now," I said, as I took a few puffs. The other guys with me just watched. They weren't that interested in fights, only in betting. They would probably keep an eye on our argument and bet between themselves who would win. I had already been the target of several bets. I didn't usually disappoint, but when I did, some men would come up wanting a fight. Of course, I'd beat them up without even trying. I think even Axel would get the better of me if I fought them.

"Your bad mood hasn't changed a bit, Dorian," he said. "Can I say the same about your races, or are you just pretending that you're still running well?" he said, teasing me. "Are you still in those two jobs? I've heard about the illicit services you've been providing in our little world. Are you so short on money? I can lend it to you if you want," he said, showing me his credit card. He really was an audacious guy. "It's unlimited," Joel said, emphasizing how he had so much money. It was a fact that Stefan and his family had a lot of money. Stefan, as well as being a former racer, had also been in the military, and as well as running clandestine races, he also took care of various drug sales points.

"That's interesting," I said to him about his card. Then, after taking the last drag, I reached into my pockets and pulled out three credit cards. "I think these are more than enough," I said. "UNLIMITED," I said, emphasizing each letter until the word was formed. I had several unlimited cards. I had plenty of money. In fact, I could say that working was a hobby. I was still thinking about a future in which Amelie would stop working and just stay in administration, like Axel and me.

Joel had no reaction to my argument. He hardly knew what to do or say, but it was clear on his face that he was feeling defeated. Of course, I liked winning too, but I was so used to it that I didn't care anymore. "What? You can use your card at Lowe's if you want," I said, teasing him even more. It seemed that Joel's discussions had taken on a certain negativity. In the past, I could remember times when he had left me speechless. I was much better at running than talking. Maybe that was the effect of the weed.

"I'm going to finish you off, Dorian," he said, walking away, completely defeated. The guys next to me laughed, but that didn't mean they were going to bet on me. In fact, there was a good chance that I would lose to Joel in that race. I had no idea which of us would get more bets. I hadn't even seen the crowd yet.

"It could be the standard race!", I shouted to Joel while he was still walking away. I realized that I hadn't chosen yet. The standard race meant running through the city to a specific point and then back to where we were. Whoever arrived first would take the prize. Stefan had already informed me that the prize was fifteen kilos of a certain drug that was famous on the market. For us, in that universe, that was a big deal.

After a while, all the cars were ready. For our race, there were about ten men. Some women were racing too, but at that moment, there were none. All the bets were off, and I already had a pretty good idea of who was going to win and who was going to be angry. Joel met me at the starting line. "Are you still investing in that?" he asked as he looked at my car. "Is that my father's?" he asked. Despite all the circumstances, when it came to cars, everyone was calm and just shared knowledge. At that moment, we were in one of those situations.

"Yes. It still has a lot to do, but you've seen the best of it," I said, tapping the bodywork. I'd already won a lot of races with that car, and some against Joel. "As long as it works, I'll be using it. And if it's up to me, it'll work until the end of my life," I said, almost in a hopeful speech from a cheap overcoming movie. Idiocy.

"If you want, I can shorten it for you today," Joel replied, threatening me. He wasn't usually the type to get up too much in races. He really enjoyed the race itself, just like me. Of course, when I was threatened, I felt obliged to hit back. An eye for an eye, of course. "I can wreck the car if I want to. And you," he said. Joel was a little older than me.

"You're looking pretty confident today," I said. "Sorry to disappoint you."

Minutes later, we were all in our cars. All the competitors were scattered around the city, in all the likely spots we could use while we were racing. The endpoint had already been set, that is before we returned. My body was vibrating with anticipation for the race. Even stoned, I couldn't keep all the adrenaline out of my body.

I prepared my car, and then the green light was given. The wind coming through the open window was enough to make me sure that this was a good idea. It was something I was doing for myself and by myself. I didn't have to worry about Amelie, EVE, Axel, or Carbon. My only concern was to win that race and get back to the top of the biggest stakes. Back to being the rage of Stefan's children, and back to being the least problematic part of the life I'd ever had.

The races were set based on the day's traffic and police cars. As well as winning, one of the objectives was not to get arrested. Most of us have never had the worst experience, but we shouldn't count on luck. In any case, the route was reasonably safe for us to race at an exciting speed. We could go through a few red lights and even overtake. Although most of us had never been arrested, many had caused or suffered an accident. Of course, I fit right in. I once crashed into the side of another car, among other embarrassing situations. Now that I was coming back with everything, I couldn't afford to commit something like that.

On the final straight, I was ahead of Joel, and I knew I was going to win. Even if he boosted his turbo, I still had plenty of power to make an overtake. Unfortunately, I was so preoccupied with Joel that I didn't care about the other competitors and the next thing I knew, I was in second place and Joel was in third. I didn't even know one of the runners who won first place, but he had a strong machine.

I was already getting ready to fight with some guys.