Wreckers or Checkers: In It to Win It Read online

  Kim was trying not to laugh, “He is very vocal when he wants to be, I think he’s just nervous. So Jet can I ask you some questions? I have a feeling that your side of the story is way different than Riley gave us.”

  “Sure.” I told her

  “Well, according to her you were very abusive towards her and forced her to have, uhmm nookie, the night he was conceived. That your dad was a raging alcoholic and your mom wanted her to get an abortion?” she asked.

  I choked on my soda and shook my head, “No that’s not at all what happened, the part about dad being a raging alcoholic is true though but we haven’t lived with him since I was about eight years old. My mom would never ask a woman to get an abortion, and I can promise you that I didn’t force Riley to do anything. She is the one that poked holes in the uhhh contraception.” I told her.

  Mike was shaking his head, “You know, I told Kim that she seemed pretty sketchy when we were going through the adoption process. Then after she had Chase she seemed relieved and was ready to leave the hospital in a hurry the following day. I have told Kim all along that something about her just wasn’t right, other than giving birth to this handsome little guy and allowing us to start a family. I don’t much care for her. Is that harsh?” He asked then leaned back in his chair and put his arm around Kim’s shoulders.

  I agreed with him then told him the story about everything that happened after Riley found out she was pregnant, then told them what had happened at the race track the night before. Kim sat there shaking her head, “We had asked her numerous times who the father was but she refused to tell us and wouldn’t put you on the birth certificate. We WANT him to know both parents as long as they are good people.” She told me and I agreed.

  We all sat there in silence and ate the rest of our meal, Chase would stare at me then look over at the other guys beside me. I looked up at Kim when I heard her sniffle and watched her wipe away tears. I looked nervously at Mike then back at her, “Are you okay?” I asked her.

  She nodded her head, “Yes, I just keep watching him watch you. It’s like he’s looking in a mirror and he knows it. Then add my pregnancy hormones and I turn into a blubbering mess.” She said around a small laugh. I looked at Chase that was still staring at me, then he pointed at Mitch, “You play football like on TV?” he asked.

  Mitch smiled and gave him a small nod, “Yep, I play football, but only college some of the games are on TV.”

  “Name?” Chase asked him.

  “Mitch Hesstin” He said with a smile.

  “Cool!” Chase replied then looked at Jason and Jerod and asked their names. When they both told him he smiled and pointed at his little chest, “My name Chase, is Chase, My name IS Chase I’m three!”

  We all laughed and gathered our trays, “Do you guys want to come to the track so you can see the cars?” I asked Mike.

  He smiled, “Hell yes…I mean Heck yes!” he said and helped Chase out of the high chair.

  “Wait, Riley is still there. I’m not real sure why though.” I told Mike and Kim as we walked out of McDonalds.

  Kim smiled, “It’s okay, I doubt she’s overly eager to see him. She usually only comes by on his birthday.”

  Once we were all outside Mike looked around the parking lot, “What did you guys come in?”

  “That hot rod right over there.” I pointed on the purple PT Cruiser.

  Mike busted up laughing, “Your man card just received a red mark man!” Kim swatted him on the arm but started laughing. “I’d say you could ride with us but there’s absolutely no way you will fit in our Ford Focus with his car seat in there, so we’ll just follow you guys.” He told me.

  We all piled into the little PT Cruiser, Mitch pushed buttons on the CD player until he settled on Britney Spears ‘One More Time’ . I looked over at him, “Are you fucking serious? Turn that shit off!” Mitch just smiled and started singing along and bobbing his head with the beat of the music. Jerod was belting out the lyrics while Jason was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. I pressed the skip button, “Why the fuck does this have to be broke, this CD is going to take a flight out the window as soon as I get it out.” I grumbled and kept hitting skip. When Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl and I Liked It’, I sighed and shook my head, “I fucking give up!” Everybody started laughing when I started singing along with Katy the rest of the drive to the race track.

  Once we got to the track and I pulled Carley’s car in beside their trailer, we all got out of the car. I threw the keys to her, she was smiling, “You look pretty hot in that.” She said with a laugh.

  “Woman, I make anything look good!” I told her with a huff.

  “His man card is gaining more red marks though, that CD was enough to almost make him tear the dash apart.” Jason told her.

  Carley gasped, “That’s my favorite mix disc you jerk!”

  I laughed then turned around when I heard Chase yelling, “LOOK AT ALL THE RACECARS DADDY WOW!”

  Carley looked past my shoulder, “Whoa! He’s your twin!”

  Kim, Mike, and Chase walked up to us, Chase tugged on my hand, “Where is your car?” he asked with excitement.

  He never let go of my hand as we walked through the pit area over to our pit stall, “Well little man do you want to see the one that I wrecked or the one I’ll be racing the rest of the weekend?” I asked him.

  He chewed on his bottom lip and wrinkled his little forehead, “Hmm, both! Yeah I want to see both!” He said nodding his head.

  I laughed as I lowered the door of the trailer that housed my wrecked car, Chase stood in front of my pit crew and his parents. “Whoa! It’s broken!” he said with big eyes.

  “Yeah buddy it is, but I’ve got the good car in the other trailer.” I pointed at the other enclosed trailer.

  “Okay, can I see it?” he asked with a big smile.

  “You sure can!” I closed the back gate on the one trailer then walked over and lowered the gate on the other trailer. “You can go inside, if you want to sit in it let me know and I’ll help you get in it.” I told Chase.

  “Can I?” he asked with a big smile while looking at Mike and Kim. They both nodded their heads yes and smiled back at him.

  He walked over to the door, looked at the window then at me, “I can do it!” he beamed up at me. Within a couple of minutes he was inside the car and sitting in the seat looking for the steering wheel. I unhooked it off the trailer wall and pushed it onto the steering shaft. Chase grabbed it with both hands and started making loud motor noises as he tried to turn it side to side. He looked out the window, “Will you take me for a ride in it?” he asked.

  “Sorry bud, I don’t think the track officials will let me do that, but I tell you what.” I knelt down beside the car. “If I win the big dance Saturday I’ll see if they’ll let me do one slow victory lap with you in the car, how does that sound?”

  “REALLY? That would be so fun!” he said then started making his motor noises again.

  I looked back at Kim that was crying again, “Don’t even say a word Jet, I’m telling you it’s the hormones.” She said with a laugh as Mike rubbed her back.

  I pulled out a couple of fold out chairs out for them to set in but Kim chose to set on Mikes knee because she said she’d never be able to get out of the chair.

  “I hope you guys are okay with me seeing him, I don’t want him to be confused. I just had to see him since Riley never told me about him until the drive here.” I told them both.

  Kim wiped at her eyes, “I’m very happy that you wanted to see him, do you think you’ll be able to stay in touch though? I’m sure this will be a weekend he’ll never forget.” She asked me.

  “Oh absolutely, I’m ten hours away from you guys though. We could do some FaceTime or Skype whenever he asks.”

  Mike nodded his head, “That would be awesome, I look forward to getting to know you. You seem like a pretty awesome guy. I’m curious where the girlfriend is though.”

  Jason coughed and cleared
his throat, I narrowed my eyes at him then looked back at Mike. “Well, there was a problem and I fully take blame for what happened between Riley and me the other night. I’ve tried to talk to Chassis but she left, so when I finish Saturday night I’m flying back to Ohio.”

  Kim shook her head, “You men, sometimes you have to screw up really bad before you realize that you had something good.”

  I nodded my head, “Well it didn’t go THAT far, but it went far enough and I regret it. I wish Chassis was here she would have fallen in love with Chase and you guys.” I smiled. We sat there visiting about college and what they both did for a living. Mike was a computer program analyst and Kim was a stay at home mom, their baby was due in eight more weeks. They told me the reason they adopted Chase was because Kim worked at the clinic at the time Riley was living in California.

  “She wanted to get an abortion at first, then broke down and said she just couldn’t handle being a mom.” Kim told me while looking at Chase in my race car.

  Chase yelled that he was ready to get out of the car and wanted to know if we would go show him more of the cars. Each trailer we went to, the drivers gave a t-shirt to Mike and Kim and a shirt along with a hoodie to Chase. He was beaming with a smile from ear to ear. Kim told us that she needed to sit down because her ankles felt like she was carrying around ten pounds of water each so we went back to the trailer. Just as we all sat down Riley called me and wanted to go out for supper, I told her no and hung up on her. Mike guessed right away who it was. About thirty minutes later Chase came over and crawled up onto my lap. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest when he laid his head against my shoulder and yawned.

  “Jet, I look like you.” He said then yawned. “I don’t have a bunch of marker on my arms like you do though.” He said as he followed the yellow and orange flames up one of my arms. I looked over at Kim and Mike, since I had no idea what to say back to him.

  Kim cleared her throat, “Chase sweetie, you do look like him don’t you? I bet you grow up to be just a handsome as him then.” She told him in a sweet voice while trying to hold back tears.

  He placed his little hand in mine and yawned again, “Yeah probably.” He said then his entire body relaxed.

  I looked at Jerod, Jason, and Mitch they all had a look of complete shock on their faces.

  “He’s asleep.” Kim whispered to Mike and me and then she smiled and stood up. “Is it okay to take a picture of you two?” she asked softly.

  I nodded my head and smiled as she took pictures with her cell phone, then text them to me. My phone vibrating in my pocket didn’t even wake Chase up. I carried him to their car and put him in his car seat then told them to let me know when they got to the track the following day so I could buy them pit passes.

  After they had left I went back to the motor home, I had stayed busy so I wouldn’t call or text Chassis but I was going crazy not talking to her. I laid down on the couch and sent her a text; *Met Chase and his parents today,wish you could have been here. I miss you so much Chassis it’s killing me that you won’t talk to me.* I attached a picture that Kim had forwarded to me of me and Chase beside my race car. I looked through all of the pictures on my phone, I stared at every picture of Chassis and me then the ones of me and Chase. I fell asleep waiting for a reply from Chassis.

  Chassis

  ****

  Once we arrived at the airport I called Lance to have him come get Asher and me. I was in no mood to explain anything to him over the phone so on the drive back to campus I explained everything that had went on.

  “Chassis, I guarantee you he knows he fucked up and I can promise you he’s beating himself up over it. It sounds like to me she knew exactly what she was doing and she got exactly what she wanted…you to leave.” He said then looked back at the road.

  “Uggg! It’s so frustrating, he would have flipped out on me and beat the hell out of the guy. He was pissed I wouldn’t let him in the bed with Carley and me…”

  “Carley? You bedded down with another chick? So technically YOU cheated on Jet!” Lance said and started laughing.

  I crossed my arms over my chest turned in the seat and glared at him, he looked at me out of the corner of his eye and stopped laughing. “Sorry, but it’s not every day that I hear a woman cheats on her boyfriend with another woman.”

  “Hardy har har jackass, he claims he didn’t screw her but do you really think he could walk away from her?”

  Lance watched the road and remained silent, “Honestly yeah, Jet’s had it bad for you since the first time he laid eyes on you at the party.”

  I didn’t say anything back, I shook my head and watched as the landscape flew by.

  We arrived back at campus about seven that night, Lance helped us get our luggage back to our dorms then left. I decided to take a nice long hot shower to relax and think about everything that had happened. Before I got in the shower my phone went off with a text, when I seen it was from Jet I hesitated to read it but when I did I started crying again. *Chassis, I’m sorry, so fucking sorry. PLEASE, I love you, I’ll do anything, ANYTHING to have another chance with you. I know I fucked up baby you have to believe me, I didn’t fuck her. I have no reason for why I did what I did. I promised you that I wouldn’t hurt you and I did. I’m so fucking sorry. Please, please baby, I love you. I can’t lose you. I love you! I’m coming home after the races Saturday and we are going to talk. I’m going to race my hardest and win this mother fucker for you. If you want me to quit racing I will, I’ll do whatever you want me to. Please just one more chance let me prove to you that I only love you and will always only love you. I love you Chassis Brinn Heart. This is me wide open begging you for forgiveness. I can tell you a hundred times in this text if I have to, I love YOU! I’m so sorry for what I did, I swear it’ll NEVER happen again. I love you...and I’m sorry! *

  I ran the hot water out completely, then dressed in some baggy sweat pants and one of Jet’s t-shirts. I went out to the living room, Asher was sitting on the couch texting somebody. She told me Jet had called and what she had said to him, “Chassis he’s tore up about it, he wanted to leave and follow us back here.”

  My eyes burned with more tears, I crossed my legs under me and leaned my head against her shoulder. “Am I over reacting? Is every relationship like this?”

  “No, you two really need to talk about this Chassis. I have no doubt in my mind he loves you, he knows he screwed up. I’ve talked to Mitch and he said that he believes that Jet didn’t do anything besides kiss her and feel her up a little. I think that you just need to go to bed and try not to worry about this until he comes back. Then you two have GOT to talk if you want to work things out with him.”

  “I know, I love him too, I’m just so confused why he let it go as far as he did.”

  “I know you are, that’s why you need to talk to him.” She told me then hugged me before she stood and went to her room. I went to bed and laid there thinking about everything until I finally fell asleep.

  The next morning after I woke up I dressed in my workout clothes and went to the track to run. I had run about seven laps, and started walking when Lance caught up with me. He put his arm around my shoulder and smiled down at me, “Everything is going to be okay, why don’t you finish up your workout then we can go out to lunch?”

  “That sounds great, come by the dorm in about an hour.” I told him then we went our separate ways.

  I got back to the dorm, showered and put on my black leggings, a white oversized t-shirt and my Converse tennis shoes. Just as I pulled my hair into a sloppy bun Lance knocked on the door then walked in. Asher wasn’t feeling good so she waved from the couch as we walked out of the dorm.

  “Subway sound good? We can go over to the park and have a picnic since it’s so nice out?” Lance asked.

  “Yes, I’ve been craving that actually!” I told him with a laugh.

  We walked the ten minutes to Subway, waited in line another five minutes then finally made our way back to
the park. We sat down under a huge oak tree and started eating our sandwiches. Lance devoured the first half of his, then stopped eating and sat there staring at me.

  “What? Do I have something on my face?” I asked and wiped at the corners of my mouths.

  He shook his head and smiled, “No, I just like looking at how beautiful you are. I wish Carey wouldn’t have fucked up my chances with you. Jet is one lucky guy, your beautiful just being you. You don’t wear tons of make-up and spend hours getting ready to go out.”

  I felt myself blushing, “Thank you…I think!”

  “No, really. I know that he’s feeling like a complete dick head right now, I’m sure watching you with another chick about put him over the edge. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t try to follow you or stop you from leaving.”

  “Well, when I left I didn’t exactly tell him I was leaving.” I told him as I picked at the bread on my sandwich.

  “Ahh, so that’s why. I thought it was pretty odd he wasn’t hot on your heels.” He told me then took another bite of his sandwich.

  Just when I got ready to take a bite my phone rang, I pulled it out of my purse to see that it was Jet calling. “Just answer it.” Lance told me with a wink.

  Much to my surprise it wasn’t Jet on the other end when I answered, it was Riley. My blood instantly started to boil and I wanted to do nothing but hang up on her, I put it on speaker phone so Lance could hear what she was saying. She was telling me how Jet stopped anything from going too far, that she had seen me peeking around the front of the semi and was trying push Jet to take things further. What really shocked me is when she admitted to poking holes in the condom so she could get pregnant by Jet again if things actually went that far. Then she admitted that she was still in love with him. I looked at Lance after she told me that, his eyes were big and he was just as speechless as I was. When I didn’t respond to her after she was done talking she had to say my name a few times. I didn’t know what to say I’d met two of Jet’s ex-girlfriends and they were complete psychos, so that’s what I told her. I had obviously struck a nerve with her so I went on about how if Jet loved me he would have NEVER touched her. The more I talked the more mad I got, I know he was just trying to get me to believe what he was telling me but I couldn’t stand her. So I hung up, I was in no mood to talk to her…and never would be. I sat there staring at my phone, tears started to burn my eyes when Lance pulled me tightly against his shoulder.