Chapter Twenty-Five

“You gonna stick by me?”

“Maybe…”

**

After Letty’s birthday, I thought my life was perfect. I had the job at Leon’s garage, racing, I was in love with a girl who loved cars almost as much as she loved me… What more could I possibly want? Everything came crashing down soon enough, though.

One Friday towards the middle of March, there was a big race planned out in the desert. Five cars, each with a buy-in of five grand, winner take all. Should’ve been a big payday for me, but it turned out to be one of the worst days of my life.

The race was originally set for Saturday, but a few days before, one of the guys planning it called me up and told me they’d had to change it to Friday. He said the cops had found out about the race and were going to set up a sting operation, or something like that.

I felt nothing but good about this race. I was sure I’d be coming home about twenty-five thousand dollars richer. Hell, I’d practically spent the money already, thinking about what needed replacing on my car and on Letty’s.

But, from the minute I pulled up to the meeting place, something felt wrong. There weren’t enough people there, for such a big race. And it was too quiet… Things were just off.

I wasn’t really worried, but I remember being glad that Letty wasn’t with me. Leon and Amber had gone down to San Diego for the weekend, to have yet another “serious discussion” about their relationship, and I didn’t really know any of the guys who were supposed to be at the race, so I hadn’t wanted to bring the girls along. I didn’t like leaving them alone while I raced. It wasn’t really a big deal for Mia. Going to the races was always just something to do, for her. But Letty’d been furious when I said she couldn’t go with me, refused to talk to me nearly all week. I give into her on so many things, but I wouldn’t budge at all on this. I hadn’t even told her about the day of the race being changed, just that I had some business I needed to take care of that night and I’d meet up with her at the garage when I got finished. Looking back on it all, I think I should’ve just brought Letty along. I should’ve realized that bad things always happen whenever she’s not at the races with me.