Hot Summer Nights by Laramie Briscoe Page A

ready to go,” Lee interrupted then cursed softly as he saw them. “Sorry, I didn’t know you had company.”
    “It’s fine,” he assured his brother. “I’ll be there in just a second.”
    Wayne wiped his lips with the palm of his hands. “Is something wrong?” he asked her.
    She shrugged, but she couldn’t stop the words that came tumbling out of her mouth. “Can’t you feel it? It’s hanging over this place like a storm ready to rumble. Something’s going to happen here tonight, everybody is talking about it. I hope it’s you winning another race, but be careful out there, huh?”
    “I’ll be a careful as I can be. You and I both know that nothing is ever promised in life. Will you be sitting up in the stands with your daddy?” he asked, beginning to walk towards his car in the lineup.
    She walked beside him, nodding as they made their way to his car. “I will be. See you later?”
    He nodded as he watched her climb the stands and take a seat next to her dad. Lee walked up, clapping him on the shoulder. “Be careful out there and put it in Victory Lane. Don’t make me beat your ass,” he warned.
    “You won’t have to beat my ass, I know what I gotta do,” he assured his brother before putting himself in the car.
    He was nervous, unusual though it was, it made his hands shake. Taking deep breaths, he looked up in the stands. He saw his mother and father sitting together, Clem and her dad sitting next to them. For once in his life, he wanted a race to be over before it began. Frankly, he just wanted to get out of the race alive. Something about this race, this night, and this time made him pray a little harder as he turned the on switch to the car. As he revved the engine, he wondered what the night was going to bring.

Chapter Ten
    ‡
    “T hat fucker!” Wayne mumbled as Kevin cut him off going into turn two.
    The two had been beating and banging for the better part of the 100-lap race. He knew without a doubt that both of their cars wore dents and scrapes like badges of honor. He coughed as the carbon monoxide seeped into his system. Being pissed off always made him breathe harder, and whenever Kevin Grimes was involved, being pissed off was usually the order of the day. Making a snap decision, he broke his car out of line and went directly for Kevin’s bumper, knocking him out of the way. Grinning like the Cheshire cat, he quickly moved his car ahead of the other man’s.
    “Stop screwin’ around out there, Wayne,” Lee came over the radio, reprimanding his younger brother.
    “What? I can’t hear ya,” Wayne said, slowing down purposely and flipping off Kevin through the window of his car.
    “Yes you can, Wayne. Back the fuck off!”
    Lee stood atop his perch and watched with baited breath as the two cars barreled around the track. Both drivers were known for their quick tempers and not so good decisions. With them, disaster was just an accident waiting to happen.
    *
    “What are they doing? They are going to kill each other!” Clementine mumbled as she stood next to her father in the stands.
    She watched in numb horror as Kevin cut up onto the track, effectively cutting off any chance Wayne had to get by. As he did, bumpers and quarter panels touched, sending both cars into a spin. Wayne fought desperately for control and overcorrected, sending both cars tumbling upside down onto the pavement and into the infield.
    “Oh fuck!” Lee yelled, jumping down and making a run for the two smoking heaps of sheet metal.
    He saw his mother and father running with him along with Clementine and her father.
    Wayne extricated himself from the battered car and looked around for Kevin. It was the dream come to life. He could feel the heat, could smell the smoke. Almost immediately he knew what was going to come next. No matter what their differences were, he didn’t want to see anything bad happen to Kevin.
    “Get him out! That damn thing is gonna blow up!” Lee yelled, running towards the car.