The Champion (Racing on the Edge) (62 page)

“Honey, he’s twelve
...
I—”

She held up her hand. “You’re in no position to decide
that, now are you?”

“Point taken,” I grumbled hoisting myself up from the
tile floor. “But you’re talking to Arie about sex. I can’t do that.”

“I already have.”

“She just turned fourteen!”

“Yeah but it’s important. Besides, she was curious
because Lexi started her period when we were shopping one day. It was a fucking
disaster! I had to explain, she thought Lexi was dying.”

“You couldn’t just say that once a month you bleed?”

“I’d rather educate her on it.” she shrugged pouring hot
water into the fudge bowl. I leaned against the counter and sighed. This
parenting shit was hard exhausting work. “I mean, my dad just told me that he
wasn’t qualified for that sort of thing. I ended up having to ask the kid
behind the counter at the Texaco in town how to use the goddamn tampons.”

“Who the hell was the kid and why didn’t you ask my mom?”

She pushed me down the hall, “It doesn’t matter. Go talk
to Casten.”

Let me tell you something about Casten. Everything is
funny to him. He’s just like Sway in that regard but worse. It might not be
funny at all, but Casten will laugh. When he was little, he used to think that
if you screamed in pain, that was funny. So after my conversation with Axel, my
wife’s nervous breakdown, and finding out my fourteen year daughter already
knows about the align boring process, I wasn’t really in the mood to be talking
about this with my twelve year old son, who would more than likely, laugh at
me.

Casten was outside with Cole and Lane setting up new
jumps for their dirt bikes.

He wanted to show me a new jump they made so we walked
toward the back of the property while Lane and Cole continued with the track
and found Tommy with a spray bottle in his hand walking along the edge of the
track looking over ruts that were forming.

“Why are you sweating?” Casten asked kicking dirt around.

“It’s hot out here.”

“No it’s not. It’s like sixty.”

“It is too hot.” I stopped walking and looked over at
him. “I need to talk to you about something.”

His eyes widened in panic. “I told her I’d buy her a
phone.”

“What?”

“Arie
...
I told her
I’d replace her phone.” His eyes scrunched. “Wait a second, what did she tell
you?”

“Nothing but now I want to know. What did you do to her
phone?”

“Nothing,” he laughed lightly before tossing the rock
he’d picked up and sat down on the bleachers we installed last summer.

“Bullshit.” I sat next to him and leaned back.

He held out his hand for money.

“I don’t think so. You’re not five any longer and you
cuss worse than I do.”

He smiled. “What did you want to talk about?”

I thought about my approach for a moment.

Tommy was out on the track with the boys before he fell
down and then just laid there and looked up at the sky as though that was a
comfortable spot to lay. Only problem was he was right under the double jump
they had out there. That’s when he brought the spray bottle to his mouth again.

“I’m beginning to think that spray bottle is not water.”

Casten tipped his head as if he was looking closer.
“Nope. It’s vodka.”

I nodded and then decided on my speech for my youngest.

“So, um, well
...
I
...
have you had the birds and the bees talk in
school?”

Like I expected, he started laughing.

“Geez dad, you look like you’re about to have a heart attack.”
He laughed again before I pushed him off the bleachers.

He landed on his ass, still laughing.

“Don’t have an aneurysm.” He chuckled.

“Just answer the question.” I huffed wanting to end this.

Casten loved fucking with people. He lived for it.

“Birds n’ bees, huh?” he smirked. “I’m not sure I know
that term.”

He wanted me to say it and I refused to. But then again
I’d be here all night if I didn’t.

“Sex, do you know about it or not?”

Once again, he laughed.

“Was that so hard?” he teased.

“If you want to continue living in my house, you’ll stop
making fun of me.” I snapped.

He thought this over for a moment.

“Fine,” His amused eyes met mine briefly before his
cheeks flushed. “And yeah
...
Lane told
me. Logan may have said something once too.”

This could be bad. “And what did he tell you?”

“He said
...
uh that
you do it when you love someone.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah
...
always
wear a condom,”

“Good.”

I’d have to thank Lane and Logan for this one. I couldn’t
understand why this was so hard for me but easy for him. I mean, Christ, he’s
twelve. My parents never had this conversation with me. I walked in on Spencer
and a girl when I was twelve and put a few things together from there but
anything else I learned from his porno stash and health class. I guess I
thought my kids would do the same.

“You’re not having sex, are you?”

He gave me this blank stare.

“I know you’re eleven
...
or
twelve
...
or whatever.” I ran the heel of
my hands over my eyes. “I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“Just so you know my real age,
dad
, I’m twelve.”
He replied looking up at me as though I was completely crazy.

“So that’s a no?”

“That’s disgusting.” He shook his head and side-eyed me.
“I’m not going to have sex. I don’t even like girls.”

“Come talk to me when you’re fourteen and I guarantee
that will change.”

“Doubt that.”

“I think I’ll bet you on that. I bet you five hundred
dollars by the time you’re fourteen, you’ll spend the majority of your time in
the bathroom.”

“Why, will I be constipated or something?”

“No, you’ll be distracted by
something
.”

“Well then I will stay eleven
...
or
...
twelve.” He acted
as though this would not be a problem. “And deal on the five hundred. I could
use some extra cash these days.”

I laughed. “Now back to Arie’s phone
...
”

“Shit,” he muttered with another laugh.

Sway freaked out about Axel being sexually active. She
knew after my conversations with her but the dumbass got careless and left his
bedroom door unlocked one afternoon that summer. Needless to say, Sway walked
in on them. I was on my way home from Sonoma when she called crying while
eating ice cream.

“What did he say?” I asked when she told me.

“Nothing,” her voice muffled by the full mouth of ice
cream. “He didn’t notice me. I saw and immediately closed the door. I didn’t
want to see any more than I already had. At least they had blankets on them,
this could have been worse.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“Okay
...
when will
you be home tonight?”

“Around six, I’ll talk to him then.”

I managed to get her off the phone after that and decided
to call Axel on my way home. He was on his way to Lernerville with Tommy.

“Hey dad, what’s up?”

“You’re mom walked in on you and Lily.” I had no
intention of sugar coating it for him. He needed to learn about these things.

He chuckled casually. “That sucks for me, huh?”

“Pretty much,”

“Sorry.” He offered.

“Just lock your door kid. No one wants to see that,
especially your mom.”

“Noted,”

“It better be more than noted buddy, more like
remembered.”

“All right, lock the door.”

“Good, now how was Grand Rapids on Wednesday
...
you took first in the Silver Crown and
midgets, right?”

“Yeah, something is missing with the sprint program.
We’re forty points out of the lead behind Shane and I just don’t see what we’re
doing wrong.”

We got onto talking about racing after that and I gave
him what pointers I had. More than anyone on this, Tommy was where the brains
were—hints why he was always with Axel these days.

When I got home that night, Sway was crying over her
children growing up. Casten, who faithfully said goodnight to Sway, went to bed
without saying anything to her when he got home from his midget race.

“Let’s have another baby?” she said to me as we laid in
bed that night.

“No, I don’t think so.” I told her firmly rolling away
from her. “I’ll get you a puppy.”

“Not the same.”

“Sure it is. And best of all, they don’t talk back.”

I had a feeling this wasn’t over but for now, she fell
asleep. Poor Sway hated the kids getting older and becoming adults, especially
with the boys. She wanted to baby them.

I knew how she felt—I hated it as well. I missed the
times when they were babies and learning to speak. Now they talked back, I
could live without that.

Panhard Bar – Sway

“Let’s get away for the weekend.”

“Get away? You’re kidding right?” he threw his arms up
and papers scattered across his desk with the motion. “Do you not see all this
shit?”

“I see it.” My voice was timed trying not to set him off
any more. “I just think you need a break.”

It took me a good week after that to convince Jameson
that we needed to get but the week after Christmas, he agreed.

We decided to keep it simple and just head to our house
that we purchased in the Florida Keys after I had gone there last winter with
the girls.

The house was simple, only three bedrooms but it was right
on the water and very romantic.

Now knowing how our vacations or trips in general usually
go for us, how do you think our time went?

Let’s face it. Jameson and his moronic ideas have gotten
us both in our fair share of compromising situations before. Now wasn’t any
different.

We got a speeding ticket on the way there because we
drove which was a stupid idea, by the way. I got food poising from some gas
station food and by the time we got to the beach house neither of us was in the
mood to do anything besides sleep.

All that ended around three in the morning the next day
when I felt better.

I woke him up with a little micro polishing and finished
with some of the best press forging we’ve ever done.

Jameson sighed against my shoulder, his breathing harsh.

“Jesus Christ, I think I pulled a muscle.”

Laughing, I rolled over on him again. “So that’s a
no
on round two.”

“I’ll try but damn, turning forty has really done a
number on me. And I thought thirty was bad.”

“Just imagine when we turn fifty.”

“Oh dear god, don’t remind me.”

We laid in comfortable silence before he turned toward
me, his fingers running over my lips. “I was good at the “
woo”
once upon
a time.”

“You still are.” I whispered against his lips. “It’s been
one hell of a fairytale.”

And that it had been. That weekend we celebrated our
seventeenth wedding anniversary and as always, Jameson showed me just as much
love and woo as he did the first year of our marriage along with lots of press
forging, deburring, reciprocating motions, piston stroking and some align
boring. It was a good time as always.

Returning home, Jameson was stressed and Speedweek was
just around the corner.

As we’re sitting in the kitchen at Jimi and Nancy’s house
one morning before he left for Daytona, I tried to distract him.

“I think dyno testing cures all. What are your thoughts?”

I couldn’t help but smile as my husband’s head shot up
from his phone. “Are you wanting to do a little micro polishing right now? In
my parent’s kitchen?” he asked with a smirk.

“Wouldn’t be the first time, would it. Will it make you
happy?”

“Fuck yeah it would make me happy but I’d still have all
this shit on my mind.”

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Nancy as she
walked into the kitchen holding Logan’s newborn daughter, Madison. Hard to
believe the Lucifer twins were of reproducing age.

“I offered to micro polish Jameson’s camshaft to reduce
the friction in his engine.” I admitted without shame to Nancy. Glaring,
Jameson kicked me under the table.

“Don’t tell my mom that.” He groaned watching me rub my
shin where his foot smacked.

“Oh sweetie,” Nancy looked confused. “Is the engine in
your sprint car running badly?”

So clueless.

“Come on.” Jameson ordered pulling me outside and to the
car. “No more teasing me.”

And just like that, I was showing my dirty heathen a good
time again.

Regardless of his mood, I knew my husband and always knew
how to make his life a little easier, even if it was just bleeding his pressure
valve at times.

Panhard Bar – Jameson

As I’ve said, Sway had a hard time with the boys getting
older and becoming adults. When a thirteen-year old Casten came home with his
first girlfriend, I, for one, was five hundred dollars richer and Sway was a
basket case again. It was similar to when she found out Axel was no longer a
virgin.

My own nervous breakdown came when Arie got her first
broken heart.

Being a father was hard, evidenced by the gray hairs I
kept pulling out. And being a father to a sixteen-year old girl was so much
worse than boys.

I rubbed my forehead, ignoring my ringing phone until I
realized it was Sway. Immediately I picked it up.

While I was in Talladega, Sway was in Knoxville with Axel
and Casten. Arie was with Emma and Lexi at home.

“What’s up honey?” We just got off the phone with each
other so I was surprised she called again so soon since I was on my way to
Knoxville to see them.