Good Boy by Megan Lowe
Chapter 23
My phone buzzes at some ungodly hour on Sunday, waking me up.
“Hello?” I answer, without looking at who’s calling.
“Hey.”
“Thomas?” I ask.
“Yeah, sorry. Did I wake you?”
I scrub a hand over my face and look at the clock that reads 10:57 a.m.
“No, it’s fine. What’s up?”
“I heard from the guy who runs the Skids, Kevin. He told me about a meet this week and I thought I’d let you know.”
I sit up. “This week?”
“Yeah, Thursday.”
“Isn’t it a bit early to be announcing the day? I thought they would keep it secret so the cops wouldn’t find out.”
“Sometimes he gives me an early heads up.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. I told him a buddy of mine had an R-SPEC and was looking to test it out.”
“Yeah?” I ask.
“Yeah. He was excited. I don’t know if they’ll have room for you to race this meet, but maybe the next one?”
“That would be awesome.”
“You’re sure about racing?”
“Oh yeah, absolutely.” I’ve raced a few times in Detroit and I was hooked. I wanted to take my mom but by that time she was too sick. She would’ve loved it though. Amy on the other hand, would probably blow a gasket if she knew what I was planning.
He chuckles.
“So what are they like?” I ask. “What’s the competition like?”
“Oh man, it’s insane. Racing’s not my thing, but there is so much there. Every type of car you can think of is there.”
“Including a certain Chevy Chevelle SS?”
“Naturally.”
“He’s not going to let me race, is he?”
“It’s not a question of ‘let’. He doesn’t run the Skids so it’s not like he can say absolutely yes or no. But he could make it difficult.”
“Why doesn’t he want me to race?” I ask.
“That I don’t know,” he replies. “Usually Cav’s all over fresh meat, wanting to show his dominance and all that.”
“His dominance?”
“He’s the best.”
“He’s really that good?” I ask.
“Yeah, he is. When he’s in the Chevelle, he’s impossible to beat. The time, effort, and money he’s put into that car…. It’s his pride and joy.”
“So you don’t think anyone can beat him?”
“Hmm,” he considers. “I mean, it’s possible. I’ve just never seen it happen.”
“If that’s the case, why doesn’t he want me to race?”
“Like I said, it doesn’t make sense. I think I have an idea, but I could be wrong.”
“Ready to share with the class?” I ask.
He chuckles again. “Not really. You, um, never met Cav before you started at Windswept, did you?”
“How would I meet him? I moved here like a month before school started. I knew no one and knew even less about the city.” Technically, I’m telling the truth. I never met James, we just talked. And mutually masturbated. But we never met.
“Right.”
“Why?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just have a suspicion about Cav and I thought you might be able to either let me know I was on the right track or not.”
“Me? How?”
“Don’t worry, it’s probably nothing.”
“You don’t really think that, though, do you?”
He sighs. “No, I don’t.”
“So why do you think I could help confirm things for you?” I ask. There’s only one way I could help and that’s….
“It’s probably nothing. I’ll just have to go in another angle,” he says.
“What do you know?” I ask.
“It’s just something I have a hunch on. It’s fine, I’ll find another way.”
“Um, okay.”
“So the Skids, Thursday night, I’ll swing by and we can go together.”
“I-If you want.”
“Yeah, it would probably be best.”
“They don’t just let in any riff raff off the street?” I ask.
“No. I mean, they don’t, but that’s not why we should go together.”
“And you’re not going to let me in on that reason either?”
“It’ll just look better.”
Figuring that’s as much as I’m going to get, I take it. “Okay then.”
“I know this all very secretive. I swear I’m not doing it on purpose, but it’s really for the best. Our end game here is to bring down Cav, right?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“And we’ll get there, I just need you to trust me. I know I haven’t given you a reason to, but I’m on your side. I want to bring him down as much as you do.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“It’ll work, I promise. You get to him. I think I know why, so we’re close.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll let you go, but I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Yup, Monday.”
“It’s all good, Connor. Don’t worry.”
Famous last words.