Nelson’s Raceway, New York:
Terry drives the rollback that was carrying Wraith’s prototype on it through the gates of the raceway. He heads down to the pit area he normally uses when he comes up to either race or test any of his vehicles. He felt at home at the raceway. It helped him overcome what had been done to him.

He spots Chasity’s race car old number 75 out on the racetrack. He notices her older sister was waiting for her in their normal pit area. He stops the rollback and starts unloading Wraith’s prototype. Once Wraith is unloaded, he moves the roll back around to the other side of the pit area.

As Terry is prepping the prototype for the test he is about to perform. He watches Chasity as she hits turn two and speeds up after coming out of the turn. He notices there was a short delay before her car speeds up. He continues to watch her as she comes around the track. He notices that each time she comes out of the turn and tries to speed up. She has that delay he noticed earlier.

He watches as she pulls into the pit area. He had some idea what the problem might be, but he had his test to perform on Wraith. He sets up the equipment he brought to reprogram Wraith’s onboard computer system. He uploads the new instructions and runs a test to make sure the onboard computer received the new instructions.

“Alright, Wraith. Let’s see how your new self-driving instructions work.” He remotes start the prototype and send the okay for it to perform its test.

The prototype pulls out of the pit area and heads out onto the racetrack. Terry watches as the prototype enters the track and speeds up. He watches the systems on the equipment that monitors Wraith while it is out on the track. So, far everything was within the perimeter he had programmed into the prototype.

“Are you testing something new, Terry?” Leia had spotted Terry down in the pit area.

She had come down to the track to test the rebuilt motor in her race car. She had worked hard putting the new motor in her race car.

“Sure am, Leia. Did you get your car done?” Terry liked Leia. She has had a hard life.

Her mother had run off when she was just ten years old and her old man treated her like a dog. He never said anything nice to her or treated her with respect. Whenever she was around other people, he would go out of his way to embarrass and belittle her.

She had to fend for herself for food and whatever clothes she needed. When she turned twelve years old, one of her father’s friends raped her. He blamed her and whipped her with his belt.

“Is it alright if I watch before I test my car out?” Leia liked watching Terry and learning from him.

“Sure.” He moves aside to let Leia watch what he was doing.

“Is that car driving itself?” Leia was watching the monitor as the prototype drove around the track.

“Yes, it has a self-driving system installed.”

“How does it know what to do?” Leia was curious about how it operated.

“It’s equipped with sensors all around it and links up with the GPS satellites in orbit, so it always knows where it is. It has a specially written program that takes all the information it gathers from around the car and controls the computer systems that control the steering, fuel, brakes and everything else.”

“Cool, it sounds like something from Night Rider.” Leia liked to watch old television show.

“Yes, something like that without the artificial intelligence computer system.”

“How good is the self-drive system? Can it avoid accidents and such?”

“Yes, it can avoid accidents and such. Right now, I’m teaching it to come to me, when I summon it.” Terry felt that it would save time when he needed to use Wraith for a job.

“That would be neat.”

Terry and Leia continue to watch Wraith as it circled the track, avoiding the other drivers on the track. Terry gives the command for it to come to him. Leia watches as Wraith exists from the track and comes directly to them. It stops an inch from where they were standing.

“This is so cool, Terry. I wished my race car could do this.” Leia looks over towards her race car and wishes she had more money and talent to make it look and run better.

She rebuilt the car from an old husk that had been at the raceway for years. It had been left by its former owner, because of how terrible it had performed. The engine in it was blown and needed to be rebuilt from the ground up and the transmission and rear axle needed to be replaced.

She had put every penny she made into rebuilding the car. She lived on hot dogs and ramen noodles. She stayed at the raceway in an old janitor room the owner had forgotten about. She got tired of the way her father treated her and ran away from him.

“Look, let me conduct a few more tests on my prototype and I’ll work with you on your race car.” Terry liked Leia.

“Really? You don’t mind helping me?” Leia was excited that Terry was willing to help her. She knew he uses to be a woman but became a guy.

“Yes.”

“Thank you, Terry.” Leia hugs Terry.

“You’re welcome. Would you like to ride in Wraith?”

“Can I?” Leia looks at the car.

“Yes, you can. Go and put your racing suit on.” Terry wanted to make sure Leia was safe.

“Okay.” Leia turns and runs over to her race car and puts on her patched-up racing suit.

She had found it in the pit area one day when she came down to clean the area up. Someone had thrown it away because it was dirty and torn in a few areas. It was big on her, so she trimmed it down to fit her skinny body. She used the extra material she took off to repair the holes and tears it had.

Once she was dressed, she runs back over to Wraith and climbs inside with Terry’s help. The doors on the prototype didn’t work.

“Alright Leia, let the car do the driving and enjoy the ride.” Terry smiles at Leia.

He gives the command for Wraith to take off. He watches as Wraith speeds out of the pit area and onto the track. He hopes Leia enjoys the ride.

Leia was taken back by how fast Wraith went from 0 to 60 in no time. She had been pushed back into the driver seat as its exit from the pit area and onto the racetrack. She looks at the digital displays mounted in the dash and couldn’t believe how fast she was going. Wraith was doing two hundred and thirty mph and his RPMs were only at 4800 RPMs.

She knew it should be higher, but for some reason, Wraith was running faster with lower RPMs. She wonders what type of frame he had and what type of motor and transmission he was equipped with. She watches as his speeds increases as he hit the straightaway and how he hugged the steep turns like he was being pulled down to the track.

She loved how fast he was going and how he just screamed by the other drivers like they were standing still. She watches his onboard computer system and radar system pinpoint each car and automatically avoid them. When he goes back into the pit area and stops, it was so smooth.

“Terry, this car is unbelievable. I love riding in it.” Leia looks at Terry and would love to drive it.

“Do you want to try and drive it?” Terry could see how excited Leia was.

“Can I?” Leia would love to drive it.

Terry just smirks “I don’t see why not. Let me turn the safety features on for the driver, so you don’t wreck or injury yourself.”

Terry turns the safety’s on for a human driver. He double-checks everything, before looking back towards Leia.

“Alright, it's set for you to drive. Just be careful with him.”

“I will, I promise.” Leia steps lightly on the peddle and speeds out of the pit area.

She was smiling as she shot out onto the track and cut loose with his speed. She couldn’t believe how smoothly he responded to her touch.
She speeds around the track and is amazed at how he lowers in the turns. He was hugging the turns like he was on rails. When Wraith comes out of the turns, he shoots out like a bullet fired from a gun.

She goes around the track three more times before she brings Wraith to Terry. When he comes to a complete stop, there was no jerking or dipping.

“Man, I wish my race car could do this.” Leia climbs out of Wraith.

“Why don’t you go and bring it over here, so I can place a diagnostic module on it. That way, I can monitor how the motor and everything is doing.”

“Okay.” Leia runs over towards her car.

She jumps into it and tries to start it. It doesn’t want to start on the first try. She tries again and again and on the third try, it starts. She drives it over to where Wraith is parked and where Terry was waiting on her.

“Keep her running.” Terry heard how hard it was for Leia to start her car.

He opens the hood to install the module. He saw that the parts on the engine and the engine itself were old and rebuilt. He knew Leia had to use junkyard parts and recycle what she could for her car. Hell, the body of the car needed severe work. He attaches the module to where the main computer was and shuts the hood.

“Alright, let me calibrate the module.” Terry hits a few keys on his equipment.

He couldn’t believe the information he was getting back, after calibrating the module. This poor car was going to need a lot of work.

“Alright Leia, go ahead and take it out on the racetrack.”

“Okay.” Leia presses on the gas and the car start to slowly move as she tries to get it up to speed.

It finally reaches the speed she needs as she exits out onto the raceway. She knew her car still had problems, but she was hoping it would be good enough to enter the race this upcoming weekend. It was for amateur racers and the prize money would help her do more repairs to the car.

Terry was watching the readout he was getting, and it wasn’t very encouraging. That poor car needed a lot of work. He watches as Leia struggled to make the turns.

“Bring it in, Leia.”

Leia felt embarrassed because of how her car was performing. She put everything she had into it and had nothing left to put in the car. She manages to limp back to the pit area where Terry was. She had a disappointed look on her face.

She looks at Terry “how bad is the news?”

Terry could tell Leia was trying to be brave “she’s going to need a lot of work. Look, if you don’t mind me helping you. I think between me and you working on her. We can get her up to race-worthy by this weekend. We’ll have to do it at my garage, but it can be done.”

“I don’t have much money to pour into my car.” Leia was close to crying.

“Don’t worry about the money. I think I have the parts we need at my garage. Why don’t you pack a bag and come and stay at my place, so we
can work on your car? When you need to work here, I’ll have Dakota or myself bring you and pick you up.”

“You would do that for me?” Leia knew Terry was a nice fellow.

“Yes, I would, and my wife would too.” Terry knew Dakota would help Leia.

“Thank you, Terry.” Leia hugs Terry.

“Don’t thank me just yet, Leia. We have a lot of work to do.” Terry returns the hug.

Leia helps Terry load Wraith and her race car onto his flatbed tow truck. Once the cars and equipment are packed away. She runs towards her room and packs what clean clothes she had, which weren’t much.

She looks at her panties and bra and noticed how threadbare they were. She was going to need new undergarments soon. She takes her favorite bunny rabbit she found and fixed it with her. He has been her one comfort throughout her life. She makes sure the room is locked and the door is hidden while she is gone.

She runs back outside and spots Terry waiting for her. She gets in on the passenger side of the tow truck.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

It takes Terry thirty minutes to arrive back at his garage. He heads down to the last bay and drops Leia’s race car off.

“Let me go and unload Wraith and I’ll come back and help you push your car into the bay.”

“Okay.” Leia has never been to Terry’s shop before and was amazed at how many service bays he had. The place was locked up for the day.

She turns around and watches as Terry goes down to a side road and turns onto it. He disappears behind some trees. After a few minutes, she hears the tow truck beeping from behind the garage. Leia pushes her race car out and turns it around, so it can go in nose-first into the garage. Just as she gets her car turned around, the bay door opens.

“I see you already got your car turned around.” Terry helps Leia push the car into the bay.

“I figure it was the least I could do.” Leia guides the car into the bay.

“We’ll start work on it, first thing tomorrow morning. I’m going to need to tear your motor down and tweak it.” Terry closes the garage door.

“Don’t you have a shop to run?” Leia was curious about that.

“I’m the owner and I have an office manager and a shop manager. You’ll meet my shop manager tomorrow. You’ll like her.” Terry knew Ralph liked his new job as shop manager.

Leia grabs her bag and waits for Terry to lead her to where he lives. She watches as he comes out of the garage.

“It’s this way, Leia.” Terry points towards a two-story lightly tanned painted house that was down the street from the shop.

There was a white picket fence going around it with two rows of roses on the side of it. There was an archway covered in flowers at the entrance of the property. Dakota and he had talked about moving out of the garage and getting a house for the girls to grow up in. The one down the street had come up for sale and they bought it. It was within walking distance to the garage and it had four bedrooms.

“Honey, I’m home and I brought a guest.” Terry looks around for Dakota.

He finds her in the kitchen cooking dinner. The girls were in their playpen watching their mother and listening to music. He walks up behind Dakota and kisses her on the neck. She was still wearing her work clothes.

Dakota returns the kiss. She noticed that a young girl was standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Who’s your friend?” Dakota turns around to look at the young girl.

Leia saw that Dakota looked Native American and was wearing a black t-shirt with the garage name on it. Her shirt stuck out because of her melon-shaped breasts. She was also wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and black tennis shoes.

“This is Leia Dallarosa, and she works down at the race track I do all my testing at. I’m helping her rebuild her race car for the upcoming race this weekend. I figure she could stay with us, so she wouldn’t have to travel so far each night.” Terry looks into Dakota’s eye with some unspoken words that he will explain later.

Dakota noticed the look Terry gave her. A smile appears on her face, as she walks over to Leia.

“Any friend of my husband is a friend of mine. I hope you don’t mind meatloaf, Leia.”

“Anything is better than what I have been eating, ma’am.” Leia was sick of ramen and hot dogs.

That statement raised an eyebrow on Dakota’s face. She needed to learn more about this Leia person now.

“Let me show you to a guest room.” As she turns to face Terry “can you watch the food and the girls until I get back, please?”

“I think I can handle that. Have they been feed yet?” Terry kneels to look at his little angels.

“Not yet, I was going to feed them when we ate.” Dakota was happy she could feed the girls solid food now.

“Oh, mommy is going to feed you some solid foods tonight.” Terry had a smile on his face.

Dakota just shakes her head as she leads Leia to one of the spare bedrooms. Leia noticed the bedroom was tastefully decorated. It had a
western feel to it. There was a huge queen-size western-style bed in the room. A trunk at the foot of the bed. The floors were wooden and crystal clear.

There was a nice flat-screen television mounted on the wall. A nice full-length dresser with a mirror in the middle of it. There was also a ceiling fan in the middle of the room, that looked like it belonged in a saloon.

“The main bathroom is at the end of the hallway and the linen closet is next to it on the right-hand side. If you need any feminine hygiene products, they are in the linen closet as well.” Dakota observes Leia as she took in the room.

“Wow! I’ve never seen a bedroom decorated like this before.”

Even when Leia’s mother was around, they lived in a one-bedroom place. Her bedroom had been the walk-in closet. Her parent’s bedroom was the same size as the living room.

She walks into the bedroom and just looks at it. She felt kind of out of place being in something so nice. She places the bag that had the clothes she packed on the trunk at the foot of the bed.

Dakota continued to observe Leia and was learning a lot about how her home life must have been. She wonders what the poor girl did for a living. She’ll have to talk with Terry later tonight and learn more about Leia.

“Why don’t you make yourself comfortable and I’ll go and finish fixing dinner.”

“Okay.” Leia watches as Dakota turns and leaves her alone.

Leia wonders if she is doing the right thing, as she starts unpacking her clothes and putting them in the dresser drawers. The room was better than where she has been staying. The small janitor closet allowed her to sleep and cook meals on the two electric burners hot plate she managed to buy.

Dakota heads towards the kitchen and notices Terry selecting the baby food for the girls. She stands in the doorway and watches him. She watches as he grabs one of the apricot jars “the girls hate the apricots. Unless you want to be cleaning spit-up off your uniform. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Dakota has already learned her lesson on what the girls will eat and what they won’t eat. Who would had thought when she became a police officer at twenty-one as a male. That one day she would become a woman and a special operative. Or the younger sister of another special operative and millionaire.

“Thanks for warning me. So, you are probably wondering why I brought Leia home with me?” Terry has already figured out how Dakota thinks.

“Yes, an explanation would be nice.” Dakota walks over to the stove to check on the meatloaf she was cooking.

She followed the directions her sister-in-law on Terry’s side of the family gave her to the letter. She also made the mash potatoes going with
dinner from scratch, instead of using instant. She was learning how to be more domestic around the house.

“Well, what I told you about her race car is true. The poor thing needs a lot of work if she is to enter into the race. Leia put every penny she had into rebuilding an old race car from whatever parts she could get or rebuild.”

“Okay, I can see that being something you would get behind. However, I know there is more.” Dakota puts some fresh green beans she snapped and seasoned on to boil.

“The other reason I brought her home, is she needs a loving family. From what I know or heard about her, she hasn’t had anyone to love her or care for her. Also, she is a little slow with normal things. I think when she was little, she was physically abused and I’m guessing sexually abused as well.” Terry has seen some of the signs of sexual abuse.

“Not to mention, she is extremely skinny. Did you notice that?” Dakota figures the poor girl hasn’t had anything nourishing to eat.

“Yes, I did. As I said, she puts every penny she makes into her race car.” Terry noticed her physical condition and the clothes she wore day in and day out.

Dakota spots Leia coming towards the kitchen. She puts her finger to her lips to notify Terry. Afterward, she pulls the meatloaf out and lets it cool before she cuts it. The potatoes were ready and so were the beans.

Leia stops in the doorway when she smelled the meatloaf. Her stomach growls loudly at the aroma floating in the air.

“Sounds like someone is very hungry.” Terry looks towards Leia.

Leia blushes from her stomach growling as it did. She hasn’t had anything to eat all day long.

“Why don’t you give me a hand setting the table, Leia.” Dakota hands a stack of plates to Leia.

Dakota grabs some silverware and heads into the dining room with Leia behind her. As she sets the silverware down, Leia places a plate at the spot. Leia watches how Dakota sets the table. She never learned how to do it before.

As Leia and Dakota are setting the table “Terry told me you have a race car, Leia. How long have you been racing?”

“This is my first time, ma’am. I’ve always wanted to race when I was younger, but I could never afford to do any racing at all. I decided last year that I wasn’t going to let an opportunity go by this year. So, I did everything I could to rebuild an old wreck that had been left at the racetrack. I barter and do all sorts of jobs to raises the money to rebuild parts on the car or buy them from junkyards. I couldn’t afford new parts, so I had to do with what I could get.”

“That must have taken a lot of drive and persistent.”

“Yes ma’am, it did.” Leia looks at Dakota. She noticed how she was looking at her with a proud look on her face.

It made her feel warm and happy. No one has ever looked at her like that before. She wishes her father had loved her. She heads back into the kitchen to help set the table.

Once everything was set on the table. Leia helps Dakota bring the girls into the dining room. She tries not to laugh when Terry tries to feed one of the girls. The little girl was giving her father a rough time. As for the dinner itself, she was encouraged to take seconds and thirds.

By the time she was finished eating, she was full and feeling sleepy. She has never felt like this before. As she was getting up to help clear the table.

“Why don’t you go and take a nice relaxing bath, Leia. You look tired and ready to fall asleep.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping to clear everything off the table.”

“We’re sure, Leia.” Terry looks at Leia with a kind and gentle look on his face.

“Okay.” Leia waves good night to Terry and Dakota as she walks towards the bathroom.

She starts filling the tub with hot water and steps into the hallway to grab a towel. There was already shampoo and conditioner in the
bathroom. She strips out of her clothes and slips into the tub. It has been a while since she has had an actual bath. Normally, she took sponge baths at the racetrack.

She leans her head back and closes her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the hot water. After enjoying the water for a while, Leia starts washing her hair. She needs to get it cut since it is getting long. When she starts washing her body, her fingertips glide over several cigar burns that she received from her father’s friend. He enjoyed torturing her, just before he raped her. She’ll never forget the look on his face as he blew smoke into her face when he entered her body.

A shiver runs throughout her body as the events of that night come back to haunt her. She was only twelve years old when he grabbed her.
She had started developing her breasts and had her first period when she was ten years old. He was drunk and started grabbing her roughly.

Her mother had already left her and her father. Her father was outside enjoying the company of his friends. All of them were drunk and the one that raped her had come into the house to pee. He had spotted her watching a Disney movie wearing just the nightshirt she had on with her white cotton panties.

She hugs herself as she tries to forget about what he did to her. Her body shakes as tears escape from her eyes. Why was she remembering these memories now? Leia doesn’t know how long has passed before she opens her eyes again. The water in the tub had gotten cold.

She gets out and dry off and slips on her threadbare shorts and an old Dale Earnhardt Sr. T-shirt she found at the racetrack. She heads into the bedroom she was sleeping in and crawls into bed. She grabs her bunny rabbit and holds it tight to her. She buries her face against his brown fur and cry.

Rebecca couldn’t believe she beat Dakota and Terry to work today. It was unusual for them not to be at the garage, before her. Today Ralph decided to come to work dress in his female persona, instead of as a guy. She knew Terry and Dakota didn’t mind. She pulls her keys out and heads inside the building to start opening it up. When she walks down to the main circuit breaker box to turn the lights and equipment on, she notices a beat-up ratty-looking race car.

“I wonder whose hunk of junk that belongs to?” Rebecca lifts the hood and looks at the motor.

Rebecca could tell right away that everything under the hood was a mismatch of old, new, and used parts. Whoever built the motor and the car had pieced it together.

“I wonder how it sounds?” Rebecca just looks at the car for a few minutes.

She closes the hood and goes about turning the breakers on. Once all the equipment and lights are on. She heads into the dressing room and changes into her favorite pair of coveralls. She liked the farmer style of coveralls.

The t-shirt she had on under her coveralls had a monkey holding a wrench. There was a saying on the shirt, but you couldn’t see it. She heads back into the office to see what work orders they had leftover from yesterday.

As Rebecca is sitting at Terry’s desk, Terry, Dakota, and some girl she didn’t recognize come walking into the office. She wonders who the girl was?

“It’s about time you guys show up. Where are the twins?” Dakota normally brought the girls to work with her.

“Aylin is babysitting the girls.” Dakota knew the girls liked Aylin.

Aylin had a natural ability with the girls. She saw how Aylin cared about the younger kids. Especially when she goes to Central Park and reads
Alice in Wonderland at the statue to a group of children.

Rebecca just shakes her head. She knew how crazy Aylin was and how she could be very vengeful if you messed with one of her friends or family.

“What? She’s a natural with children. If there is one person I trust with the safety of twins, it's her.” Dakota knew Aylin and Hatter were slowly changing.

Hatter wasn’t as wild as she uses to be. Aylin, Hatter’s true name was slowly becoming more normal than she uses to be. She cared more about herself and how she appeared around others. She chalked that up to Aylin’s friends and Anika.

Leia was listening to Rebecca and Dakota as they spoke. Aylin did strike her as a little odd with the clown make-up she was wearing this morning. Terry told her that was the way Aylin always looked.

“I couldn’t find a work order for the race car down in the last bay.” Rebecca looks towards Dakota.

“That’s a shop special, Rebecca. I decided to sponsor the owner of the car.”

“What?” Leia looks at Terry with a surprised look on her face.

“I figure I and my brothers would take a chance on you. Also, this will help pay for any parts we need to swap out.” Terry wanted to surprise Leia.

He spoke to his brothers this morning and got them to agree to sponsor Leia. They said they would be at the race this weekend to see how good she was and how the car did.

“Well, it looks like we have a lot of work to do.” Rebecca heads out to the garage to start removing the hood.

“Come on Leia, you’re going to get your hands dirty today.” Terry tosses a company t-shirt to Leia.

Leia changes out of the t-shirt she had on and puts the company t-shirt on. She folds up the shirt she just took off and looks where she could leave it.

“Here, I’ll put it on my desk.” Dakota holds her hand out for it.

“Thank you, Dakota.” Leia hands the t-shirt to Dakota.

“You’re welcome.” Dakota places the t-shirt in her bottom drawer.

“You go and start getting your motor ready to be pulled out. I got a few jobs I need to do. There’s a spare tool chest you can use down near Rebecca’s. She has the keys to it.”

“Okay.” Leia goes down to talk with Rebecca.

She manages to get the engine ready to be pulled. She also drops the transmission as well and Rebecca helps her with that. She works through lunch to get everything pulled.

“Leia, the roach coach is here or if you like, you can have lunch at the house.” Dakota sticks her head into the garage.
Leia walks over to Dakota “I don’t have any money to buy anything.”

Dakota reaches into her pants pocket and pulls a twenty-dollar bill out. She hands it to Leia “here, take this and get yourself something good off
the truck. The food isn’t that bad.”

“Thank you.” Leia accepts the money and wonders why Dakota was being so nice to her. No one ever does anything nice for someone.

Leia walks outside to grab something from the truck. She notices there was a picnic table set up near the garage under a nice tall tree that provided shade for the table.

“Can I get some lunch money, mom?” Rebecca bates her eyes at Dakota.

A smile appears on Dakota’s face, She reaches into her pants pocket and pulls out another twenty-dollar bill, and hands it to Rebecca “don’t spend it in all at one place.”

“Thanks, mom.” Rebecca smile at Dakota, just before she skips off towards the truck.

Dakota turns around and spots Terry behind her “I’m heading towards the house to check on Aylin. Do you want anything?”

“I’m fine. I’ll grab something from the truck.”

“Okay.” Dakota grabs her keys and heads out of the office and towards the house.

After a short break, Leia helps load the engine, transmission, rear axle, and driveshaft onto the shop's pickup truck. She was curious where they were going to take them.

“Terry, where are you taking these items?” She climbs into the passenger seat.

“To my brothers’ shop Big Boy Toys. They specialize in building custom vehicles for clients.” Terry gets in on the driver's side and starts the truck up.

It takes them almost forty-five minutes to arrive at Big Boy Toys. Terry pulls up to the bay doors and honks the truck horn. The door starts opening and once it was opened enough to drive through, Terry heads inside and over to an empty bay.

A bald guy with a beard comes walking over to the truck. Henry wonders what Terry wanted today. He stops near the truck and looks at the engine, transmission, drive axle, and rear axle in the back of the truck.

“Hey, Henry.” Terry gets out of the truck.

“So, what did you bring me today?” Henry looks at Terry. He knew who or what Terry use to be and what happened to change Terry.

“I need a total rebuild and upgrade on these items. My brother has the instructions on what I want to be done to them.”

Leia gets out of the truck and stands on the passenger side the truck. She looks at the guy and figures he must be a biker or something. He was built like an ox. He would be someone her father would like to know.

Henry spots the young girl on the other side of Terry’s truck. He gets a feeling that she has been abused and mistreated. It was in the way she looked at people. Her eyes seem dim and beaten.

“So, what are these items for?”

“My race car.” Leia wonders what this guy was curious about her parts.

“Sweet.” Henry liked building race cars.

“So, how long are we looking at? Because I need them by the end of the week. She races on Sunday.”

“Wednesday the earliest, Thursday the latest. It all depends on what I and the guys have to do.” Henry figures they could get the motor and transmission done by tomorrow.

“Well, let me know how things are going. Let me give you a hand unloading everything.” Terry walks over and grabs a pallet and a forklift.

He drives it over to his truck. He notices had the tailgate opened already. Between him, Henry and Leia they managed to put everything on the pallet.

Henry takes a tag out of his back pocket and puts Terry’s name on it. He attaches it to the engine. It had what was on the pallet listed, so if anything is missing, they will know.

“Thanks, Henry.” Terry gets back in his truck and heads back to his garage.

Leia looks at Terry “how come you’re not working over here?”

“Because I’m not into building custom vehicles for people. Plus, I have enough work at the garage to keep me and my people busy.” Terry glances at Leia as she thought about what he said.

During the week, Leia has to work at the racetrack. Dakota or Terry takes her and picks her up from the track. When she isn’t working at the track, she’s helping the guys in the garage at Terry’s garage. She noticed that Rebecca comes to work as a male and his name was Ralph.

When she comes in one morning, she walks over to the bay her car should be but is gone. She gets nervous and goes to find Dakota or Terry. She bumps into Rebecca heading towards the office.

“Hey, calm down Leia. What’s wrong?” Rebecca looks at Leia’s frightened face.

“My car is gone.”

A smirk appears on Rebecca’s face “Terry took it over to the body shop to straighten out the frame and to do a few more things to it.”

“Where’s the body shop at?” Leia looks at Rebecca’s face.

“It’s here, but you can’t get to it from inside the garage. You have to walk around to the back of the building.”

“Oh!”

“Come on, you can help me with old man Jone's car.” Rebecca starts walking to bay 3.

Leia follows behind her. She notices that Rebecca has a cute walk as she follows her. She wonders why Rebecca switches between male and female persona.

Race Day:
Leia looks at herself in her new racing suit. It had an endorsement from Big Boy Toys, Terry’s garage, Big Texas Oil, and Eruption Communications on it. There was also a Wolf Head and the Cheshire on her suit. She had asked Terry who they were, but all she got from him was that they were friends and were willing to invest in her.

She was feeling nervous as she stepped out of the trailer, they brought her race car in. It was brand new and had a picture of a Wraith on it. Her suit was black with silver and gold. Her helmet matched her suit.

She walks out to where her race car was waiting. It looked different than it did before. It reflected the sunlight off it changing black paint. You couldn’t tell if the paint had silver in it or if it had gold.

Since she was a late entry, she was in the back of the pack. She gets in and fastens the safety harness. Her safety equipment exceeded the requirements. It was the same that Wraith used.

She looks at Terry “I’m scared, Terry.”

“Hey, look at your dash.” Terry points towards it.

Leia looks at her dash and there was a copy of her bunny rabbit dressed in an exact uniform like hers. Just above him, it said, “let’s burn some rubber!”

“Your bunny is here to cheer you on. Now, go and have some fun.” He steps away from the car.

Leia wipes the tears away and pulls out of the pit area to the position she had. She noticed that her car was handled just like Wraith’s prototype did. She follows the other cars and when they got the green flag, she gives her car the gas and shoots out like a bullet.

All the nervousness she had been feeling left her. She concentrated on the race and could tell the difference in her car now. It was like she was driving Wraith’s prototype. It hugged the turns just like Wraith and when she came out of the turn, there was nothing that could stop her.

Rebecca was down in the pit area with Terry and several others from the garage and Big Boy Toys. She looks at Terry “okay, what did you do to that car?”

“Nothing that wasn’t legal and by the rules. That car is one hundred percent by the rules.” Terry worked hard to make the frame and such like Wraiths. It had been a rushed job, but the company he used managed to pull it off.

Everything about that race car was custom built and designed. It was almost as expensive as Wraith himself. He watches as Leia passes several cars. She was moving up the ranks and leaving everyone else in her dust.

“Alright, she’s coming in. Get ready.” Terry watches as Leia comes to a stop right at the pit.

The guys go and refuel and change her tires. Terry peeks in on Leia “how are you doing?”

“I’m jacked up.” She couldn’t believe how good she was doing.

“GO!” Jerry smacks the rear end of the race car.

Leia takes off and manages to get back out without losing any time. She floors the pedal and starts passing everyone. She was slowly moving up the ranks. She was in fifth place and moving up. By the time, the last two laps approached, she moved up to the second place. Whoever was in the first place was doing everything they could to keep her from passing them.

When they went into the final turn, she used her advantage of her car hugging the turn. She floors the pedal and shoots out past the guy holding her back. She felt her race car jump as she headed towards the finish line.

She notices the other car was only a few inches from her. She gives the car a little bit more gas as she pulls ahead by a few inches. She crosses the finish line first. She pulls into the pit area and couldn’t believe she had won.

Leia gets out of the car and jumps into Terry’s arms. She hugs him as tears slide down her face.

“I can’t believe I won.”

“You did an excellent job out there on the track.” Terry was proud of Leia.

Leia freezes when she spots her father and several of his friends coming towards the pit. She wonders how he knew she was here.

“You did good girl. You’re going to give me you’re winning and come with me.” Ben looks at his daughter in her new racing suit.

He looks at the race car behind her and figures it must be worth a lot of money. He could sell that and make a good chunk of money.

“Excuse me, but who are you?” Terry stands in front of Leia.

“I’m her father and everything she won, belongs to me. That includes her as well. So, why don’t you step out of the way and give me what is mine.” Ben steps forward towards Terry.

“We don’t think so and you’ll get what is coming to you.”

A smile appears on Terry’s face as his two oldest brothers step forward. Not only were they there, but Hatter was as well. She was helping Dakota with the girls.

“Oh, please be stupid and do something you’ll regret.” Hatter had an evil smile on her face.

“You are going to sign this piece of paper severing your paternal rights to her. Because if you don’t, we’ll have to give you a beating of a lifetime.” Eddie and Robert had been informed about what was done to Leia by Dakota.

Dakota had been sneaky and questioned Leia while she was asleep. She had walked by her bedroom and heard Leia yelling for someone to stop. She managed to calm Leia down and questioned her about what happened.

She passed that information to Eddie and Robert to see if they would adopt Leia as their little sister. She knew they missed Terry being their sister. The guys had shown up to see how well Leia would do in the race.

Ben and his friends look at everyone present. He could tell they all meant business. When he looked at the clown-looking woman, shivers went down his spine as he watched her lick a throwing knife in her hand, that hadn’t been there before.

Ben takes the papers and signs his name and has his friends sign as witnesses. When he was done, he looks at Leia “I hope you are happy, you bitched.”

He falls forward towards Terry. A wrench clatters to the ground behind him. When everyone looks at who threw it, they noticed it had been Rebecca. She had another big wrench in her hand.

“No one talks to my friend like that.” She looked like an angry little girl.

Hatter tries to cover up a smirk that appeared on her face. She so was going to throw her knife at him for that comment. However, Rebecca beat her to it.

Terry kneels in front of Ben “if I were you, I would leave now. Because security is on its way.”

Ben and his friends leave. Once they were gone, Eddie looks at Leia “how about it, Leia? Would you like to become our little sister?”

Leia looks at Eddie, Robert, and Terry. She glances towards Dakota “that would mean I would be your sister-in-law.”

“Yep, you would.” Dakota just smiles at her.

“Yes!” She couldn’t believe she was joining a loving family.

During the week, she has had dinner with them and gone to family gatherings. Terry had taken her to meet his family, while her car was being worked on.

“Welcome to the family, Leia.”

Eddie, Robert, and Terry hug Leia. They were going to be very protective of her and protect her, where they couldn’t protect Terry.