---

It was sundown around seven-thirty and the impromptu crowd formed on the outside of what would have been a Toys R Us. The store had been used as a vagabond village but even they cleared out due to the stench that would fill the air. It was the same that night when we arrived ahead of Tony, Matt and Riley, with foul odor which would require me to take a hot shower for hours in order to get it off. I wore Chris’ long jacket as we got out of his car.

The crowd was mostly from Jefferson High, and it included the two drivers who had the gall to challenge Tony. However, a part of me wondered if Tony bragged a bit too much about his car to the wrong person and he had to prove to everyone he was the best.
“Why not have Matt blink their car out of existence?” I whispered.
“I thought about it, but that wouldn’t be as fun.”

Riley and Matt cut through the crowd to where we were.
“No Tony yet?” Chris asked.
“He’s on his way.”
“If he comes in flying, it’s going to be hard to set any bets.”
“There’s always the robot mode,” Riley added.
“Okay, now that I’d pay to see.”
“So would Barry,” Matt replied.
Chris laughed a little as a light shined in the distance.
“All they got is a Honda,” Riley muttered and shook his head.
“A Honda decked out with enough nitrous to probably ignite the gas in the air, I’ll bet.”
An old-looking clunker car drove into the parking lot.
“He’s doing it,” Chris said as he slapped Riley across the chest. “I called it.”
“Yeah, yeah, I owe you a taco.”
“You owe me two.”

We watched the car struggle to get next to our rival’s Honda.
“You’re going to race us in that piece of shit?” The taller of two laughed.
“It’s got it where it counts,” Tony replied as he got out and slammed the door.
“Whatever, guido. You ready?”
I walked over to Tony with Chris.
“Hell yes. You got your money?”
They each took out two hundred dollars and handed them off to a third person who put the money into a bag.
“Let’s sweeten the pot a little, amico della Libertà?”
“Whatever. What do you got in mind?”
“I have something,” I said as I removed the bracelet from my arm and showed it to them.
“I can’t make you do that, Tai!” Tony shook his head.
“Go ahead,” Matt chimed in, “You’ll get it back easy, Tai.”
I gave the bracelet to the guy holding the bag and looked back to the driver. “What do you got to match?”
“We’ll bet the car,” the driver said with a grin.
“Are you shitting me?” His friend yelled.
“Look at it! Probably won’t even start. But hey, baby, I’ll bet you’ll start up for me.”
“You wish,” I replied. “Tony, I need a car, can I have theirs?”
“If it makes it back in one piece,” Tony replied with a snort.
The other driver snarled and the two got back into their car.

We walked over to Tony’s car with me in the front passenger’s seat and Chris in the back.
“You going to be okay, Tai?”
“I’m stoked for this.”
“Awesome!” Tony exclaimed as he climbed back in.

“If you can get that old rust bucket up again, we can start!” The passenger of the other car yelled.
Tony turned the key and the car roared to life like a lion but then sputtered like a lame tiger caught under the foot of a stampeding elephant. There was a roar of laughter from the crowd.
“Just call the race off. We know who the loser is!” Someone yelled as he pointed at us.
The cars rolled into position, and I glared at the other driver.
The guy with the bag holding the money and my bracelet stood in front of us and then dropped a hat onto the ground, signaling a peel out from both vehicles but the Honda zoomed ahead if us before Tony had shifted into second gear.
“And away we go!” Tony yelled and the car changed from a homage to the Wagon Queen Family Truckster to a futurist sleek car that surpassed anything featured in “The Fast and Furious” and blazed ahead to catch up with the Honda.
“Tell me they can’t see the car the way it is.”
“They only see a piece of shit car, Tony,” Chris replied as he waved his hands in front of his face.
“You don’t have to put it like that.”
“Just watch it, we’re heading into the mall.”
Tony’s car was silent as we caught up to the Honda at the center of the mall. The course would have us go straight, leave through another hole in the wall that big enough for a single car to fit through. Then circling around the parking lot and entering from the east side to continue west and then head back to the starting point. We passed the Honda, and they were not happy at all as they accelerated to catch up.
“Wanna play chicken, huh?” Tony asked.
We were rapidly approaching the small hole in the wall with the cars matching speed.
“Screw this,” Tony spat as he flipped a switch on the steering wheel.
“Booster at the ready,” a computer-generated voice, which sounded a bit like mine, announced.
“Can you obscure the booster?”
“No,” Chris replied.
“Eh, what the hell. Everyone hold on!”
“Booster engaged!” The voice said and we shot past the other car, clipping the side wall with no damage to the car.
Tony kept the booster on as we rocketed through the parking lot.
“Grappler ready,” the voice announced.
“Tony, why does that voice sound like mine?”
“AI!” Tony replied as he pushed a button on the dashboard. A spike flew through the air and then deep into the ground, allowing us to take the turn at a dangerous speed. The wire disconnected and we drove back into the abandoned mall. This time, we had to jump over an old fountain that was in the center of the food court. The ramp, if one could call it that, was made of loose concrete and boards.
Tony kept the booster engine on as we hit the ramp and launched into the air. I stared in awe as we soared over said food court and continued to fly to where the old Sears anchor store was. We touched back down and continued driving through the store and back outside. I looked out the side window and I could have sworn I saw Katie!
“Was that Katie?” I asked.
“What?” Chris asked as he turned to look behind us.
“I saw Katie!”
“Katie? Seriously” Tony asked as he pressed the same button as before.
“I invited her, but I thought she would’ve been with the others back at the starting line.
“Grappler ready,” the car barked.
Tony looked in the rearview mirror as he pressed the button again and another bolt fired and punctured the ground. However, unlike the last time, the bolt did not go down as far, or maybe it had hit a pocket of gas as we undershot the turn and spun out of control.
“Booster disengaged.”
“AG stabilizer!” Tony yelled as the car floated off the ground and repositioned us back in the direction for the finish line.
The Honda appeared from the building in a desperate attempt to catch up with flames shooting out from the hood.
“I’m converting back to incognito mode.”
“Use P.O.S., it just rolls off the tongue,” Chris shouted as the car changed back into how it was when we started.
“Whoo!” Tony yelled.
“Finish line!” Chris shouted.
I turned back to look at Chris’ face, and it once again had a fresh set of scratches and bruising. I tried to think what we had hit to have caused that.
We darted past the guy with the hat and Tony slammed on the brakes. We came to a not so sudden stop and the car rattled and hissed.
The crowd outside cheered and some booed. It appeared some of Liberty came out to represent us after all.
We climbed out of the car and Tony threw his hands into the air as Riley and Matt ran in to congratulate him.
“That was smoking!” Riley yelled. “They’re just coming in now!”
Chris turned and gave me a hug and a kiss.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I felt a pull at my body, like someone had their hands on my shoulders, throwing me back, I flew back into the path of the Honda and their pissed-off drivers. I remember seeing their faces as I struck the windshield of the car.