Both cars burst into flames in a fireball of carbon fiber and alcohol.   Becoming Antonia Part 12 By That Bitch & Zomba

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The next few weeks were a blur of activity getting the cars ready for the big dance at INDY and trying to get my personal life back in order. Jess pretty much moved in with me, at my place. I lived closer to the Shop then she did, so it made sense for her to do it. We got her fitted into the cars and set the seats right for her to be able to see over the dash. This can be a problem when your driver is only 5'5" tall, but we moved the pedals up and back, then mounted the seats higher in the car. I made sure to have a complete download of the settings we left the test day with so we could start there when the track opened for Rooky Testing.

I set up a flight for Sarah and Patrick on a flight to Indianapolis and a rental car when they got there. She told me her mom would take Isabelle for the weekend since she was just too young to know what was going on. I made sure the flight was early enough before the race, so I would have time to meet them at the airport and get them settled in without any trouble. I watched their flight land and held up the sign I made with her nickname from back when she joined the co-ed chapter of my fraternity in Syracuse. She giggled when she saw it and hugged me tight. Pat just looked at me like I was a super hero. I guess it is how I would have reacted to meeting one of the crew chiefs of a race team I looked up to when I was his age, let alone the person your mother told you used to be the man who is your father. I bent down to shake his hand.

“Hi, I’m Toni, and you must be Patrick. Your mom says you’re a big racing fan.”

He just blushed and grabbed onto Sarah’s pant leg to hide behind it. There was no doubt in my mind at this point that he was my son. I can remember doing the same thing at that age when I met any of my parent’s friends. I helped them get their bags then found the car I had rented for them. I thought it would be a treat for Patrick to have his mom drive a mustang convertible. We drove to the hotel and got them checked in. I told Sarah that Jess and I were right down the hall and if she wanted we could all go to dinner that night. The look on her face told me that she was disappointed in the news of me sharing a room with Jessica.

“Hey, it’s not what you think. We’re the only two women on the team, so it makes sense for us to share a room. Right? I mean, Richard’s daughter roomed with Jess, Brit and myself when we were working in the Cup.”

She nodded, and I left her to get their things settled away. I rang their room around 3pm, to let her know I had reservations for dinner at 5pm. She agreed to go with us and assured me that Patrick would be on his best behavior. I told her before I hung up that it wouldn’t be a problem.

Jess and I went to get them at the agreed time, and took their car to dinner. Jess drove and Patrick sat shotgun in the passenger seat. He was in heaven to be sitting next to one of his heroes as they drove the car he was in. Sarah gave me a look of ‘WTF’ when we pulled up to ‘Lava Land’, a restaurant with an attached family fun center. Jess took Patrick to go play some games, and Sarah and I went to get a table.

“She’s good with kids isn’t she?” Sarah noted.

“It helps that she refuses to grow up herself,” I laughed.

“So what made you think of this place?"

“Well it was Jess’ idea. She thought she could keep Patrick occupied while you and I had a chance to catch up on old times,” I told her as I took her hand in mine.

We talked more about what had happened since my change, and how each of us was getting along. I thanked her again for taking the time to allow me back into her life.

“If I knew then what I know now, I never would have let you go. I only pushed you away so you could live your dream of a family Sarah.” I told her as the tears started to well up in my eyes.

“And I simply waited for you. I loved you then, and I still love you now.”

“Yeah, a 35 year old widow, who works 70 hour weeks and is gone every weekend.”

“I knew what I signed up for when you started working with that Hooters Cup team back in Syracuse.”

“Yeah, but neither of us ever thought I’d be able to take it THIS far.”

She took my hand in hers and gave me a squeeze. “I did. You never gave yourself enough credit for what you know. You’re like a sponge. You soak in all the knowledge from everything you see and do and use it to make you a better person.”

“Yeah, well if I’m so damn great, how come I pushed away my pregnant fiancé, and didn’t know I had a son until a couple weeks ago?”

“It’s alright. I could have called you too you know.”

“No, that’s not the point Sarah. I should have let you be there for me, just like I should have been there for you when you needed me the most.”

“You’re here now, and it’s never too late to start over.”

I smiled at her and wiped the tears from my eyes. I looked up just as Jess and Patrick came back to the table with a HUGE stuffed teddy bear they had won. We ate and Jess told stories of our times on the road. She left out the dirty parts, like the time I kicked the guy in the balls in Phoenix, or the times Brit and I kept her up at night making out.

We all got tired out chasing after Patrick and headed back to the hotel when he finally ran out of gas just before they closed the family fun center. We headed back to the hotel, and I gave them their passes for the weekend. Jess and I would have to be at the track to sign in at 7am. I told Sarah that the pits opened at 8am, but they could get in any time. Jess fell asleep and cuddled up to me tight like she always did when we were in the same bed. Her gentle snoring put me out in a short time.

We arrived at the track refreshed and ready to go. For the first time in a long time, neither of us had a nightmare, so we both had a good night’s sleep. The team was setting up the garage and unloading the last of the equipment as we made our way into the lounge of the hauler.

“Ok, rookie meeting is at 9am, and the drivers meeting is at 11am,” I told her as I looked over the schedule they gave me at sign in.

“Ok, who’s the rookie trainer?”

“Al Senior”

“Wow, they don’t mess around.”

“No they don’t. Just listen to what he says. I know you’ve been here before in the Cup and for the open test, but don’t get cocky.”

“Yes mom,” she told me, rolling her eyes.

“I mean it Jess. You’ll be doing over 220 out there, and it’s dangerous. I’ll give you the safest car I can, but don’t drive like a fool. Promise me.”

She smiled and looked at me. “I promise. I won’t do anything stupid.”

“Too late. You’re fly is open.”

She zipped up and then flipped me off. We found where they were holding the rookie class, and Jess absorbed everything Big Al had to offer. During practice, we found some speed that the other teams couldn’t, and ended up with fast time in practice and the pole for our first race with this team at INDY. The media frenzy was intense. Reporters wouldn’t leave either of us alone. Then came the talk of cheating. We both got called into the big blue trailer for a sit down with the league officials. They said they were impounding our car and wanted to see if we were hiding traction control. I pulled the wrench out of my back pocket and handed it to the head tech official.

“Knock yourself out Billy. So, does this mean we have to go to our back up car, or are you going to give me the car back in time for me to be able to put it back together so we can make the race?”

He just looked at me and informed us that they were taking the car back to Headquarters for the official look. So, while we did set fast time, we would be starting shotgun on the field in the back up car. On the way back to the hauler, Jess looked at me and started to laugh.

“I thought you were crazy when you told me you wanted to scale both cars with me in them at the shop. Now I’m glad I went along with you on that.”

I told her, “I’m not as dumb as I look sometimes. I didn’t think this would be the reason for us having to dig out that car though. I figured someone would have collected you in an on-track incident. But, now all we have to do is make the same changes to this car that we made to the one being impounded, and you’re good to go.”

The reporters were swarming around the hauler waiting for us to get there. It was a sea of flash bulbs and microphones as they all were shouting for a comment. I took a deep breath and pushed Jess into the truck, before turning around and facing the see of media.

“The only thing I have to say is that the IRL officials are welcome to look as hard and as long as they want at the car they are taking back to their shop. The only driving aid on that car is the one that wears the helmet. Jessica does not need a computer to control her car for her. She is that good of a driver. I would have thought her record in sprint cars and what she did in NASCAR would have spoken volumes to that fact. Rest assured that the officials will get to the bottom of these accusations. There is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that they will find that the ONLY reason the Lady Schick, Tequila Patron car went as fast as it did was due to the superior driving skills of Jessica Zimkin,” I told them as I turned and went into the hauler to meet with Jess and Chip in the lounge.

“You should go into politics Toni,” Chip told me with a Cheshire cat grin. “By the way, good idea to plug the sponsors. That’ll get at least a few plays on Sportscenter.”

“It just pissed me off that they immediately assume she’s guilty until proven innocent.”

“Just go relax the rest of the day. We’ll get the car ready for the race. You two go back to the hotel and get a good nights sleep. Remember final practice is at 9am Thursday,” Chip told us, and we headed back to the hotel.

On the way out, Sarah and Patrick were waiting for us at the main gate. So, we all stopped at Hooters for a quick bite, and it felt good to just spend time with friends and my son. I didn’t sleep a wink that night. So, I caught a cab and headed to the track at around 6am. Security let me in, and I went over the car with a fine tooth comb. When all is said and done, it is the crew chief who is responsible for the car being ready to race, and I made sure I double checked every nut and bolt on that car. I wasn’t taking anything to chance with the media already looking over our shoulder. I also made sure the security guard stayed with me as a witness to me not doing anything under-handed to the car.

When the IRL officials arrived, I was sleeping on the creeper under the car. I don’t know how long I was out, but they woke me up and informed me that tech was starting in 30 minutes. So, I found the rest of the team, and we made our way thru the tech line. We passed and then fueled the car at the pumps. Jess made her way out to the grid for final practice, and we got her strapped in.

“You really need to relax a bit Toni,” she told me. “I was worried sick when you weren’t in bed and Sarah hadn’t seen you. Where did you go?”

“I was here, making sure I kept my end of our promise. I was just making sure that your car is ready to race today. Now, what I want you to do is go out and just take it easy. Don’t go crazy. Just get the feel of this car, and don’t go all out. Just cruse around and make sure everything feels right. Then pull it in and we’ll do the final nut and bolt before the race. Got it?”

She nodded and I tapped her helmet like I always do before she goes out. She did as I asked and was the first car to pull back into the garage area. She parked the car in our stall and climbed out.

“It’s just as good as the other car. We definitely have something for these boys Sunday.” she told me.

I had the crew go over the car and make sure everything was tight before the race. We headed back to the hauler and just relaxed. We didn’t have to do anything until Sunday, so we just headed back to the hotel and then grabbed Sarah and Pat then went on a tour of the area. I took my son thru the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and showed him some of the historic cars that had graced the hallowed grounds of The Brickyard. We headed back to the hotel and just relaxed for the next few days.

On race day Jess and I got to the track early and made sure we had good seats for the drivers' meeting. The officials told us all about what was going to happen. Jess would be on the pole for the parade lap then she would drop back to the tail of the field and everyone would move up one spot. We headed back to the hauler and had a little lunch then she laid down in the lounge and took a little nap. I woke her up at 10am, and we made our way to where they were holding the drivers introductions. When she went to the drivers introductions, and I went to double check the car as the crew was pushing it out on the grid. I must say that the IRL goes all out for the pre-race ceremonies. They had a color guard from the local Air Force base and Cypress Hill to play for the crowd. The pre-race wound down. They did the invocation followed by singing of “Back Home Again In Indiana,” and the national anthem, then we strapped Jess in and fired the car off. She did as she was told, and I wished the team a good race as I took my seat on the pit box next to Chip.

The green flag flew, and Jess made quick work of the back markers. She showed just as much speed as she did yesterday, and, by the time we were 10 laps into the race, she had gone from 29th to 10th. The first caution came out when one of the cars cut a tire trying to make a pass and hit the car it was passing. The driver hit the wall, but was alright. We brought her in for fresh tires and filled the car with fuel. It seems so strange to not say gas anymore, but these monsters run on alcohol. We picked up a spot in the pits and Jess took the green in 9th place. She passed 3 cars on the restart on the outside, and was running down 5th place. She went high and passed on the outside going into turn three.

Then all hell broke loose. The car she was passing didn’t turn and broad-sided her, taking them both into the wall. Both cars burst into flames in a fireball of carbon fiber and alcohol. All I could do was watch on the monitor as the rescue team tried to get the fire put out. Finally, they were able to get the drivers out of the cars, and the driver that hit Jess was taken to the infield care center. Jess wasn’t so lucky. She was air-lifted to the hospital, and I ran to the parking lot to drive there to check on how she was.

The doctors told me that she was unconscious, but stable. However there was a problem. She had received 3rd degree burns thru out 50% of her body and had broken her back in 3 places. Her vital signs were strong, but her body was in a war to keep her among the living.

I went in to the burn unit where they had her, and it didn’t even look like her. Her hair was gone, and she was all charred. Her face looked all puffy and red. I stayed at the hospital for days just waiting to see when, or even if, she would wake up.

As the days went by and she received more treatments for the burns, she lost the layers of dead burned skin, and the new skin cells started to take shape. She started to look like she was going to make a full recovery if she ever came out of the coma. They brought her back to her room, and I curled up in the chair, as I had done for about every night for the past month now. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Brit standing there smiling at me. She put her finger over my mouth and told me to shush.

“This is what I’ve been telling you about Toni.”

“What is happening to Jess? Is she going to be alright?”

“Yes, in fact she’ll be as good as new. But she’ll probably never race again.”

“Why is this happening? Why her? Why now?”

“That is not important. What does matter is she will need your help. She will need you there as a friend, just as she was there for you when you needed her.”

“Can’t you tell me why this is all happening?”

“You don’t need to know that. What you do need to know is that you are both going to learn from and teach each other. Just be there for her and everything will fall into place. It’s time to wake up. She needs you,” she told me then was gone. I woke up and found Jess laying there, looking in the mirror on the wall and struggling to move.

“Jess?” I offered. She turned to look at me and started to cry.

“What the hell happened to me Toni?”

“You had a bad crash, and you’ve been in the burn unit for over a month now.” I said as I stood up to try to comfort my friend.

I hugged her, and she sobbed into my shoulder. All I could do was just stroke her bald head and hold her. I knew the shock she was going through, waking up after a coma, and I knew it felt good to just have someone to hold you. The nurse came in and then turned back around. She went to page the doctors, and I helped Jess back to bed.

The doctor came in and started taking vital signs and testing her reflexes. There were no responses to from the waist down. I held her, just holding her hand much like a mother would with a child having a nightmare, only this wasn’t a dream. Right on time, my cell phone rang and it was Chip calling me for the daily update. I told him that Jess was out of the coma, but things weren’t going well. He told me he’d be there later in the day to see how she was doing. I hadn’t told him about all that had been happening so I tried to brace him for the worst.

“Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t look the same Chip,” I told him. He just rushed off the line and hung up.

“I don’t want to see him!” Jess told me.

“He’s concerned about you. He’s called every day to see how you were doing and he really wants to make sure you’re alright.” I told her to try to comfort.

“You call this alright? I can’t move my body for gods sake!” her words stung me like a punch from a boxer.

“You’ll get through this. I’ll be here to help you every step of the way.”

The doctors left the room and left us to be alone and talk for a while. Jess drifted off to sleep, and I just stayed in the room thinking back to my own change and all that happened to me. I knew what Jess was feeling and vowed to do my best to help her adjust to her new life, whatever it may be.

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To Be Continued...
 
Next time: Media Circus.