THE RACER Chapter 4




Special Wheels may Help Lucas Win
Courtesy photobucket.com

Even though the car they had built looked a tad rough, the boy Lucas was unfazed and he thought it was a great car until he arrived at the race site.

There he saw cars that people had spent a small fortune on building for they were determined to win at all costs.  

At this point both Abel and John were feeling more than amateurish, because they were totally out classed in every department.

Sitting along side the smoothly painted and polished cars made their hand brushed paint job look even worse than before.  While lamenting the fact they were there, Char, an old friend of Abel’s came over to him and they reminisced about the school days.

He finally got around to looking at the car Lucas was going to drive and Abel's friend said honestly, "You are going to get steamrolled!"

Abel said, “I think you are right.  We are way over our head.”

Char his friend said, “I think I can help you and help myself at the same time if you are interested.”  He continued, “My Company has developed some new wheels for these cars and they are fast but nobody will try them.

Everyone is afraid to use them and are sticking to the old style just to be safe.  I'm not saying you can win with them but they will sure make the car go faster.”

John and Abel took a look at them and saw the difference in them. They both said, “Let's give them a try for we have nothing to lose.”

An hour later the elimination runs began and after two runs Lucas was still in the mix.  

 

By now no one was laughing at the raggedy machine but each driver was worrying about their own situation.

When the afternoon was over Lucas was disappointed with his fourth place finish but without the special wheels it would have been a lot worse.  

What hurt most was a girl came in second, and that didn't set well with Lucas.

                
Abel sensed that the fourth place finished wasn't the only thing bothering Lucas, so he asked him what the trouble was.



Girl Racer
courtesy photobucket

 He said, “Just wait until I go to school and they find out I was beaten by a girl. I've been telling everyone I'm a racer and I'll never be able to live it down.”

Abel could see that might be a problem but he said you know those cars don't know who is driving them and they won't slow down if it is a female in the driver's seat. All they want to do is win.

One thing that surprised Abel was that one so young could be so sensitive and in tune to his own feelings and what others thought.

He would have to learn that life was going to be a series of events that would shape his assessment of life as he must live it. Though he might wish to avoid it his own introspection and the contemplation of his own thoughts will dog him unmercifully if he let them.

Abel until now hadn’t been ready to expose his own feelings to self scrutiny but after over two years of digging out of his depression, he began to see clearly that it was time to move on.

He had been putting off going to see his mother-in- law for he knew she would be trying to get him to meet someone he might get to be interested in, but finally he ran out of excuses and said he would come over Saturday afternoon when he finished work on a car.

She told him plan on having dinner with me and some other guests. When he arrived he realized that he knew most of the people there and as it turned out they were having a pot luck feed.

After some time he began to warm up and talked to those who came over and greeted him. He found out that he had a lot of catching up with life in their small town.

The call to come to dinner went out and people lined up and filled their plates. Then it was a task to find a seat, and the only one Able could find was next to a young woman he had never seen before.  

 

To be Continued