Potential - S01 E135

Story 3 days ago

Potential - S01 E135

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 135

Evan had seen the flagman's fist and knew he only had five laps to make an impression, then he almost lost it in turn one. If there had been a car on his outside, he would have taken both of them out. His second lap was going well until Cindy told him to slow down and let the three cars behind him catch up. The first one reached him and blew past. Cindy said, 'Keep up, that guy ain't got shit. Stay on his ass like it's mine." Man, he loved the way she talked about racing.

Evan slammed the gas pedal to the floor and got closer, but he could feel the other two cars buzzing nearby like a swarm of homets. The edgy feeling you get when you think there might be a car in your blind spot on the highway, was a joke compared to going ninety on dirt with no mirrors and making split-second decisions. He went in lower than the guy in front, the one who didn't have shit, but he couldn't make the pass. Then one of the hornets behind him stung his ass and got him squirrelly. Cindy echoed in his helmet, "Evan, don't slam it in there like that. She's a virgin, go in easy...ease it in, then speed up."

Jason pretended he hadn't heard Cindy, and asked, "Are they supposed to bump him like that?"

Cindy lowered the glasses and said, "That wasn't a bump, it was a rub. If he'd bumped Evan while he was swinging his ass like a slut, it would've spun him. She hit the radio button and said, "You're loose, act right."

Jason's hands hurt from making fists. The flagman pointed one of the flag poles at Evan, then held it straight up with the flag wrapped around it. He wondered if Evan had done something wrong. "Oh, oh, oh," he said while hopping up and down. "Do it, get him, get him!"

"Don't do it," Cindy shouted into the radio. "Don't pass."

His body went limp when Evan's car fell back in line. "He had him. He could have passed."

Cindy turned to him. "You're going to need someone to hold your hand when Evan races. She laughed and started walking.

"Walt," he said. "What did you mean by a little off?"

"Just watch them, and you'll figure it out."

Jason stared at her ass until she mixed in with the crowd. Cindy was gorgeous and a fuckin' mystery that he couldn't understand.

Evan parked behind Dale's hauler and killed the engine. His legs trembled. Harry reached in, removed the steering wheel and unhooked the belts. He felt vulnerable without then. Dale said, "Climb out and meet us in the hauler."

Evan took off his helmet and wiped streams of sweat off his face. It had only been hot laps, but he was a nervous wreck. He wobbled when his feet landed on the ground. What if Dale hadn't been impressed and changed his mind? He should have passed that guy when he had the chance. Dale handed him a bottle of water when he entered the hauler, and Harry said, "Grab a chair."

He gulped down half the bottle, then opened a camping chair. Dirt crunched against the steel floor when he sat down. Dale dragged his chair closer. His knees almost touched Evan's. "Tell us what you felt,' he said and learned forward with his elbows on his thighs.

Evan took another sip of water and restrained the frantic dump of excited thoughts in his head. "Loose entering, but pulled hard coming off. The bump in three makes it push, but in one, well you saw, I almost spun out." He took a breath.

"What'd you do to correct the loose-in condition?" Harry asked.

"Why'd you back off on the last lap?" Dale asked.

"What did Cindy tell you about the cars around you?" Harry asked.

His head volleyed, then he tried to figure out which answer might keep him from driving again. Here goes, he thought and said, "Cindy told me to enter like I was fucking a virgin, then speed up. She didn't say anything about the guys behind me, but she told me the guy in front didn't have shit, and I should stay with him."

There was a second of silence followed by hilarious laughter. "God bless her soul," Dale said.

"Sounds like something Cindy would say," Harry said. "She's a devil."

"What's so funny," he asked, afraid he was the joke.

"It's not funny,' Dale said, "but it is. That guy who didn't have shit was Mike Depalma, and the guy rubbing the paint off your bumper was a ringer from Mississippi, Herb Hammerhead. He's favored to win tonight."

"Mike" Evan said. "Mike D, thought he stopped racing."

'Nope," Harry said. "He's been off for a few weeks, but that was his ain't got shit bumper you were chasing."

"Wait until I get my hands on her,' he said.

"Watch yourself, Son," Dale said. "I've seen her fight."

Evan took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Dale, could you call me Evan?"

'Oh, sure thing, but call me Dale, I'm no mister."

'Yes sir,' he said and took off.

The time Candy spent with Tonya before Gloria's game had been frightening and frustrating. She had been afraid of doing something she'd regret and frustrated that she couldn't take the bait her friend was putting out there. The tone of voice, flirting eyes and soft touches that lasted too long, all made it clear that Tonya was trying to seduce her. All she had to do was not resist. but that was what she had done. It would be easy to hide an affair with her best friend, and easier to justify it now that she was alone in her bedroom, regretful and horny.

Evan was out trying to fulfill his dreams, and her husband was in his leather recliner, looking over reports he considered her too stupid to understand. Candy stripped and put a robe over her naked body, then she went into her office, lock the door to the hallway and sat in front of her computer. If John tried the office door first, she could act dumb and say she didn't know why it was locked. If he opened the bedroom door, she could swap over to her transcription program long before he discovered her naughty behavior.

Uncle JC's instructions were the same ones he gave Cindy every week, and Evan acted like he was hearing them for the first time, nodding his head. At the very end, he emphasized the only thing Evan hadn't already heard. "Don't try and prove anything. There's no reason for that. We already know you can drive, so have a good time, don't crash and come back with good information. That's critical. Can't expect to win without it."

Jason, Billy Joe and KK were waiting for Cindy by turn four. A speaker on the light pole to their right squawked something. Jason asked, "What did he say?"