Chapter11
Tension only grew between the couple from that point forward. They barely spoke to each other as they refused to come to terms. Axel would not allow himself to bow down to her advice and Rita didn’t want to talk to someone who sold drugs. Unfortunately for Eliza, she was stuck in the middle of the whole thing. She had no idea what was going on, and most of the time she was ignored, sitting in the corner of the room, reading her tattered books with Spot’s head in her lap.
A week later, it was Saturday once more. Outside, there was a slight drizzle, making the asphalt slick. Axel cursed under his breath, knowing this was sub-par racing weather, but still he knew he had to at least try. It was about 8 PM and just about dark outside. Sighing, he got dressed in some faded blue jeans and a relatively clean black shirt. As he tossed on his jacket, Rita entered the room, looking at him as she raised an eyebrow. “Where are you going?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Axel muttered under his breath.
“Tell me.” Rita crossed her arms over her chest and firmly planted herself at the door.
“Rita. I don’t have time for this. Step aside,” Axel warned as he approached her.
“Where are you going?” She insisted.
“Doesn’t matter.” Axel’s stare was harsh.
“Tell me!”
“Look, I’m not going to have this conversation with you right now. I’m going to be late if you don’t get out of my way.”
“Late for what?” Rita asked immediately, her eyes narrowing in his direction.
“Nothing,” Axel grumbled before he forced his way through the door. Rita cursed under her breath but followed him out as he exited the apartment and went down the stairs. “Leave,” he said as he reached the bottommost landing.
“No! I’m coming with you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Rita didn’t say a word as she stood behind him, waiting for him to make his next move. He turned around, his eyes ice cold as he glared at her. “I told you to leave.”
“You can’t tell me what to do.” Rita’s voice was level as she made the assertion.
“Then don’t tell me what I can’t do,” Axel responded.
Rita was silent at his words. In a way, he had a point, but that didn’t mean she would stop. She could tell he was up to no good again. The stern look on his face gave him away.
Axel sighed when he saw she wouldn’t budge. Rolling his eyes, he left the complex and walked down the street, toward his car. Pulling up his hood, he walked slowly. He didn’t mind the rain as droplets of water traveled down the faded leather of his jacket.
Finally, they made it to his car. As he unlocked it, Rita sat down in the passenger seat. Axel stared at her. “Get out before you get hurt.”
Rita remained quiet as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked out directly in front of her. Axel could tell he wouldn’t be able to get her out of the car easily.
“I warned you,” he said and started his car.
In a flash, he sped down the road. Unlike any other time where Rita had ridden with him, he now drove recklessly. He blew through various stop signs and easily doubled every speed limit he came across. Rita found herself clutching the sides of the seat as she felt her heart press against her spine as they kept gaining speed and momentum.
There was a dirty grin on Axel’s face as his fingers tightened on the wheel and he pushed the engine to its limits, driving faster and faster. Finally, he came to a halt in front of his body shop. Rita let out a soft sigh of relief. He parked, got out, and entered his shop. He circled the car he had been working on for a week now, making some last minute adjustments. Once done, he lowered the jack and sat behind the wheel. With a silent prayer on his lips, he turned the key.
The engine sputtered before humming to life. A deep smile came across his face as he looked at Rita, standing in the shop, looking confused. “Well, since you’re here, you might as well come with me.” Axel, now proud of his accomplishment, patted the passenger side seat of the new car.
“What are you doing?” Rita asked, completely dumbfounded. “I thought you said it belonged to a client of yours.” Rita looked around the interior of the vehicle. It looked new and sleek.
“Nope. It’s mine. I’ve been buying parts for it so I could enter a race.”
“Did you just say race?” Rita blurted out in disbelief as her eyes widened in surprise.
“Yes,” Axel answered calmly like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“You got to be kidding me. You are going to enter an illegal street race? Are you nuts?”
“Yep. The grand prize is twenty-five thousand in cash. I can’t say no to that.”
“You could die! Why can’t you get it through your thick skull that Eliza and I care for you? I know it may not seem like it but…I do care about you…a lot…” Rita’s words were sincere as she looked down at her lap. “You weren’t just a one night stand for me,” she whispered.
Axel’s expression softened slightly as he looked at the wall of his shop, his hand still gripping the steering wheel. It wasn’t too late to back out of the race, but at the same time, he knew how much the prize money could help him and his family. He ground his teeth together as his mind rushed. Did Rita really care about him as much as she claimed?
Axel never had anyone care for him, except for Eliza that is. It felt strange to have someone telling him that they were worried. A moment of doubt plagued his mind, nearly making him reconsider, but he finally put the car into reverse and eased it out of the garage.
“I have to do this,” Axel finally said as he sped his way down the street. After a short drive, he approached the outskirts of the city. They were now on an abandoned road that the city had tried to fix up, but they had run out of funds before they could finish the project.
Gathered at the start of the street were various other cars. They all seemed to be in a better condition than Axel’s. “Where are we?” Rita asked in a whisper as if she were afraid to say something.
“This is Old Man’s Road. It’s where the best underground races are held since there are no cop cars cruising around. It’s about ten miles long. The first person past the finish line gets the prize. Anything goes,” Axel explained as he pulled up to a large man wearing a hoodie. He rolled his window down. “Matt, what’s up?”
The man peered inside. One of his eyes was missing, a large scar running across his cheek, all the way up to his forehead. He looked at Rita with a curious expression. “This your girl?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Axel answered after a moment.
“She gonna be watching or riding?”
“Riding,” Rita replied for herself.
“Ride or die kind of chick, I like that,” Matt grinned, a gold tooth flashing as he held out a hand. “It's five hundred to enter.” His voice was firm as he waited for payment.
Rita was shocked. Was Axel really going to dish out five hundred dollars, just to compete in some dangerous race? To her surprise, however, he reached into his wallet and pulled out several crisp one hundred dollar bills. She felt disgust build in her mouth. They barely had enough food to eat at home and here he was, wasting all this money on some pointless game.
“Thanks,” Matt answered smugly, adding the money to a thick wad of cash, which he pulled out of his back pocket. “You’re behind the Jaguar. Good luck.” Axel looked forward at the sleek luxury car. He cursed under his breath, knowing the competition would be tight. He wondered how his mishmash car would hold out against the opposition. Either way, he had already paid the fee and now everything was riding on the outcome of this race.
When he finally put the car into park, waiting for the other contestants to line up, Rita turned and stared at him, her face furious. “What are you doing? We haven’t eaten anything but eggs for a week and you just dish out five hundred dollars no problem?” Rita hissed between her teeth.
“Look. I know this probably doesn’t make any sense to you right now, but if I win this race, I get twenty-five grand. I’ll be able to get a new apartment. I think that’s worth eating eggs for a week.” Axel tried to justify his actions as he kept his eyes focused on the area in front of him. Old Man Road was full of pot holes and bumps that would be hard to see with the onslaught of rain. He looked up at the sky, now completely dark and void of stars. He thought about what kind of traction he had on his tires and how it would affect his ride.
“It’s not worth it,” Rita huffed as she sat back, crossing her arms over her chest yet again. “This is utterly insane. Do you see all of these cars? Luxury sports cars. How do you expect to win?” Rita asked as she glanced over each of the cars ahead of them.
“Don’t worry about it. Just put your seatbelt on.”
“You want me to be safe in a street race?” Rita asked in disbelief. It sounded completely ridiculous.
“Of course. You are carrying my baby.”
“You make absolutely no sense.”
“Look, I know you probably don’t believe me, but I care about you, too. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have taken you in after I found out that you were pregnant. I don’t have much, but I have been able to provide a roof over your head and some food. I’m doing all that I can, but if I want to get anywhere in life, I have to do this. I have no other choice.” Axel’s words were stern as his fingers tightened on the wheel.
At the front, a woman in a tight-fitting, white t-shirt moved across the starting line, indicating that the race was about to begin.
“This is it…” Axel muttered under his breath as he put the car into gear and revved the engine, challenging some of the cars around him. With a determined look in his eyes, he tried to envision what life would be like if he won. Of course, twenty-five grand wouldn’t last him a lifetime, but it would give him leeway into a better life. He could get an apartment or start a new body shop in a respectable area. The possibilities were endless.
With a smile on his face, he looked at Rita who seemed rather nervous. For a minute, his resolve faltered. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if she got hurt, especially since she was pregnant. Of course, he didn’t want anything to happen to her or the baby, but at the same time, it was now too late to back out of the race. He just had to go through with it and hope for the best. It was the only option.
Sighing, he watched as the girl on the start line stepped between the two leading cars. There were two checkered flags in her hands. The rain continued to fall down her hair, soaking through her white t-shirt, showing off a black bra underneath. Even so, she didn’t seem to mind as a giant smile painted her face and she swiped the flags down in a grand motion.
In a flash, the cars dashed off, clouds of smoke filling the starting area. The smell of burnt rubber reached Rita’s nostrils as she was shot back in her seat, her body pressed against the fabric with the force of their momentum.
Already, Axel’s car was going impossibly fast as she looked over at his speedometer and saw the little red needle well past the one hundred mark. She gulped, as her fingers tightened around the material of the seat until her knuckles turned white with the effort. Her heart rampaged in her chest as the scenery around her blurred with their speed.
As Axel rounded a bend, letting his car drift skillfully, it felt like Rita’s mind was dislocated from her body as she felt a horrible sense of vertigo. Feeling sick to her stomach, she leaned down, resting her head on her knees.
“Hey, don’t do that!” Axel warned as he glanced over at her, his hand reaching out and pulling her back until she was straight against the seat again. “You’ll break your neck.”
By this point, Axel was going at least one hundred and fifty. How his car was keeping up with all the others was beyond Rita, but as she looked out the window, she saw what looked like the Jaguar bite dust as they passed them. A small surge of adrenaline coursed through her body.
“Whoa…”
“Pretty cool, huh?” Axel smirked, glancing in her direction, noticing the awed expression on her face. He smiled to himself, feeling smug. Not only was he steadily gaining on the lead car, but he also had a beautiful woman by his side that would soon share in his wealth.
However, as he looked at Rita, about to grab her hand and squeeze it, he stopped paying attention to the road for a split second. With a violent bounce, they ran over a pothole which shook the entire frame of the car. It sounded like the axle of the car would shatter, but it held firm and they kept going. Axel sighed in relief as he placed both his hands on the wheel, realizing the race required all his focus. He could see the BMW, no more than fifty feet away. As they approached a sharp curve, he pulled up on the inner side, hoping to gain the advantage.
To his horror, however, the road was slick and he suddenly lost control as his vehicle started to hydroplane. He desperately jerked on the wheel, trying to stabilize the vehicle, but his tires could not get enough traction for him to have any control.
Rita let out an ear-piercing scream as her body locked with fear and her nails tore at the fabric of the seat, nearly ripping it. She could tell the car was spiraling out of control and that they were heading straight for a guardrail. Her life flashed before her very eyes as everything seemed to move in slow motion.
Suddenly, time appeared to speed up once more and they were crashing head-on into the guardrail. Rita felt her whole body jolt with pain as she ricocheted forward until her forehead slammed down into the dashboard. Not a moment later, the airbag violently opened up, thrusting her back into the seat.
It felt like her whole body was being crushed by the bag, pressing into every inch of her. It was becoming hard to breathe and she felt claustrophobic as the onset of a panic attack overcame her. Her skin tingled as sparks of pain radiated throughout her entire body. She couldn’t feel her right arm and didn’t dare to look down at her stomach, where her unborn baby laid defenseless.
Finally, the aftermath of the crash came to an end, and smoke billowed from the hood. The front of the car was completely wrecked, scrunched up like some sort of an accordion. The passenger side door was jammed and Rita’s blood covered the interior of the car. As she finally looked down at the damage, she became queasy. She felt like she was going to be sick as her head lolled back and her eyes became blurry. The corners of her vision darkened as she struggled to remain conscious.
Her heartbeat seemed to slow to an impossibly low rate as she was thrown into a state of shock. Her breaths were sparse. Slowly, she lost her grip on reality. Everything went black.
***
Axel paced around the hospital waiting room. His heart felt like it had been ripped out of his chest. He didn’t want to think about what Rita was going through right now. He felt like such a fool. He should have listened to her and backed out of the race when he still had a chance. Cursing his foolishness, he ran his fingers through his thick hair as he felt a thin layer of sweat form on his body.
“Why did I do it?” he muttered to himself.
Suddenly, he stopped as a spark of pain shot through his head. There was a large Band-Aid on his forehead. He was the lucky one. He had managed to get away from the crash more or less without a scratch. For some reason, he hadn’t gotten hurt. He had avoided any major injury.
Rita, however, was struggling to stay alive. Bile formed in his mouth as he wished all the pain she felt on himself. He couldn’t believe that he had put her through something so dangerous. He felt like an idiot and just prayed she would be okay, that the baby was okay. He continued to pace around the waiting room, not knowing what else to do. His whole body was taut with emotion and nerves. He didn’t know what to do with himself.
Finally, an older-looking nurse walked up to him. “Sir, you are with Miss Rita Green, correct?”
Axel nodded desperately. “Yes. Is she okay? Please tell me she is okay!”
“She has stabilized but is still in the intensive care unit. Please come with me.”
Relief washed over Axel. It was in that moment that he realized he had to change.