Black Flag (Racing on the Edge) (3 page)

“I didn’t say
anything.” Spencer defended holding his arms up but immediately grinned in
response. “I didn’t even know, until now.”

“I know,” Nancy agreed.
“But you
will
.”

Spencer’s smile widened
as he jerked me into a bear hug. “Spencer,” Alley, Spencer’s wife and publicist
for Jameson, chided smacking his shoulder. “Don’t squish her!”

“I’m not,” he argued
setting me down. “I’m just excited to have another little Riley running
around.”

“Yeah, cause that’s all
we need around here.” Jimi chuckled with a sarcastic edge. “Especially one with
Jameson’s DNA involved.” He then reached his strong arm around me cradling me
to his side to tuck me under his shoulder and then kissed my forehead. “Though
I’m concerned about
that
,” he gestured toward Jameson’s room. “
...
reproducing
...
I’m happy for you guys.”

I thought I heard him
mutter something about the kid being conceived on his kitchen floor but I
couldn’t be sure.

“What did Jameson say?”
Emma asked when Jimi let me go.

“He smiled and said
everything would be okay
...
I think it was the
drugs talking.” I muttered picking at a hangnail on my index finger, really
just avoiding looking at anyone.

Being around five in
the morning, my stomach was beginning to growl having not eaten all night.

Emma and Alley looked
down at my stomach, obviously hearing the thunderous noise. “Definitely
Jameson’s kid in there,” Alley laughed. “We should probably get you some food.”

With the help of
Spencer, the boy could smell food being cooked a mile away; everyone went down
to the cafeteria to find breakfast.

Now that I knew he was
alive and conscious, I felt the need to eat again.

Nancy and Jimi stayed
with Jameson until Jimi had to leave for Fulton, New York that afternoon. Jimi,
being a World of Outlaw sprint car driver, was in the battle for the
championship and couldn’t just blow off a race. Though everyone would have
understand had he, it wasn’t in his nature to do so.

That’s the thing about
racing
...
it doesn’t stop on the
account of lapped traffic. The race continues while your 200 MPH taped car,
continues to get lapped—lap after lap—by faster cars.

It was a lifestyle that
never slept. A lifestyle this family knew well.

“Jesus Christ, you eat like
a pro wrestler trying to make weight.” Spencer’s eyes took in my heaping plate
as we sat at a large table in the corner of the cafeteria. “Where do you put
all that?”

“Asshole,” I grumbled
devouring my pancakes and bacon.

Most of the team joined
us for breakfast. Tate, another driver in the series, and Bobby, who’d stayed
until they knew Jameson was all right, left to prepare for Indianapolis this
weekend where the series was heading next.

When I glanced around
at the team, I noticed their faces for the first time. Sure, they looked
exhausted but that wasn’t what was alarming.

Justin, Tommy, and
Tyler, all guys on Jameson’s sprint car team, appeared unscathed but the rest
all looked like they were stunt doubles in a
Rocky
movie.

“What the fuck happened
to you guys?”

Spencer looked at
Gentry, a tire changer for Jameson’s, but no one said anything.

Alley piped up. “These
lunatics decided to make matters worse.” Her lips pursed glaring toward her
husband.
“Much worse.”

“We had a fucking right
to.” Spencer barked eating his lucky charms. I’d never heard him so angry. “No
one tries to kill my little brother and gets away with it.”

His tone, rough and
defensive contradicted the fact that he was eating cereal with marshmallows.

Around that time, Emma
finally noticed Aiden, Jameson’s spotter, was sporting a fat lip and black eye.
Needless to say, she had her make-up bag out trying to apply foundation to her
boyfriend’s face while he glared at her.

“You’re lucky you guys
weren’t arrested.” Alley added.

Spencer glanced toward
his wife menacingly. A look I’m sure she didn’t appreciate. “I would take jail
any day for what I did to those assholes.”

“What did you do?” I
asked apprehensively sucking on a piece of pineapple.

“Spencer beat the
living shit out of Darrin’s crew chief, Frank.” Gentry perked up with
excitement as he described the garage clearing brawl. “And I got some good
licks in on their tire changer!”

He went on to basically
say that Bobby, Tate, and Jameson’s entire teams got into a gladiator style
fight, in the garage at Pocono International Raceway.

It made me feel
somewhat better they defended Jameson but it didn’t change the fact that
Jameson had been injured because of Darrin Torres.

“I can’t believe this.”
I voiced leaning my elbows on the table dropping my head. I was almost afraid
to lift my eyes at that point. 

I broke out in tears
when Spencer narrated how he found Jameson. Spencer apparently saw Darrin pull
out of the pits after an argument with Frank.

Kyle, Jameson’s crew
chief, and Spencer were the first ones to Jameson after the safety officials.
His car was pinned against the outside wall, while he was a mangled mess
inside. It appeared that he must not have seen Darrin coming because his left
arm took a hard hit. It would have been easy if the bones had just broken but
instead they splintered in a way that now required surgery. And being
left-handed, this would be a difficult recovery for him.

Jameson was unconscious
when they arrived and never regained consciousness until hours after he arrived
at the hospital. The worst of his injuries appeared to be the punctured lung as
the doctor said.

“What’s going to happen
to Darrin?” Emma asked putting her make-up bag away when she realized Aiden was
about ready to cunt punch her if she didn’t stop trying to apply foundation.

Tommy, a childhood
friend and mechanic for his sprint car teams, in particular found this amusing.
Milk was now coming out his nose. Spencer snapped a picture with his phone for
future blackmailing.

“I’m sure NASCAR will fine
him but that’s the least of his worries.” Kyle added. “He was police escorted
away from the track and booked in the county jail for reckless endangerment.
Phillip won’t let him get away with this. Not after the conversation Alley
heard in the bathroom.”

“What conversation?”
Emma, Spencer and I asked in sync.

Alley sighed. “I heard
Mariah on the phone in the bathroom. She said Darrin had enough of Jameson’s
haughty disregard for his warnings. Mariah told the person he was going to take
care of it during the race, whatever that meant
...
apparently now we know what that meant.”

For months now,
everyone had been warning Jameson Darrin would come after him. No one thought
he’d do it on the track though. And I had a strong feeling Darrin’s girlfriend
Mariah still had something to do with it. 

“Did you warn Jameson?”
Emma asked dubiously, her features distorted.

“Of course I tried
...
he didn’t want to hear it and then I let
it slip about Axle.”

Axle Taylor was a
little boy who had leukemia that Jameson had been visiting for the last few
months in Memphis at the Children’s Hospital.

“You told him before
the race?” Emma was now shaking her head in disbelieve. “Why would you do
that?”

“I wasn’t going to but
I started crying. I never cry.” Alley looked ashamed. “He knew something was
up.”

I was confused as hell.
“Wait,” I interrupted them throwing my arms up. “What happened to Axle?”

Alley and Emma both
looked at me with poignant expressions. “He passed away
...
Saturday morning.” Alley whispered
looking down at her coffee cup, tracing the outline of the handle delicately.

And then I started
crying
...
hysterically. I was a
mess. My only option at that point was to blame the hormones.

Later that afternoon, I
was back in Jameson’s room with tissues surrounding my emotional state of mind
and staring at the paper.

I read and re-read and
then read again the article over and over again
...
it wasn’t nearly enough punishment for what he had done to
Jameson. I glanced over at his motionless sleeping figure again and then read
the paper once more. It was nowhere near enough.

Torres
suspended for post-race incident

LONG POND, PA. – Darrin Torres, along with
five Gibson Racing crew members from the No. 14 team, and Frank Rudd, crew
chief for Torres, received a range of penalties for his involvement in an
altercation following Sunday’s NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at Pocono
International Raceway, NASCAR officials announced Monday.

Winston Cup drivers Jameson Riley, driver
of the No. 9 Simplex Ford and Darrin Torres, driver of the No. 14 Wyle Products
Chevrolet, battled throughout the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500. Around lap
two hundred, Riley pulled away to a two and half second lead when Bobby Cole,
Riley’s teammate clipped the left rear of the No. 14. The remainder of the race
was quiet until the last lap. Riley took the checkered flag and was currently
making his victory lap when Torres left pit road and made another lap. The two
cars collided right outside of the tunnel turn. No word was released as to why
Darrin Torres went back out on the track. Gibson Racing has declined to
comment.

Riley was reportedly unresponsive when
safety track officials got to him. He was later air lifted to Pocono Medical
Center where he is listed in critical but stable condition and expected to make
a full recovery.

Following the incident Darrin Torres was
escorted to the NASCAR hauler and later police escorted away from the track.
Crew members from Gibson Racing, Riley Simplex Racing, and Banner Racing were
involved in a pit road altercation after Riley was transported. It was reported
that members from Riley Racing and Banner Racing, entered the pit of Gibson
Racing where the altercation took place.

Fines issued as followed:

Torres, driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet, was
fined $50,000 and suspended until Dec. 31 for his role in the post-race
incident. He was in violation of Section 12-4-A (Actions detrimental to stock
car racing: damaging another competitor’s car after the completion of the race,
use of improper language) of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rule Book.

Frank Rudd crew chief for the No. 14, was
fined $10,000 for violation of Sections 12-4-A (Actions detrimental to stock
car racing) and 9-4-A (The crew chief assumes responsibility for the actions of
his or her driver, car owner and team members).

Crew member for the No. 14, Peter Fowler,
was suspended from NASCAR competition until Sept. 17, placed on probation until
Dec. 31, and fined $5,000. He was in violation of Section 12-4-A (Actions detrimental
to stock car racing: Involved in an altercation on pit road after the
completion of the race, damaging another competitor’s car following the
completion of the race, use of improper language).

Crew member for the No. 14, Kevin
Henderson, was suspended from NASCAR competition until Sept. 17, placed on
probation until Dec. 31 and fined $2,500. He was in violation of Section 12-4-A
(Actions detrimental to stock car racing: Involved in an altercation on pit
road after the completion of the race, throwing an object at another
competitor, use of improper language).

Crew member for the No. 14, Jason Sole, was
placed on probation until Dec. 31 and fined $2,500. He was in violation of
Section 12-4-A (Actions detrimental to stock car racing: Involved in an altercation
on pit road after the completion of the race, use of improper language).

Crew member for the No. 14, Mike Daniel,
was placed on probation until Dec. 31 and fined $2,500. He was in violation of
Section 12-4-A (Actions detrimental to stock car racing: Involved in an
altercation on pit road after the completion of the race, throwing an object at
another competitor, improper use of language).

Kyle Wade, crew chief for Riley’s No. 9
Ford, was issued a $5,000 fine for use of improper language, which is in
violation of Section 12-4-A (Actions detrimental to stock car racing).

Crew member for No. 9, Spencer Riley was
placed on probation until Dec. 31 and fined $2,500. He was in violation of
Section 12-4-A (Actions detrimental to stock car racing: Involved in an
altercation on pit road after the completion of the race, throwing an object at
another competitor, improper use of language).

Cole and Harris fined and placed on
probation.

Drivers Bobby Cole, driver of the No. 90
Riley Simplex Racing Ayers Manufacturing and Tate Harris, driver of the No. 10
Banner Racing and
Donco
Oil, along with their crew
chiefs, received varying penalties for their involvement in a garage area
altercation following last Sunday’s race at Pocono International Raceway.