It was night three and excitement was at a fever pitch. The six finalists were preparing for the main drive off, which would begin in a few minutes. Javier had decided to drive one of the two cars that got to the finals and was making a final check of things.
"Okay we got the packet ready, engine system is clean. Mario did you watch that gasket like I told you to?"
Lupe's eyes drifted to the other cars in the lot, mentally sizing up the possible competition. The Ortiz brothers and Chrome had moved on to the final six and so had the rider of the black car. Whereas people and admirers surrounded the others, she was largely alone, leaning casually on the hood of the car. She had
Changed from her jeans and tee to black pants over a black top. Her baseball cap was gone and Lupe could see her face better. She was pretty in a subtle way; her features were not exactly striking, except for her eyes, which were literally burning with energy. She looked up and their eyes met, Lupe quickly dropped hers and turned to her brother.
"Not that it means anything to you, but watch out for that black K."
He scanned the cars and his eyes locked on the vehicle in question, calmly assessing it's form and rider.
"That isn't a K"
"I know"
Javier shrugged and got to his feet.
"I don't know what it is but now's not the time to start thinking about that. Hopefully she'll piss someone enough in the race and get pushed out."
Lupe hesitated and looked down, not wanting to say any more. She couldn't exactly place the feeling but something told her not to underestimate the rider, not like her brother just did. But he was the one driving and there was nothing she could do.
Finally the boom sounded for the drivers to take their positions. Javier rolled into his spot amidst a volley of flashes and loud noises. The cars began their usual round of revving as drivers tried so psyche each other out, not that it worked at this point. Only the best of the best could have gotten to this level.
Mc Gabriel took the mike and crowed out loud.
"This is it people, the moment we've all been waiting for. Now
Let's remember that the jackpot is three million American dollares and it's winner take all. That's right, no room for second place and third place can go home. Cos Saben que? It's all about the top spot."
The pillars beside the white line suddenly lit ablaze with fire and the crowd cheered wildly. The cars lined up and Gabriel moved to the front of the white line. He withdrew two red hankies from his pocket and waved them around.
"One..."
Lupe quickly moved to her former spot and held on, eyes trained on the highway ahead with bated breath.
"Two"
The drivers could barely restrain themselves at this point and the crowd was egging them on.
"Go!"
Gabriel dropped the hankies and all six vehicles sprang forward. No one could really tell who got to the line first, that was how close the race was.
"There they go!"
The scream of rubber on tarmac rent the air long after the cars had left eye view. There was nothing else to do now than wait for their return. Lupe began nervously scanning the horizon for any sign of the cars even though she knew it was too early for that. It was only that there was so much riding on this race; the combined money of every crew and driver than signed up, and there were already needs lined up for the money. Javier wanted to boost his holdings and he had to pay the guys, plus there was Diana and Lupe knew her brother was thinking about getting married.
"Here they come!"
She leaned dangerously close to the edge and squinted into the half blackness. The cars were on their way, the sonic boom that heralded them could rip a building apart. Lupe felt her heart leap into her throat when she recognized the first three cars. Right in front, blazing the path for the others was the black Koenigsegg, the nearest competition was not even five feet away and it was Javier's car.
"What the hell!"
The worlds flew out of her mouth, laced with utter disbelief. There was no way a plain old K without even Nitro could be outstripping her brother's enhanced vehicle. But there was no mistaking it.
The black car peeled past her and she felt the air push her backward into the wall. Javier zoomed past and Lupe could see the emotion on his face. Theirs wasn't going to be a merry camp that night. She watched as he disembarked from the smoking car and slammed the door hard enough to dislodge it from the hinges. The door of the black K opened and its rider stepped out, she waited patiently by the door until Mc Gabriel approached with the moneybag in hand. Lupe didn't know whether to be surprised or angry at the outcome of the race, but somehow she'd expected it. She watched with interest as an argument broke out between the girl and Mc Gabriel as the latter continually thrust the bag into her hand only for her to push it back.
"Call me crazy but she's refusing the money."
Lupe muttered with disbelief; this evening had been nothing but surprises so far. Mc Gabriel gestured harshly and pointed to Javier's garage and the girl shrugged and walked away. Mc Gabriel hesitated for a moment, but then reached for his mike.
"People, our numero uno has refused the jackpot. Well the spot goes by default to our numero dos!"
Lupe watched with stupefaction as Mc Gabriel handed the money to an even more surprised Javier. She watched the other girl's retreat until she blended into the darkness and then got down from her platform. For all intents and purposes, it seemed there would be a celebration in her brother's garage after all.
------------------------------------------------------------------
It was late, probably even early the next morning but the celebration was still going on in full swing. Still Lupe couldn't handle the noise any more; it was giving her a headache and she felt queasy from the smell of beer and cigarettes in the packaged garage. She decided to go out for a walk and sneaked a glance over at her brother, but he was too involved in a drinking game with his friends to notice her departure.
Lupe stepped into the refreshingly cool early morning air, knowing fully well that it would be baking not in a matter of hours, and began her slow walk along what passed for the main street. Most of the other garages were already closed, some as far as packed up and dismantled, but a few were still open. She wondered distantly whether the girl from the night before was still around and decided to have a look. Lupe got there just in time to see her swinging down the doors and bolting them shut in preparation to leave.
'So you're heading out?"
The other girl turned around sharply but then relaxed upon recognizing her. She shrugged and stuffed her hands in her jeans' pockets.
"Well I only rented the space for three days and my rent's up come six o'clock. Not like there's anything else to be doing here."
Lupe nodded and moved closer, leaning lightly against the trunk of the mysterious Koenningsegg look alike while its owner leaned against the outer pole in front of the garage.
"Well you won."
"Well I said I would."
"You didn't take the prize money"
"I don't need the prize money, that's not what I came here for."
She looked sharply to the taller girl but there was no arrogance in her words, merely calm confidence. Lupe wasn't sure what to make of it all, so she held her peace and took in a few gulps of air.
"No offense against your brother, I mean he's good but he didn't stand a chance. None of them did actually."
"So you think you're all that?"
The petite brunette challenged with a raised eyebrow and she nodded.
"Mmm-hmm, and a bag of chips too."
Lupe couldn't help but laugh and she shook her head; the way the racer said it was incongruous, as if she didn't normally say things like that. It sounded like one of those preppies trying to sound street. She felt relaxed around the other girl but at the same time couldn't deny there was a tension between and around them. Perhaps it was her quiet confidence in her ability or the crackling energy that reflected in her eyes but for whatever reason, Lupe couldn't help stealing glances at the other girl as she looked up contemplatively into the dusky blue sky.
Then she looked down and their eyes met before Lupe could look away, a soft flush stealing over her features at the knowing smile the other girl gave her. Discomfited but not sure why, she cast about for something to begin a conversation with and remembered the little debate over the car.
"Nice ride you got here, what is it, a K?"
It's owner shrugged vaguely and pushed off the pole.
"I guess...you could call it a real vintage."
"Sure, vintage that somehow manages to blow nitrous in the dust."
Lupe murmured with sarcasm and the other girl chuckled and took a few steps closer.
"Well any good racer will tell you that it ain't half about what's under the hood."
Now they were standing toe to toe and Lupe was once again staring dazedly into those hot black eyes. She felt a warm shiver at the slow, lazy smile the other girl gave her and suddenly felt her pulse quicken.
"But it's always all about the person behind the wheels."
She found herself inching up until their lips brushed, oh so slowly, and her eyes fluttered closed. Lupe unconsciously leaned in for more but felt only air and her eyes snapped back open to find that the other girl was now standing several feet from her, eyes glimmering with mischief and amusement. Lupe chided herself for being so easy and wordlessly began exiting the garage when she was held back by a surprisingly strong grip.
"Need a ride?"
She looked up again and their eyes met, this time the humor was gone and replaced by seriousness, even apology and Lupe didn't want to say no.
"But, there's no room in your car."
"Sure there is"
The other girl challenged and slid into the driver's seat, parting her legs wide to create space in the middle. Lupe looked from the space to the driver, and raised an expressive eyebrow.
Riding to the garage on the lap of a girl, who just happened to be the person who defeated him, what on earth was her brother going to say?
"Sure"
It would be worth the look on Javier's face. She slid in and sat gingerly on the small seat, very aware of the slim thighs pressing either side of her and sighed with relief when the car engine finally started.
As she kicked the gear into D, the driver murmured rather conversationally.
"By the way I never did get your name, mine is Dusty."
Lupe looked up and their eyes met through the rearview mirror.
"Lupe"
The drive was a quiet one and all too soon the car stopped in front of her brother's garage.
"Well, here we are"
Lupe looked through the passenger window to the raucous scene beyond, the shouts of laughter and whistles and suddenly didn't want to leave. Dusty must have sensed her hesitation because she murmured.
"Or we could just drive around for a while, I've got time to spare."
"Yes, let's do that"
She nodded and floored the accelerator, and the car peeled out with a feline yowl. In a matter of seconds they reached a major road but Dusty was still going at dangerous speeds for that part of town, even though it was early morning and there were few cars out on the road. She looked up to meet Lupe's eyes and the desire to escape was written all too clearly in them, so she acquiesced and fed the car more speed. They shot through the darkness almost too fast for the eye to see and linked in to the nearest highway, which surprisingly was devoid of police troopers.
Lupe found herself taking a glance down at the speedometer and felt her stomach clench with the rapidly whipping needle...80...100...120...140...they were reaching breakneck speeds now and she couldn't believe it, but the needle kept descending.
160...180...200... They were riding two to a seat without seatbelts. Any collision now would be certain death for the two of them.
220...240... 260...her eyes widened at the readings...it was not possible, cars didn't come equipped with those...in fact there was only one other car she'd ever known with such a weird speedometer and it was hers.
Dusty felt the tension in her spine and murmured.
"Scared?"
The other girl looked up to meet her eyes and she raised an eyebrow in askance and Lupe felt a primal thrill of excitement. She couldn't believe the volatile energy that spilled from the other girl's eyes; she seemed to be feeding on the very tangible danger they were in, the fact that their lives could be snuffed out with the slightest wrong move. As Lupe stared into those eyes, she felt the excitement in her grow until it became an almost uncomfortable pressure spreading up and down her body from her midriff. Her hands seemed to move on their own, curling around Dusty's and resting on the hands either side of the steering wheel. She felt her spine slacken and relax against the other girl's body, molding until it seemed like they were one.
Yes it was dangerous, yes her sanity probably should be questioned, but Lupe had to admit that it felt good. Living on the edge felt so exhilarating...no wonder her brother always refused to let her race. She would nearly kill herself on the tracks just to be able to feel such breath taking speed, the flush of knowing her life rested completely in her own hands and that it was all or nothing. Any mistake right then and the car would careen out of control...but that was it. The only real way to ever be in control in their fast paced life was to lose control; to lose all reason and live solely on feeling. And it felt wonderful.
280...300...320... as the needle rose, Lupe felt a sudden tightening feeling deep in her groin. She gasped and quivered from the sudden spark of electricity that shot through her system, a low moan tearing from deep in her throat. Her eyes festooned upon the needle as if it was a matter of life and death, willing it to keep on rising and rise it did.
340...360...she felt the little sparks begin to shoot through her now, gathering up for one big one. The pressure in her lower regions becoming near unbearable. Lupe didn't know which felt better, the speed rush or her own body's reactions...
360...380...surely they had to be going at the speed of light now; everything was moving by in an indecipherable blur.
380...400
"Yes! Yes! Faster! Faster!"
She screamed out deafeningly as the orgasm ripped and roared through her system, sending her hips bucking and her butt grinding wantonly between the other girl's legs. Dusty only chuckled and held on tight as Lupe began riding her harder and harder, lost in the throes of her pleasure. With the way the other girl was gyrating, they could lose control of the car at any moment. Lupe's arms began jerking, twisting the steering wheel this way and that and it took the driver everything to keep in one lane.
"Aaaaahh"
She gave one final groan and slumped back into the seat, still quivering from the aftershocks of the explosion. Dusty wordlessly began easing off the accelerator and in slow degrees they joined the rest of the world. Only when the car came to a stop by the side of the road did the two turn to look at each other, Lupe brimming with embarrassment while the other girl chuckled with humor.
"I can honestly say I've seen a lot of things in this world, and that definitely took the cake."
"Shut up"
She muttered, face flaming with the memory of her actions and Dusty shrugged.
"Hey, you didn't hear me complaining. In fact I'd take it as a compliment."
Lupe rolled her eyes and settled back in her "seat", gazing more critically at the demented speedometer now that she was in her senses.
"What the hell kind of speed gauge you got in this car?"
Dusty shrugged lightly and pushed the seat back to give them more room.
"Got a problem with it?"
"Well its readings were off the scale, and I mean off the scale."
"There's nothing wrong with its readings."
She muttered lowly and Lupe stiffened.
"You're telling me your car can go 400 mph?"
Dusty looked up at the ceiling of the car before replying.
"Actually it can go a lot faster"
"How much faster?"
The other girl challenged and she chuckled.
"Well let's say you'd have been screaming for a while longer."
Lupe assimilated that piece of information without a word. No wonder she didn't need any more juice...no wonder no one else had been able to touch her. She realized that Dusty had probably been holding back throughout the elimination rounds just to lull the others. This was a dangerous driver, someone to watch out for in the future.
The other girl must have read her expression because she shrugged and murmured.
"Actually there's just one other car that can come to similar speeds."
That revelation jolted Lupe out of her thoughts and she remembered the irregular speedometer on her Nameless.
"Oh? What car is that?"
Dusty looked out of the window, a faraway expression in her eyes.
"I wish I knew, all I know is that it's out there and I'm sure the person who owns it probably doesn't even know what it can do. Wanna hear a story?"
"Sure"
Lupe was quickly coming to a conclusion and she trembled from the implications of it.
"Well it was way before I was even born, cos it's even a legend in some parts of the country. They say there were these two cars, looked just like regular old cars, except even the best-juiced sports car couldn't touch them in a race. Their drivers were best friends, Willie and Walker, and they made a lot of money from big time racing events. They became very famous and then suddenly they disappeared. No one really knows what happened to them, but I hear it was because of them Nitrous became so popular because everyone that really raced wanted to match their speeds."
Dusty's voice became distant and steadily decreased in volume until it was a hushed whisper.
"How did you get your hands on this one then?"
Lupe murmured, trying to hide her skepticism and the other girl blinked back to focus.
"Actually my dad is into vintage cars, he doesn't even know I brought this one out. It's just that when he told me that this was the fastest car ever and about the other one, I wanted to find out for myself. I've been coming to big races like this looking for the other one, hoping it got into the hands of a racer."
"But you don't even know what it looks like, how can you tell even if you did find it?"
Dusty shrugged and opened the door, gesturing for the other girl to get up.
"I don't know why I'm showing you this but-"
They both walked to the front of the car and she opened the hood. Lupe gasped softly when her eyes ran over the engine parts. There were no two alike, as if it was made from a composite of many other cars' parts...just like her Nameless.
"This car doesn't ride like any other car and neither would the other one. I don't know how but they were made like patchwork, from the best cars ever created. What I want to know is why the cheap finishing?"
Dusty chuckled at her own joke and closed the hood, leaning back against it with folded arms.
"That plus the other thing I know is that the car doesn't have a symbol in front. It's just bare."
She half glanced at Lupe but the other girl was staring into nothing.
"Wow"
"Come on, let's get you back before your brother goes dia del muerto on me."
The drive back home was a quiet one, the two girls contemplating on different things. Lupe kept playing back the whole conversation in her head. To think that her one bit piece of junk was more than it looked, that it was one of the fastest cars ever was mind blowing. Oh Javier would just kill himself when he found out the true worth of what he'd so dismissively shunt his sister's way.
They were back in the lot sooner than she realized and Dusty killed the engine.
"Well here we are, safe home."
She waited for her passenger to move off but the other girl seemed to be hesitating.
"Something wrong Lupe?"
Lupe turned around and shook her head, then nodded and shook her head again.
"I want you to see something."
She told Dusty to start the engines and follow her directions and the other girl obeyed, perplexed but willing to go with her. Lupe led them back to her home and they made their way through a back street to the rear garage.
"I want you to see this."
She pulled the sheet of Nameless and popped the hood. Dusty's eyes widened with shock when she looked in and she shook her head.
" I feel like kicking myself in the rear end now, gone and told you the very thing to beat me with."
Lupe chuckled and shut the bonnet, sitting possessively atop her car.
"My brother was pissed when he looked into the hood, he thought he'd been ripped off for it and let me have it. Everyone used to make fun of how patched up it is but I didn't mind, I guess now I know why."
Dusty nodded and grinned with mischief.
"So I guess you're my competition then, seeing as you have the only other car that can come close to mine."
Lupe thought back to the wild drive before, the control and precision with which the other girl handled the unbelievable speed her car made. There was no way she could even come close, not in a lifetime.
"Nah, probably Javier will handle this better"
She hated to admit it but Nameless had suddenly become out of her league and she didn't feel confident enough to race with it. It wasn't that she was a bad driver, she just didn't have the kind of drive her brother had. Dusty sighed and shook her head.
"It's a shame though, cos I don't think it'll do as well with Javier. Cars can be like that sometimes, they work differently with different drivers and no matter how much juice you give some, like I said it isn't half as important as the person behind the wheels."
Lupe thought about those words for a moment and shrugged silently.
"And I'd for once like to have real competition out there."
Dusty murmured almost as an afterthought and slid back into her own car, starting the engine and giving it a few revs. Lupe walked closer and leaned in from the window.
"So, will I be seeing you around?"
The other girl smiled and shrugged.
"Maybe, will you take my challenge?"
She sighed and frowned slightly, thinking about what it would take to even be ready for something like this.
"I will have to rumble with Javier, not to mention train every day..."
Dusty shrugged and clicked on her seatbelt, eliciting an ironic look from the other girl.
"Well get to it, you have a whole year to get ready."
She leaned closer and gave Lupe a swift kiss before switching gears and gunning it out of the alley.
----------------------------------------------------------
"Oye Lupita! Go get the fricking mail"
Lupe swore under her breath as her brother's voice came wafting through the air but walked nonetheless to the rickety mailbox.
Bills, more bills, timeshare offers, more bills...she skimmed through the list and threw out the others into the kitchen trash and dumped the important ones on the table.
She was back in the back yard when Javier's accursed voice came roaring again.
"Lupe, get your ass here for a second"
"Oy vey, madre de dios"
She stalked through the screen door and scowled at him.
"Oh te odio, suelta me por dios! What the hell do you want this time?"
He ignored her tirade and threw a package at her, rolling his eyes when it bounced out of her hands and on the floor.
"That just came for you, what I wanna know is who's sending you deliveries first class."
She ignored him and escaped outside and into her car just for privacy. The box was for her, but in care of her brother...who the hell would be sending her stuff anyway? It wasn't like she knew anybody...
Her hands made short work of the packaging and she withdrew the small envelope inside. There was something small and hard in it and Lupe gingerly tore it open, starting when the metallic object slid unto her lap. She picked it up and examined it in the light. It was a symbol of some sort, a side cut of a wolf's head with fang bared in a snarl. Lupe frowned at the strange gift and looked inside the package again, noticing with surprise that it came with a note.
"I guess it's time this went in its proper place. DW"
DW...it couldn't be. She turned the box around in search of a return address and indeed it was from a Dusty Walker, living somewhere in El Paso Texas. Walker ... Lupe remembered the story the other girl had spun for her. Willie and Walker...did it mean that Dusty was somehow related to the Walker who once rode the fake K? But then that meant...
She looked at the wolf head again, turning it all sides in the light and felt a thrill of pleasure. Her Nameless finally had a name.