Racing is life

24 ~ dizzy

"So what do these keys do?" I ask Charles as he stops his car outside some warehouse looking garages. They're a bit creepy to be honest.

"You'll see." He says, opening the car door and getting out. I follow suit and walk over to one of the garages. He grabs the keys out of my hand and puts them into the large door before pulling it up, revealing a big garage.

"This is where I used to work on my kart when I was a kid. Me and Pierre spent ages in here." He says, walking into the garage and pressing the light switch. The garage lights up and there is a go kart on a stand in the middle of the floor, shelves and cupboards line all the walls.

"Is this your go kart?" I ask excitedly, walking over to the black and white kart in the middle of the garage and look at it. It's got CL on it. It's so cool.

"Yeah. Jules helped me make it." Charles says, a small smile on his face. "Anyway, I was thinking you could use mine until we get you your own." He adds, looking at me.

"Yes please." I smile, almost jumping up and down with excitement. I seriously thought he wasn't going to let me go to the championships.

"It might need a bit of a clean and a few new parts but it should be good. I haven't driven it in over a year." He says, walking over to me and rubbing his finger along one of the side bumpers. His finger comes off dusty.

"Do you want a go in it?" He asks, looking at me. I nod my head and he walks around to the back of the kart. "Help me get it off the stand." He adds, grabbing the back of the go kart by the frame.

"Three, two, one." He counts down, and I lift up the front. We place it down on the floor and Charles looks down at it.

"Here, put this on." He states, handing me a helmet from on one of the shelves. I slide it over my head. It's a bit big but it will do the job. He fastens the buckle beneath my chin and I get in the kart, lowing myself into the seat.

"I just want to make sure it works so don't crash it or destroy it in any way. Also don't go near my car." Charles says, crouching down next to me. I nod at him and he starts the go kart, the noise of the engine echoing in the garage.

I flick down my visor and press the throttle, pulling out of the garage and doing a few laps of the area outside the garages, making sure to stay well away from Charles' car.

I press my foot to the floor and speed up while going straight. I weave slightly and accidentally turn too much. While trying to correct myself, my wheels spin and I hit a wall forcing the kart to flip over. I try to put my hands out to break the fall but they just scrape along the concrete.

The kart is so heavy, it feels like it's crushing me. My head hits the floor and I groan in pain. I can feel my elbows and hands burn from where they are bleeding.

"Em?" Charles shouts, running over to me and crouching down beside me. "Can you get out?" He asks as I close my eyes and take a deep breath. My head hurts, I hit it hard.

"Yeah." I say quietly, slowly shuffling along the concrete to get my legs out from below the kart. I pull myself out and stay sat on the floor, looking at my hands. I feel really dizzy. It probably doesn't help that I haven't eaten anything since I had that chicken kiev after karting two days ago.

"Stand up." Charles says gently, holding his hand out for support. I grab his hand and pull myself up, swaying into him slightly because I'm so dizzy.

"Woah, are you ok?" He asks, firmly placing both his hands on my upper arms and holding me steady. I nod at him and close my eyes briefly, trying to stop my head from spinning.

"Let's take the helmet off and sit down. You're dizzy." He states, unbuckling the strap beneath my chin and pulling his helmet off my head, holding it in his hand.