Under the sheets

Chapter 24 part 2; The blue lights

I started to walk away to my car, I don't know why was I even surprised, even back home in Cali people approached me to use me, to gain something I didn't even have myself, why did I think it would be any different here.

-"five years ago, does Mechanic Sargon ring a bell?" Ben's raspy voice made me freeze in place, I stud quietly. A shiver went up to my spine and rested on the nape of my neck making every hair stand up, how much did they know about me?
-"Mechanic Sargon is just a competition right?" I shrugged off, that was not my proudest moment, I still felt awful about what happened all those years ago.
Everyone looked on at Ben waiting for what he was going to say,
-"That you just so happened to be disqualified from." He stated dryly while rummaging through his pocket, I raised my guard up, he did know, he knew everything. I swallowed,
-"It was a mistake." I began in an apologetic tone. Ben pulled out the cigarette box from his pocket and took one to his mouth.
He chuckled lightly,
-"How old were you?" He asked paying attention to the lighter near his face, Kyle Juan and Ray stood quietly waiting for what was to come,
-"I was fifteen" the pressure made me cave in, I shoved my hands in my pocket, This was stupid, I was sure I could beat Ben's scrawny ass into juice if I felt like it! So why was I letting him trail on as if it was nothing?

-"Look, I know that what I did pissed a lot of people off, but my family was only going to be in Florida for that year and I really wanted to compete, I practiced so har-" I tried to explain to Ben but he cut off with a short laugh.
-"So you entered under a fake age and name in the competition, right? You remember that it was 21 and over, yeah?" he said with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

I rubbed the back of my head nervously, in truth, I hated when people reminded me of this, it was a weird chapter in my life, my dad was away serving in the army and me and my brother Tristan were home alone most of the time, mom was always slaving away, doing late shifts, so we barely saw her, I was young and dumb and with way too much time on my hands, so when Mechanic Sargon rolled around Tristan helped me illegally enter, we really caught hell for it, Mom almost killed us, and Dad...well, Dad was Dad...

-"And you won Dean, You fucking won, a stupid 15 year old won" Ben said, making me snap back to reality, that was a weird summer. -"and then everyone realized who and how old you were, that's when people got pissed "he laughed as if it was the best joke he's heard in a while, suddenly I realized, he wasn't putting me on trial or angry he just found it impressive.

I did understand, there were all kinds of sides, some called me a cheater and didn't even acknowledge my victory, Others thought I was a genius or something.
-"They covered your story on the news and everything, I remember that" Kyle pipped up
The knot on my stomach became tighter, I do remember getting calls from news organizations left and right and mom always declining even though the fame would have done me good, for a career and such, However, it didn't matter now because only a few even remembered that, these guys must have done their research.

I shrugged for the 10th time that night, a nervous tick at this point.
-"I'm leaving now, you guys are just over estimating me" I gave my final farewell as I started to walk away, feeling like tonight was just another regret on my long list.
-"Hold it" Ben stopped me, I groaned, what now?
he looked at me quietly, -"Kyle" he said not breaking eye contact with me.
-"Yeah?" Kyle responded nonchalantly
-"Give him the Shelby," He said with a smirk, Kyle's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets, Juan and Ray seemed visibly excited.
-"Are you Crazy? he's not ready, I thought you said slow Ben" Kyle protested.
-"Don't worry, I have a feeling he'll be just fine," Ben said confidently while throwing his finished cigarette on the floor. Kyle groaned and reached into his pocket for something.
I had no idea what was happening, I looked at my own car as if the escape route seemed farther away. Kyle walked up to me and glared at me.
-"You better take care of it, Or you'll fix it better than when I gave it to you," he warned as he handed me the keys to his car, His Mustang Shelby.