I kept going to help Don. He was a cool guy and a good teacher. We were also getting to know one another while working. One day he told me something I didn't expect.
“Here is the most important thing I can tell you. Keep the racing on the track. One of the worst mistakes I ever made was street racing.”
“Why, did something happen? I asked impatiently.
“Yeah. I was eighteen. I raced every chance I got. One time I was showing off and wrecked my car. It was a bad wreck. I almost ended up in a wheelchair. The good part, no one else got hurt. But, it's caused life-long problems.”
“Like what?”
“Well. The main thing is pain. Pain every day. All day.”
“You don’t act like you’re in pain.”
“I take heavy pain meds every day. I would be stuck in bed without them. This is my first car built since then. It’s painful. But it distracts me.”
“Distracts you from what?”
“Becky and I had another child. She… She died. Her name was Emma. It’s almost been two years, but it still hurts.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” I looked over at Ella. She was playing jump rope at the edge of the garage.
“She was only three. She doesn’t really remember. She knows her sister is in heaven. But that’s about it.”
“That’s why you work on the car every day?” I asked already knowing the answer.
“Yeah. It’s rough going through all this pain. Knowing I won’t even get to race it.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, very puzzled.
“My wife said I’m not allowed to race again. She said she's too afraid she'll lose me. I’ve been trying to find a driver, but its hard. Some drivers have a bad driving record. Some aren’t aggressive enough to place. That means their time wasn’t fast enough to be in the race...”
I couldn’t help but drift off into thought. Could I be his driver?
YOU ARE READING
From Hero to Racer
Teen FictionA teen boy struggles with his decision to help work on a neighbor's car. It's something he loves to do... but he's not getting paid. Follow along as he learns the true value of his time. This was originally written for a teaching site for teens age...
