Date: Sat, 01 Jun 2002 09:39:25 -0400
From: Stan Unknown <stan992001@hotmail.com>
Subject: Chapter 28 of Beating The Odds
Chapter Twenty Eight
The big day finally arrived. Football Friday. Drag Race Friday. No one knew
what the student body was looking forward to more.
The guy's team won. Mike scored a touchdown with under a minute to play to
win the game. Lots of the students had already left to make the drive to
where the race was to take place. Everyone wanted to be at the finish line
and up close.
Detective Martin was also at the game. His son was 15 and had gone to the
game with friends. He was unaware that his Dad was there too.
When Detective Martin saw students leaving early, he and his partner also
left. They also called for their backup patrol cars to be on the alert. They
had pulled in everyone who would normally be off duty to man every car that
they had available. With the chief's blessing. He had been the one to
organize their plan. There were going to be lots of arrests tonight.
By 9:45, there were close to one hundred kids parked in the empty field.
More were coming every minute.
Georgia is a very hilly state. None of the kids could see the police cars
hidden in the woods, overlooking the country road.
Josh and Ryan had gotten there well ahead of time. They wanted to make sure
their engines were as cool as possible before the race.
"You ready?" Josh asked Ryan, smiling.
"I am if you are," he answered, smiling back. "I want two coats of wax,
though."
"In your dreams, buddy," Josh said, as he walked towards his car. Ryan
joined him, and they both cranked their engines.
They pulled out, back to back, as they headed down to where they would turn
around so they could race back towards the crowd. A spotter behind them
wasn't necessary, since the road was long and flat and they could see if
anyone was coming for a long distance. This was a perfect place for a drag
race.
Except it was at night. And the road was narrow. And there were cops
everywhere. Other than that...
As they pulled out of the parking lot, Josh's exhaust sounded lots louder
than Ryan's. Josh had changed his exhaust plate where it was almost free
flowing exhaust. Borla systems have four different extension plates, the
most closed designed to minimize the sound, all the way to almost free
flowing exhaust. Josh wanted any advantage he could get, so his exhaust was
at the limits of the law. Or above. It was as close to open headers like a
drag race car as you could get on the street.
They slowly drove down to the turn around area. Bruce was already parked
there. At the same time, Detective Martin radioed the rest of his fellow
police "It's about to go down."
Josh and Ryan slowing turned around in the grassy area and came to a stop,
facing the crowd.
"You ready?" Josh yelled from in front.
"Yeah," Ryan yelled from behind.
Bruce walked out from his car and motioned to each driver where to line up.
He stepped in between each car and held a hat over his head. "Are you sure
you want to go through with this, guys? This road is really narrow."
"We're sure, Bruce. Just go to the front and start us, OK?" Ryan answered.
"Just be careful, OK?" Bruce answered, as he walked to the front of each car
and held his cap high in his hand. He looked at each driver to make sure
they were ready. Both engines were revving up in anticipation.
Then he dropped his hat and they were off.
Josh was more experienced in drag racing and he got off to a quicker start.
He pulled almost a car length ahead of Ryan before they were out of first
gear. Ryan hit second before Josh and went slightly sideways, almost causing
him to hit the side of Josh's Trans Am. He tried to correct it and heard his
tires start to go over the edge of the pavement.
Josh saw out of the corner of his eye that Ryan was coming close to him, so
he moved closer over to the edge of the road, and also heard his tires
shriek from going over the edge. Both boys were close to losing control.
Josh's bigger engine started to make a difference. He pulled almost a car
length and a half ahead. Ryan shifted into third and then fourth quickly, as
his higher revving engine demanded it.
And that's when the Cobra's engine sprang to life. It didn't have nearly as
much torque as the bigger Trams Am engine, but its power came at top end. It
was almost 2 car lengths behind, when it made its move.
It made up the first car length in seconds. It was about to pass the Trans
Am when they screamed past the quarter mile marker. The crowd at the finish
line were yelling louder than they had ever done at a football game.
But that was when police cars pulled out of the woods with their lights
flashing on top and blocked both lanes ahead. Both Josh and Ryan slammed on
their brakes, but knew they didn't have anywhere to go. They both looked in
their rear view mirrors and could also see police cars with their lights on
coming from the other direction.
Then, Josh saw a dirt road to the left. He didn't hesitate. He turned in.
Ryan had fallen behind him, and he quickly considered his options. Bruce was
right. If he got caught drag racing, especially the first week he had his
car, his parents might freak and sell it. All of this happened in under a
second. But Ryan blindly followed Josh. He turned onto the unpaved road too.
This had never occurred to the police. They had been thorough in their plan,
but had neglected to think about the old logging road. It was almost
impassable in places. Or so they thought.
Josh had slowed down considerably. The road was rough and very hilly. He
felt his car bottom out several times as he negotiated the rough road.
Ryan also felt his car bottom out several times, as he tried to keep up with
Josh. It was very dark here, and there was nothing to show him where the
road was, like on a highway, with its illuminated markers. All he had was
Josh's tail lights to help him. If Josh went over the side of the country
road, Ryan would blindly follow.
Then they heard the sirens behind them. The police had started pursuing them
down the unpaved road. And so they did what they had to do. They speeded up.
****************
The police car sped into the field, blocking the entrance. A big cop jumped
out and yelled, "Everyone walk to the center of the field. You're all under
arrest."
All the kids were scared, so no one said anything to him. They just blindly
did what they were told. Except Jim.
He boldly walked up to him and said, "Hi Sergeant French . What's the
problem?"
"JIM? JIM? I can't believe you're here. You Dad is going to beat your
ass so bad because of this," he yelled.
"For what? For driving into this field?" Jim asked calmly.
"No, for participating in a drag race. That's a felony, you know," the
Sergeant yelled into his face.
"It's a felony for driving into an open field that isn't being used to grow
anything? Maybe it might be trespassing, but nothing more than that. You
need to learn the law better, Sergeant French," Jim answered.
He sputtered and then said, "I know you were all watching a drag race. I'm
going to arrest every one of you. Including you!" he said, as he punched Jim
in the chest with his finger.
"You know I'm going to be a lawyer, right? Then you might be interested in
this. There's no way a judge is going to convict us of anything. If you
catch the drivers, that's another story. Maybe you should concentrate on
that instead of hassling us. You're really wasting your time here," Jim
answered coolly.
Sergeant French paused to think about that, and then yelled to the other
policemen "We've got to catch the drag racers. We've got to block off all
the roads leading from where that dirt road ends and comes back into the
main streets. Let's go. We've got to hurry."
In seconds, all the police cars had backed up, cleared the road, and sped
off in both directions. All the relieved students started cheering for Jim,
as they all ran to their cars. This had been too close for all of them being
in serious trouble.
****************
"Don't go so fast. You're going to wreck our patrol car," Detective Martin
yelled at his partner.
"Do you want me to let them get away?" he yelled back.
"No! But we know what kind of cars they drive. How many black Trans Ams and
yellow Mustangs are around here? These are kids, for Christ sake," he yelled
above the noise of the engine. He was being thrown around like he was in the
middle of a pin ball game. Inside the pin ball game. And he did have his
seat belt on. If he didn't, he might have been thrown outside the car at any
moment. At least his partner did start to slow down. And the Mustang's tail
lights started to get further away.
*****************
`God, this road is really rough. I hope I don't rip out anything from my new
exhaust system,' Josh thought to himself.
*****************
`Help me, God! I know I'm going to die any second now,' Ryan prayed, as he
hurtled after Josh.
*****************
"You're going to kill both of us!" Detective Martin screamed, as they hit
another huge hole in the road.
*****************
"Oh shit!" Josh yelled, as he saw the big turn coming up in front of him.
*****************
"Nooooo!" Ryan yelled, as he saw the same turn.
*****************
"Don't you see that, you idiot?" Detective Martin yelled at the last minute.
*****************
One thing that's good about being young. Your reflexes are at your best.
Josh and Ryan both made the sharp turn to the left. Their cars both almost
slid off the road, but they corrected in time, and came out the other side.
Detective Martin and his partner weren't as lucky. They slid sideways, into
a tree. It could have been worse. It at least saved them from going over the
side of the embankment.
"You idiot! I told you to let them go! We can get them later. Now, see if
you can get us out of here without any more damage, or I'll take the next
wreck out of your salary," screamed Detective Martin.
*****************
Josh finally hit paved road again, as his tires squealed when he turned
left. He let off on the gas enough to see Ryan do the same. He waved to him
under where his T-top normally would be to make sure he followed him, then
gunned it once more.
Ryan saw him wave, and floored it to catch up. He had no idea where Josh was
going, but he had followed him this far, so he was going to follow him as
long as he could.
*****************
"We have to get to the intersection before they come out the other end,"
Detective French yelled, as he gunned his Crowne Victoria as fast as it
would go.
*****************
All the kids scattered as soon as the police left the field. Everyone ran to
their cars as fast as they could. It was a major traffic jam just trying to
exit the field. They all were scared that they could be in major trouble
with their parents.
Jim waved to Tim and let him out in front of him. Brain leaned out of the
car and yelled to Kevin, who was also leaning out so he could hear him. "Go
to the McDonalds where we originally were going to meet," he yelled. Kevin
waved in acknowledgement, and they finally made their way out of the field.
*****************
"All cars look out for a black Pontiac Firebird Trams Am and a yellow Ford
Mustang convertible with a black top. They may be traveling together and
also may be at a high rate of speed," Detective Martin radioed in.
*****************
Josh led Ryan along back roads into an area he wasn't familiar with. He had
come this far with him, so he really didn't think he had a choice but to
follow him to the conclusion of this experience. He was in too deep now. But
his heart was beating fast.
Josh made so many turns that Ryan really didn't have any idea where they
were. He knew they were in Cobb County now, but he was totally lost. All he
knew to do was keep on Josh's tail.
Josh finally pulled into a car wash and pulled into the first slot. Ryan
pulled into the one next to him.
Josh jumped out and handed Ryan a bunch of quarters. "We don't have lots of
time. Do what I tell you. Put all the quarters in at once, Wash your car
first. Then put it on rinse. Take off your shoes and socks and put them
where they can't get wet. Then rinse the outside and then crawl underneath
the car and wash under it the best you can. Don't worry about your clothes.
I have more in my trunk. Now hurry!" he yelled.
Ryan just stared at Josh, as he started to feed his own quarters into the
slot. What did he mean by washing under his car?
Josh looked back and saw him staring, then screamed, "Are you deaf? This is
important. Do what I tell you!"
Ryan ran back to his car and started feeding in the quarters. He had trusted
Josh this far, so he guessed he would trust him on this too. He put the
selection on wash and started to spray all the dirt off his car. He finished
quickly, turned it on rinse, and started to rinse off the soap.
There was still several minutes left on the timer when he finally finished.
Then he remembered what else Josh had said about spraying under the car. He
quickly turned off the spray, pulled off his shoes and socks, and then laid
down in the dirty water that had accumulated under his car from the washing
and turned on the spray under his car.
Mud came flying everywhere. Ryan was quickly soaked in muddy water, but he
continued to writhe under the car, trying to clean everything as best he
could. If Josh thought this was important, then so did he. He had trusted
him this far, he would go all the way.
Josh finally ran around to see how far Ryan had gotten. He slid under the
car and grabbed the wand out of Ryan's hands. He quickly turned it on the
engine and finished sweeping any mud from it. He was almost finished when
the time ran out.
"That should be clean enough. We need to get back. Come over here. My
clothes should fit you," Josh said.
Both boys were dripping wet. Josh opened his back lid and opened a bag in
the back. He handed Ryan a towel and got one out for himself. Then he picked
up the bag and headed for the front of the car, keeping the back deck lid
up.
"No one's here but us. Strip down in front of my car. Everything. Stay in
front of it so no one can see you," Josh commanded.
"WHAT?" Ryan yelled.
"Just do what I tell you," Josh yelled, as he peeled off his t-shirt and
then followed it with his shorts.
Ryan just stared at him like he was crazy until Josh noticed he was staring
and not doing anything. "You want to get caught and have your father sell
this piece of shit? If you don't, you'd better get out of those wet
clothes," he said.
Ryan finally started to undress as he watched Josh pull of his wet boxers
and quickly towel off his body. He'd never seen Josh nude before but this
wasn't the time to stare. He quickly pulled off his shirt and shorts then
blushed as he also pulled off his boxers.
"Put these on," Josh said, as he handed Ryan a t-shirt, shorts and another
pair of boxers. He got the same thing out for him as both boys hurriedly
dressed. They both had carried their shoes and socks with them to the front
of Josh's car so they put them on also.
"What do we do with our wet clothes?" Ryan asked.
"Throw them in the trash can," Josh answered.
"This is my favorite t-shirt and these are brand new docker shorts," Ryan
whined. "I can't throw them away."
"Geez, Ryan, this isn't the time for this," Josh scolded. He snatched Ryan's
clothes out of his hand, put them in the sack, added his to the top along
with the towels, then ran behind the car wash, where he hid the sack in some
tall weeds.
Josh ran back to Ryan and said, "Ok, follow me back to the McDonalds where
we were supposed to meet everyone. It shouldn't be long before a police car
drives through, looking for us. It's important that we're there when they
show up."
"Huh?" Ryan exclaimed.
To Be Continued
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