I cheered in the empty room for Law as I watched him gain on some of the drivers. He had started in the fifteenth, apparently not having a good qualifying race. I made a note in my phone to ask him about what that meant when he came back home. I did that a lot during the race. I wrote down anything I wanted to know, so Law would be able to teach me.
Lap after lap I watched as nothing much happened, but then a little after halfway and a few hours, one of the cars tried to pass another but from the replays it looked like he clipped the car, which spiraled into a wreck of at least ten other cars. Pieces of metal flew through the air and my breath was caught as I watched it all unfold.
My eyes searched the screen for Law’s car which had last been in third place. I finally spotted it on the opposite side of the track from the accident, stopped with other cars lines ahead and behind him. The breath that had been missing finally came back. That could have easily been him, but it wasn’t.
“Ten car pileup, red flag, just what we needed here today at Charlotte Motor Speedway.” The reporter from before came back on and replayed over and over the wreck that had just occurred.
He showed how the number forty-two car went to pass the number four, but when he went around, caught some air and then landed the clip. This was when things went crazy as the number forty-two car turned up and crashed into the wall and then dove back down, hitting three more cars in the crosshairs, which five more cars clipped into those.
The part that made it all okay, even though I know it wasn’t, though, was that each driver was safe. The reporter talked about how he was shocked that this was the first wreck of the day, but yet a good one. I felt confusion even more as I realized these wrecks were what these people looked for. It wasn’t just the sport of driving and winning, it was the living on the edge.
I continued to watch for the next few hours and when it got down to the last twenty laps, I sat on the tops of my feet, wringing my hands together as I watched the cars go around and around. Law was in second and I prayed he’d win this one. I knew he wouldn’t always be able to win every race, but damn it, I knew this would be just want he wanted.
Five laps left.
“Come on!” I yelled at the television. “Go to the top at the next corner!”
I had no idea where that had come from. I had been watching Law’s moves on the track, just like the waitress had said, when he went up and when he went low. It was like an art form. He pulled to the top of the next corner, clearly seeing what I had just seen from the car in the number one spot. They were slowing at the bottom of the curb but were following Law’s moves.
Law pulled in front of the car with one lap to go and pulled at least one car ahead of the previous front runner and when that checkered flag waived I screamed and popcorn went everywhere as I jumped up and down in the seat.
“That’s my man!” I did a little dance there in front of the giant television and crushed a few pieces of popcorn under my feet, but that cleanup would have to wait. I wanted to celebrate with Law and so I grabbed for my phone.
A text wasn’t going to do this time, and I knew he probably wouldn’t be able to answer a phone call, so a video message would have to suffice. I ran a hand over my face and pushed the wisps of hair that had come out of my bun away, tucking them behind my ear. I turned on the video camera on my phone and faced it toward me, making sure I looked like a human before I sent Law this video.
I took a deep breath and then held down the record button.
“Hey, um, I’ve not done one of these before, but I just wanted to say how amazing you were and that I watched the whole race and those last few laps were nail biting. You were amazing and watching your race was one of the most fun things I have ever watched. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”
I blew a kiss to the camera and released the button and pressed send. I waited until the little checkmark next to the video turned blue. I had no idea when he was going to see the video, but with each second that passed and he didn’t watch it, I over analyzed what I had sent. It was stupid to send the video. I could have just said that in a message. I probably looked like shit too.
Seen.
I read the words clearly that showed in grey at the bottom of my screen and then three little dots popped up.
Future Husband:Be ready, sugar. We’re going to celebrate!
Anya:I really am so proud of you. We will have to do something when you get back.
Future Husband:I already have friends blowing up my phone. I want to introduce you to them. They are planning a field party.
Anya:A field party?
Future Husband:Trust me, sugar. You’re going to love it. I’ll see you tomorrow! I love you!
Anya:I love you too.
I read through the exchange one more time, trying to figure out what a field party was even and then thinking more about meeting Law’s friends. This was about to be bigger than meeting his parents.
I was going to meet his friends. People who knew Law inside and out and had been there over the years. They were probably people he met racing or even people he went to high school with. It wasn’t like there was anyone I could ask for advice either.
Well, except Leah.
I thumbed through my phone and gave her a call.
“Well, looks who’s alive.”
I snorted at her greeting. “Don’t act like we don’t text every damn day.”
