Leo went into instant action, taking a step back and motioning at Mack as if he were Vanna White and she were the letterboard. “This is Mack Williams, the newest driver for JJR.” He overemphasizeddriver. “She’s made the podium at several famous tracks. Eldora, Chili Bowl, 24 Hours of Daytona ...” If the situation wasn’t so mortifying, the panic on Leo’s face would have made her laugh.
“Oh my, I thought you were Leo’s girl. Pardon me.” The man extended his palm to Mack. “Hollis Whitfield. Head of marketing.”
She was about to lash out with a snarky comeback but Janet caught her eye with an oddly maternal look—sit down, shut up, do not embarrass me—followed by a silently mouthed,Your only sponsor. Mack pulled her lips inward and bit down hard to stop herself from snapping at Janet, who’d done nothing to correct Hollis’s pathetic error, instead letting Leo do her dirty work. Sports money could hobble the strongest people.
Still seething, Mack sat down and spent the next hour making small talk and answering inane questions, trying to be polite even though her insides were boiling. Hollis’s whole demeanor changed after Leo’s introduction, morphing from Good Ol’ Country Boy into Lofty Executive. He rarely spoke to her, focusing his attention on Leo to the point of awkwardness. Ever the peacemaker, Leo tried to pull the conversation around to Mack but her temper got the best of her and she turned in her chair and spoke to the other two marketing people. When plates were cleared and coffee was offered, Mack stood and made a lame excuse to leave.
She stomped out of the tent as well as she could in her heels, heading for the team trailer. She knew without looking that Leo followed her. When she was out of sight of the Hartley tent, she turned. “Don’t you dare make excuses for that asshole.”
Leo held up both hands, frowning. “Give me some credit. Hollis is barely tolerable on a good day.”
“But,” she prompted, pulling her hair out of the tortuous pins.
Leo ran his hands through his hair in frustration, loosening the curls from their gelled hold. Hair that good was obnoxious, honestly. “Hartley is our biggest sponsor.”
“So it’s okay for him to assume I’m your fuckinggirlfriend?”
“No!” Leo looked around them, then gestured back toward the garage. “Let’s talk somewhere more private, okay?”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Leo,” she said, but started walking anyway. Even though she was speed-walking, Leo took one step for every two of hers and it sent her into a fury. She was practically running by the time they hit Gasoline Alley. “Do you see what I mean now? This sport ... geezus, the shit we have to put up with for daring to be a woman who wants to race. I’m starting this race two laps down just for having a goddamn vagina! You want to think that men like Hollis are nothing unusual but they’re the norm. The only woman in the room is a girlfriend, a secretary, a nurse, not the driver or the CEO or the doctor.” She whirled to face him. “Do you see? Do you see why—?”
Suddenly aware of the dozens of people in the garage area, she stopped. Her body shook with rage, and she wanted to throw something or hit someone or put the pedal on the floor and drive so fast she nearly lost control.
She wasn’t just mad, she wasmortified.
“I’m sorry for what he said, Mack. It was unacceptable. But you’re never going to change a prick like Hollis by running your mouth. But you can prove him wrong”—he pointed toward the track—“out there. I’ve been there too, where no one believes you belong and the only way you can make them believe is to go faster than everyone else. You haveto show them you’re too good to be ignored. Show them what you can dothere.” He stabbed his finger in the direction of the track once more for emphasis.
Hollis’s comment had embarrassed her, but Leo’s words humiliated her. Janet had thrown the same line her way:You’ve got to give them a good story, or be sexy, or show them you’re five times better than anyone else.But no matter how Leo looked at her, Mack wasn’t the type of woman that could pull off sexy, and her story wasn’t one she was willing to share.But you’re the mom.All she had was her driving skill. In the past she’d relied on her ability to put any car at the front of the finish line, but here at Indy, she could hardly get out of the pit box.
“Fuck you, Leo. You think I’m not trying to be faster than everyone else? You think I don’t want this? I want this more than you will ever understand. Ineedthis.” She paused, not wanting to think of what came a week from now, not wanting to tell him that she needed the memory of racing in the Indy 500 to get her through the next decades of her life. If she wasted this chance, she’d be worse off than ever before, stewing in self-pity and self-loathing, unbearable to herself and her daughter because she’d have no one to blame but herself for ruining her single shot at Indy. “This is all I’m ever going to have, Leo. You’ll go on to the next race and the next year and the next 500, but no matter what, I’ll go home on Memorial Day.”
She hated how her voice broke on the wordhome.
Leo reached for her hand but stopped before actually touching her, as if remembering they stood in the middle of the paddock.
“Then get out there and prove Hollis wrong. Show Janet she made the right choice. More importantly, get in the goddamn car and believe that you belong in the Indy 500.”
From:[email protected]
To:[email protected]; [email protected]
Subject:RE: Exciting Sponsorship Opportunity! [May 15, 7:56 a.m.]
Thank you for your inquiry into sponsorship methodology at Lovely Linens. While we are intrigued by your request, our marketing dollars are already committed for the calendar year. If you are interested in talking about sponsorship for next year, please give me a call.
Wishing you the best of luck in this year’s Indy 500.
Thanks,
AO
Arya R. Ongaleigh
Director of Marketing
Lovely Linens, Inc.
Chattanooga, Tennessee
