“Shh, you’re safe now,” he tells me as we rock for a minute and then pulls back.“Raegan is having surgery to remove a bullet.She’ll be fine, we both know she’s too stubborn to die on us.”We all slightly chuckle at that.“Baby, we need to know what happened and who did this.”
I nod, wiping my eyes as I let the tears fall.
Raegan leads us over to a guy named Danny and gives her name.She gets set up for the race along with placing my bet.Trick puts down a couple of grand for Ghost since we know our girl can rock this shit, and then we walk back over to the car so Raegan can get things ready to race.
Trick and I stand over by his bike, out of the way, and wait for the racers to cross the finish line.He gave specific instructions to Raegan that if something goes wrong to meet by an old gas station off the road down from here until we can get to her.Apparently, this type of racing is illegal, and the cops get called often.
There are a total of six cars racing that are lined up on the road.Raegan is behind the second row next to an orange and black, small sports car.We are waiting for the horn to blow, and I look back and take the scene in.Both men and women are stretched out along the side of the road cheering with their cameras out, drinking.All different types of music is booming out of each car.Everyone is having a good time, waiting for the race to begin.But, Trick tenses beside me, and I try to follow where he’s looking, but there are so many people I don’t know who he is staring at.
“Everything okay, Trick?”I ask, nervously.
“Not sure, but I don’t have a good feeling about being here all of a sudden,” he says, not taking his eyes off the area down the line of spectators.
The horn blows making me almost jump out of my skin as the cars screech out and roar down the road.They leave a large puff of smoke from their tires that makes me choke.My heart is racing as we wait to see who barrels across first.I never thought something like this could be so much fun.My heart is beating so fast I almost feel giddy at the thought of getting caught.I’ve never been in any type of trouble before, but right now my body is buzzing with excitement.
Off in the distance we hear the sounds of engines and know that the cars are heading back towards us, getting closer to crossing the line.Straining my eyes, I can only make out one car, and it has me jumping up and down with excitement.
“It’s Raegan!It’s Raegan!”I screech, grabbing ahold of Trick’s arm.I know he put quite a bit of money down, and from the smile beaming off his face, I can tell he’s just as happy as I am.
Raegan crosses the line, and it seems like forever before the next car comes across.She parks over by us getting out and tossing her helmet somewhere in the car but making sure her wig stays on.
“You won!Oh my gosh, you won!”I bounce over to her and swallow her up in a hug.
We’re giggling like little school girls.Now I know why she loves doing this.The high I feel right now is unbelievable.The crowd is cheering and trying to circle around her as she makes her way over to Danny to collect her prize.
After Danny announces the top three, money is exchanged and collected.The wad of bills in my hand right now could make me pass out.I’ve got more than enough money now that’s going to change my life.On our way back over to the car, a large body stops us by putting a hand up in front of us.
“I didn’t realize Stone allowed his bitch to go out without him,” a guy with a snake tattoo and leather cut sneers at us.He looks vaguely familiar.
Trick harshly removes the guy’s hand that is close to Raegan with a shove.
“The same could be asserted for you, Brock.What, Hector found a new play toy and tossed you away?”Trick counters and has his hand on the inside of his jacket as he moves his body blocking us from this guy and his buddies.
Can’t we ever go out and not have some type of issue that ruins our night?
“You’re a funny one, aren’t you?Tell you what, move out of the way and let us have that sweet little thing, and you’ll get to leave here unscathed,” Brock haughtily offers.
“Not a chance,” Trick spits out.
There’s a total of three guys who are with Brock when the air around us changes.Voices in the background fade away and a ripple of danger fills the space, it’s like the calm before the storm.I catch a movement from the corner of my eye.I see a reflection before everything happens at lightning speed.One of the other guys from behind Brock whips around and stabs Trick with what I assume is a knife in the gut.Raegan reaches around to her waistband and pulls out a gun and fires at the guy, sending him down to the ground.Trick who still has the knife impaled in him starts to slump over, but Raegan catches him and has him lean on her for support.The sound of screams ring out as everyone scatters away as I give Trick some assistance to try to help stabilize him to keep him from folding to the ground.
My legs feel weak, and I think my body is frozen in place.I just spent four years in a remote area where gangs and groups tried to overtake small villages for power, so seeing blood and people with bullet holes or slashes on their bodies is nothing new.But being part of the cause of those holes and slashes is totally surreal.I feel as though I’m having an out of body experience right now.My brain hasn’t caught up with everything that is transpiring in front of me.
Brock and the other two guys all have their weapons drawn and are pointing them at us.
“Now, now bitch, we don’t want any trouble.Come with us and we’ll let your friends be.Someone very important wants to have a word with you.”
Trick is struggling, but manages to pull out his gun and is pointing it at the men now.Off in the distance sirens are blaring, making the crowd erupt from cover and start to flee from the scene.
“Brock, man, we gotta go!”one of the guys yells as the sounds of the police gets closer.
Brock gazes back over to Raegan and then licks his lips.
“Soon, bitch, soon.”
They scurry off somewhere.We try to lug Trick over to Raegan’s car.
“Talk to me, Trick!”Raegan yells as we get him in the passenger seat.I hop in the back as Raegan slides across the hood and gets in the driver’s seat.I find a shirt next to me and hand it over to Trick to apply pressure to his wound that still has the knife in it.
