Not for you (FIN)

Some minutes later I found myself sitting in the Charger. Verone's 'friend' opened the garage door, and they both got in, too - Verone on the passenger seat, that friend on the backseat.

I swallowed and stared at the dashboard.

"Can you drive this thing or can't you?" He said.

"Don't know." I replied and turned the key.

Feeling that car wake to life beneath me was incredible. Unbelievable. I could feel the vibrations of the engine thrumming through my whole body. This was it; this was a car in its pure, sheer brutality of power; I felt adrenaline rushing through me by just sitting in it and I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling it.

"What the hell is she doing?" The 'friend' asked from the backseat as if I couldn't hear him. Nothing worse than being talked to in third person, I thought.

"She is getting acquainted with this thing. Hell, have you any idea what you're sitting in here? This is a rocket on wheels. That thing could blow us all to pieces if I have no idea what I'm doing, which is just what will happen, by the way, if you don't shut up. I need to concentrate!" I snapped.

I looked at the shift. Automatic. Good, I thought, because there's no way how I could keep that thing on the street with manual transmission. I stepped on the brake and slowly pushed the shifter to D.

Damn, I could feel this thing creeping even if I was standing on the brake, practically trying to push my leg through the floor.

"Mister Verone," I said, "I just hope that whoever built this thing for you knew what he was doing when installing the brakes..."

I let go of the brake and touched the gas lightly with my foot - just to find me almost on the street a split second later. HELL! I stepped on the brake hard, bringing us to a halt before we could crash onto the pavestones on the other side.

I coughed, not really believing what had just happened. Damn, that thing had power; perhaps more than I could keep under control. I shifted to R, drove back a few yards into the driveway of the house without touching the gas this time.

"Have you ever driven anything like this?" Verone shouted at me as he found his words again.

"Like - this? Well..." I thought. Michael's Kadett with the first engine. That I had driven; but it was easier to handle. Plus I could practice with it... "yes, but I had more time to get used to it; plus it wasn't so heavy. You can't expect anyone to get into such a car and just be able to drive straight away; it normally takes days to get used to something like this. Where can I find something like a parking lot? I have to practice a bit."

Verone and his friend looked at each other; I saw the friend shrugging in the mirror.

"Turn right, then just drive on. About a mile down the street on the right side. Think you can manage that?" Verone said with a cold voice.

"I'll try." I said and drove off, this time without the jump that almost took us over the street.

The parking lot was large and empty, just what I needed. I started by doing some brake tests - speeding up, hitting the brake hard, just to see how the Charger would react. I noticed that the brakes were getting better, obviously that car had been standing around since it was completed. It was pulling slightly to the right when I hit the brake really hard, but knowing this enabled me to counter steer when I would have to.

Then I practiced driving off from a halt, trying to find the balance between a normal start and burning out tires. The difference was, as I noticed, just a few millimeters of pedal being pushed down. I drove some more circles and waves, getting a feeling how the Charger would react, at which point of angle it would start to slip in curves.

To my utter delight Verone and his friend were holding on to the dashboard respectively seat all the time, panic was clearly written into their faces.

"Told you this isn't a child's toy." I chuckled when I started to get comfortable with the Charger while making a 180 degrees turn.

For a moment I thought about propelling the car to the highest possible speed, then crashing into the nearest wall. Would solve all problems, I thought, except that I would break my promise to Dom not to get hurt... no way any of us would survive such a crash.

The Charger was sliding into a halt. "Now what, Mister Verone? You look as if you were sick." I grinned.

"Now... we'll talk. Get out." He said, teeth gritted.

I shrugged, turned the engine off and got out. That man so knew he needed me.

He was leaning to the hood, I was sitting down on it beside him.

"Okay, I'll make this short. You're smart, right?"

"Well, I'm blonde, but there is still hope." I said.

"See, there is this racer. I want to get a hold of him, of his friends. Need someone to... become his friend. Need someone to get him and his friends into my house. Need them all together in one place."

Now who could that possibly be, I thought, mentally rolling my eyes.

"Well why don't you, like, just give him a call?" I asked. Couldn't hurt, right?

"The problem is... that racer doesn't like me too much." He smiled. Mild understatement, I thought. "And that's what I need you for."

"What for?" I asked. I needed him to say it, dammit!

"I want you to impress that guy. Make friends with him. Bed him if you need to. Lure him and his friends into my house; you can pretend that it's yours."

I snorted at that thought for various reasons.

"And why exactly should I do that, Mister Verone?"

"Well, let me put it this way." He smiled and turned around to face me. "If five hundred thousand dollar are not convincing enough for you, then perhaps the idea that I'll end your life if you don't do it may be?" Before I could even just blink he pointed the gun to my head.

I coughed, stared at him. No one had ever pointed a gun at me.

"Five hundred thousand are really, really fine, Mister Verone." I finally whispered. "Just, of course, if I can keep the Charger, too."

I had to say this. No way this man would ever see me give in to such a threat without me raising the stakes.

He looked at me, the gun was still pressing to my temple. I just stared at him.

Finally, he laughed. "Charger? You can have that. As long as you do what I'm telling you to."

The gun was tucked into the back of his trousers, and I breathed out slowly.

"I have a question, Mister Verone."

"Speak?"

"Why didn't you ask Sway to do this job?"

"Oh, I got a different job for her." He chuckled. "See, I want that guy to notice not only the Charger - he had something likely some years ago, so that attention is guaranteed - but you. So I told Sway to, you know, make out with him, then dump him the moment you would appear. You'll go there with me, you'll officially 'leave' me for him, I'll take Sway with me. It's really a simple trade."

Oh-hoooo! I thought. Dom, did you forget to tell me that? Did Sway forget to tell me that? Nice one, I thought and suddenly didn't feel so guilty any more for what I had done with Verone earlier.


"Didn't you say he doesn't like you? If he doesn't like you, how would you make him interested in 'your girl'?" I asked. I had to ask as much as was needed...

"Yes, but he doesn't know me; at least not my face. Only two of his friends have ever seen my face. As long as they don't see me until they enter my house, the game will work. Plus, that guy is too interested in women. His weakness."

Yeah, I thought, that's what I once believed, too...


"A-ha. And I understood correctly that when this job is over, I won't see you again, Mister Verone?"

"Depends on how good you are. See, my house is filled with cameras. This car in fact is filled with cameras. So when you make out with him, I'll watch you. Here, the cameras are transmitting to my cell phone as well as to a system in a warehouse." He showed me his cellphone, and I stared in amazement at the screen - I could really see myself there. Looking around, I saw a tiny dot being attached to the rear mirror. And another one elsewhere. And yet another one.

"I'll see if I like what I see, then decide if I keep you, let you go... or kill you. Did I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." I grumbled. My head was spinning, I was just not up to give in to those thoughts.

"And where can I find that racer?"

"Oh, he'll be on a track nearby this afternoon. That is... dammit!" He looked at his watch, then at me. "Hope you're acquainted sufficiently with that thing by now, because we need to get to get to that damn racetrack in less than thirty minutes. Oh, and one more thing." He grabbed the back of my head in a painful manner and pulled me close, twisting my head in a way that I would look up at him.

"I can hear and understand you without you doing that, Mister Verone." I replied as calm as I could.

"If you call me 'Mister Verone' one more time, I'll kill you; but before that, we'll have hours of entertaining fun that I will never forget." He pierced me with his eyes. "Got that?"

"Got that." I hissed.

"Good." His expression changed from bad evil guy from hell to smiling dream of a mother-in-law in the blink of an eye when he let go of me.

I swallowed and got back into the car.

Driving the car on the parking lot was one thing, driving on the street another. Besides the obvious attention a car like this gets from other people, it wasn't easy to concentrate both on the car and other vehicles; but somehow I managed.

Racetrack! A real racetrack, not the illegal stuff. I grinned to myself when I drove in.

"You'll just proceed to the starting line, I bet he's already here, we're late." Verone said. "Just let me get out at the tribune, I'll see you after the race. Oh, and try not to lose; the twenty thousand would be deducted or added to your five hundred thousand."

I drove on for some yards, let Verone and his friend out and took a deep breath as I watched them walk away. Damn, I thought, in a few minutes I would see Dom. I just hoped that Sway had clearly explained to him what was going on here - and that he would be able to pull himself together until all of this was over.

I let the Charger roll along the track, towards the starting line where I could already see Eleanor standing. I also noticed that Memphis was there, leaning casually to the rail, grinning after me as I drove by.

Okay, if Memphis was here, who the hell was driving Eleanor? Stupid question, I thought - Dom had to drive a car, right...? Oh gods, that meant I would be coming to a halt next to him in five... four... three.. two... one... brakes.

I had to force myself to look over. He just sat in the Mustang, jaw tightened, and looked straight on without even giving me a side glance. Shit, he was pissed. So pissed. That wasn't something he was playing, this was real. But I had to play it real, too...

"Hey!" I shouted over.

He turned his head slowly, predator-like. Damn, the eyes. His eyes were almost as cold as Verone's at that moment.

"You here for a race or what?" I said, swallowing.

"Isn't that a bit too much car for a little girl like you?" He said, piercing me with his eyes. So cold... I could see that the knuckles of his hand which were holding on to the steering wheel were white. So much anger, I thought and hoped that he wouldn't accidentally break the steering wheel apart.

"Perhaps I'm more of a woman than you can handle." I tried to smile; instantly knowing that he would know this was a fake smile.

"Yeah, one could get the idea." He growled and looked at his windscreen again.

"Go, Dommie!" I heard Sway's voice, just a short moment later she was darting from the rail to his window. And damn! Tight black too short dress, she looked fabulous. But... 'Dommie'? I chuckled.

She was standing in a way that I could still see her face sideways. "Sweetie, if you win, I'm going to fuck you all night." She purred to him. I lost my smile and stared over.

"Hope so." He said and pulled her face close to kiss her; deeper and longer than I liked.

Okay... I thought... never forget we're all playing a game here. Never forget it. You must not become angry on this track with this beast of a car. A moment of not paying attention and they can play alone for the rest of their lives. And I really planned to pay that back to Dom.


"You have no chance, bitch. My Dommie will beat everyone." Sway smiled to me, her hand holding on to the Charger's passenger door. I frowned for a moment. Something was written on that hand in lipstick.... Just play along.

I gave a short, barely noticeable nod at her hand, then laughed into her face. "Your 'Dommie' has never raced me before, darling." I said. "Now, if you two could stop having sex on the track then we could see who's the better driver."

"Right, we can still have much sex afterwards, right, Dommie?"

"Damn right." He looked at her, touched her and I saw his hand sliding down her breasts.

Show, I thought. Just show. And perhaps a bit of trying to hurt me. Nothing serious, I thought, trying to calm myself.

"Ready?" The man at the starting line asked, and Sway disappeared.

I had to concentrate. Right now. Three, two, one...

"GO!"

I pushed the gas a bit too hard, the Charger was burning out its rear wheels for a moment before it came off. Interesting enough, Eleanor obviously had the same problem... I smiled to myself. Two people here with cars they've probably never driven before.

The Charger demanded every bit of attention from my brain and power from my arms. That damn thing tried to escape as if the engine thought that the chassis was too slow for it; as I pushed the pedal further down the vibrations in the chassis and through the steering wheel almost became impossible to control. For a short moment I wished that Michael had a chance on checking the thing before this race. He would have known if I was in grave danger by just driving this thing. Well, probably I was anyway.

I noticed that I would, of course, be faster than the Mustang which could barely keep up with my speed. No wonder, I thought. Then I started thinking what would be better: To keep Dom in a relatively good mood by letting him win or to win to make Verone happy.

The first turn; I slowly steered into it. I drove a bit to the outside of the turn and took the foot from the gas, letting Dom pass. I was still not so sure what to do; I could smoke him without much of a problem. The end of the turn, and I noticed wide eyed how Eleanor was speeding up.

Damn! That guy had nitrous in there. Bastard. I kicked the pedal down and felt the whole chassis twisting under me; I could barely keep it on the track; but the sheer power pressed me into the seat. Nothing like combustion power, I thought...

We were heads on when we arrived at the next - the last - turn of the racetrack; I knew I had to go faster if I wanted to keep up when he would be giving Eleanor the next shot of nitrous.

Then I noticed that the Charger was practically slipping over its front wheels, starting to drift - but into the wrong direction; the back of the car practically overtaking me on the inside. That was probably the worst thing that could possibly happen: Not having the Charger under control. Or rather - losing the bit of control I had over it...

Think, I thought frantically. What did Michael teach you with the Kadett? Front wheel drive: Speed up before the turn, take the gas away in the turn. Rear wheel drive: take the gas away before the turn, then speed up in the turn. Shit, I had done the exact opposite, still being used to race the front wheel drive Corsa.

The Charger by then was way beyond control, sliding sideways on the track, slowly turning into the opposite direction; having performed a 180 degrees turn on the track. Then I finally remembered what to do.

Not counter steering, but steering into the direction in which the Charger was drifting. E-brake. Coming to a halt. Stepping on the brake, releasing the e-brake, foot balancing between brake and gas, slowly shifting the weight from the brake.

The engine gave a protesting, ear-shattering sound, I could hear the rear tires scream in pain when they were burned off on the ground. Look in the rear mirror: Smoke all over; and the car was turning into the right direction faster and faster. When I was almost standing in the right direction, I let go of the brake, and the Charger catapulted off.

Dom was well thirty or more yards before me. I pushed the pedal down, the chassis vibrated in a way that I could barely hold on to the steering wheel; but I kept pushing, forcing the automatic gear to shift down. Squeaking of the tires at a speed of sixty miles per hour when the lower gear kicked in, and now I was really pressed into the seat when the huge car kept going faster.

Eleanor, having been a small spot on the track before me, kept coming closer. I couldn't help but chuckle - it was as if she was standing, but of course she wasn't. I realized that Dom was driving slower than he could have.

I reached Eleanor's side about a hundred yards before the finishing line. Short side glance to Dom, my thumb going up while my hand was still holding on to the wheel. A barely noticeable nod from him, and then he hit the nitrous button again.

Fifty yards. Head to head.

Twenty yards, he was a bit before me. My hands and arms were hurting because I had to hold the steering wheel so hard.

Ten yards, head to head.

Finishing line... I couldn't tell. I took the foot from the gas, slowly, to prevent the Charger from sliding again. It took me until the next turn to get down to an acceptable speed, then, finally, I came to a halt.

I stared at the steering wheel for a moment, my breath was coming in short gasps. The pain that shot through my body was incredible; I felt as if I had just done a marathon and my arms and legs were shaking. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't let go of the steering wheel; my hands were cramping around it. 'A bit too much car for a little girl like you'... I heard Dom say in my mind. Right, Dom; way too much, I thought.

I gritted my teeth, turned the Charger around and slowly drove back to the finishing line where I could see Eleanor and some people standing.

My breathing still wasn't normal and my body was still shaking. I realized that this had been the race of my life. All others before seemed to diminish next to this experience with this threat known by the name Dodge Charger. I never, ever had driven a car which was so fighting the driver to be let loose. The Corsa was even comfortable enough to be raced one-handed, but this thing...? For my life I couldn't imagine letting go of the steering wheel with one hand even when it was standing, let alone driving or - heaven forbid! - racing.

I stopped next to Eleanor, which was facing me, window to window with Dom.

"Nice turn there on the track." He said, deep lines etched into his forehead. "Think you need new tires now."

"I think I need new pants now." I snorted quietly, making him laugh; but it didn't sound too happy.

"Told you it's a little bit too much for a girl to handle." He said and nodded at my still shaking arm, then barely noticeable shook his head with the how-could-you look in this eyes.

"Who won?" I shrugged.

"Dommie!" Sway's rather squeaking voice almost shattered my ear when she came running over. "Why didn't you just smoke her?" Verone was walking right behind her, but that was not the only reason for me to give her an angry stare.

"Because 'she' is much faster than your Dommie." I snorted. "Say, Dommie, you wanted to tell you what a girl can handle and what not? Tell you something, that girlie there is something no man would want to handle."

"Dommie!" Sway pouted, obviously waiting for him to defend her.

"Racer chasers!" I snorted chuckling. "Then, perhaps, you're not a real man, Dommie?" I let that last word roll from my tongue, slow, teasing, and was immensely satisfied when he snarled and grinned back at me at the same time.

Verone opened my door. "Hi darling." He said and before I could say anything, he was leaning into the car, kissed me hard and touched my breast with his hand in the process, then looked at me. "Nicely done. The suspense! I almost thought you wanted to lose, but that nice stunt there at the turn really made my day."

I tried to smile at him when he pulled back from me, but I didn't quite manage. "Who won?" I said, again, this time through half-gritted teeth. I didn't dare to look at Dom, he obviously saw what Verone had just done.

"Well, it seems that this was a neck-and-neck race. Or, bumper and bumper, if you understand that better. No one wins, no one loses." The starting guy said as he came over with a picture.

Indeed, the two bumpers were in one line with the finishing line in the picture.

"Seems as if we would have to race again, Mister Verone." Dom said, looking up at him.

I froze and stared over. No way would I go on that track again with this rocket in the disguise of a car. At least not before I had some good food, lots of Coke, twenty hours of sleep and a massage...

"Sorry, son, not today. Tomorrow, perhaps." Said the starting guy and pointed at other cars which were already waiting.

I breathed out audibly.

"Why not go to a club with us?" Verone smiled at Dom. "I know one that your Lady would certainly approve of."

The way he let his eyes wander over Sway made me sick, but a short side glance at Dom made me happy. If he had meant anything serious about what he had done with Sway then he wouldn't remain as calm as he did over the way Verone had looked at her. Oh... my part...

"Darling, you wouldn't call that bitch a 'Lady', right? Just a damn racer chaser." I smiled up at him.

Dom looked at him, then at me, then back at him. "Only if you pay, Mister Verone." He said.

"That's the smallest problem. You just follow us, it's not too far from here." Verone chuckled and got into the Charger.

I took the chance to look one more time at Dom. He looked at me, biting his bottom lip, then drove off.

For the umpteenth time I asked myself what the hell I had gotten myself into.