Racetrack

<p>~Fifteen Years Later~<br/>The crowd was antsy, waiting for the main event. The excitement was palpable in the air and it was affecting Era.<br/>"Breath." <br/>She heard Trez's throaty voice in the earpiece on her ear and she smiled under her helmet and looked at the small camera below her dashboard.<br/>"I'm breathing," she said, exhaling a deep breath. She looked up and saw the bright sun, making the gray asphalt of the racetrack glisten like it was splashed with water. <br/>"This may be your first race in the international arena but believe me when I tell you that you're better than most of the jerks in this race." <br/>"Shut up, Trez! I don't need any pep talk from you," she snapped at him and cut him off. She needed the few minutes before the race started to listen to herself and not Trez's annoying worries that he was masking with his cheesy pep talk. <br/>She met Trez in the street when she started racing at the young age of fourteen. She would steal her father's taxi and race everyone that would let her join despite being a midget teenager, covered in puberty devil's curse—acne. <br/>She needed the money for her family then and more nowadays because her father was diagnosed with prostate cancer and no one in the family has an actual job. Her mother never learned the language, hence, she can only work those jobs that would not ask her to speak the English language. Her younger brother—Jake, was merely twelve years old and there was no way in hell that she would let him stop school.<br/> This dangerous sport is her only way to earn money. She could earn some easy and fast cash, and probably in a less dangerous way but she would rather die than sell her body for money. Maybe she could sell her body parts but never as a plaything to some old sleazy men that were looking for fresh meat. <br/>She released a deep breath to settle her thundering heartbeat. She would not let her fear and insecurities get in the way of getting some cash to pay for the piling hospital bills of her father. <br/>She owed him and his wife her life. She could have died if it weren't because of them. They took her home and gave her a family, protected her from her own demons, and showed her what love looked like. And she would do everything in her power to pay them for what they had given her. <br/>And she had another selfish reason why she was very keen on breaking into the international scene she was using this sport to meet people that were not in her circle, hoping that she could meet the people she was searching for many years now. <br/>She closed her eyes and the image of her father, all skin and bones in the sterile hospital room that he was sharing with three other patients in the small public hospital on their home island, and the corner of her eyes heated. <br/>She blinked multiple times to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. She had no time for tears. The people that she loves were waiting for her. <br/>"Era, I believe in you." <br/>"Thanks, Trez," she said in a steady tone of voice. The emotional chaos that she had a few minutes ago was gone. All traces of it disappeared when she turned her earpiece back on for her to hear Trez, coaching her for this race. <br/>She believed him when he said that he believed in her because Trez paid for everything for her to join this race. She did not spend a single cent. Trez just asked her to practice and practice. He was a devil when it comes to her training but maybe it was because he truly saw potential in her. <br/>Even when she was just a greenhorn in racing, Trez always stood behind her, making sure that she would get a fair race, and get the money that she won from those illegal races that she had been joining. <br/>Trez was also the first one who let her drive a real racing car on her sixteen birthday as a birthday gift. And even though she had never told him, it was the best birthday gift she had ever received in her life. <br/>"Era, watch out for the green car on your right. That's your biggest contender. He's the devil and he had no qualms about playing tricks. Be careful." <br/>"Shut up, mother hen. You're pissing me off," she snarled at him on the microphone but she glanced at the green car. She could not see the driver's face behind the wheel because just like her, he was wearing a safety helmet. But from his build, she could deduce that he was tall. Maybe about the same height as Trez or even taller. <br/>His car was clean with advertisements. The car's deep green paint job was only broken with the number seven on the driver's door. Now that she was looking at the car, she wondered why he had no advertisement on his car. Every racer was being sponsored by some company and they liked having their company logo in the car but the green car was different. A small part of her childishly hated the driver for that fact. <br/>Trez had to fight tooth and nail to be able to get her a sponsor for this race. And here was a guy who did not need any and Trez, saying that she should watch out for this guy made her blood boil. She didn't know him but she decided that she hated him already. <br/>Era just pulled and gathered her thoughts away from the driver of the green car when she saw a woman wearing tight-fitting shorts, holding a piece of cloth, crossing to the other side of the racetrack. Her presence wasn't really needed in this game because everything was done electronically—even the start of the race and the girl's participation was merely for decoration but every eye was on her, not just because she had a drool-enticing body but because a racer always watched for that piece of cloth she was holding, waiting for it to leave her hand.</p>