I make a sound in my throat, a cross between sadness and anger on her behalf. “Oh wow, you were serious about being on the streets.” I didn’t realize how much truth those words had held when she’d originally said them. No wonder she has it in her head that she has to do everything all on her own.
“Yes, anyway, he kept coming up with things for me to do. I was about twelve at that time, and eventually, his tasks switched to me helping him work on the cars that came in needing repairs. He taught me everything he knew about mechanics. After about two years of helping him, he started letting me work on cars by myself. Turned out, I could fix them faster than he could.”
“I’m not surprised,” I comment, and she smiles.
“Not only did he feed me, but he began paying me as well. A year before that, he’d let me start sleeping in the office at his tiny shop. It had a bathroom and a roof, so I was beyond grateful.”
“You were fortunate he didn’t take advantage of you.”
“Trust me, I know.”
That thought alone is enough to make me want to rip someone’s head off. I’d kill them without a second thought if they touched her wrong in any way.
We get to her apartment, and she sits in the overstuffed chair. I take the edge of her bed. “He also owned a dirt track on the outskirts of Houston in this town called Katy. When I got old enough to drive, he taught me how in a race car around that track. A lot of the other drivers brought their car into the shop for mods, so I was already familiar with how a race car ran, how it ticked.”
“Jesus, I bet you were a natural.”
She nods with a wide smile in place. I’ve never seen her smile so bright; the beauty makes me swallow roughly.
“I started winning money racing one of his cars along with being paid to work in his shop. I was finally doing something real with my life. I had a purpose after so long of being filled with emptiness.”
“So, what happened? Why’d you leave?”
The smile drops, her bottom lip trembles for a beat before she hides it. “He died.”
“Sweetie, I’m sorry.”
She nods, a sad smile taking the place of the tremble she wore moments prior. “His shop was sold by his lawyer as instructed in his will. I had some money to survive on at the time, but nothing to keep me afloat in Houston. Then his lawyer got ahold of me one day when things were looking down, and I found out the crazy old man had left everything to me.”
“No shit?”
She nods. “He had a son somewhere that he knew nothing about and a bitter ex-wife that wouldn’t speak to him. He’d told me I was like a daughter to him. I just never realized that he was serious, I guess. Anyhow, I immediately started looking for something...a small shop or whatever I could buy to make money and live a quiet life. I found The Pit. I bought my Chevelle and put the rest of the money I had as a down payment to the previous owner, and I’ve been racing to pay it off and fix it up each week since.”
“Damn, Chevelle. I’m impressed. The man would be proud of you, no doubt.”
“You are?” Is that hope in her eyes? She’s like a kitten that scratches and hisses at first but then basks in attention shown to her by her owner.
“Hell yeah. You’re a fighter in all senses. I suppose you learned to defend yourself from growing up like that then?” I can’t believe this beautiful woman had such a hard life. I really am lucky with my family.
She nods. “You fight and adapt, or you die.”
“You really are a badass,” I mumble, and she pulls me down to the bed.
“Mmm, then it’s my turn to have my way with you. Badasses get what they want.” She smirks and pushes me against the comforter. She climbs over me, straddling my waist, giving me a perfect view of her beauty. She doesn’t have to tell me twice. I’ll gladly let her have her way with me.