Mastim's Curse

Chapter 4

During my life, I've been a student, a firefighter, a mechanic, a racecar driver, and a father. And besides being a father, nothing brings me more satisfaction than finishing one of my cars. Now, broken ankle or not, this car is done. Another F-09 Street Falcon is ready for the road! It would've been done last week if that tire hadn't blown and caused me to spin out during my last race. Age is catching up with me. Use to be, I would have walked away from that easy. It would be the same leg I got shot in a few years ago. Murphy's Law I guess.

What makes this car special is that each Street Falcon is hand crafted by me. The build is my design based on years of hard earned experience. I learned a lot being on the stock car circuit both as a driver and mechanic that they don't teach in school, where frames start to crack first, or how you can get yourself killed when you push your tires too far and they fail to resist the shear force on a power turn. I look down at my cast. Yep, that's an important one that I got a fresh reminder of in my last race when I put on tires built for speed and not turns. You've got to know the limitations of the equipment you got on and adjust your driving accordingly if you want to live a long happy life. Damn rookie mistake.

I'll take Jaidee and Nicole out to dinner tonight to celebrate, some place nice. For now, I light up a fat Cuban cigar and flop into the old leather recliner that Jaidee is always threatening to get rid of. I enjoy the flavor of the cigar while admiring the sight of the finished performance car. I'm really pleased with this one. It looks great and runs like a young cheetah on the hunt, smooth and fast. The Falcon has a modern, edgy shape and an ultra-lightweight, fiber-reinforced polyceramic frame which is stronger and lighter than aluminum. All that plus the fiberglass body and 900 horsepower engine makes it very desirable for people looking of a unique, high-performance road machine that can beat any production car off the line and never see them again. It's a monster of a car. It's a beast.

I place a call to the buyer's agent. I've worked though agents before, but this is the first time the agent wouldn't tell me who his client is. I hope it's not some slimy drug dealer. I stay far away from that side of the business and have turned down more than one potential buyer that I thought had dirty money. Whoever they are, they must be loaded because they offered a ten thousand bonus if it was ready to go before the last week of June. That bonus is going to help out nicely with Nicole's fall college tuition.

The buyer answers the phone. "Tony, we were just talking about you. My friends and I saw that wreck on ESPN. How are you?"

"I'm fine, just got a hairline fracture in one of my ankle bones. Cast should be off in a couple of weeks." If I don't cut it off sooner. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Busy as usual," he says. "Are you running behind on the car?" Disappointment drips from his voice.

I chuckle. "You can tell your mystery client that his car is done and ready for delivery. I'm looking forward to meeting him." I insist on delivering my cars in person. I want to make sure they're completely satisfied. Also, I want to take them out for a lesson on how to drive a performance car like this. They always appreciate the extra, personal touch and it goes well when they tell their rich friends about the car.

"That's great! He says. By the way, he is a she, a very special she," he says. "And she's going to be in town in a couple of weeks, hence the reason for the bonus you just earned."

Interesting, I've never had a woman buyer. "So who is this mystery woman, or is that going to be a secret until I make the delivery?"

He chuckles. "Ok, I'll tell you but you've got to keep it quiet because Aleale is buying the car as a present for her brother and she wants it to be a surprise."

"Aleale, the pop star, is the buyer?" Wow!

"Yes, Aleale," he says. "Well... Robin is her real name, but everyone calls her by her stage name."