Perception

Partie sans titre 12

We were sitting at the table alone when Ariel came back and sat at Jason's place.

-Okay.... Do you have any questions? she asked us.

-Hum..What?

-About Jason?

-Yes, we do.

-Tessa, I stopped her, this is maybe not the best...

-Shut up...I know you want some answers too! You don't know anything about him!

She was right...

-Why did you say he was the bouncer's boss? I asked before Tessa could add anything.

-Well, that's kind of obvious, no? Jason owns the place.

-Front and back?

-Front and back, she confirmed to me.

-He must be rich, commented my stupid sister.

-Have you seen his house or were you completely blind that day? I sent back to her.

-He is not as wealthy as you may think. He does not even get a salary half the time. Most time, he just pays us our usual rate after each race and put the rest in the bank in case someone need financial help someday. Everything he has in his house is from the time he was racing on his own.

-That sounds like Jason, I agreed.

-Wait did you say race? Tessa questioned. Like what type of race are we talking about?

-I knew he didn't talk to you much about his life, but usually he mentions this.

-He was asleep half the time, I explained.

-Well, you see everybody here? They are all doing the same thing as him: car racing.

-But that's illegal, I remarked.

-Jason has an arrangement with the local police. They do not touch any of us and in return, he makes sure that not even one racer in the city does something illegal nor puts someone's life in danger.

-That's tough to do no?

-Well....He is pretty good at it. See everybody on this team either was caught doing something illegal by Jason or was threatened by other racers. None of them ever had any problem with the justice afterwards.

-Does he still race?

-Yes he does, said a young man while taking place at their table. I am Nick by the way.

I smiled at him even though I felt my anxiety level slowly raising inside of me.

-How can he...? asked Tessa while glancing at me.

-Do it? We talk to him through a headset. It has been working perfectly since he got blind two years ago.

Seeing the interrogation points on our face, Ariel explained:

-He was racing against Alex. You know him, right? Anyway, it wasn't the first time that they raced against each other, but it was the scariest day for us. They were almost at the finish line when Alex hit his side. The thing is, Jason is pretty good at keeping control of his car whenever he gets hit. He saw the small cement wall too late. His car was literally ejected in the air. He ended up on the roof ten feet further. I remember running in the crowd to get to the car while Alex passed the finish line. Nobody was moving. He wasn't getting out and the crowd knew something was wrong. I never really heard them so quiet. He had hit his head pretty hard and one of the connection or I don't know what in his brain was not working anymore. He woke up blind in the hospital.