Speed Queen (GxG)

Chapter 5: Southern Paradise

As June turned to July, I found myself spending every waking hour with Judy and Rex. I'd spend most of the week helping them get the car ready, then join them every Saturday for the races.

I grew closer to Judy in the process. She'd teach me little things here and there, like how to change the oil in her car or what the hell a socket wrench was. But, when we weren't watching races or working on her car, we'd go into town for lunch, or head to the drive-in. And some days we'd just stay at her place, talking 'till late in the night.

My dad wasn't necessarily happy with all the time I was spending away from home, but Trisha encouraged it. She said it was good for me to make friends, that it would give me something to do.

All in all, I was starting to enjoy small town living...

July, 1973

Judy and I laid on the floor underneath her car.

"Can you hand me the half-inch socket?" She asked.

I rolled over and grabbed the wrench from the toolbox.

"What're you working on?" I asked, handing her the wrench.

"Pullin' the rear end out so I can put shorter gears in it."

I just looked at her, no clue as to what she was talking about.

She chuckled. "The shorter the gears, the harder the car will launch."

"Oh, why not start with that?"

She smiled and nudged me. "How else are you supposed to learn?"

I smiled back, staring deep into those big brown eyes of hers. To lost to even answer.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Well?"

"You have really pretty eyes..." I replied.

She giggled, a light shade of pink forming on her cheeks. "So do you..."

I felt my face flush as she looked at me, appraising me.

"Can I ask you something..?"

I just nodded.

She finally moved her eyes from mine, seemingly nervous. "Well, I was wonderin'-"

The sound of the barn door opening startled us apart.

"Come take a look, Judy!" Rex called out, setting a heavy box on the workbench.

We shared a quick smile before rolling out from under the car.

"Oh, hey, darlin'. You're here early." Rex said as I approached.

I shrugged. "Couldn't sleep much."

He just nodded, looking between the two of us.

"Anyway, what you got there?" Judy asked.

Rex seemed to snap back to reality. "Oh, right. I have your ticket to beating that jackass Ronnie Burch." He said as he ripped the box open, revealing a large, complicated piece of metal.

Judy whistled. "Woo, ain't that pretty?"

"What is it?" I asked.

"This, my dear, is a supercharger. It'll push more air into the motor which means more power." Rex replied.

I nodded. "Alright, let's get to work then."

   Rex and Judy shared a quick smile before grabbing some tools to get started...