The Racing Blood

Shattered Hope

     K.J. stood in the bathroom at the hotel in his black suit and tie. He looked at his face in the mirror, his reflection showing a terrified little boy. He heard his parents and Kale talking in hushed tones in the hotel room. He sighed and sat down on the toilet seat. "Come on, K.J.," he said to himself. "You can do this. You have to do this."
     He stood up and dusted his hands down the legs of his suit. He opened the bathroom door, and his family stopped talking. Everyone looked at him, waiting quietly. He looked around the room. Kale and Kasey stood next to the door in their black suits, and Amira sat on the bed in a lovely black dress. K.J. raised his eyebrow. "Why is everyone staring at me?"
       "We are waiting on you to be ready to go," said Amira. 
     "I'm never gonna be completely ready," he said. "Let's just go now." He walked outside to the blacked out Benz that Kasey had rented. They climbed into the car and rode silently to the church.
Kasey climbed out of the car first, hearing the click of cameras. Kale climbed out and walked to the back door. He opened the door and let Amira out of the car. K.J. stared out the window as his dad waited on Kale and Amira to get to the side of the car. He opened the door, and K.J. climbed out. He listened to the clicks of camera lenses as they walked up the stairs to the large church. They entered the church, which was dimly lit.
     K.J. looked at all of the people he recognized from the series. He saw several Cup drivers that had worked closely on the teams. His eyes scanned the crowd. He looked at the casket at the end of the aisle, his heart throbbing in his chest. Kasey put his hand on K.J.'s shoulder, and K.J. looked up at him. "You can do this, bubby."
     K.J. walked down the aisle followed by his family. He stepped up to the dark oak casket and looked down at Eric's face. His eyes were closed, and Eric looked peaceful at least. K.J. stared at him, unable to tear his eyes off of the boy in front of him. Amira wrapped her arm around K.J.'s waist. "What are you thinking, son?"
      "I... I don't know," K.J. whispered. "I don't really know what I'm thinking."
      "Kasey Kahne, I didn't expect to see you here!" K.J. turned around to see Mr. Roop staring at his father. He shook Kasey's hand. "I'm really glad you came."
      "We're really sorry, James. This has to be hard for you and Allison," said Kasey.
    James nodded slightly. "Eric was a good boy. His little brother Daniel is taking it hard." K.J. looked down at his feet. "You must be K.J. Eric talked about your talent all the time."
      "Really?" asked K.J., looking up at James. 
      "Oh, yeah. He would talk about your natural talent. He respected you a lot."
      K.J. looked down. "I'm really sorry, Mr. Roop. I didn't mean-"
    "K.J., you don't need to blame yourself. This was a racing accident. We don't blame you," said James. "No one blames you."
   Kasey looked at K.J. with a slight smile on his face. K.J. looked at James. "Thank you, sir. That makes me feel much better," said K.J.
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     "Have you been on the internet today, Kase?" asked Amira, breathlessly. She had ran into the house carrying groceries. Kasey looked up from his writing.
     "No, baby. I haven't. Why?" Amira grabbed Kasey's laptop and sat down beside him. She goes to Yahoo! and clicks on an article. 
      KAHNE AT ROOP'S FUNERAL AFTER KILLING HIM
      "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" yelled Kasey.
      "The girl at the grocery store told me about it. Kasey, we just got K.J. over it!"
     "Got K.J. over what?" asked the boy, walking into the kitchen in his pajamas. He looked at the computer screen and stopped walking. The picture showed K.J. and his family walking into the church. K.J. turned around and ran upstairs.
    "Where's my phone?" asked Kasey. "I'm about to sue the fucking COMPUTER off of Yahoo! Incorporated! They have ruined my son again!"