Great Days “Now why won’t this piece work,” muffled Joey under his breath, he was working on his new car, for some reason the fuel injectors were messing around with him. They wouldn’t take fuel and it was pissing him off. He finally decided to change them to the opposite side of the block, hoping he had only put them on the wrong way and not fried his ignition wires. He went to start it up, “Ching, ching, vrinnggg,” it started up nicer than his moms Cadillac. He stood up to admire the spectacle. A 1995 Twin Turbo Toyota Supra, and it was all his. His car was capable of speeds of up to 150 mph and a four point seven second zero to sixty. His car would keep up with Corvettes with ease, and with a little work, he’ll be beating Ferraris. He knew he had to go to class, cause today they were getting a talk on how Nitrous Oxide works; NOS for short. However, all he wanted to do was work on his car. He had bought it 2 days ago for $5500, from a guy who had to sell it. It was a great deal because the car usually retails for around $20,000. He finally got enough common sense in him and went to class. “In your laughing tanks, NOS, the gas separates into two different parts. It is heated to precisely 565 degrees Fahrenheit and then sent through your line in two forms, Nitro, and oxygen. When it reaches your engine instantly, it puts a lot more oxygen into your engine creating an instant boost in your engines power, some people have described it as a drug.” Joey was franticly taking notes spooled out buy Mr. Hildebrand. He had never been so interested in a lecture before. Sure, he was taking his dream subject, masters in Automotive Technology, but NOS was something that sounded like it works. His previous car had been a Mitsubishi. It was fast as lightning but lacked the raw speed he was looking for. He hoped he can make his new car even faster and more powerful than anything he had ever driven. “Are there any Questions?” said Mr. Hildebrand with his strong southern accent. The girl in front of him raised her had. Her name was Lindsey and he’d never met or seen such a fun person before. She shared his love for cars and always had something fun to do in the back of her mind. Joey just hadn’t summoned up enough courage to ask her out, maybe when he got his new car working better. After the lecture was finished, Joey made sure he could speak to Lindsey. She was on her way to her car parked ironically by his. “Hey Lindsey, what’s happening,” he managed to muffle out. “Oh hey Joey,” she seemed to say so easily. “I see you got a new car,” she said “Its really good looking.” “Thanks, I bought it 2 days ago, it was in the body shop yesterday.” Joey had a fear of talking to girls he liked; he could talk to any girl if he didn’t know them so well. “Yeah, I’m going to put new turbocharger’s on tonight.” “Cool, can I come help?” “The question struck Joey hard. No girl had ever asked that sort of question before. “…Sure,” he managed to mumble. “Great, I’ll be there at six.” Joey had a blank stare on his face as she drove away; he hadn’t moved an inch. He stood there dumbfounded, and couldn’t believe what had just happened. Her house was about two miles away. She eagerly pushed her car to 50mph in the subdivision where she lived. Her Condo was the perfect place for her. It had a double garage with an extra two parking spaces, it was big and roomy inside and it was only two miles from her College and work. She just invited herself over to help this guy, which she thinks is really cool, to help with his new Supra. She was really smart, had everything going for her except a guy. She was lonely, coming home only to her cat scribbles every day. She wanted to be with someone who loved cars as much as she did, almost like Joey. It was 4:30 and time to get ready for the night. Her and Joey will probably go racing afterwards. Even though Street Racing was illegal, hundreds of people did it. Her car could hold it’s own, but she knew in Joey’s car it could beat a lot of cars that come racing at night. It was an adrenalin rush doing it and knowing that it is illegal, really pumps you up. She had already had her license provoked once, and wasn’t planning on it happening again, but then there was just something about street racing that circulated your blood just that much faster. Joey was doing really well tonight. Lindsey had come over and they were having fun working on his car. He’d taken a couple of pills that calmed him down, just so he wouldn’t become all nervous and mess up the installation of his turbo charging system he had just bought. It was designed to support NOS, which was a definite future add on for his car. After breaking the turbo chargers in and testing them, they decided to go and race. It was more Lindsey’s idea than his but he figured he better. He could also learn a little more about her. It hadn’t been thirty minutes; Joey had already spotted a potential victim to race. A bunch of High scholars in a GT Mustang, he knew were egotistic and wouldn’t refuse a race. “Hey buddy, nice car, how much your dad pay for it,” a chuckle came out of Lindsey and the driver of the Mustang just flicked him off. “You want to race Rice Burner boy,” was the next reply that came out of the Mustang driver. Rice Burner is a term used to describe Japanese cars. It originated from the fact that they grew rice in Japan and the cars burn track very fast. This was easier than Joey thought, “Sure, 1 grand,” as he pulled out a roll of hundreds he always kept in his car. The spontaneous High school driver pulled one out to and gave the parameters of the race. “It’s a quarter mile to the next light, it turns red 13 seconds after this light turns green, hope you don’t get stuck behind a grandma.” The window was rolled down and you could hear him turning his music system really loud and revving his engine. Joey looked over at Lindsey, “Kick their ass.” Joey turned back with a smile and looked ahead. As soon as the light turned green, he punched his accelerator. Through experience, he learned you don’t try taking off with your engine already revving. The V8 mustang pulled away a little quicker, but as soon as Joeys turbo charging kicked in his car went. The mustang was fast; it kept up with him until 3rd gear, but then dropped off. His speed was 75 mph and gaining really fast. The Mustang suddenly inched past him leaving the tell tale hissing of NOS behind it. Joey knew this was going to happen and was prepared for the situation. He switched his turbo into a higher gear, which immediately pulled his car to about 120mph, passing the Mustang easily. Both of them passed the green light easily, but Joey’s car was about a car length in front. He pulled into the next Burger King Parking lot. The Mustang followed, this was good, because sometimes they didn’t follow. The first thing that came out of the kid’s mouth was, “How you make your car go so fast?” “Hey man I didn’t even floor it.” The 1 grand was handed over to him with a handshake. Joey got back in his car with the biggest smile you’d ever see on a face. He put the big roll of hundreds in his dashboard; he’d keep it as the first grand ever earned buy his car. The rest of the night had been crazy. Her and Joey had had lots of fun. After killing the Mustang, they went to the local racing venue out in the industrial areas parking lots. Joey’s car had put on an amazing show, winning every race they raced, including the one against a Dodge Viper. She was starting to really like him, he was funny yet smart and was always up to doing something fun. That night he got a goodnight kiss and a reassurance they were going to do it again. That night Lindsey slept well, knowing her life was progressing along. Joey didn’t want to sleep that night; he’d had too much fun. As soon as he got home, he went online and ordered some new parts including NOS. His car had preformed way over his expectations, and he wanted it to be better. He’d got along with Lindsey so well, he’d actually got a good night kiss, which he’d never had in his life. However, that wasn’t the only thing on his mind. He’d beat a Dodge Viper that night, which was pretty hard. He’d launched off the line with some revving, killing the raw V10 power of the Viper. The Viper caught up to him really fast and was going to easily take him and 2 grand. He switched the turbo up a gear, which immediately got his car to 120mph, like the Mustang, but this time he pressed a button that changed the amount of fuel coming into his engine. The car reached 155mph; over the speed of what the cars rated to go, and beat the Viper buy half a car length. He became and instant “Race if you dare,” combination with his car. He knew that he needed more power though. The next Friday he picked Lindsey up at 7:30. They went to go get something to drink and eat. He never expected it to happen though. He somehow summoned something inside of him to ask Lindsey out. You’d never seen someone with a bigger smile; Lindsey’s answer was an eager “Yes.” After that, they had to go racing again. However, it just didn’t feel right, the radar detector in his car was going off all the time, but there weren’t any cops around. He had his NOS hooked up and only tested it on a non-moving car. His first race was against an old Corvette. The V8 was loud, so loud it was shaking the ground. His car could only put up a weak Japanese sewing machine engine sound. He looked at the starter, Lindsey moved over and gave him a peck on the cheek, and wished him some luck. The board went down, his launch was perfect, only a little chirp of his tires, his car was crazy, the speedometer moved very fast up the speeds. The corvette was lightening fast, as soon as it hit 2nd gear it lost him a little. Joey kicked his turbo up as usual but that only gained on the corvette a little. He decided it was necessary; he flicked a switch and braced himself. The button on his steering wheel was big, red, and just waiting for him to hit it. He hit it, everything became a blur, and the cars speedometer got to 180 mph. He crossed the line two-car lengths in front of the corvette. He’d done a quarter of a mile in 10.95 seconds; it’s illegal to have a car on the street that does that runs under 11 seconds. Just as the smile on his face got bigger, he heard the worst sound; cop sirens. He turned to look at Lindsey, who gave him another kiss, but a long one. He looked at her and he could just tell that he really needed to get out and away from the cops. He figured his best chance was the twisty back streets in his sub. He darted off, ignoring stop signs and everything to do with good driving. One cop got on his tail, and the cop’s cars were fast. He easily made it to the sub before the cop could, but he knew they could drive just as well, even better than him. He came to the first intersection; four way stop, he turned into the street with the most turns and hills, and floored it. His car actually turned out to be faster and easily lost the cop in the straights. However, as soon as he got to turn the cop would catch up. Finally, he used the last of the NOS he had left and bolted into his driveway. The cop couldn’t see him do that. The garage was open so he went in a shut it. That night was the last time he would unleash his car unless he was certain there were no cops around. As for Lindsey, well that’s up to life.
Copyright © 2001 Niall Power |