Day 143

[from Street Racer]

By the time Tristan crossed the finish line on the fourth and final lap, he was at least five seconds ahead of Alyssa in second place. T-Bone was a second further back, and by the time Michael crossed the finish line, the other three drivers had already braked to a standstill, parked at the side of the road, and exited their vehicles.

T-Bone made a beeline straight for Tristan, seemingly impressed. "That was pretty good racing," he said. "I see the hype about you was true, man."

Tristan coolly nodded. "Thanks," he said. I could've gone faster, though, he thought.

Alyssa looked a little less pleased about the result, but congratulated Tristan nonetheless. "If I'm gonna come second, at least it was to you," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "Nice driving."

As Michael finally pulled up nearby, the attention of the other two racers turned to the loser.  "Oh, there you are, man!" said T-Bone, as Michael reluctantly buzzed his window down. "I thought you'd gotten lost or something!"

"I did say I'm new to this-" said Michael defensively.

"Then ya shoulda picked on someone your own size, shouldn't ya, punk?" said T-Bone. "Go on now, run along home to mommy. We ain't got time for losers like you."

Michael obligingly buzzed his window back up and drove off, a sour expression on his face. Tristan did not partake in the smack talk enjoyed by many of Jade City's street racers, nor did he particularly like hearing it. However, the affairs and arguments of the city's other racers were not his concern. He wasn't there to get involved with people's alliances or rivalries. He was only there to race, win, and earn money.

On that note, one of the girls who had been standing at the finish line headed over to Tristan and handed him a wad of cash. "Here you go," she said, smiling. "You earned it."

Tristan quickly rifled through the bills to check that all $4,000 was there. It was. Each racer had put in $1,000 prior to the race, with all the money going to the victor. In street racing, there were no prizes just for turning up; you either won, or went home empty-handed. Tristan did not go home empty-handed very often.

"A'ight, we'd better get outta here before the cops show up," said Alyssa. "You got any plans, Tristan?"

"Not really," said Tristan. "Probably gonna just head home and celebrate." To his right, he could head T-Bone climbing back into his Corvette and revving up the engine.

"You could go up the club with us and celebrate," suggested Alyssa. "With Lien, of course."

"You know I'm not really a clubbing person," said Tristan.

Alyssa sighed. "You're so boring, Tristan," she said. "Come on, live a little. When you're on the edge of death every night, you gotta live a little, ain't ya?"

"I prefer not to think about the death part," said Tristan bluntly.

Alyssa shook her head, smirking. "You're always thinking ahead to that pro career, aren't ya?" she said, amused. "You don't care about the here and now, you're just looking forward to that NASCAR drive, or whatever."

"It's why I'm here, after all," said Tristan. "I don't wanna think that there's a chance I might not get it."

"Well, like it or not, that's the case, Tristan," said Alyssa. "Not everybody makes it outta this scene alive, y' know."

This conversation was abruptly halted by the arrival of Lien, throwing an arm around Tristan's shoulders. "What's up, you guys?" she asked cheerily. "Nice win, Tristan." She give him a quick kiss on the cheek, leaving a faint trace of lip gloss on his skin. "So, shouldn't we be getting out of here?"

"Yeah, we were just discussing where to head off to," said Alyssa. "Tristan wants to go home, I said why not go up the club?"

"If Tristan wants to go home, why not let him?" said Lien. "He can go to the club some other day."

"A'ight, I guess," said Alyssa, before turning to address Tristan directly. "But that's a promise, y'hear me? You're comin' up the club with me someday, and I'mma hold you to that."

"Yeah, okay, sure," said Tristan, shrugging.

"Good," said Alyssa. "So, what about you, Lien? What are you doin' for the rest of the night?"

"I was thinking I might go home with Tristan," said Lien, hugging herself closer against him. "Help him… celebrate."

I don't know why I bothered asking, thought Alyssa. "A'ight, you two go enjoy yourselves, then," she said. "I'll be headin' off now, there's strawberry tequilas with my name on 'em. Peace." Waving goodbye briefly, Alyssa headed back towards her car.

"You shouldn't drink and drive, you know," said Tristan. "Especially not in a car that fast. God knows what'd happen if you hit something."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Alyssa, as she climbed into the driver's seat. "You ain't my momma. I'll go easy this time, okay?"

"On the drinks or the driving?" asked Tristan.

"Both, if I can help it," said Alyssa. Closing the suicide door behind her, she buckled up and accelerated off down the street. By now, almost everyone who had gathered for the race had already disappeared, leaving Tristan and Lien all alone at the side of the road.

Lien turned to Tristan and smirked. "Race you to your apartment?" she asked.

Tristan returned the smile. "What do I get if I win?" he asked.

"Don't you ever just race for fun sometimes?" asked Lien.

"Oh, is that what we're racing for?" asked Tristan.

"Well, if you insist…" Lien leaned in and whispered something into Tristan's ear.

"And if I don't win?" asked Tristan.

"Then you get nothing," said Lien.

"Sounds good to me," said Tristan. "We go on the green light, okay?"

Lien nodded and headed back to her own car, an ostentatious pink-and-black Audi TT, while Tristan got back into his beloved Nissan Skyline. The two drivers pulled up at the nearest set of traffic lights and glanced over at each other, grinning as they prepared for battle. The light turned amber, then green, and with a deafening squeal of tires, the two cars roared off into the night.