Becoming Antonia Part 16.

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in_car.jpg           
The last thing I remember seeing was the ground rushing up at me, then everything went black.

Becoming Antonia Part 16.

By; She who has been put in witness protection to stop you all from lynching her.& Zomba, who is also in hiding, so don't bother looking.

 

The weeks that followed my getting back to the shop kept me busier than a one-legged woman in an ass kicking contest. First, there was getting Alex fitted into his new ride. Then came all the press conferences, and media days. Followed by testing, and finally the season starting.

Let me tell you, Miami really knows how to throw a party when it comes time to go racing. The opening day was like being at the circus. There were bands and fireworks, and I think I spotted a real circus set up just outside the main gate.

I was a bundle of nerves when I arrived at the track. Don’t get me wrong, I’m normally nervous, but today I thought my heart was trying to beat it’s way out of my chest. Jess was making her comeback, and Alex was coming back from racing over in Europe for about 10 years. This would be his first oval in all that time, and here Jess was climbing back into the car for an actual race for the first time since her crash at INDY last season. To compound things, Sarah, Patrick and Isabelle had been snowed in, so they couldn’t fly down for the race. I was sitting in the lounge checking out the weather report when Chip came in.

“Toni, we have a problem,” he said to me, not knowing I was already on edge from my own mind running wild.

“FUCK ME! What now?” I shot back as I swirled around in my chair to face him.

“They just set the car down on Robert’s foot. The paramedics are taking him to the hospital for x-rays, but they don’t think he’ll be back for the start of the race,” he informed me.

“SHIT!” I said as I pounded my fist on the table. “And, no one else on the team can understand a fucking thing Alex is saying about the car.”
“Well you can, right?” he asked me sheepishly.

“You’re fucking kidding right?” I asked him with a raised eyebrow. “You want me to Chief two cars? In a race where we’ll be under the microscope as it is. You can stand there and tell me you want me to run both shows, and still make the right calls for both cars?” I shook my head at him. “What am I, Fucking Wonder Woman?”

“Well, if it’ll make it easier on you, I can sit on Jess’ box and try to call the shots over there for this one.”

“I guess that’s what we’ll have to do. Just instant message me about what she’s saying about the car.” I started to giggle as I felt a bit relieved that I wasn’t going to have to go it alone. “Just remember, if she ever uses the phrase, ‘it’s a loosie, tightie... kind of like driving an old log wagon,’ that’s a bad thing.”

“WHAT?” he asked in shock.

“Jess has her own special way of telling me the car sucks,” I said with a giggle. “We were at Daytona one day when Sterling Marlin told his crew chief that. Jess asked him what it meant and adopted it for herself.”

“Ok, so a log wagon is a bad thing. Got it.”

“She doesn’t talk much if the car is bad. If she’s happy with the feel, she’ll be cracking jokes, but usually I pull the reins and get her focus back. That’s you’re job today,” I told him acting like a mother. “I gave her mom my word that her daughter would be alright in the new car.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he shot back, saluting me like he was in the army.

I left and went to the garage with the latest weather report with me. After I re-mapped the fuel, I went over both cars with wrenches to make sure everything was tight. Then I did a visual inspection of both car’s tires. All in all everything looked alright, so I made my way to the drivers' meeting.

We were packed in there like sardines. I think every newspaper in the world had a reporter on hand to see what would happen when two paraplegic drivers got on the track at the same time. The officials, for their part, simply welcomed Alex and Jessica back to the series and then informed the whole field of the new ‘Rough Riding’ rule. It was meant to cut down on the blocking the league had seen last season, and they didn’t want any more drivers to get hurt. Once the meeting was over, I took Jess and Alex out a back door since I knew the reporters would be fighting to get some face time with them.

I wanted them to relax and just got them back to the hauler so they both could just take a breath and get their heads clear. It was going to be a long day, and I had to break the news to them both that I’d be sitting on Alex’s pit box today. Jess was a bit put out, but when Chip explained to her that no one else could understand Alex with his heavy accent on the radio but me, she calmed down.

The race itself was going well. Alex and Jess were working together on the track, and, once they found each other on the track, they were a virtual freight train. Nose to tail every lap, just using the draft to pick off the other cars at will. We actually were looking good to go for the win after the last round of pit stops. I took this chance to IM chip and tell him that we’d work with them until the last lap. Then it was game on. I looked over and saw him talk to Jess over the radio, and, as he looked back at me, he gave me a thumbs up.

Nose to tail they went, just clicking off laps that rivaled those turned in qualifying. They were setting a pace that was sure to be the fastest ever at Miami. The white flag came out, and Jess dove low going into turn 1. I started cursing at her, though she couldn’t hear me, for making her move too soon. All I could do was watch on the tv, as Alex got her back down the back straight. She made a move in the middle of 3, and 4 that set her up to be on the inside going through the tri-oval. They were neck and neck, and at that point I didn’t care who won. I was just happy they were both still running after the race. Everyone was looking around, and both teams were jumping up and down celebrating, as Chip and I both watched for the replay on tv. I saw that Jess had squeaked out the win by less than the length of the front spoiler and started jumping up and down in joy myself. It was then that one of the guys bounced into the pit box and shook it just enough to send me stumbling off the top. The last thing I remember seeing was the ground rushing up at me, then everything went black.

I found myself sitting up in bed panting like I’d just push-started a cup car by myself. I looked around, but the room was pitch black. I swung my legs around and fumbled for which as I did, I felt someone else in bed with me. I turned it on to see I was in a hotel room.

I tried to climb out of bed carefully so as not to wake up whoever was still sleeping in my bed. The one thing I found was that my arms were hairy as all hell. This is when I made my way to the mirror on the wall. It was me. The old me. I was Pat again. I couldn’t help but feel confused at this point.

“What the fuck?” I asked as I touched my face and watched in the mirror.

“What’s wrong Pat? Cramps again?” came Sarah’s voice.

“What? No, I’m me. I’m not a girl.”

“No shit. I think your male part is robbing the blood from your brain. Now shut up and come back to bed.”

“No, you don’t get it. I was a woman. I changed into one.”
“Are you drunk? What the hell kind of champagne did you get for our anniversary?”

“Wait a minute, where are we?”

“Niagra Falls. Now, turn the fucking light off and get back in this bed. I want to cuddle. It’s going to be three weeks before we see each other again.”

“Three weeks?” I asked her. “Why so long?”

“Well, you’re going to Hell Night next weekend, and then I’m in Philly for the following two weeks. Come on, stop playing around. You know this. It’s why we’re here.”

“It’s our two year anniversary of when we started dating.”

“Good, so you aren’t stupid, just annoying. Now come back to bed.”

“Alright,” I told her as I made my way back and turned off the light. “You know, I’ve been thinking,” I whispered in her ear as I cuddled with her in the bed. “I don’t think I’m going to go to Hell Night after all. Something just doesn’t feel right about it.”

“Come on Pat, you love seeing the guys,” she told me as she bent in to give me a kiss. “Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?”

To Be Continued... I swear there is more. What, you thought I'd just leave it here? Um, NO! There's more, so please put down the pitch forks and torches.

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Comments

just keep reading.

My lawyer has instructed me to not say anything but "read the next chapters when they get posted." LOL He thinks I'm less likely to get a bullet through the head this way.

Much love.
Toni

Word On The Street is a Cool Mill.

But not for lead to the brain but rock salt to the posterer!
LOLROF love the story .
Suposition Time I think its a dream sequence but hapening now after getting knocked off the pit box OK how did I do
Melissa c

Lynching

...we've got the rope ready just in case ;-)

Great story

NOW TONI TONI TONI...
How could you tease us this way,we are into the story waiting on the next chapter holding our breath and then you go and throw a big wrench... by the way i did not see this coming...great twist.. can't wait for the next chapter....(i'm a story hog) keep them coming.

Take care
Andy.

Not the Bobby Ewing walking out to the shower gambit?

Please, not that cheap trick!

Mind you it can work under certain circumstances and franky my own writing relies on cheap tricks, hackneyed plot devices and deux ex machinea.

Best of luck.

We know where you live.

-- Now where are those atomic artilery shells? --

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

I like Cheap Trick!

Great band, loved their "Live From the Budok . . ." (Joanie, I'm busy, what is it? Huh, wrong Cheap Trick? John messed up again, huh? No, Not ME!)

Anyway, the plan for the next chapters is revealed over on . . . (What now, Joanie? I can't say? Oh, alright!!)

Now, where was I? Yeah, that's right. Can't wait to see how this all turns out. I know I've got my thoughts on how it should go, but it would get very confusing, all those girls running around in Toni's life. I can help though. Just book them to DFW airport and I'll pick them up there, okay? (Go away, Joanie! I saw them first!)

Karen J.

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
Janis Joplin


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Just for you....

I'll see if I can get Jess to record "I want you to want me," next time we're at Karaoke. I should warn you though, she can't carry a tune in a bucket. LOL

Tha's alright!

It's the thought that counts! (There's an old joke there, but maybe another time.)

KJT

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
Janis Joplin


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

the old joke...

Does it have anything to do with me telling Jess to have sexual relations with said bucket she can't carry a tune in, once it has two tears in it? LOL....

Um, Karen ...

It's the Count that counts. "I love to count. One, two, three Ha ha ha ha ha !"
Haven't you ever watched Sesame Street?

The only problem with knowing what will happen is when you start changing things, think of the rather sad film, The Butterfly Effect.

The future Antonia will need to be very careful how she than she changes things and if she marries Sarah, what of Jess and Brit or will she act to make their broken relationship a sucess and keep the wonderful Brit from being crushed to death and the equally sweet and fiesty Jess from being crippled? And what of her dad's stoke, could that have been prevented if the doctors had looked for signs of an anyurism?

And will Antonia ever have a child of her own, IE become pregnant?

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

I warned you....

I told you it was coming.... LOL