Revved & Reckless – By R. Snow
REVVED & RECKLESS
A FLYWHEELS CREW SHORT STORY
BY R. SNOW
“Tyler!”
Rosalie Wells’ voice from across the parking lot caused my head to snap up from doom scrolling on my phone. I waved at her as she excitedly jogged over to me.
“Hey, what’s up, Rosalie?” I tucked my phone into the back pocket of my jeans as I gave her a side hug.
“Tyler, did you hear about the next car meet? Dad said this is going to be a pretty big one since Flywheels is helping to sponsor the big charity concert that’s happening.
We’re trying to get people from all over the West Coast to come!
” Rosalie pulled away as she gestured up and down the coastline that stretched before us.
We had gotten the friends together and hit the Santa Monica pier for dinner after a cruise up to Morro Bay and back today.
“Makes sense. It’s for a good cause, so maximizing the exposure will be good.
We might not even have the cops called on us for once.
” I laughed to myself, thinking of all the other smaller car meets the Flywheels group has held that weren’t exactly the most legal get togethers.
More often than not they ended with the cops showing up and cars flying out of the lots to avoid getting their cars impounded or being handed a ticket.
“True, it’s a pretty crazy thing that’s happened to the city.
I almost can’t believe it...” She looked down at her shoes and shifted her weight from foot to foot.
I knew the disaster affected the Wells, and that only increased my determination to make this event a success.
So many people I knew and loved were counting on it.
She wiped her face aggressively before she glanced back up at me.
“So, what cars do you think we’re going to see there?
Dad really didn’t put a specific theme on the meet, so I’m guessing we’re going to have spaces for all kinds of different groups to hang out and park up in.
I think we’re going to see a lot of sports cars and supercars, possibly the JDM crowd will come out, and definitely the lowriders will be there.
Oh! That reminds me! I need to text AJ about it! I know he won’t want to miss it.”
With that, she quickly pulled out her phone and fired off a text. I smiled as I watched her.
It’s good to see you back to your old self, Rosalie. You’ve been through way too much in the past year.
“Do I have something on my face?” Rosalie asked as she tipped her head to the side, looking at me quizzically.
“No, just glad that you seem really happy lately. Stress didn’t look good on you.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and turned her around. We walked across a lot, heading toward where our other friends waited for us by the stairs that led up to the Pier.
“I can’t argue with that,” she said as we stopped by Freddie and Hank Jr.
I let go of her shoulders, and we walked up the stairs to the restaurant where we ate some food, and then made our way back to our cars as the sun set below the water’s edge. I gave Freddy and Hank Jr. quick hugs goodbye before I got in my car and pulled out of the parking lot.
Before going home, I had to swing by Kayden’s Customs and do a little bit of after hours work.
Kayden hired me to organize and deep clean his shop after hours because he’d been so busy this summer with many clients, forcing him to work longer hours.
It was a good part-time job, and on some weekends I’d worked, I even learned more mechanical skills.
I still wasn’t sure if working full time as a mechanic was something I wanted to do, but I really didn’t have many other options, and I was a quick learner when it came to working on cars.
I arrived at the shop and let myself in, flicking on some lights.
I got to work, cleaning up from the busy day the shop appeared to have.
After I put away all the tools, I gave the floors a good buffing, and then spent my last hour checking the rims in the back room.
I took stock of what inventory he had and updated the system before I called it a night.
Shortly after leaving, I pulled into the driveway of the home I shared with my uncle, but his vehicle wasn’t anywhere to be found.
“Figures,” I muttered to myself as I unlocked the front door before I shouted loudly, “I’m home!”
Nobody answered, which I expected since I knew full well he wasn’t here and that the chance of him coming home tonight was zero. I scrounged around in the fridge and fixed up something easy to eat before I plopped down on the couch and turned on my gaming console.
I spent the next 2 hours trying to get a better high score on my favorite driving game, only succeeding once. I checked the clock—half past midnight.
“It’s getting pretty late.” I cleaned up my dinner and made my way to bed.
Is this all my life is going to be? Working part time for my friend’s dad and coming home to an empty house?
It would really be nice to have a little direction in life sometimes…
I wish my dad was here… I wish I wasn’t always alone.
My thoughts rolled around in my head, wishing I had someone who I could talk to, heck, maybe even a girlfriend.
A person who loved me like Rosalie had or Freddy.
They both knew what they wanted to do in life, too.
Heck, even Hank Jr. knew he wanted to work on his dad’s ranch and make music with Jayden for the rest of his life.
I fell asleep trying to picture what my life could be if just a few things were different. I’d be lying to myself if I said I was actually optimistic, though.
The next day I went into Kayden’s Customs early. I knew he needed a little extra help for the upcoming charity event. He had said to swing by and he would give me a list of things he still needed, so here I was, energy drink in hand.
The list had the most random things on it, but who was I to argue with the man in charge?
“Hey, Kayden! Do you need me to get all of these different colors of paint or just pick a few? Then you also wrote that the rest of this is already ready for pickup at the store?” I glanced over at him as he carried a part of an engine to the workbench nearby.
“Yep, everything’s ready for pickup, and if you could grab all of them, that would be great. Oh, and Tyler? Thanks for coming in late last night. I really appreciate you putting in all the extra hours,” he said as he wiped some grease from his hands.
“No problem. The extra cash is helping me save for a new wide body kit, so, really, you’re doing me a favor,” I said as I walked over to my car.
Kayden chuckled as I backed out into the alleyway.
As I drove toward the paint shop to get the supplies, I cruised along the busy LA streets, weaving through traffic from light to light.
One of my friend’s songs came on the radio, and I was jamming along to it. I approached a light that had just turned yellow.
It’ll be tight but I could make it still. My front tire crossed over the white line just as a flash of silver entered my peripheral vision. I braced just in time for an Audi RS 3 to crash into the driver side front end of my BMW 550i, forcing me to a complete stop in the middle of the intersection.
“Motherfucker!” I shouted as I unbuckled.
You have got to be kidding me. I was furious. There was no way someone just hit my new car less than 5 days before the charity event.
Good thing I wasn’t going fast. I made sure I could move all my fingers and toes and I slid over through the passenger side seat and out the door, ready to beat the shit out of whoever just hit me.
“Hey, you piece of shit! Don’t you know how a traffic light works?
!” I shouted at the other vehicle. The driver's door opened and the next round of insults stuck in my throat. There were a lot of pretty girls in LA, but I don’t think there was one more gorgeous than the redhead getting out of the car in front of me.
My eyes widened in shock as I recognized who it was. “Avery?”
“Oh my God, my car!” She went from looking at her car to me, and her brow furrowed as the surrounding energy changed.
It was obvious she knew exactly who I was, too.
She was fuming as she stomped right over in front of me, shoving me in the chest. “Tyler Maverick! I can’t believe you pushed a fucking yellow, you dickhead!
Are you ever going to grow up? You are going to pay for the damages! ”
“Yo, chill. Same as ever I see, Avery. You used to be cool but then you turned into a super entitled bitch at the end of high school. But what would you expect from another rich Beverly Hills actress wannabe? You’re completely out of touch with the real world.
I see adult life hasn’t changed that. It was still yellow when I crossed the line, so you should have stopped.
You didn’t, so I think your insurance is going to pay for my car’s damages, not the other way around.
” I scowled at her as she clenched her fists in front of me.
Just as she was about to reply, something that I was betting would have been snarky and sarcastic, a car honked at us.
“Get out of the goddamn road!” The driver shouted at us as he squeezed around her car and flipped us off.
I shoved my irritation aside for a minute. “Think you can drive your car right there?” I asked as I pointed across the street to a parking lot, which was right outside the store I needed to go to.
“Yeah, I should be able to do that.” Avery said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder before she got back in her car.
I cringed as I heard metal against metal when her car pulled away from mine. Don’t even bother looking. Just hop back in my car and drive . We parked up, and I got out and really began looking at how serious the damage was.