Hot Summer Nights (2 page)

“You’re doin’ this town a mighty fine job, boy. We’re damn proud of you, so when you make it to the big leagues, be sure and think about us ever once in a while.”

Bashful, Wayne pulled his hat down further on his head. “I will, sir. Don’t you worry. If I make it to the big leagues, everybody is going to know that Wayne Harper is from Soggy Bottom, Kentucky. They’ll know where home is.”

As he fought through the throng of people that wanted to wish him well, Clementine watched. Even though he was only a year older than her, he handled the attention well. It was as if he took the whole town’s dreams and stuck them on his shoulders. When he finally made his way to her, she held out an ice cream cone, smiling brightly. His had sprinkles.

“I’m special, huh?” he flirted as he took a lick of the cool cream. It was a nice refreshment after nearly sweating five pounds from his body weight in the car.

“The winner is always special. I can’t help that it’s usually you.”

“What can I say? I hate when people show me up. I want to be the best. I don’t settle for second place.”

Coming to stand beside him, Clementine glanced out at the people. “Thank God you don’t stand for second place. I don’t think this town could take it. You’re the winner and you’re going to bring the rest of us with you, whether you want to or not.”

He did his best to shrug nonchalantly. “That’s okay, I got big shoulders. Besides, I definitely wanna bring you with me.” He winked as he said the smooth line. It was a wink that usually got him anything he wanted. “What do you say we get out of here?”

“Me and you?”

“Just us,” he affirmed, holding out his hand to her.

“I say let’s go. Lead the way and I’ll do my best to follow.” She swallowed hard, knowing the sentence was more telling that she’d meant for it to be.

Turning around he laughed. “See, even you know that I lead, no matter what it is I do.”

‡

W
ayne and Clementine
walked in a comfortable silence. The two of them had known each other since they were little, but it hadn’t been until this summer that either of them had begun to notice the other. With them working so close together at the track, this seemed to be a natural progression. Fireflies could be seen in the distance just as dusk descended. Small barefooted children with ice cream dripping from their chins and hands ran along beside them. The children that were done with their ice cream laughed as they caught the fireflies in mason jars. In the humid night air, crickets could be heard as far as the ear could listen.

“I bet those parents are gonna be pissed at your dad for givin’ away free ice cream.” His deep voice chuckled as he pointed to the kids that had just run by.

“No more pissed than ours were when we did the same thing. Besides, this town deserves to celebrate every once in a while. For one night a week it doesn’t matter if you come from the wrong or right side of the tracks. Doesn’t matter if you have money or you don’t have money. The only thing that matters is that we’re rooting for someone to win the race. Maybe dirt track racing is the key to world peace.” She laughed, glancing up at him.

Slight stubble showed on his chin and he rubbed it, deep in thought. “All we do is get in cars and turn left. It’s too simple to be the answer to anything.”

Running a bit ahead of him, she turned so that she was walking backwards. It allowed her to look him in the eye. “Now that’s where you wrong. Nothing about what y’all do every Saturday night is simple. You and I both know that. Nothing that can get this town to agree—whether it’s the fact they love you or hate Kevin—is easy.”

He chuckled. That was everyone’s dilemma. Hating Kevin or loving him. In his own way, Wayne respected Kevin on the track; he was a hell of a racer. However, off the track was an entirely different story he wasn’t sure he could ever change.

“Enough about whether this town hates Kevin more than it loves me. Let’s talk about you.” He grabbed hold of her hips and stopped her backwards progression.

“Me?” she asked, pulling away and starting to walk beside him again instead of in front of him.

“Yeah you. You don’t think you’re interesting enough for me to ask questions about?”

“Wayne, you pretty much know everything about me. What questions would you want to ask?” she asked ducking her head down.

“Just one. When are you going to give me a chance?”

Her feet stopped moving as she glanced at him in shock. Granted, they’d had a flirtation, but everybody knew that Clementine Lewis’ parents would never allow her to date a driver. Flirting was fine, playing to the crowd was fine, winning them money was fine, but darkening their doorstep was never going to happen.

“You’re a driver, Wayne. You, along with the rest of this town, know I don’t date drivers. My parents don’t allow it.”

Looking down at her, he could sense that she wanted to let loose. Clementine Lewis wanted to know exactly what it was that everyone talked about behind closed doors. In high school she had never been one of the girls to giggle at her locker on Monday morning about what guy she parked with out at the lake. She never even acted like she was interested. Wayne was sure though that she was. He was sure there was enough wild child hiding just deep enough that he could pull it out of her. It might take a while to yank it out, but he was bound and determined to try.

“Who say’s I’m talking about dating? Maybe I’m just talking about having a good time.” He grinned, running a hand through his hair.

“You know that I’m not like those girls either. I will not be the girl you brag to your buddies about at the shop. I refuse to be,” she said, setting her jaw.

Abruptly he came to a stop. “Now, you know that’s not what I mean, Clem. I would never in this world force you to do something that you don’t wanna do. I see it though, I see that girl inside of you longing to get out. You don’t want to be the girl on Saturday nights who cheers for anybody that’s winning at the track. You want to be able to look out on the track and admit that you care about someone and you want that special person to win. I know there’s a little part of you that just wants to let go and have a good time. What’s so wrong with that?”

“Nothing, because it’s not going to happen, Wayne. I think you’re talented and I enjoy rooting for you. I might even admit that I have a little crush on you, but that’s all it can be. I go back to school in the fall, and like I said, my parents would never allow me to do it,” she argued, placing her hand on his shoulder.

He bit his lip, putting a hand under her chin, forcing their eyes to meet. “Clem, we got plans just like everybody else in this world. We all know that they don’t always go the way we want them to. The only way we’re going to find out if this can’t be finished is if we don’t give it a shot. Dale Earnhardt taught us all on dirt and on asphalt that tomorrow is never promised. Why take what you think is going to happen for granted?”

An inner turmoil raged inside her. He was right on many issues that she’d always had within herself. The town always looked at her as the “good little girl”. She could do no wrong. However, the woman inside her longed to be free. It longed to say, “Look at me, I can be a little mischievous. I can do something that’s not expected of me.” A part of her soul wanted to bust loose. The other part knew better and that’s where her dilemma always left her….listening to the other part. Wayne was right though, tomorrow wasn’t promised. What would it hurt for one summer to do something for her that didn’t involve worrying about what everyone else thought? What would it hurt for one moment in time for her to do something for herself? She looked at the hand Wayne had offered and slowly slipped her smaller hand into his larger one.

“You know, you’re right. You’re right about everything. I do so much for everyone else that I never worry about me. I never worry about what I could be doing and how much I could be missing by being good. Besides, having fun doesn’t mean I have to be bad,” she reasoned with herself.

“You got that right. There’s so much that passes us all by if we don’t take five seconds to stop and smell the roses. There are so many things that will be here and you won’t even know it because you haven’t thought to look. That has to stop now or you’re gonna miss out on a ton of opportunities, Clem.”

Smiling brightly and inhaling deeply, she glanced up at his strong profile. He’d always looked so much older than the other guys their age, but she understood now that it was maturity – it was the pressure he had on his shoulders. Instead of looking like a boy, he’d always looked like a man. “So how does one start living for themselves?”

“They start by going out on a date with me Tuesday night. Think you can handle that?”

“Just what are you gonna do with me? Parade me around town in your muscle car?” she joked, bringing up his classic Chevy Chevelle.

“Ain’t nobody prettier been in the front seat of her, I’ll tell you that. I figured we could go to dinner and a movie. Then I’ll parade ya around town. How’s that sound?”

Blushing, she looked down at the ground, her feet automatically shuffling. This was the Wayne Harper she’d known her whole life, but something in this instant changed them. They were crossing a line and she knew it. She just wasn’t sure if she would be able to cross back when the time came.

“Sounds like a perfect way to have my coming-out party.”

Wayne couldn’t help but glance into her eyes once more. “You know that I’m not playing…right, Clem? I’d never mess with your feelings. You know that?” He’d also never mess with the amount of money he’d be spending on her. It was tight, tighter than he let the crew believe most weeks, but for her, he would do whatever he had to.

“I know. All our lives you’ve had my best interest at heart. That ain’t somethin’ I’m worried about. To hell with what this town thinks.” She giggled after she said it.

A bright smile showed white against his tan skin. “Yeah, to hell with what this town thinks,” he echoed, grinning when she clasped their hands together again.

The two of them took off walking down the sidewalk. Their destination was nowhere in particular, but neither of them noticed Kevin Grimes had witnessed the entire thing.

‡

“W
ell, well, well,
little brother. Mighty nice of you to join us,” Lee cajoled as Wayne made his way into their makeshift shop late the next afternoon.

It was amazing he could be heard over the loud noises that reverberated from every part of their small barn. All the men on his team had gotten off of their day jobs and had descended upon their garage to get some work done on the car.

“What can I say? Daddy kept me longer than I thought he would. Now that you’re no longer free farm labor, I do the work of two, smartass,” Wayne argued back. “What are we doing?” He was beat, working from sunup to sundown and then coming here every night took a toll, but he knew what he wanted and that required hard work. Walking to the left, he opened a door that lead to a small apartment. For now, this was home. Quickly, he went about changing his clothes and getting some of the dirt and grime from the day off him.

Lee came over, knocking softly before pushing the door open. He waited for Wayne to finish changing before clapping a hand on his brother’s back and slinging his arm loosely around his neck. “You did a pretty good job last week keeping it all clean. I’m actually really fuckin’ proud of ya, little man. All we’re going to do is drain out all the fluids, refill it, and fix some minor damage. We already got started. Shouldn’t take more than a few hours. JD brought some of his dad’s tools, though he’s gonna try to get some more power out of that engine.”

JD was their resident computer whiz. He was forever hooking something up to a computer and running diagnostics on it. Having a father that owned the premiere repair shop in the county worked to his advantage. He passed that advantage right on to Wayne. It was no secret they were running more horsepower than half the cars on the track, but they weren’t cheating. They’d just found a little extra juice with all the equipment JD provided. His knowledge would serve him well in the fall when he attended the local technical college.