Nightsounds – Part 9
“Red and redder”
Hmmm…., she thought to herself walking back to her car. Maybe I’ll wait a little bit and see if he comes back… Sally opened the car door and slid in, her eyes smarting a little from the bright dome light. Closing the door, it became dark once more inside and she sat in the quiet waiting – hoping maybe? – that Dan would be right back. Where could he have gone? She listened to the night settle in for good now. A freight train rumbled somewhere in the distance, it’s sound smooth and reassuring. Dan’s neighbor’s dog barked (an annoying, whiny bark) – determined to put the fear of God into a rabbit just outside the chain link kennel, to which the brown long-ear paid no attention. The dog was barely as big as the rabbit. I’ll give him 15 minutes… she thought, turning on the stereo once more, just as Blessid Union of Soul’s “Light in Your Eyes” hit the chorus. She closed her own eyes, leaning her head against the square cloth headrest… 15 minutes…
See – I knew she would be gone. Damn! When am I going to learn? thought Dan as he started the car and backed out of Sally’s drive. She’s out on a date, I’m sure. A girl that sharp and with it must have a string of guys, just waiting to go out… If there was one thing Dan had become good at it since his Loveboat hit the iceberg was being negative. And he didn’t even know it.
Putting the car back into drive he felt the torque cause the Impala to feel impatient. Yeah… that’s why I love these LT1’s – even with an automatic, you FEEL the torque. Sidestepping the brake and mashing the go-pedal he was thrust back into the cushy leather seat, his face instantly breaking into a wide grin. Nothing like a fast car to help a man forget about woman troubles… he thought. No sir, nothin’ like a fast car…
The Orange Cobra pulled out of The Booby Trap Lounge and headed east. The driver, in spite of his company was troubled. For some reason, the lady he saw earlier in the evening reminded him of someone. She just looked familiar for some reason… then, the thought was gone.
The lady now accompanying the driver leaned against his right arm and shoulder, her low cut top barely covering what he could hardly keep his eyes off of. With each shift of the Tremec, her body moved and swayed – jiggled actually – which only caused him to fight looking all the more, a fight he was losing at each stoplight.
The light changed but he didn’t even see it at first, his eyes busy looking at nicer things – like her red hair. And, well… other things too. “It’s green, baby” she laughed, seeing his eyes were below the horizon again, to which he stumbled and mumbled, dumped the clutch too quick, and stalled the Stallion right there. Now, he was REALLY embarrassed. Starting the car up once more, he made sure he gave it enough pedal and dumped the clutch, leaving a pair of wide black marks behind them, his face almost as red as her lipstick.
As he slowed the SS, Joe pointed out to Rob the fact that the light was green but the doofus in the Mustang was just sitting there. Joe downshifted the 6 speed to second, as he now was within a hundred yards of overtaking the Mustang, and swung over to the right lane. But he had no more than nudged the Camaro’s wheel to the right when they saw the orange car’s exhaust puff a slight white – as if it was being started – and then hastily speed away from the intersection. “Ain’t that the dumbest thing you ever saw?” asked Rob. “Aw, he probably stalled it and had trouble getting it started. Those mod motors don’t have the torque at the low end and he probably let the clutch out too fast” answered Joe.
They glided the ’97 blown SS up closer to the rear of Mustang, both of them noticing the rear wing at the same time. “What do you make of that?”
“I don’t know,” said Joe. “But if I didn’t know better, I would swear that’s a wing off the Cobra R’s. That can’t be an R, can it? Who around here has one? Nah… that can’t be an R… Can it?”
They shadowed the Cobra a little more, laying back and noticing that it had a much different exhaust. Finally, another light turned red ahead of them and they slowed then stopped, next to the Snake. The woman turned around and looked at Joe, then drank in the lines of his Camaro with her eyes before turning her attentions back to the guy who was apparently trying to test the tensile strength of her top’s hem.
“Well, I think we know why he stalled the car” laughed Rob, watching the mini-floor show in the car next to them. “She’s a looker, that’s for sure! And it looks like he lost his watch and is trying to find it.” They both laughed at the pun. Just as Joe was laughing, the driver noticed for the first time the long, black F-Body next to him, idling menacingly. And the fact that he was busted ‘looking for change’ only made it worse. For the second time in less than 10 minutes, his face reddened…
“Rob – is your seatbelt on?” asked Joe.
“Yep. Gonna play Joe?”
“Maybe – he might be too busy.” More chuckles…
Joe revved the force-fed LT1, just enough that the exhaust rumbled. The driver in the Cobra looked straight at Joe and nodded, then revved his motor as well. Still not sure what kind of Cobra he was lined up against, Joe glanced at the lights above, noting that the turning lanes still needed to cycle through. He looked over at the Cobra. Orange-ish color. Special wheels. Power bulge hood with snorkel intake inlets. Odd wing. It had to be a Cobra R… He watched the turn lanes lights turn yellow and now, his focus was on the launch.
The Cobra jockey watched the same lights, now forgetting the woman beside him, not hearing her breathing pause because she knew what was coming. Being out with Joshua in his toy ALWAYS meant street racing at some point or another. Tonight was going to be no exception. She watched the lights slowly change, as if in time suspension. She heard the revs coming up on the Cobra, wishing that Joshua would at least put a stereo in the car. “It doesn’t need a radio,” he was always telling her. “The motor noise is music enough.” It didn’t make sense to her, but she knew that this car with no rear seat, no air conditioning, no radio and a rough ride was NOT going to be changed for her musical listening pleasure. She just couldn’t fathom why anyone would pay what Joshua said he paid (Was it almost eighty thousand?) and NOT get a radio. And they talk about some dumb things WOMEN do, she thought, seeing the lights in the last nano-second of yellow, hearing the exhaust note of the black car to her right audibly increase…
Yellow…
Thoughts came in flashes as he waited… Joe hadn’t street raced for a while. His last time out was when he was going to run the white Buick and cracked a fuel rail, forcing him to shut down and get the car hauled home. He just hadn’t had the time to get it out for a while and tonight was only the second time out. And now, he finds himself lined up against what most consider the finest Mustang Ford had built in a long time… his grip tightened on the white ball atop the Hurst shifter. Maybe a few more rpms wouldn’t hurt he thought, the LT1 willingly obliging his right foot’s ministrations…
Joshua had only had the car a little more than a month, buying it from a man who took a blood bath in the stock market downturn and needed the cash to cover some margin calls. Having just finally getting the room in his garage to park it, he had it shipped from the East Coast. And now he sat at a light on a quiet street lined up against a very noisy Camaro; a Camaro that sounded pretty healthy. His palms felt damp, his breathing increased, and he leaned a little more forward in the seat, watching the yellow….
Jen looked over once more at the guy in the Camaro… I know him from somewhere… Where do I know that guy from?
A white Silverado slowed at the same intersection, noting the turning lanes on the cross street were changing from yellow to red and that two sports cars were in the east-bound lane. He had no more than began to stop when several things happened at once. The cross lanes’ light turned green. Multiple sounds erupted and overwhelmed the ear – sounds he had not heard in a long, long time. At least out on the farm. Bawling, wide tires protesting the ungodly amounts of torque being applied to them; high performance motors being floored and fighting the initial static mass of thousands of pounds, trying to immediately accelerate that weight in a linear fashion and defy Newton’s laws of motion. But for him, probably the most unforgettable part of the tiny microcosmic glance of street racing he just had was seeing just how FAST both cars left the intersection – gone, side by side at first but not for long.
Within a few seconds, the Black SS had half a car length on the Cobra. By the time Joe hit third, the Cobra’s nose was at the rear of the SS and fading. It wasn’t even close. Joe let off, watched the Cobra blow by and saw the woman giving him the thumbs up, the driver not even looking over…
“Hey Joshua?” she purred, watching his stony face becoming red for the third time that evening. “How much did you say you paid for this car? Wasn’t it like, uh, eighty thousand dollars?”
“Shut up, Jen.”
“How much do you think that black car cost?” she chuckled, knowing it would piss him off more.
“I said – Shut up, JEN.”
“From the way it spanked you, I bet he paid twice what you did, huh?”
“Jen – SHUT THE HELL UP!” Joshua couldn’t believe it and he fumed silently… He had to find another race, even if it took all night. He wasn’t going home empty handed – so to speak.
Jen leaned over onto his arm again, pulling it against her chest. “Aw, c’mon Josh… I was only teasing you. Let’s go home – I’ll make you forget all about it, ok?”
“Later” he steamed. “Later…”
Dan was about to his driveway until he noticed the car in his drive. Who could that be?, he wondered. Looks like a G-Body. A Monte or Buick? DAMN! He was pretty sure it was Sally’s WE4. Then, when he saw the plate, he knew for sure… DAMIEN it glared. Sally had told him at lunch she had the vanity plate picked out so he knew it was her car. He sped into the drive and then realized how eager he looked, so he slowed and motored up to the garage, not even opening the door. He shut off the Impala, and stepped out, wondering where she was. Maybe she’s out on the deck, looking at the stars?
As he walked closer to the Buick, he heard the stereo and then noticed the driver was slumped back in the seat. He walked on around to the driver’s side and there she sat, the moonlight radiant in her blonde hair, her face peaceful and beautiful, and unbelievably cute. Don’t get your hopes up here, Dano… he admonished himself.
He walked up to the window and stood there. Then, he knelt down, his face level with hers and watched her breathing in softly, then exhaling… she was sound asleep. He spoke softly…
“Sally?”
“Sally? Are you awake?”
No movement still. She must be TIRED…
Dan touched her shoulder gently – her eyes didn’t move.
He shook her lightly and said “Sal-“
Sally suddenly screamed as if her life was in mortal danger, frightening poor Dan so bad that he screamed too. The dog stopped barking.
She blinked rapidly, rubbed her eyes and apologized. “I’m so sorry Dan. I fell asleep.”
“So… what’s up, Sally?” She didn’t answer as she opened the car door, the interior light flooding the drive with it’s pale light. Stepping from the car and shutting the door, she leaned back against it, still not answering him. She looked at him, he at her, neither one speaking yet. Something was going on at that very moment, almost as if two kindred spirits had met; something on another plane, another level of consciousness.
“Dan?”
“Yes Sally?”
“You might think I’m crazy…”
“You’re not crazy, Sally. You’re beautiful…” Dan wished he hadn’t blurted out the last words. But - they were words that gently spoke to Sally’s heart. It had been a long, long time since she had heard someone say those very words to her that had that kind of emotion beneath them…
“Dan? Could I have a hug? I just drove over here to see you and ask you if you could give me a hug. I’m lonely tonight Dan. And I hoped you would be here.” The words spilled from her lips now, her eyes moist, her gaze locked upon his shadowy face…
Dan reached for her, pulled her into him and held her tight. Her hair brushed his cheek, her perfume intoxicating him, her touch and warmth enveloping him…
“Sure, Sally. I need a hug too. I’ve got lots of hugs.”
She looked up into his eyes, her face mere inches from his, her arms around his waist and her hands clasped. His arms were around her shoulders and he could see the stars and planets in her eyes.
“Sally?” She smiled and raised her eyebrows as if to say “Yes?”
“I just came from YOUR place… As someone once sang, isn't it ironic?”
She smiled even more and so did he…as he leaned his face just a little closer… she raised hers towards his. Her eyes closed as her lips moved closer… She felt his embrace tighten even more, heard him inhale… she could feel his breath upon her face; hers was upon his… only a whisper was between them…
Neither spoke a word, but the kiss said it all…
(I'll post the rest next week. Enjoy! )
Raven
“Red and redder”
Hmmm…., she thought to herself walking back to her car. Maybe I’ll wait a little bit and see if he comes back… Sally opened the car door and slid in, her eyes smarting a little from the bright dome light. Closing the door, it became dark once more inside and she sat in the quiet waiting – hoping maybe? – that Dan would be right back. Where could he have gone? She listened to the night settle in for good now. A freight train rumbled somewhere in the distance, it’s sound smooth and reassuring. Dan’s neighbor’s dog barked (an annoying, whiny bark) – determined to put the fear of God into a rabbit just outside the chain link kennel, to which the brown long-ear paid no attention. The dog was barely as big as the rabbit. I’ll give him 15 minutes… she thought, turning on the stereo once more, just as Blessid Union of Soul’s “Light in Your Eyes” hit the chorus. She closed her own eyes, leaning her head against the square cloth headrest… 15 minutes…
See – I knew she would be gone. Damn! When am I going to learn? thought Dan as he started the car and backed out of Sally’s drive. She’s out on a date, I’m sure. A girl that sharp and with it must have a string of guys, just waiting to go out… If there was one thing Dan had become good at it since his Loveboat hit the iceberg was being negative. And he didn’t even know it.
Putting the car back into drive he felt the torque cause the Impala to feel impatient. Yeah… that’s why I love these LT1’s – even with an automatic, you FEEL the torque. Sidestepping the brake and mashing the go-pedal he was thrust back into the cushy leather seat, his face instantly breaking into a wide grin. Nothing like a fast car to help a man forget about woman troubles… he thought. No sir, nothin’ like a fast car…
The Orange Cobra pulled out of The Booby Trap Lounge and headed east. The driver, in spite of his company was troubled. For some reason, the lady he saw earlier in the evening reminded him of someone. She just looked familiar for some reason… then, the thought was gone.
The lady now accompanying the driver leaned against his right arm and shoulder, her low cut top barely covering what he could hardly keep his eyes off of. With each shift of the Tremec, her body moved and swayed – jiggled actually – which only caused him to fight looking all the more, a fight he was losing at each stoplight.
The light changed but he didn’t even see it at first, his eyes busy looking at nicer things – like her red hair. And, well… other things too. “It’s green, baby” she laughed, seeing his eyes were below the horizon again, to which he stumbled and mumbled, dumped the clutch too quick, and stalled the Stallion right there. Now, he was REALLY embarrassed. Starting the car up once more, he made sure he gave it enough pedal and dumped the clutch, leaving a pair of wide black marks behind them, his face almost as red as her lipstick.
As he slowed the SS, Joe pointed out to Rob the fact that the light was green but the doofus in the Mustang was just sitting there. Joe downshifted the 6 speed to second, as he now was within a hundred yards of overtaking the Mustang, and swung over to the right lane. But he had no more than nudged the Camaro’s wheel to the right when they saw the orange car’s exhaust puff a slight white – as if it was being started – and then hastily speed away from the intersection. “Ain’t that the dumbest thing you ever saw?” asked Rob. “Aw, he probably stalled it and had trouble getting it started. Those mod motors don’t have the torque at the low end and he probably let the clutch out too fast” answered Joe.
They glided the ’97 blown SS up closer to the rear of Mustang, both of them noticing the rear wing at the same time. “What do you make of that?”
“I don’t know,” said Joe. “But if I didn’t know better, I would swear that’s a wing off the Cobra R’s. That can’t be an R, can it? Who around here has one? Nah… that can’t be an R… Can it?”
They shadowed the Cobra a little more, laying back and noticing that it had a much different exhaust. Finally, another light turned red ahead of them and they slowed then stopped, next to the Snake. The woman turned around and looked at Joe, then drank in the lines of his Camaro with her eyes before turning her attentions back to the guy who was apparently trying to test the tensile strength of her top’s hem.
“Well, I think we know why he stalled the car” laughed Rob, watching the mini-floor show in the car next to them. “She’s a looker, that’s for sure! And it looks like he lost his watch and is trying to find it.” They both laughed at the pun. Just as Joe was laughing, the driver noticed for the first time the long, black F-Body next to him, idling menacingly. And the fact that he was busted ‘looking for change’ only made it worse. For the second time in less than 10 minutes, his face reddened…
“Rob – is your seatbelt on?” asked Joe.
“Yep. Gonna play Joe?”
“Maybe – he might be too busy.” More chuckles…
Joe revved the force-fed LT1, just enough that the exhaust rumbled. The driver in the Cobra looked straight at Joe and nodded, then revved his motor as well. Still not sure what kind of Cobra he was lined up against, Joe glanced at the lights above, noting that the turning lanes still needed to cycle through. He looked over at the Cobra. Orange-ish color. Special wheels. Power bulge hood with snorkel intake inlets. Odd wing. It had to be a Cobra R… He watched the turn lanes lights turn yellow and now, his focus was on the launch.
The Cobra jockey watched the same lights, now forgetting the woman beside him, not hearing her breathing pause because she knew what was coming. Being out with Joshua in his toy ALWAYS meant street racing at some point or another. Tonight was going to be no exception. She watched the lights slowly change, as if in time suspension. She heard the revs coming up on the Cobra, wishing that Joshua would at least put a stereo in the car. “It doesn’t need a radio,” he was always telling her. “The motor noise is music enough.” It didn’t make sense to her, but she knew that this car with no rear seat, no air conditioning, no radio and a rough ride was NOT going to be changed for her musical listening pleasure. She just couldn’t fathom why anyone would pay what Joshua said he paid (Was it almost eighty thousand?) and NOT get a radio. And they talk about some dumb things WOMEN do, she thought, seeing the lights in the last nano-second of yellow, hearing the exhaust note of the black car to her right audibly increase…
Yellow…
Thoughts came in flashes as he waited… Joe hadn’t street raced for a while. His last time out was when he was going to run the white Buick and cracked a fuel rail, forcing him to shut down and get the car hauled home. He just hadn’t had the time to get it out for a while and tonight was only the second time out. And now, he finds himself lined up against what most consider the finest Mustang Ford had built in a long time… his grip tightened on the white ball atop the Hurst shifter. Maybe a few more rpms wouldn’t hurt he thought, the LT1 willingly obliging his right foot’s ministrations…
Joshua had only had the car a little more than a month, buying it from a man who took a blood bath in the stock market downturn and needed the cash to cover some margin calls. Having just finally getting the room in his garage to park it, he had it shipped from the East Coast. And now he sat at a light on a quiet street lined up against a very noisy Camaro; a Camaro that sounded pretty healthy. His palms felt damp, his breathing increased, and he leaned a little more forward in the seat, watching the yellow….
Jen looked over once more at the guy in the Camaro… I know him from somewhere… Where do I know that guy from?
A white Silverado slowed at the same intersection, noting the turning lanes on the cross street were changing from yellow to red and that two sports cars were in the east-bound lane. He had no more than began to stop when several things happened at once. The cross lanes’ light turned green. Multiple sounds erupted and overwhelmed the ear – sounds he had not heard in a long, long time. At least out on the farm. Bawling, wide tires protesting the ungodly amounts of torque being applied to them; high performance motors being floored and fighting the initial static mass of thousands of pounds, trying to immediately accelerate that weight in a linear fashion and defy Newton’s laws of motion. But for him, probably the most unforgettable part of the tiny microcosmic glance of street racing he just had was seeing just how FAST both cars left the intersection – gone, side by side at first but not for long.
Within a few seconds, the Black SS had half a car length on the Cobra. By the time Joe hit third, the Cobra’s nose was at the rear of the SS and fading. It wasn’t even close. Joe let off, watched the Cobra blow by and saw the woman giving him the thumbs up, the driver not even looking over…
“Hey Joshua?” she purred, watching his stony face becoming red for the third time that evening. “How much did you say you paid for this car? Wasn’t it like, uh, eighty thousand dollars?”
“Shut up, Jen.”
“How much do you think that black car cost?” she chuckled, knowing it would piss him off more.
“I said – Shut up, JEN.”
“From the way it spanked you, I bet he paid twice what you did, huh?”
“Jen – SHUT THE HELL UP!” Joshua couldn’t believe it and he fumed silently… He had to find another race, even if it took all night. He wasn’t going home empty handed – so to speak.
Jen leaned over onto his arm again, pulling it against her chest. “Aw, c’mon Josh… I was only teasing you. Let’s go home – I’ll make you forget all about it, ok?”
“Later” he steamed. “Later…”
Dan was about to his driveway until he noticed the car in his drive. Who could that be?, he wondered. Looks like a G-Body. A Monte or Buick? DAMN! He was pretty sure it was Sally’s WE4. Then, when he saw the plate, he knew for sure… DAMIEN it glared. Sally had told him at lunch she had the vanity plate picked out so he knew it was her car. He sped into the drive and then realized how eager he looked, so he slowed and motored up to the garage, not even opening the door. He shut off the Impala, and stepped out, wondering where she was. Maybe she’s out on the deck, looking at the stars?
As he walked closer to the Buick, he heard the stereo and then noticed the driver was slumped back in the seat. He walked on around to the driver’s side and there she sat, the moonlight radiant in her blonde hair, her face peaceful and beautiful, and unbelievably cute. Don’t get your hopes up here, Dano… he admonished himself.
He walked up to the window and stood there. Then, he knelt down, his face level with hers and watched her breathing in softly, then exhaling… she was sound asleep. He spoke softly…
“Sally?”
“Sally? Are you awake?”
No movement still. She must be TIRED…
Dan touched her shoulder gently – her eyes didn’t move.
He shook her lightly and said “Sal-“
Sally suddenly screamed as if her life was in mortal danger, frightening poor Dan so bad that he screamed too. The dog stopped barking.
She blinked rapidly, rubbed her eyes and apologized. “I’m so sorry Dan. I fell asleep.”
“So… what’s up, Sally?” She didn’t answer as she opened the car door, the interior light flooding the drive with it’s pale light. Stepping from the car and shutting the door, she leaned back against it, still not answering him. She looked at him, he at her, neither one speaking yet. Something was going on at that very moment, almost as if two kindred spirits had met; something on another plane, another level of consciousness.
“Dan?”
“Yes Sally?”
“You might think I’m crazy…”
“You’re not crazy, Sally. You’re beautiful…” Dan wished he hadn’t blurted out the last words. But - they were words that gently spoke to Sally’s heart. It had been a long, long time since she had heard someone say those very words to her that had that kind of emotion beneath them…
“Dan? Could I have a hug? I just drove over here to see you and ask you if you could give me a hug. I’m lonely tonight Dan. And I hoped you would be here.” The words spilled from her lips now, her eyes moist, her gaze locked upon his shadowy face…
Dan reached for her, pulled her into him and held her tight. Her hair brushed his cheek, her perfume intoxicating him, her touch and warmth enveloping him…
“Sure, Sally. I need a hug too. I’ve got lots of hugs.”
She looked up into his eyes, her face mere inches from his, her arms around his waist and her hands clasped. His arms were around her shoulders and he could see the stars and planets in her eyes.
“Sally?” She smiled and raised her eyebrows as if to say “Yes?”
“I just came from YOUR place… As someone once sang, isn't it ironic?”
She smiled even more and so did he…as he leaned his face just a little closer… she raised hers towards his. Her eyes closed as her lips moved closer… She felt his embrace tighten even more, heard him inhale… she could feel his breath upon her face; hers was upon his… only a whisper was between them…
Neither spoke a word, but the kiss said it all…
(I'll post the rest next week. Enjoy! )
Raven
