Sandy had gone along with the plan. I think she was still pissed at Devin or I don’t think she would have allowed my little charade. She suggested everyone but Cora and I get off the bus first. She wanted Devin’s full attention on the happy couple when we made our entrance. It had taken about two seconds for Cora to get on board when she found out Devin was twenty-three and owned Range Sports. She agreed to play my girlfriend and to tell me if Devin approached her.
The only other person in the know was Tami. Part of our getting to know each other again had been a discussion of my relationship with Nancy. I found it interesting that Tami delved deeply into why I liked her and what it was about her that had initially attracted me. She seemed to understand why it hadn’t worked out. She also felt much like I did about Devin. Character, once lost, was hard to restore in her eyes. She was very much a Midwestern small-town girl where your word was your bond. I’d found that wasn’t the case everywhere. So many people were just in it for themselves and would do or say anything to get ahead.
When Devin was done greeting everyone as they exited the bus, I turned to Cora.
“You ready for this?” I asked.
She nodded, but I could tell she was nervous. I let her go before me and reached out and tickled her ribs. She squealed, getting everyone’s attention, then she skipped off the bus and quickly turned on me when I joined her.
“I’ll get even with you,” she threatened, and then slid under my arm.
It wasn’t just Devin who looked surprised. I smiled at Devin as he came to us and I shook his hand.
“Devin, I’d like you to meet Cora, my personal assistant.”
Cora was your dream California surfer-girl. I would’ve been surprised if Devin didn’t have some reaction to her. Sandy took one look at his reaction, which was stunned silence, and hooked her arm under his. She marched him off to have what I assumed was an unpleasant conversation.
I went up to Lou.
“I think they may be awhile. Can we go have some fun?” I asked.
“Yeah, come on. I think you’re going to like this.”
My eyes lit up when I saw they’d planned for us: kart racing. The staff took us to get dressed. We got dressed in racing suits and helmets. Lou and I were the first ones out, and we went and picked out our karts. I chose number 11, the same as my football jersey. They gave us five minutes of instruction and then let us loose on the track.
It was a rush being only inches off the ground in the little race car. It was really no more than a toy with an engine jammed in behind your seat. The little kart would get up to 50 miles per hour. Lou and I took it easy the first lap. The course had a lot of twists and turns that made it interesting. I saw Tami and Cora get into their karts when we came screaming along the start/finish straightaway.
Tami, my former friend, cut us off at the first turn. I was determined to get around her. I got frustrated because her kart was just a little quicker. It might have had something to do with her weighing a hundred pounds less than I did. Tami had always been as, if not more, competitive than I was. She was holding me off at every opportunity.
I think we were both so focused on each other that we were surprised when we ran into traffic. The others were testing out their driving skills. Tami jammed on her brakes to avoid hitting Kendal. I saw what was happening and used the distraction to pass Tami. We were soon weaving through traffic with her hot on my tail. When we finally made it through the congestion, we went full-out. I couldn’t shake her and was taking every chance I could because I knew she had more car than I did. She finally passed me when I put the front wheel into the grass cutting a turn too close. It slowed me down just enough for her to slingshot around me as she came out of the turn.
When we came around again, they waved us off the track. Tami and I were all smiles and I fist-bumped her to congratulate her on beating me. I saw Devin and Sandy in their race suits waiting for us. I think our excitement was infectious because they were both smiling.
“You two were really going at it,” Devin said.
“I’ll never hear the end of it, either. She’ll be bragging about beating me to all my friends. I think we need a rematch,” I suggested.
“They’re letting everyone get some laps under their belts and then we’re going to have a race,” Devin confirmed.
They had a place where we could watch the action and get drinks while we waited. Tami and I were deep in conversation as she explained how she beat me so easily. Funny how things changed in the retelling. Cora came sauntering up and plopped herself on my lap. I saw Devin watching us out of the corner of my eye. What was it with him wanting my women? I was glad I hadn’t asked Tami to play my girlfriend or this really would have gotten ugly.
People started joining us as they finished their laps. I was a gentleman and got all the women drinks. When I was making a trip, Devin tagged along.
“Where do you find them?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You seem to find the perfect women. Your assistant is something special.”
“Want to trade? I’ll take Candy, I mean Caryn, and you can have Cora. I just want to warn you, she’s a gold digger,” I told him.
I was a little surprised I still liked him enough not to just feed him to the wolves. Cora was very much about her guy’s status and wallet. If she ever found a rich guy who could keep up with her in bed, he would never get rid of her. I had no doubt she was working on her MRS degree at State.
“I know Caryn likes you, but I’d have to see if she was willing to move to the Midwest,” Devin said, taking the bait and giving me the proof I needed.
I’d had five months to work out my feelings about Devin. This confirmation really didn’t change how I felt about him. I put him in the same boat as Deb Thomas. I knew she was first and foremost all about Ford Models. Now I knew Devin was all about himself. If I knew what to expect, I could deal with it. Devin had blindsided me over Christmas because I’d thought we were friends. I think Devin still considered me a friend, but we clearly had different definitions of the word.
The weather played a factor in how many people decided to participate in the race. It was close to ninety degrees and ninety percent humidity, or so it felt, so only about half of us wanted to continue.
I decided not to let Devin ruin my day. I let Tami’s excitement bring my mood back around. I was going to have to talk to Cora later and let her decide what to do about Devin.
I chuckled when I saw Devin and Sandy Range were put at the front at the beginning of the race. They lined up two abreast at the start. Tami and I were placed in the last two spots. We strategized on how to work together to get to the front. As a team, I thought we could win this.
On the start, Sandy cut her brother off on the first turn and almost caused him to wreck. Devin slowing down caused the field to bunch up and Sandy jumped out to a lead. Of the two of us, Tami had the quicker kart. Our strategy was for her to be aggressive and pass the other drivers. She would then block them and let me pass. I would then allow her around me to go pick on the next kart.
By the fifth lap, we were sitting in third and fifth place with Sandy and Devin ahead of us and Lou in between. We had worked our block-and-go strategy to perfection up to this point. Tami went into a turn and slowed down, causing Lou to do the same. I shot around both of them. On the next turn, I was letting Tami pass me when Lou followed her. I edged him out and our tires touched. Bad move!
Next thing I knew we were both spinning out in the grass. We were effectively out of the race as the field all passed us. We drove the karts to the pits to have them checked out.