It was 7:15 AM, Timi was at the breakfast table, eating. He
was all dressed in his uniform. He had gotten a job as a valet at the
prestigious Transcorp Hilton Hotel, which required him to wear a valet uniform.
He was still very sore about his performance at the previous night's race. "I should have done better
than that. I could have," he kept mumbling between bites of toast bread. "You did your best
honey," Bridget said from the other end of the table in an attempt to
soothe Timi. "Oh
it had better not be. Last night had better not be my best...If it was then we
should scratch getting rich off racing from our plans to get rich."
Timi
countered. He checked his watch and stood from his seat. " Anyway, I
better get going, don't want to be late for work." Bridget went with him
to the door. And just as Timi opened it, he met ID and Aisha standing outside.
ID was just about to knock. He greeted Timi and then went on to why he had
come.
"Sorry
for disturbing you so early in the morning. I just wanted to give you this,
your cut from last night's winnings." "Oh,
so I even get something," Timi retorted.
ID twitched his mouth a little. "Course
you do. You did pretty well last night, especially for a first timer. Later
this evening, I'll take you to Big Jo's, he's going to help fix your car." "But...nothing's wrong with
my car." Timi objected. "Plenty isn't right with it
either," ID said. "What my
brother means to say is, your car just needs some tuning," Aisha chipped
in. "Oh. Alright then, see you
in the evening. Now I have to get to work," Timi said. And with that, the
Hassan siblings departed. Timi went off to his work place.
At 3:15 PM, Timi met with ID at ID's father's car showcase,
Skyline Motors. It was a big glass
building, where many exotic cars were placed on platforms for sale. ID's
father, Alhaji Abass Hassan, was a car importer. He had made billions from his
business. He was rarely ever in the country though. Always travelling from
place to place to get more cars. The old man was in UAE for the time being
leaving ID to manage the business in his father's absence. ID got into his own car and drove to Big Jo's
car shop, with Timi following closely behind him.
Big Jo was huge, as Timi had suspected. He
was very tall, built and fat, which was very strange to Timi. Last time he
checked, most fat people were never tall, and none was ever built. Big Jo was
like something out of a TV screen, like a weirdly imagined cartoon character. ID
explained to him why he had brought Timi. Big Jo eyed Timi's car. "Not
bad," he said. "Not bad?" Timi asked in shock. "Are you
really sure you're seeing right? Because you just called my Dodge Charger 'not
bad'."
"Come
get it tomorrow. I'll be done with it by then," Big Jo said. Timi was
stupified. Big Jo had completely ignored his remark. "Fine," Timi
said.
Timi and ID thanked him. ID gave Timi a lift
back to Skyline Motors. There, ID told him about racing. "You see Timi, there are many crews,
about 36 or more. But the first 20 is the main deal. Our crew, Storm Chasers is
26th, and we really need to make it into the first 20. It takes two races for
crews 21st downwards to move a spot up. A circuit race like last night's and a
lap race." "So
what's so special about the first 20 crews?" Timi asked. "It
takes 3 races to move up within the first 20. And for a crew to do that, it
must win all three races. The winning crew also gets to take one of the last
crew's cars. Although that's if the same crew takes last in at least two of the
three races." "Whoa...what crazy guy makes
up all these rules?" Timi asked sarcastically. "I'll tell you more some
other time. Right now, you have to practise. Aisha is going to race you round
Maitama. Are you up for it?" "No
offense... but you want me to race against Aisha?" Timi asked incredulous.
"What?
You scared chicken?" "Nope,"
Timi answered. "This is going to be
too easy, " he murmured to himself. "Good,"
ID replied. "You'll be using my Nissan since your car's at Jo's. The race
will start here, you'll go though Murtala Mohammed Way and end back here. Got
it?" "Sure,"
Timi replied. At that moment, Aisha drove out from the
garage at Skyline Motors. She was driving a dark red Chevrolet Cobalt SS, with
two black stripes at the sides. She stopped at the start line. Timi laughed. He
got into ID's Nissan and drove to the start line too. Then ID did the
countdown. "Start your engines." "Three...two...one..."
Both cars were already vibrating like old machinery. "Go!" ID
shouted. And both cars blasted forwards; Timi took the lead with ID's Nissan. Aisha was just an
inch behind him. They darted into the main road, whooshing past vehicle after
vehicle. Timi quickly took to the fast lane, still staying ahead of Aisha. He
darted past a TOYOTA Camry, then a small KIA car. He saw Aisha coming fast
behind him through the rear view mirror. They got to a T-Junction. Timi made a
swift turn into Murtala Mohammed Way. He saw Aisha miss the turn and smiled to
himself. Just then, a Chevrolet Cobalt SS popped up from a tiny road in front
of him-It was Aisha! She had taken a short cut. Timi mounted harder on the
accelerator, dashing past a TOYOTA Avensis, keen on catching up with Aisha. But
somehow, Aisha just kept increasing the distance between them. They reached a
roundabout and Aisha without stopping, blasted her way through the myriad of
cars into IBB Way, from there it was a straight road back to Skyline Motors.
She saw Timi coming behind her about a dozen feet away. She concentrated harder
on the road, her speed rising to 115km/h in a busy street. She dodged car after
car, avoiding any contact whatsoever with them. Finally she sped closer to
Skyline Motors, pushing the breaks as she did. Her car drifted into the
compound, finishing the race in grand style. She got out of the car and waited
a full three minutes for Timi to arrive. "Where
have you been slow poke?" She teased.
Timi got out of the Nissan, furious.
"You cheated, you took a short cut." "Taking a short cut is not
cheating Timi, It's being smart," ID replied. "She won fair and
square. Don't worry, you'll get better." The
three of them laughed and a while after that, ID dropped Timi off at home. Timi
thought about what ID had told him. They were 26th, and they wanted to reach
the very top. It wouldn't be easy, but Timi hoped that one day, they would get
there
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