Aisha hurried into Skyline Motors, her keys in hand. She had
an anxious look in her eyes. She walked briskly past the cars as she had news
to go and deliver to her teammates. Idris was the first to see her, and quickly
noticed something was amiss. His countenance changed and Timi immediately
noticed. He turned around and saw Aisha coming behind. He too guessed something
was wrong. "Derele jilted his team. He's left the
Hell Racers," Aisha announced. "Wait
what?" Idris questioned, all confused. "Weren't
we supposed to race them next?" Timi asked. Aisha had her hands akimbo.
She nodded her head and said, "Yes, and we are still going against Hell
Racers next, but Derele has left that crew. His cowardly self betrayed his team
again just so that he wouldn't race against us." "Wow..."
Timi retorted. "I guess he just can't bear to lose to his former
teammates." "So
what crew is he now? Or has he finally given up and ended his racing
career?" Idris said. Aisha
chuckled. She was well aware that Idris believed Derele was a talentless driver
and should altogether just quit racing. But she knew Derele better than Idris,
true he might not be talented, but what Derele lacked in skills he made up for
in cunning. Derele was a very determined fox. Determined to be the racing top
dog even though he lacked the required skills. "No, don't ever expect
Derele to quit racing for anything. He has joined the 15th team."
"How did he manage
that?" Timi asked, utterly bewildered. He truly wondered how a guy from a
crew placed 20th, manage to weasel himself into joining the team placed 15th.
Moreover, how could that guy be Derele? He wasn't exactly a guy with good
reputation.
"Well,
I honestly can't say," Aisha replied. "But knowing Derele, I'm pretty
sure he didn't give them much choice. I'm sure he somehow blackmailed them into
letting him join." Idris paced
back and forth. First they would have to beat the Hell Racers, or what was left
of them anyway. He wondered how Ugo and Usman, Derele's former teammates in the
Hell Racers were feeling right now. They had just been betrayed too by Derele.
He was their leader, and now he had abandoned them. Idris and his fellow Storm
Racers teammates were supposed to race the Hell Racers that evening. Now that
only Ugo and Usman was left, he was sure the race would be a walk over.
"So this night, we'll be racing only Ugo and Usman," Idris uttered. "It
won't be much of a race," Aisha replied, "It'll be a whooping."
"I
guess I'll leave it to you and Timi to beat them so badly this night, they'll
never race again" From then on
till evening, the Storm Racers talked and laughed. They were sure that the race
was going to be a walk over. The Race didn't turn out to be as easy as they had
anticipated. They were taught a lesson-never underestimate anybody.
Night came, and Timi and Aisha lined up at the finish line.
A little while after they had arrived, Ugo and Usman came driving an Aston
Martin DB9 and a BMW M3 Coupe respectively. They pulled up in front of the
finish line. As the race began, Timi and Aisha conveniently took the lead. They
weren't even going at their top speeds, but they were sure they were racing
against two untalented slow pokes. Aisha trailed on the outer lane, speeding
past shops, houses and ornamental trees by the roadside. Her windows were wound
down, and she was revelling in the cool night breeze as she sped on. Timi on
the other hand kept to the inner lane, getting as much fun as Aisha. He was
playing loud rap music on his stereo and nodding to the tunes, sometimes
singing along with the music.
When he looked into his rear view mirror, he
couldn't even see Ugo and Usman. He burst into laughter, believing he and Aisha
had given them so much gap that they were lost behind. He couldn't have been
more wrong. Contrary to what he was thinking, Ugo and Usman had taken another
route, a somewhat even longer route for that matter. They capitalised on the
knowledge that they were underrated by the Storm Chasers. They travelled at top
speeds through the densely packed streets and not so smooth roads. They had
comfortably taken over the Storm Chasers, and were as a matter of fact, far
ahead of Aisha and Timi.
It was almost too late when Aisha caught on. As she
sped on, she noticed the tail lights of what looked like an Aston Martin. By
then, they were only a lap from the end of the race. Fear seized her as she
quickly realised it was the Hell Racers. She spoke into her comlink and told
Timi what she had seen. Timi had a hard time believing. He didn't know that the
Ugo and Usman had truly gone past them. Nevertheless, he sped up, hoping to
catch up with Aisha so as to see what she too was seeing. Aisha turned on her
racing spirit, shifted into her famous gear X. The car jerked forward, almost
throwing her against the steering wheel. Only her seatbelt pulled her to safety.
She stepped on her throttle, weaving past the cars around and sailing at
amazing speeds. Her speedometer kept climbing and climbing. She noticed that the
Hell Racers had increased their speeds too. It meant they knew she was close
behind. She too knew a short cut, and if that was how they wanted to play out
this race, she was game. She dived into a corner, hit past a garbage dump and
emerged on a single dirt lane. She traversed the dirt road in seconds and burst
out of a junction right behind Ugo and Usman who gasped at the sudden
emergence. Less than thirty seconds later, Timi burst out of the same road, and
now had Aisha, Ugo and Usman in his sights also. But he feared it was too late;
he could see the finish line ahead.
Aisha sprinted forward, her tyres blurring
past everything they passed. She was right behind Ugo, and as she tried to
overtake by the left side, he blocked her. She tried the other side of the
lane, but just as quickly, Ugo was there to block her again. She didn't give
up. She made a move like she was going to the left side again, but this time it
was a set up. Ugo drove straight to the left lane ready to block again, but
Aisha smoothly passed him by the right. As he saw Aisha go past him he banged
his hands on his steering. Aisha raced on, less than ten metres to the end of
the race and Usman was in front. She focused on him, focused on beating him.
She began closing the gap with Usman, finally edging him just as they both
reached the finish line. She had beat him by a hairs breath. Ugo came in third
and Timi finished two seconds after him in fourth position. He learned a lesson
that day-not to underestimate anyone.
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