CHAPTER 4
Route 7 12:22 A.M
So I tried to find this racing place thing Johnathan was talking about when I passed a group of kids playing rap music. I then realised, it was them. So I decided to park my Toyota in between some Civic and an Integra.
"Oh, dawg, look what we have here!! We have a newbie!!!"
I stepped out of the car, and for some reason, they knew where I came from.
"Dayyummm, this guy's a cowboy!!!"
"Hey, go back to making left turns in NASCAR, homie."
"How about you go back to your house? You're well past your bedtime kiddie."
The crowd full of 'gangsta' 16-18 "ooo"'ed to my comeback. When the crowd became quiet, a boy looking no older than 17 wearing a snapback backwards approached me.
"Alright then cowboy....you wanna settle it? You wanna get down or something? Go body?"
"Err...I'm not here to fight."
"What ya want then, homie?"
"To race."
"Heh. In what huh?"
"In a car? What else?"
"Are you trying to be them comedians or somethang? I just smoked one of them last night, playa!"
"Um, no."
"OK then...so how much you wanna bet? 30,000 yen?"
"How about.....40,000?"
"That's still a little low, but alright. I hope you know how much that is in um...dollars?"
"About 350, I suppose..."
"Tell you what, I'll make the winning purse even higher. Does 60,000 yen sound good?"
"You sure you got that much in your piggy bank, kiddo?"
"That not funny homie!"
He barely punched me, but one of his friends stopped him. He then tried to free himself for about 30 seconds or so, struggling to wiggle out of his buddies headlock.
"So is it a deal?"
"Deal, let's race then."
12:50 A.M
As the huge crowd of people were gathering behind my car, a small gap opened up in the crowd, and a Silvia popped out of the small hole. There were some people following the white Silvia and giving him advice and words of encouragement. He then stopped just a little farther in front of me.
A girl came up in the front of both of our cars. The crowd around the car and the crowd behind us backed off. I guess it's race time. The girl then raised her arms like one of those girls from those Fast And Furious.
"You know what homie? Ya better watch ya mirror 'cuz I'ma pass you when you least expect it. Hell boy, you don't even need dem mirrors! YOu gonna be behind me the whole time."
"Like you don't need that huge a$$ wing?"
"Shut the **** up homie! It's race time, so ya better be focused.....we're racing back here OK?"
It felt as if time was going very slowly, and right before it felt like it had been an hour, the girl finally swooshed her arms down.
As I catched up to the kid's car , I could hear the wind hitting the windshield, the engine rumbling in front of me, and also the fart can of the Silvia next to me.
But the bodykit and the fart can weren't the only things the kid had modified as it seems. He was holding the lead steadily.
With the interchange coming up, I decided to do some late braking. The car seemed light enough to make the turn at a high speed, so I went ahead and waited until the time was right.
"This foo's gonna crash into that wall if he doesn't brake soon."
"Ah hell na dawg! You ain't gonna cripple mah swagga!"
He seemed to be taking the inside lane, so I went really wide.
I zoomed out of the corner, as the kiddie was struggling with wheelspin.
Going back on Route 7 by the interchange, I forgot to brake and barely scratched the wall.
"I'm still here foo! I ain't done yet!"
I'm keeping a firm eye on my rearview when the Silvia bumps me hard from the back.
"Yo, you 'Mericans call this bump drafting right?"
"Friggen' lunatic!"
The Silvia slingshots me, then he friggen pounds the side of my car!
I could see the Silvia speeding away as I slowly recover from the hard bump.
"No don't scrape the wall now! No! No! No!"
I take advantage of his mistake and I'm drafting him now.
I try to pass from the inside, then the Silvia abruptly blocks me, so I step on the brakes, and pass on the inside.
Problem was...I don't have enough power to overtake him at the moment.
"That's right homie, stay back there!"
Nearing the tunnel, I try to find a way to pass him somehow.
I finally speed up as the wind quiets down, due to me tucking behind the ricer. I could now hear the continous, annoying fart sound of his exhaust more clearly.
The already huge wing of the Silvia got bigger and bigger, and then I realised it was time to overtake.
"What the hell? This foo is using the hacks!"
"I'm still going to win this you stupid cowboy!"
"What the?"
All I could see clearly was the 17 year old swooshing his wheel to the left, and after that, I couldn't see anything straight.
"Later dawg! See you at the finish!"
Exiting the tunnel, he seemed to slow down a bit, and that gave me the chance to gain the lead again.
A group of people were gathering near the tollbooths, and that meant to turn around. So I took the inside and braked earlier than last time, much earlier in fact.
"Oh crap! Crap! No baby, don't spin now!"
"This kid needs to learn how to drive...."
"What the....!!!"
"My time to shine now, you pathetic loser."
"Go! Go you stupid junk! That foo's gonna win and take more money than I have right now!"
"This guy won't evah see this **** coming.."
"NAAAWWWWWSSSSSSS!!!!!"
"How the hell?"
"Ack! I shouldn't have left my guard down! I saw this coming!"
I saw the kid slow down because of scraping the wall, so not all hope was lost.
I eventually catch up after the tunnel....
He's all over the place, I can't get past him without hitting him!
He seems to be braking....
"You're done holmes!"
As the ricer kid hit my car, he then jerked the steering wheel to the left. He must have turned his steering wheel too hard to the left, because all I could see in my rearview was an explosion of plasic bodykits and glass.
1:00 A.M
"You know what? You deserved it holmes."
The kid handed the 60,000 yen over to me, as the crowd was bunching into a big circle around us.
"'Ey foo, my name's Christian. Sorry I didn't get to tell ya at the start."
"No problem, as long the money's all handed over."
"If you want, you can give me a call if you need a hand with anything."
"Sure, I guess."