The Race For A New Life

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The second checkpoint was in Virginia; everyone was accounted for in a two-hour time frame. Rae and Darren were headed to their hotel rooms when they noticed Lacy talking to a reporter. “You would think that I wouldn’t be surprised to see this.”, said Darren as they walked by the interaction. “Well first off, it’s Lacy. Second, the guy is kind of cute. He seems like her type”, she said not really caring what was going on. Darren raised an eyebrow at her. “What?!?”, she said with a furrowed brow. “I can look and observe”, Rae continued to say. He rolled his eyes towards her. Darren looked back at Lacy and tried not to show his jealously. However, Rae did catch his look, “Why don’t you ask her out?” Darren slowly shook his head, “Nah. She would say ‘no’, I just know it”, he sighed. “Besides, she wants Graham, not me”, Darren said, sounding defeated. He proceeded to go to his room with Rae looking after him in the hallway.

Rae turned down the corner in the hallway to go to her room. She noticed Grace was coming out of her room. “Hey Grace! I just saw your sister with a reporter”, Rae casually said. “Oh really? Did she have her tongue shoved down their throat?”, she responded with a bite of venom. Rae’s eyebrows raised in unison, “Actually, no! Not yet anyway, … everything ok with you two?” Grace sighed, “Not really. Usually we don’t get like this until the end of the race.” Rae looked concerned, “What is the fight about this time?” Shaking her head, Grace answered, “It’s stupid, really. Lacy is trying to get more publicity and the way she is doing it is not okay with me.” Rae knew what she meant by that, “The usual b.j.’s and one-night hook-ups?” Grace nodded and sighed, “Yeah, and I want to tell our folks. But she won’t let me.” “Does she still think that she and Graham are a thing? Because she isn’t being faithful then”, Rae commented. Grace raised an eyebrow, “We all know that she thinks that, when really that train left the station a long, long time ago. She is just really dumb sometimes.” Rae rubbed Grace’s arm, “It will all end okay. I’m sure Lacy will eventually realize her mistakes.” Rae and Grace said ‘goodnight’ to each other and went their separate ways.

Later that night, the weather and traffic updates were not good. Rae and William were busy trying to come up with different routes. “We will have to go completely around New York City, there’s too much construction there”, said William. Rae was looking at a map while she spoke, “Okay, but what about the storm in Delaware and New Jersey?” “We can’t afford to go around those states”, William said. “Everyone will have to drive carefully. That’s why we have rules in place to begin with”, he continued to say. Rae nodded in agreement, “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Besides the next checkpoint is just past the city, so we should be alright.” They sent out a text message with the new coordinates and reminder to stay safe. Rae and William then called it quits for the night and went to bed.

The next morning, the weather started good, but got worse as the drivers proceeded through the day. Everyone started to slow down, not wanting to get into an accident. The storm turned out to be worse than originally thought. Lacy was cursing to herself as she tried to get into the lead while Grace was busy saying a quiet prayer. Graham and William were tossing back personal insults to each other that were about their driving skills. Meanwhile, Rae and Darren enjoyed listening to music not caring about the weather. It was interesting how weather could affect people differently.

Rae looked into the rearview mirror and recognized a vehicle coming behind her. Seeing the driver, she knew it was Matt. He got into the next lane and came up next to her car. Rae started to get nervous because she didn’t know what he would do. Matt looked over at Rae, slowly and hungrily he licked his lips. Rae looked back towards the road and started to slow down. Darren had noticed what was going on, but he knew not to say anything. Yet. He kept looking at Rae as Matt continues to go further ahead of them. Darren reached over and grabbed her hand to comfort her. Squeezing it lightly to calm her down, Rae returned the gesture showing the appreciation.

Later on, as the Holmes siblings pulled into the checkpoint, they noticed that they were in sixth place. Rae deeply exhaled and shook her head as she exited the car. Honestly, she didn’t care. But she still felt like she let Matt into her head. Darren wanted to follow her, but didn’t. He knew what he had to do to help Rae. He quickly set out to find Graham once he got out of the car.

Once she got her room key, Rae went into her hotel room and flopped onto the bed. Rubbing her hands across her face, she tried to snap the memory of the earlier incident that had happened a few nights before out of her head. She couldn’t let Matt get under her skin. Sitting up, Rae started to remember Graham’s note that he had left behind. Suddenly she felt warm and tingly at the thought, she was actually happy about remembering the note. Feeling her stomach suddenly grumble, Rae got up from the bed and left her room in search of food.

After leaving the sub shop next to the hotel, Rae may her way back to her room. She was humming to herself as she was taking in the sights and sounds of the night life around her. However, she quickly noticed a tall figure in the shadows by the hotel. She doubled her efforts to get back to her room. The figure moved unfortunately, following her and matching her speed. When she got to her room, Rae quickly tried to close the door. However, the figure stopped that from happening. She looked up in surprise, but was relieved to see who it was.

“Graham!”, said Rae with a sigh of relief. “You scared the life out of me!”, she continued to say. He looked at her apologetically, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Is it alright if I come in?” She opened the door wider and gestured for him to come in. “So… Am I allowed to know why you were following me? Or do I need to go through some sort of clearance to get that information?”, she asked. Graham sat on the edge of the bed and proceeded to put his elbows on his knees. “Yeah, I guess you’re allowed to know. You know that I can’t lie to you of all people”, he said. “I know”, she said looking a little worried. Graham rubbed a hand behind his neck, “Darren came to me after the race.” Rae let out a heavy sigh, “Of course he did.” He looked at her with concern, “Rae, he’s just worried about you and also what Matt might do to you.” Rae joined him on the bed. “Trust me, I’m worried too”, she said. “Has he tried anything since the other night?”, he asked. “No, he only tried to intimidate me today as he passed me”, she answered. Graham then put his arm around her shoulders, “At least it was only that.” Rae’s mouth twitched, “Yeah, it was only that.”

She looked at Graham and put her head on his shoulder. “So anyway, do you want half a sub?”, she offered. Graham smirked, “Nah, I’m good. Besides, it’s your dinner. I couldn’t do that to you.” Rae nodded and straightened up, “Well can I get you anything since you’re here?” “Nah, I should get going. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay”, he said with a smile. Rae nodded again as Graham got up, he turned back and kissed her forehead. She looked up at him in surprise as he made his way to the door. Graham gave her a wink before leaving the room. Not really knowing how to process what Graham had just done, Rae shook her and began to eat her dinner.

News came that the race was postponed a day due to the weather. Graham continued to look out for Rae, even though Lacy tried to get his attention. William and Rae once again review what will be coming up on the road. Grace was with Darren, making sure all the vehicles are good to go. Meanwhile, the parents are in a conference talking about what has happened so far.

“Everything seems to be going well”, said Steven. “There doesn’t appear to be any tensions this year”, he continued to say. John looked at him, “Between the other drivers or our kids?” “Both”, said Russell. The three wives groaned, causing the husbands to look at them. “What?! What am I missing?”, asked Steven. Tracy rolled her eyes, “Everything.” Steven looked confused at all three women. Susan then spoke up, “She means with our kids. It is clear to see that something is going on.” “What exactly?”, John asks. Julia touched his hand, “Graham has become more protective of Rae.” “And Lacy continues to try to get his attention”, said Tracy. “Grace is not happy with her about her antics for trying to get any attention”, Tracy continued to say. Russell had a raised eyebrow, “And Darren and William?” Susan continued, “Darren wants to date Lacy and William is doing his own thing.”

After a few minutes, all the kids came into the room. “So? What are the rents up to?”, Grace asks. “Oh, you know, the usual”, said Steven. “Talking about us behind our backs?”, said William. Graham nodded in agreement. John looked over at his boys, “Are we really that transparent?” All the kids agreed either by nodding or saying something. “Is there anything else you guys talk about?”, asked Darren. Russell arched an eyebrow, “Besides reminiscing of old times and bedroom talk?” All the younger girls went ‘ew’, while the boys scrunched their faces. “What?!? How else would you all have been here if there wasn’t any bedroom talk?”, Tracy honed in. Lacy started to make a gagging noise, “Oh god no! Please no! I don’t need that image in my head!” Grace was pinching the bridge of her noise, “Mom … once again you have gone one step further than need be.” Graham raised his hand, “I vote that we change the subject of this conversation.” “I agree completely!”, nodded Rae. After a few more minutes, everyone turned in for the night.