Page 104 of Sinners Reunion

“Is everyone ready to begin?” he shouts into the megaphone, and we tell him yes.

For the third time.

Finally, Jim waves his green flag in the air. “Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!”

Kenny screams something about global warming as his wings flare wider.

“Thank you,” Jim bellows as the bird continues to scream and cock its large white head. He raises the flag again, which only makes the bird lose his mind more.

Josie covers her mouth to hide her smile. “You’d think he would have left the bird in the bus.”

“Jim insisted Kenny wanted to see the natural wonder, and you’d be hard pressed to convince me he wasn’t right. I’ve never seen that creature behave so joyously.” I point at him. “You know, had Al Gore shown even a modicum of that enthusiasm, more people might have listened to him rather than turning him into a mockery.”

“Hey, ManBearPig is real, King.” Josie raises her eyebrows at me, and we both laugh. “I’m super cereal.”

Jim finally gets his bearings and drops the flag. Cat grabs the starter on our racer and gives it a yank. The other starting members do the same, and the smell of gasoline drifts toward us.

The Cattle bolted into the cages of each racer let out muffled screams behind their stitched lips. Josie is all smiles and excitement as she stands beside me and awaits the carnage.

It’s taking a great deal of focus to watch the start of the race instead of the way the tops of her breasts peek from the low neckline of her tank top and glisten in the Arizona sunshine. She’s drenched in sweat, and I want to lick every salty inch of her skin. When she bounces on her toes before the railing drops, I nearly cram my knuckle into my mouth and bite down.

“Stop distracting me,” I whisper.

She smiles a little wider and bounces a little harder. She knows what she’s doing to me, the cheeky brat.

The railing drops, and the cars get a starting run down the ramp. Now I really do need to pay attention. Bennett is blindfolded in front of us. If we don’t tell him which way to steer the car, we’ll never make it through the course and off the cliff.

“You’ve got a tight turn coming up,” Josie says, taking the reins. “There’s a car coming up on your right too. Go ahead and ease to the right so that you cut them off in the turn.”

“Atta girl,” I say with a pat of her ass. “Talk him through it.”

“Gross,” Bennett says, but he makes the turn and cuts off Ice Pick’s Cattle.

I peer over heads and find Blayne scowling at me. He and Eve are directing poor Ice Pick, who seems to be struggling with his left and right. Blayne’s scowl turns into a sigh of resignation as their car slams into a barrier and spins out.

“Watch out ahead,” I say to Josie.

I point toward an upcoming hazard—a set of logs. Some of the cars might be able to make it over them, but we chose slicker tires to help us drift on the tighter turns.

Josie pulls me in front of her and directs me to place my hands on Bennett’s shoulders. “Show him how much force to use in the turns,” she says.

She gives him verbal directions, and I use pressure to guide him even more. The system works brilliantly, and we skirt past the logs and through a set of hairpin turns with ease.

Cat joins us after making her way off the ramp. Together, the three of us help Bennett through the course, and by the end, he’s closing in on second place, then first place as Ezra’s racer spins out. Their Cattle’s helmet flies off, followed by his head as the tiny car breaks apart against a boulder.

“The importance of safety,” Cat giggles.

I give Bennett’s shoulders a squeeze. He’s approaching the final stretch now, and the cliff is just in sight. “Foot on the gas, son. Don’t let up now.”

“Thanks, Pops,” he says with a grin, and he’s transformed into a little boy in front of me.

The same little boy I would sometimes follow home from school, just to ensure he made it safely through his neighborhood.

The same little boy who skinned his knee while riding a bike, and when I, a stranger, stopped to help him, he boldly told me to fuck off.

He was six.

I’m as proud of him now as I was then. I’m proud of all of them. They grew up well, no thanks to me.