A New World - A Carlos Sainz Story

by Storiesinmyhead93

Summary:

Part of 'The Perfect Match' Universe, concentrating on Carlos after he lost his seat at Ferrari.
This story can be read as a stand alone.

“Oh my God, pray for me.” Carlos said, then sped up, just before the start of the curve. He hit the car in front of him. Not in the middle, just a little bit to the right. He pumped the gas a couple of times before giving steady speed, the car in front of him turning around and towards the middle.
“Gotcha.” Carlos said.

Chapter 1: Trailer/Teaser

“We are not Formula 1. We won’t pay millions. We are the underdogs and our fans are vanishing wherever. We haven’t been in the top ten of NASCAR Infinity in thirteen years.”
*########################*
Carlos just wanted to invite them for a round of beers after packing when he was pushed from behind, almost being thrown on the hood, catching himself on his hands just in time, dropping his helmet. “Ay!” was his first reaction, and he turned around. Malcolm just grabbed the front of his suit, shaking him.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?!” Malcolm yelled at him.
“It’s racing, man, calm down.” Carlos said, pushing his hands off.
“Be careful what you’re saying, dimwit!” Malcolm yelled at him and then pulled him close, his hand behind Carlos’ neck “People like you don’t belong here” he groaned into his ear, then pushed him back and made his way back to his own box.
*########################*
“Bathroom past the trucks and straight ahead, right?” Carlos asked.
“Yes. You got some coins?” Leroy asked.
“Coins? No, why?”
“For the shower.” Leroy said, pulling out a handful of quarters.
*########################*
“Oh my God, pray for me.” Carlos said, then sped up, just before the start of the curve. He hit the car in front of him. Not in the middle, just a little bit to the right. He pumped the gas a couple of times before giving steady speed, the car in front of him turning around and towards the middle.
“Gotcha.” Carlos said.
*########################*
“Well, we have a couple of those, of course, but not to this degree and not constantly. Jesus, how many laps?”
“300. They were 400 the past years, but too many drivers complained about vomiting and stuff.”
“Awesome.” Carlos said, dripping with sarcasm.
*########################*
“Hey, F1 is a different world. You … touch someone’s wing before a race and get a 50k penalty, what the fuck?” Lucas let out “Now you know what this is, but at the same time, don’t get too over confident. Bumping someone also has its risk. Worst case, the other car is fine and you’re out.”
*########################*
“Just don’t break the hood, okay? We didn’t bring a spare.”
“Got it. Bumping, no breaking.” Carlos said “I’ll be cautiously incautious.”
“Go get him, boy!” Lucas cheered him on. Carlos waited one more lap, inching back to Malcolm’s rear.
“Awww” Malcolm said “little sweetheart Carlos! Trying to bump me again?” he asked in a childish voice. He heard a laugh from his engineer.
*########################*
“Carlos, this is my grandson Kyle, he is four. He helps me park the car when I’m coming back.” Judd told and Kyle waved, extremely excited. Judd drove the car very slowly forwards while Kyle steered, Judd holding the wheel at the bottom for help.
*########################*
“What are you doing?” Kyle asked.
“I train so I can be fit for racing.”
“But you just sit!” Kyle exclaimed and Carlos laughed.
“Yes, but I’m going very fast and it needs muscles so I don’t fly around, you know. Have you ever been on a roller coaster?”
“I rode the wild mouse in Disneyland!”
*#######################*
“Alright. Are you sure he is helping, though?” Judd nodded towards Carlos. He was sleeping, head fallen back on the sofa. Josy stretched over and hit his leg, waking him.
“Uuhm” Carlos said, rubbing his eyes and making Judd laugh.
*#######################*
“Hey boys” Malcolm said, walking by with a burger in his hand “Getting checked?” he then smirked, bit into his burger and left again.
“I bet he made his team do this.” Pete said.
“I hate that fucking kid.” Mike added.
“He’s a dick.” Carlos added.
“Come on ladies, don’t lower yourselves onto his level. They’ll be done and gone soon and then we can go.” Judd said, walking towards them from the car in front of the garage.
*#######################*
“CARLOOOOS!” they heard loudly from outside.
“Ooops” Lucas laughed.
“Did you film me singing in the truck?” Judd asked, coming into the common area in their trucks and Carlos stopped typing on his laptop.
“Told you it would bite your ass.” Leroy said to him.
“Josy agreed with the post.” Carlos said “She thought it ‘is hilarious and has to be in the compilation’, actually.”
“Are you trying to use my daughter as a shield?” Judd asked.
“A little bit.” Carlos said with a fake innocent smile “Does it work?”
*#######################*
“Hey look” Carlos exclaimed “Do you think he would like this?” he asked Judd and showed him the huge fire truck “It even includes the batteries for the lights and you can put real water in for the hose” he added with a huge smile “Dooodeeedooodeee” he then exclaimed and Judd raised an eyebrow.
*#######################*
He held her by her waist while she had her hands on his shoulders, setting her onto the floor slowly.
“I should go to my apartment.” Carlos said after a moment “Wrapping the truck before he sees it.” He said and grabbed the truck “Good night”
“Good night!” Josy said after him. She turned back, seeing her father stand on the top of the stairwell.
“He is a racer, Josy.” Judd simply said.
“Yes, I know.” Josy answered.
*#######################*
“YES! That’s my boy!” Senior yelled at the tv in their Madrid house, Reyes just shaking her head.
Carlos finished in tenth while Malcolm blamed his team again. He shoulder checked Carlos in the paddock, but Carlos couldn’t care less.
*#######################*
“Hello everyone! Welcome back to Carlos Diary and welcome to the first night race! Another city, another track and for this weekend … a different day and time! This week, training and qualifying will be on Friday, the race itself on Saturday night, starting at 10pm local time, I will blend in the other time zones later, I always forget which is where” Carlos said, starting to record.
*#######################*
“YES! BEAR CLAW!” Kyle said excitedly, growling after it, imitating a bear. Judd chuckled into coffee mug. “I get my cape!” Kyle said just after he finished his pancake and ran upstairs.
“His cape?” Carlos asked.
“His superman cape.” Josy said. “He always wears it when riding his bike.”
*#######################*
“Could you sign my boob?” then one of them asked and Carlos’ eyes almost bugged out of his head when she pulled down her shirt and pushed her boob up to him.
*#######################*
“I just reacted to his action.” Carlos said, trying to hide a smile.
“It was just a statement, not an accusation. Stay focussed.”
“Yes, mom.”
“Shut up and drive.” Lucas said, his smile obvious in his voice.
*#######################*
“Alright, I’ll go, see you tonight!” Carlos yelled through the trailer.
“See ya! Oh, by the way, Josy is arriving today, so no farting in the hallway when you come back!” Judd said.
“I will remember.“
*#######################*
“Hey, there you are! I was looking for you.” Lando said.
“You were looking for me?” Carlos asked surprised.
“Well, I wanted to thank you in person for the baby gifts and of course” Lando handed him an envelope “the thank you card.”
*#######################*
“You look really relaxed for a race engineer.” Logan said and Lucas shrugged.
“He knows what to do. This is not F1, I don’t need to constantly update him on how to take corners, break balance or tire degradation.” Lucas said and they watched Carlos for a bit, inching up to the Keating car, giving it a little nudge.
*#######################*
Carlos made his way back from the showers to the truck when he heard loud voices. He stopped for a moment, waiting if they would seize, but they got only louder and more aggressive. Carlos walked towards them, seeing Josy and some guy standing close to the entrance, fighting loudly.
“Hey, everything okay?” he asked from a couple steps away.
*#######################*
Carlos’ car finally came to a stop, by now only a pile of banged up metal. There was a collective gasp heard from the spectators. The driver that caused the crash ran towards Carlos and his car, ripping open the door. He waved towards the middle, hurrying the first responders.

Chapter 2: Background information

Carlos Sainz – alpha, racing driver, former F1 driver, now without a seat, son of Senior and Reyes Sainz
Judd Anderson – alpha, owner ‘Anderson Motorsports’, father of Josy, grandfather of Kyle
Josephine ‘Josy’ Anderson – omega, office manager/admin for ‘Anderson Motorsports’, daughter of Judd, mother of Kyle
Kyle Anderson – 4 yrs old, son of Josy, grandson of Judd
Lucas – race engineer, ‘Anderson Motorsports’
Leroy, Joe, Mike, Pete – mechanics, ‘Anderson Motorsports’

Malcolm Wright – current champion Nasfinity, Leon Bowen Racing
Roger Millard – most seasoned driver in Nasfinity, Shackletown Motors

Carlos Sainz ‘Senior’ – alpha, Carlos’ father, Rallye racer
Reyes Sainz – omega, Carlos’ mother
Caco Sainz – alpha, Carlos’ cousin and former manager

There will be other characters appearing, but these are the main ones.
The F1 racers will be guests, but not make a frequent appearance.
It is not necessary to read ‘The Perfect Match’, which happens before the start of this story, although it might help sometimes. Everything will be explained sooner or later in the story, though.

Updates every Sunday.

Chapter 3: Hope

Summary:

Carlos gets an offer ... is it the last chance?

He cried. These months of loneliness wouldn’t end, but there was a chance.
Carlos had gotten a call the day before. He had a team. And they warned him.
“We are not Formula 1. We won’t pay millions. We are the underdogs and our fans are vanishing wherever. We haven’t been in the top ten of NASCAR Infinity in thirteen years.”
“I don’t know a lot about NASCAR Infinity.” Carlos was honest.
“It’s rough. You are to bump cars. It’s fast and it can make you go crazy if you lose focus in that bowl. It’s extremely dangerous, but doesn’t have the glamorous upside F1 does. It’s closer to NASCAR, but more races, 31 to be exact.”
“And you would just … let me drive.”
“Well, thing is … our driver quit and the first race is in 9 days. We need someone who knows how to drive a car and can handle the pressure.”
“So, you are out of options?” Carlos asked.
“Pretty much.” He said, taking a sip of his beer. “Seems like we’re in the same corner.”
“Seems like we are.” Carlos said, twirling his glass in his hand “When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow morning goes a flight to Dublin, then Boston.”
“Okay” Carlos said “Anything I should bring?”
“You should bring everything that’s important. You’ll be racing 8 weekends in a row.” Judd Anderson said and let out a laugh after seeing Carlos’ face “Welcome to the real world!”

Carlos was in his Monaco appartement, sorting through his things, walking back and forth.
Normal clothes. Of course. Work out clothes. Does he need a suit? Better have one and not need it than need it and not have it. Toiletries. Paper stuff. Licenses. Visa. A couple of books. Laptop. A little photo album. It was pretty old school, he knew, but he loved it. Just a sample of pictures from his family and friends. Or former friends. Or whatever anyone of them was right now. Toiletries. Flip flops. Towels? Towel. And a smaller one, just in case. Jump rope. Stretching bands. First Aid. A couple pairs of shoes. It all fit in two suitcases. They would fly business class, that was okay. One was three kilograms overweight. Repacking. It fit. Telling his building manager he wouldn’t be here. Gift him some food that would spoil. Triple checking every lock. After some contemplating, he dialled his parent’s home phone. They did not pick up. The answering machine did.
“Hey mama, papa. It’s Carlos, I just wanted to tell you that I am moving. I got a seat in NASCAR Infinity. I will fly to Boston tomorrow and will not be back in Europe for a while. I will keep this phone, though. I know that you will most likely not even listen until here, but I love you guys. I hope you can forgive me one day. Bye!” Carlos hung up.
Reyes and Senior sat on the sofa, listening to Carlos leaving the message on the machine. Senior looked at her and smiled a little, pulling her close and kissing her temple.

They sat in business class, on their flight from Dublin to Boston. Judd had brought a huge folder they started to go through.
“There are 31 races this season” Judd said and Carlos stared at him with wide eyes “Yes, I said 31 again. We have a two day race weekend, Saturday and Sunday. Training Saturday morning, one hour training, one hour off, one hour training. Afternoon is qualifying. That part is a little different. There are 35 drivers. It will be chosen at random, twenty in one, fifteen in the other group. Both groups have fifteen minutes racing time to get the fastest lap possible. The results are getting combined, the best ten drivers overall get another round of qualifying, ten minutes to get a better time. Sunday will be the race. That is not like a NASCAR race, the winner is the one who passes the line first, like in Indy or F1.”
“Okay, because I really did not get that part of NASCAR. The races are always on the NASCAR circuits?”
“On oval circuits, yes. Please don’t just call them NASCAR circuits, the Indy drivers will hate you for it. Although it is very rare that that oval is actually a perfect oval.”
“What?” Carlos asked confused.
“Well, the circuits aren’t perfect ovals. Most of the time, there is an additional turn somewhere, you will find out. But yes, the first one is on a perfect oval.”
“How are the points given out?”
“Fifteen for the first, then counting down with each place. Rest gets nothing.”
“And there are 35 drivers.”
“Yes. It is going to be a really full oval. You’ll have to force your way through, but always remember, safety first.”
“Got it.”
“We will drive about two and a half, maybe three hours after arriving in Boston. I hope you brought a thick jacket.”
“I did. I had a quick look through the tracks and well, New Hampshire, Virginia and Delaware are not the warmest states right now.”
“No, they are not. I always wonder why they start with the races in the north. It’s like they want to provoke the weather Gods or something.” Judd said and they laughed.
“Chicken or vegetarian?” the stewardess asked, pulling them out of the binder.
“Oh, chicken for me, what about you?”
“Chicken as well.” Carlos said and they quickly stuffed aside the binder.

They landed in Boston in the evening and they pulled their thick jackets from their suitcases, as well as a hat. They were called into customs. Or better said, Carlos was. He was used to it. Judd insisted on staying with him, although the policeman said he was not allowed to say anything. Judd agreed, telling him Carlos was new to the US and didn’t know where to go and what to do.
Carlos was used to being asked for his passport first, after that, it mostly went quick. It was just his looks. He did not hold it against the US, though. They were by far not the only ones. And if he went to the races in the middle east, he has never been checked. Kevin and Nico at nearly every arrival. The other policeman seemed way grumpier than the first, not liking that Judd was there at all and almost threw around his clothes. He found the photo album and took his sweet time looking through it. Asked who the people were. What he was doing here. Laughing when he told him. Then he found the little bag with some jewellery Carlos had brought. Watches, a family ring, two bracelets, two necklaces. Gold. Another mountain of questions where they came from. Carlos asked if he wanted to see the insurance papers. He did not. In the end, he asked for the passport. It was four years old. Carrying all of the stamps from the races. Azerbaijan, Qatar, the Emirates, Saudi-Arabia, Turkey, Russia. He was ordered to a separate room. Undress. Pat down. Two hours later they were walking to Judd’s car.

“Wow” Judd said.
“I am used to getting checked, especially with all the stamps, but that was excessive.”
“The first guy apologized to me and told me the other guy’s wife just left him. Probably wants to let it out on someone legally.”
“Still. It’s 11pm now. We could already be there.” Carlos argued.
“Well, at least the streets will be empty now.” Judd said, starting the car. “You in for some road food?”
“Definitely.”
“What do you want?”
“Burgers.”
“Good choice.” Judd said and stopped at the next drive through, ordering them some burgers and drinks. They arrived near the speedway at 2.20am. Judd took out a keycard and opened a private parking lot, slowly making his way through the rows and stopping next to three huge trucks, hooked up to electricity and water lines. Lights were on inside. “Oh, please don’t tell me those idiots stayed up for us.” Judd said while pulling out their luggage and taking the three steps up to the door. He opened and a wave of warm air hit Carlos, the light blending into his eyes.

He looked down a hallway and into something like a common room. There were some guys sitting on the couch or some chairs. Some sleeping, some awake and watching tv.
“Hey guys, they are here.” A young man yelled, waking everyone “What took you so long? Your plane landed on time!”
“They checked and patted down Carlos like he was on a most wanted list or something.” Judd said annoyed, throwing down their luggage.
“Guys, this is Carlos.” He then said, pulling Carlos next to him “Carlos, this is Lucas, your race engineer” he pointed at the young man “And the mechanics, Leroy, Joe, Mike and Pete. Josy is not on the circuits regularly, she is back in Texas. I hope you guys did not call her non-stop or something?”
“Weeeell, a couple of times, but she said your phone is off and she does not have Carlos’ number, yet.” Leroy admitted.
“And it is a couple hours earlier in Texas, so it is not that bad.” Pete argued.
“I am going to call her.” Judd said and turned around, walking back through the hallway and into a room. Carlos turned back around to the guys.
“Hi, I’m Carlos.” He said, waving awkwardly.
“Yeah, we understood that much.” Lucas said, getting up “Come on guys, sleepy time. I’ll show you your room.” He said to Carlos, taking one of his suitcases.
“As you maybe saw outside, we have three trucks. We are living in those trucks when we are on the road most of the time. One holds the car and all the replacement parts, tools, all of that. The second holds a storage for everything that is not car stuff, as well as the mechanics and my rooms, two toilets and a little office. If she’s on the road, Josy sleeps in there. This one has the common room, which you just saw, with kitchen. We hold our meetings there, also watch tv, play games, it’s pretty much our living room if we aren’t outside. It holds a separate toilet and your and Judd’s rooms. Take a look.” Lucas said, opening the door and letting Carlos step through first. To the left was a closet, going up to the roof, right a little bathroom. Behind the bath was a desk and some additional storage above. Behind the closet was the bed, going further into the wall than the rest of the room did. Queensize, more storage above. There was a window straight ahead. It was held in white and light wooden colours, a big pinboard behind the desk. “The bathrooms are more of a “just in case” thing, otherwise we are taking care we have good facilities on our stops. If you need it before you can ask, back past our trailers just straight ahead.” Lucas continued, then looked a little nervous. “We know this is not what you are used to, but we hope you get by with it anyway.”
“I think it is great. It is different than it was before, yes, but Judd told me how it would be and to be true … even if we have the biggest suites in F1 and stuff like that, all we do in there is sleep, shower and watch a little tv. There is no time for anything else. This means I can actually unpack something!”
“Yes, you can. Probably after sleeping a while, though.”
“Oh, definitely, I’m pooped.” Carlos admitted and Lucas left soon after. Carlos didn’t manage to do more than change his clothes and getting his phone to charge.

He was woken by a crash in the kitchen. He looked on the phone, 8.45am. Late enough, but still too early for him. He forced himself up and slipped on his shoes.
“Good morning, Carlos. Hope I didn’t wake you?” Leroy asked, standing in the kitchen with Lucas.
“Half. It is time anyway.” Carlos said.
“Alright, then. You are the deciding vote: I dropped the oven tray, but none of the rolls fell on the floor, they all stayed on the tray. Eat or don’t eat?”
“Eat. If it didn’t touch the floor, you can eat anything.” Carlos said.
“See. He’s less snobby than you, kid.” Leroy said, pushing Lucas against the arm.
“I’ll have everything else.” Lucas said and Leroy rolled his eyes.
“Bathroom past the trucks and straight ahead, right?” Carlos asked.
“Yes. You got some coins?” Leroy asked.
“Coins? No, why?”
“For the shower.” Leroy said, pulling out a handful of quarters.
“I didn’t even think about bringing money. Cash, I mean. I have all my cards, but I did not take any cash.” Carlos said confused and the other two laughed “I’ll pay you back.”
“Don’t worry. Buy me a beer some time.” Leroy said and Carlos nodded.
“Or some clean rolls!” Lucas yelled after him.

Carlos put on his jacket, took his toiletry bag and towel, walking to the bathroom facilities. Lucas was right. They were nice. Really clean and separate shower stalls with doors. He had a quick shower and then realized he did not bring fresh clothes, well alright. One more thing to remember.
“Let me guess, you forgot to take fresh clothes?” Lucas asked when he came back in his towel and Carlos laughed, nodding. He quickly changed and then went to join the others for breakfast. He unpacked his things afterwards, hanging some pictures on the pin wall and following Judd’s advice to not let too many things lay around to prevent them from flying around while driving. He also took a look at the car. Closed wheel. Their colours were black and dark red, little gold accents in between. Pete was just spraying on his number. 55. His helmet, shoes and suit also arrived, overnight FedEx from Josy.

Chapter 4: First race, first bump, first everything

Summary:

Carlos is racing his first race with Anderson, and we get to know more about the team and members.

New rules. Bumping was allowed. Needed actually. You did not get penalized for not bumping, but if you started more to the end of the grid, which he will, he would not get far to the front.
They were able to enter the track on Friday to set up the car. Carlos helped, he felt useless otherwise.
Toolboxes to the garage. Spare tires. Even giving a quick interview to a reporter from ESPN. A couple of short sentences. And then he already sat in the car.
The New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A perfect oval. Two long straights and two long turns. 1.025 miles. It was a different kind of racing. They decided to take the first training for long runs, just getting used to the car, learn how it worked, slowly speeding up. Listen to the tires. He also learned what Judd meant by staying focussed and not get carried away by the feeling of an “easy track”. He lost focus for a split of a second on the straight about half-way through, resulting in him getting surprised by a faster car, almost making him oversteer and going to the inside. He barely missed the grass, earning a big gasp from the audience, who subsequently laughed.
“Maybe a little too simple for our new celebrity.” The commentator said, earning a dry ‘haha’ from him. Judd, Lucas and him had a talk after first training, but overall, they were quite happy.

Senior and Reyes sat on the couch in their living room. The race would start in half an hour. Carlos had qualified 33rd. The trainings and qualifying were not broadcasted, but a smaller sports channel with a live stream option broadcasted the race. The doorbell rang and Reyes went, coming back quickly with their nephew, Carlos’ former manager, Caco. He sat down on the couch with them. There were some teams and different drivers shown, getting ready for the race. Carlos was shown for a minute, the commentator making a little fun of him for flunking out of F1 and having to race with Anderson.

There was a formation lap, then the lights went out. They sped off. It did not look fast at first, but they sped up quickly. They got out of the first turn and two cars from the front third of the field were off track, one spinning out and slamming through some signs, out of the race. The other one managed to gain control back, coming back on the track. They had seen Carlos falling back at first, but he was now in 31st, holding position and speed. A couple laps later, his car got a bump from behind. The driver that went off track in the beginning, wanting to get back to the front. Carlos did not comply. He floored the gas pedal, going further outside and overtaking the car in front of him. They sped side by side for a bit, the other car giving up when they entered the next curve, Carlos staying on the gas just that necessary bit longer.
“Good overtake but safety first, Carlos.” Lucas warned.
“Got it.” Carlos answered, holding the speed. Another car flew out of the curve about twenty laps later, crashing into the outside wall and being flung back into the middle, other cars having to break, giving Carlos an advantage, being too far back to be directly impacted. Up to 27th.
“Oh my God, pray for me.” Carlos said, then sped up, just before the start of the curve. He hit the car in front of him. Not in the middle, just a little bit to the right. He pumped the gas a couple of times before giving steady speed, the car in front of him turning around and towards the middle.
“Gotcha.” Carlos said.
“Great Carlos, keep it up. Be careful, someone further up punctured a tire, don’t let them slow you down.”
“Got it.” Carlos said and saw another car slowing down, others quickly moving further outside to not get pushed back by him. 26th.
He gained one more spot ten laps before the finish, turning the car outside this time.
“Wow, okay, this was something else.” Carlos said, his voice heavy and out of breath, entering the garage. He stayed in his car for a bit, catching a breath.

“You did great, Carlos, how do you feel?” Judd asked him, slapping his shoulder when he got out of the car.
“I feel … exhilarated and just … done, this is … a whole different kind of dangerous out there.” Carlos said and Judd laughed loudly.
“Alright, let’s pack up and then we’ll meet for a drink at the trucks.” Judd said, turning away. He had said that before. No glitz, no glam. Carlos had admitted, it was different. It was a different world.
Other teams had at least six trucks, none of their teams sleeping in them. They were new, shiny, organized and had hotel rooms for all their staff. He looked at the people in their garage.

The staff that stayed with Anderson was staff that had been there for decades, as well as his engineer, a 22-year-old college graduate whose father had raced for Anderson until his unfortunate death on the Houston track ten years back. He was called family. He had studied engineering and sports management, did internships with other racing teams, had better offers after college, but he decided to come here. For his dad.
This team was organized in their own way. Everybody knew what to do. Except Carlos, so he asked. He locked boxes, strapped down things, stored and secured things away.
“So, this is a little different, isn’t it?” a mechanic asked when they sat together for a beer in the common room after packing up.
“Yes, it is. Truth, I can’t remember the last time I helped storing stuff away like this. Please don’t get me wrong, that is not a bad thing, it is just … different.”
“What did you earn? Like really earn in F1?” his engineer, Lucas, asked.
“Including bonus and stuff last year it was about 15 million.” Carlos said.
“15 million? In one year?” Leroy, a mechanic, asked back.
“Yes”
“Why do you still work, then?” he asked again.
“Why do you work here? You could work in some shop somewhere, have a little house, a homestead, get off the road.”
“Racing sucks you in.” Leroy said and Carlos smiled, clinking his bottle with him.

They started their drive from New Hampshire to the Thompson Speedway in Connecticut the next day, only stopping for lunch at a diner. They arrived in the afternoon, taking nearly four hours instead of the planned two and a half, the weather worsening and snow getting heavier. They parked their trucks on an on site parking lot, although not in the arena, as there was another race going on there first. They hooked up their trucks to the water and electricity outlets before using the bathroom facilities.
He had bought a kettle to make some coffee without having to turn on the electricity in the kitchen. If they did a one night stop in the middle of the road, they had food at the truck stop or close by, not having to hook everything up. Most truck stops at the highway did not offer that anyway.

The next day the team started on the car, Lucas was buried in his engineering stuff and Judd was on the phone with his daughter. Carlos felt useless. He walked past the car and down the hallway, past the mechanic storage. It looked like hell. Everything was everywhere, Mike currently searching for something in all of the compartments. “What are you looking for?”
“A quarter inch screwdriver.” He said, not stopping. Carlos helped searching and, in the end, found one in a box labelled ‘sparkplugs’. He handed it over and started right there. He turned all the boxes with the labels to the front, taking out all of the things that weren’t spark plugs out and one by one sorting it into their actual boxes. Then he started the next box and the next. He also cleaned the tools while sorting them. He wasn’t able to finish that day, but it looked a lot better. On Wednesday afternoon he started with the highest board, taking out the boxes and sorting them by use. Tools together in one closet. Little mechanical parts in one closet. Electrical in another. He wiped down the workbench that was in here and sorted the oils and other ointments on the shelf above before lastly, cleaning the window and opening it, letting in a little air.
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve seen this place this clean in years.” Judd said, standing in the door.
“Well, let’s see how long we manage to keep it this way.” Carlos laughed.

“Can it get any more tilted?” Carlos asked, looking at the track with Lucas.
“It’s 26 degrees. Salem and Talladega have 33, but don’t worry, those are later in the season. We have a couple with 20 or more before that, as well as Daytona with 31.” Lucas said and laughed at the face Carlos made “You’re not used to that, are you?”
“Well, we have a couple of those, of course, but not to this degree and not constantly. Jesus, how many laps?”
“300. They were 400 the past years, but too many drivers complained about vomiting and stuff.”
“Awesome.” Carlos said, dripping with sarcasm.
The training was good, Carlos knowing the car better and getting faster. He also learned to move with the curve a little.
He qualified 30th, a result they could work with. Step by step.

Chapter 5: Overtakes, bumps, and a new ... whatever he will be

Summary:

Carlos gets more used to the car and Nasfinity, and clashes with another driver.

Senior and Reyes sat on their couch again, it was later this time, the race starting in the late afternoon, the flood lights on the track already on. It was February after all.
They watched Carlos getting strapped into the seat, door closed, net hooked in.

He had a really good start, seeing another car not getting off and speeding around the outside. It would have been harder if he had to start on the inside line, having way less space to go around.
“Alright, weather forecast says snow around the middle of the race. In that case, there is no overtaking, get a couple spots now.” He heard Lucas.
“Copy” he said and made his way through the field. He had a little luck with that, though. Last year’s champion, Malcolm Wirght, number 88, only had qualified in 18th and was driving almost like a maniac, forcing his way through the field. He remembered him of a young Max. Just all the chaos and anger in one race.

“Uhm, is that … normal?” Carlos asked a couple laps later when Malcolm forced another car outside, leaving his car pressed against it, destroying the other car’s passenger side, scraping it against the outer barrier and making sparks fly. The other car had to stop the race, both wheels and the complete side destroyed. Yellow flag due to him not being able to get back into the box. The field was pushed close together, bumper against bumper, Carlos now in 22nd.
“Well, it’s not every racer’s style, but … he wants to win, by all costs.” Lucas said.

The safety car went back to the box and the race was back on, Carlos on the inner line this time. Just past the line he felt a bump at his right front light. Letting him spin inwards, but catch his car soon after and get back on track quickly, only losing two spots.
“Great save.” Lucas said.
“That was MY spot!” Carlos yelled.
“Then get it back!” Lucas also yelled.
He gained back three spaces, bumping one and skipping two others due to other cars bumping and spinning. Both went back in the last row. Then the snow started.
“Safety car out, 100mph top.”
“Got it.” Carlos said, falling in line on 22nd.

The safety car stayed for thirty laps. It was not snowing heavily, but the tilt of the circuit’s tilt made it extremely dangerous.
“Alright, be careful, off the main lines it’s really slippy.”
“Copy” Carlos said and waited for the restart “Now where is the guy that took my spot” he asked himself and had a look out. A car further to the front took a too high risk and went on the outer lines in the curve, immediately losing control, lurching around and falling back. The other cars sped up, including Carlos, closing the spots. He took a breath, then made a decision a couple laps later. Just before the curve he sped up, pulling his car a little further outside and double bumped the car in front of him. His tires were burning. Steady push. The driver couldn’t hold the car, turning it inside, against the car on the inside line. The driver held against it, tires squealing. The end of the curve. Full gas, the car next to him now bumping the car on the inside as well, turning it to the inside, and at the start of the next curve, both cars slingered inside and onto the grass, getting themselves disqualified. The circuit was a short circuit after all. Carlos went for it all, pulling inside quickly, pushing the car next to him on the inner line as well. He was smarter. A little breaking from him, falling back behind him.
“Awesome Carlos, this is Nasfinity. You’re in 19th, 20 laps to go. We are happy the way it is.” Lucas updated him. The main lines were almost dry again. Malcolm did a reckless manoeuvre five laps before the finish, flipping a car on the grass, but Lucas told him the driver was alright. The most important thing. With that, he finished 18th. Andersons best result in three years.

“If I would have grown enough balls to bump someone earlier, we would be 12th minimum.” Carlos judged himself after the race.
“Hey, F1 is a different world. You … touch someone’s wing before a race and get a 50k penalty, what the fuck?” Lucas let out “Now you know what this is, but at the same time, don’t get too over confident. Bumping someone also has its risk. Worst case, the other car is fine and you’re out.”
“Got it. Think first, bump second.” Carlos noted for himself.

That evening, he saw Josy for the first time, not really studying all the pictures on the team wall before. A young readhead who joined the celebrations via live stream, having a tequila sunrise.

The Dover International Speedway in Delaware was a little further, 6 hours, but at least no snow this time. Carlos was not able to help with driving, as he didn’t have a truck license.
Dover was a 1 mile circuit, a little longer than the first two. A perfect oval again. 24 degrees in the curve. Also way bigger following, up to 144.000 spectators were possible, although it was only about half full.
Their strategy was pretty much the same and they ended up in 20th.

The next one was his first super speedway. The Pocono Raceway in Blakelee, Pennsylvania. 2.5 miles, built more like a triangle, every turn a different degree.
He needed the whole first practice to get used to the track. The turns were close to needle pins and all straights where different lengths. It was said that you either love or hate this circuit.
He had qualified 17th.

Senior and Reyes sat on their couch again at more normal time, the race starting around lunchtime in the east coast time zone.

The start was chaotic, about ten drivers missing the first apex and going off the line, two even going against the wall. Carlos experience in F1 and with that the tight turns really helped him in this race.
He managed to get through the start without damage and after 50 laps, he was in 13th.
After being stuck and slowed down after more than twenty minutes, he was annoyed and bumped the rear of the car in front of him. At first just a little nudge, he still wasn’t completely used to this. A sign for the other driver to get out of the way. The other driver, Malcolm, didn’t get the message.

“Sainz getting a little adventurous today?” Malcolm said to his engineer after the first bump.
“Don’t worry, he’s new to bumping.” His engineer said, laughing a little.
“He won’t get anywhere with this.” Malcolm said dismissively. He raced for the biggest and most successful team in Nasfinity. Leon Bowen Racing. That little shit team from the Andersons was nothing against them. They were the laughing stock in here, hanging on by a thread. Although he had to admit, that Anderson girl was a hot one. He wouldn’t mind taking that to his trailer as the bunny of the race. “Let’s have some fun with him, won’t we?” Malcolm said and heard his engineer laugh again. He took his foot off the gas, just for half a second, at the beginning of the first turn. Sainz bumped into him, then fell a little back. “Gotcha”

“Ay cabron!” Carlos yelled “Okay, that’s it, now he made me mad.” Carlos said.
“Stay calm, tiger.” his own engineer, Lucas said and Carlos heard his smile.
“No calmness left, Lucas.”
“Just don’t break the hood, okay? We didn’t bring a spare.”
“Got it. Bumping, no breaking.” Carlos said “I’ll be cautiously incautious.”
“Go get him, boy!” Lucas cheered him on. Carlos waited one more lap, inching back to Malcolm’s rear.
“Awww” Malcolm said “little sweetheart Carlos! Trying to bump me again?” he asked in a childish voice. He heard a laugh from his engineer.
They just turned into turn 2, the normal bumping point passed. Then he saw Sainz behind him swinging to the inside just a little, then already followed a bump. A big one, throwing him forward in his seat. He wanted to say something to his engineer about Carlos finally growing some balls, when he got a second hit immediately, further to the left, behind the driver’s seat. “Fuck” he let out, his car turning to the left, going sideways. He smelled the rubber of his tires burning over the circuit, he wasn’t able to steer against the push. Carlos kept his foot on the gas, steadily turning Malcolm away, and just when they got on the straight Carlos pulled his car to the right, successfully spinning Malcolm towards the middle, seeing the car turn a couple of times before being stopped by a barrier. He was out.

“Atta boy.” Lucas said.
“I think I need a nickname.” Carlos said.
“What?” Lucas asked.
“Don’t drivers have nicknames here?”
“They do, but I thought you were the smooth operator already.”
“Does that name make sense here?”
“Well … this was a pretty smooth operation, Carlos. The way is free now and thank you for the show, I haven’t seen the Bowens this pissed in quite a while!” Lucas said with a laugh.
“Well, if you guys are happy, it was worth it.” Carlos said and they kept going steady. Someone else from behind tried bumping him, but it was a short adventure, the driver calling for the second yellow flag by spinning himself out.
“Oof, this was a long one” Carlos let out when they finished and he was driving towards the boxes, already seeing the team waiting for him “Where did we finish?”
“You don’t know?!” Lucas half asked and half yelled.
“Well, you didn’t tell me.” Carlos reminded him.
“Oh, right. Well, you were awesome, Carlos, we got 12th place!” Lucas said excitedly.
“Oh YES!” Carlos yelled “But remember, WE did this. None of this would be possible without you guys.” He jumped out of the car when he stopped, hugging the team before looking at the front. Lucas had told him that they saw some damage, but that it wasn’t bad.

A headlight was gone and there were some indents, but the mechanics said they could just get them back out and they had new headlights in the trailers, nothing to worry about. Carlos just wanted to invite them for a round of beers after packing when he was pushed from behind, almost being thrown on the hood, catching himself on his hands just in time, dropping his helmet. “Ay!” was his first reaction, and he turned around. Malcolm just grabbed the front of his suit, shaking him.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?!” Malcolm yelled at him.
“It’s racing, man, calm down.” Carlos said, pushing his hands off.
“Be careful what you’re saying, dimwit!” Malcolm yelled at him and then pulled him close, his hand behind Carlos’ neck “People like you don’t belong here” he groaned into his ear, then pushed him back and made his way back to his own box.
“What did he want?” Judd asked him, picking up the helmet.
“Not sure. He was mad I pushed him out, I think.” Carlos shrugged, taking the helmet “What is a dimwit?” he asked while walking into the garage and Judd laughed.

Chapter 6: Welcome to Bear Creek, Texas

Summary:

A race is getting cancelled, and Carlos goes to Bear Creek with Judd for the week off.

Senior and Reyes saw the race finish and Carlos going back to the box, getting greeted by his team.
“He got points.” Reyes said.
“He got points.” Senior said, smiling. Then they saw Malcolm walking up and pushing and shaking Carlos. Some security took a couple steps towards them, but Malcolm was gone before they reached them “Looks like we’ve got a little teenage Max there, huh?”
“I don’t know. I somehow don’t like this guy. I know all this bumping is normal and stuff, but he is … extreme, it seems.” Reyes said.
“Yeah.” Senior agreed and they went to bed soon after.

The ride to the next circuit was planned as a longer one again, Mansfield being around 10 hours from Blakelee. Another short circuit, as most on their calendar were.
On Monday, an hour before their planned arrival, Judd’s phone rang. Carlos drove with him and Pete in this truck.
“Hey dad!” Josy said.
“Hey girl, what’s up? You never call in the middle of the day!” Judd answered.
“Yeeeah, I just got a call from the organizer of the Mansfield Race, you know this is the first race after the paving and reopening?”
“Yes” Judd and Pete said.
“Paving?” Carlos asked.
“It was a dirt track before.” Pete informed.
“Yeah, funny thing about that. They won’t be done in time, the race is cancelled.”
“But we’re almost there!” Judd complained.
“Yeah, they don’t really … care.” Josy said and Pete laughed.
“So, are they putting it on a different track or what’s happening?” Judd asked.
“No, it is just … cancelled. They skip this week and the next race will be Richmond.” Josy said and they were silent for a bit.
“Well, I guess we are having some free time, then?” Pete said.
“Let me talk to the guys and call you back.” Judd said. “So, what about you guys? Wanna go home for a couple of days?”
“I’ll look for flights.” Pete said, pulling out his phone.
“Alright, there goes a flight from Richmond Airport at 2pm tomorrow, switch in Atlanta. We can park close to the new track and fly then.”
“I’ll reroute.” Judd said, leaning towards the navigation system.
“I’ll tell the others.” Carlos said, starting to text in their group. They agreed to go home. Josy texted she had booked the flights and sent the tickets.
They drove a couple more hours before stopping at a truck stop for the night, driving the rest early the next day, arriving at the Richmond Raceway, giving them enough time to park the trucks, pack their carry-ons and get to the airport for their 2pm flight.

Judd had offered him his guest studio above his garage for this and any other stops in between and Carlos happily agreed.
They had stopped at a cost-co on their way to Judd’s house and Carlos had never seen a bigger store. They stocked up on snacks and other foods and drinks they would refill their trucks with during their regular break after South Boston, as well as Carlos getting some things himself and Judd having been sent a list from his daughter.

They arrived at Judd’s house, a two-story colonial with a triple garage on a nice sized lot, located a little outside of the city, not far from the base in a short, silent street. Judd drove up the driveway and a little boy came jumping out of the house, barefoot, wearing a t-shirt and underpants. Judd started laughing, stopping the car and letting the boy climb in.
“Carlos, this is my grandson Kyle, he is four. He helps me park the car when I’m coming back.” Judd told and Kyle waved, extremely excited. Judd drove the car very slowly forwards while Kyle steered, Judd holding the wheel at the bottom for help. They stopped in the garage and got out of the car, grabbing Carlos’ bags first.

“We cleaned!” Kyle yelled excitedly while opening the door to the stairs to the studio above. Judd handed Carlos the keys and Kyle ran up the stairs, proudly helping while carrying a couple of bananas. The living area came first, they came up to a little coat rack and then turned between the tv and couch, the queen-size bed behind the couch, a little bit hidden by a curtain. There then was a table just big enough for four chairs, the little kitchen behind it, half hidden behind a built-in closet that served as a room divider, a door showing the bathroom just behind. It was located under the roof, so the walls were a little sloped, the side opposite the bed having three big windows, letting in a lot of light into the living area.

“There are extra sheets in the closet, kitchen and bathroom stuff are where they belong, laundry is downstairs, if its empty, use it. Dinner will be at ours, half an hour.” Judd said, slapping Carlos shoulder and placing the bags on the table before leaving with Kyle, who slid down the stairs feet first, almost giving Carlos a heart attack because he thought he was falling. “He’s a kid. Expect the unexpected.” Judd just said and went downstairs as well. Carlos quickly put the groceries into the fridge before freshening up a little, then the half hour was already over and he left towards the house, meeting Judd at the car, helping him with the last of his groceries.

“Oh, by the way, this is Josephine, my daughter, Kyle’s mum.” Judd said, introducing him to the redhead placing the casserole on the table.
“Hi, Josy, please. Welcome to Bear Creek! Beer, water, softs, anything?”
“Root beer!” Kyle yelled excitedly.
“I don’t think I ever had that.” Carlos said and Kyle looked at him like he was an alien.
“I’ll get us some root beer, what about you?” Judd asked Josy.
“Me too.” Josy said and they sat down, waiting for Judd.
“To a good dinner” Judd said, clinking their bottles. They had a pasta, broccoli, turkey and carrot casserole, together with some salad.
“Well, how do you like the racing and the boys?” Josy asked when she joined Judd and Carlos on the terrace after bringing Kyle to bed.
“It’s good. Different, but it’s really good. I felt pretty useless during the long drive now.” Carlos admitted.
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Judd said “You made dinner every evening.”
“Oh, what did you make? I’m not too familiar with the Spanish cuisine, actually.”
“Well, we eat a lot of rice and potato, so paella is a really popular thing for a family dinner, it’s like a stir-fry, but please don’t ever tell my mum I called it that. If it’s really hot, in the summer and stuff, we make plates with our ham, cheese and tomato or other things, we have a lot of seafood, grilled, marinated, cooked, however you want it. It’s not a … difficult cuisine, but it is very diverse.”
“Huh, alright and spicy, I guess.”
“Not Mexican spicy, but spicy sometimes, yes.” Carlos said.
“His paella is really great … and after the first time he learned to only use half the amount of spice for us weird Americans.” Judd said with a smile.
“They drank a whole gallon of milk during dinner and I had actually already put in less spice than I normally would.” Carlos said to Josy, making her laugh.

Judd fell asleep while talking to them about half an hour later.
“Shouldn’t Kyle’s dad come home any time?” Carlos asked, looking around a little.
“Oh, it’s just the three of us. He … wasn’t father material.”
“Ah, okay, I’m sorry for asking.”
“No, it’s alright. It’s a normal question to ask.” Josy told him. “Do you really like it? Nasfinity, I mean?” she asked after a little silence.
“Well, it’s nothing I ever thought I would do … but it’s, it’s just real fun, you know? And there is not all of this … sleek, glamorous, perfect world behaviour, you know?”
“Perfect world behaviour?” Josy asked.
“Well, we have a lot of media commitments and … especially in Ferrari there are high expectations and everything is this upty, highty, upper class stuff. It is nice to be in there, but it’s also … it’s a passive pressure to always be perfect. Look perfect, behave perfect, talk perfect. Nasfinity concentrates more on racing.”
“I think I know what you mean.” Josy said, taking a sip of her root beer “My ex-boyfriend was … he was from the upper class. Nasfinity is a little … below or something. They’re all lawyers and doctors and stuff. We met at college, at Harvard. I mean, we are … we have a very good life, but we are not overly rich. If I wouldn’t have gotten that scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to go. They kind of liked that, though, because it meant I’m smart. I ‘only’ went to business school, though, I didn’t study law or anything. When I got pregnant … I didn’t expect him to immediately marry me or something, but he left and an hour later his father showed up with a wad of money to convince me to get an abortion. They are living in the north, there is no contact.”
“Does he pay?”
“No. If he pays, he has rights.”
“Also true.” Carlos said, looking at her “You’re really strong, you know.”
“Well, my parents helped a lot. Kyle was born three weeks after I finished college.”
“It’s still a lot. Raising a child alone.”
“Yeah, well. I manage.” Josy said.
Carlos went back to his studio a little later while Josy woke up Judd to get to bed.

Chapter 7

His alarm went the next morning at 6 am, starting his run shortly after. When he came back, he opened up the garage and used some juice jugs as weights. He had a little break when he saw Kyle standing behind the side door, stretching up to look through the window on the upper half. When he saw Carlos wave, he opened the door and stepped outside, still in his pyjamas.

“What are you doing?” Kyle asked.
“I train so I can be fit for racing.”
“But you just sit!” Kyle exclaimed and Carlos laughed.
“Yes, but I’m going very fast and it needs muscles so I don’t fly around, you know. Have you ever been on a roller coaster?”
“I rode the wild mouse in Disneyland!”
“Well, I’m sure your body moved sideways in the corners, right?”
“Yes, is that what happens to you?”
“Yes, exactly. But I can’t be thrown around like that, because I need to use the steering wheel and all that.”
“Oh, okay. And you can lift those?” Kyle asked, pointing at the box of canned vegetables.
“Yes. I’m sure I can lift you, too.”
“No” Kyle said to him. That’s how Josy found them a little later. Kyle laying on a wooden board, holding two gallons of milk, while Carlos dead lifted him up on two ropes, Kyle counting loudly.
“What are you boys doing?” Josy asked, walking up to them in a t-shirt and short sweatpants.
“We train so Carlos gets into the top ten!” Kyle said excitedly, stopping to focus on the milk jugs and dropping one, thankfully not breaking it.
“Well then, do you boys want some breakfast as well?” Josy asked.
“Yeah!” Kyle said, jumping off the board and running towards the house, not even realizing he made Carlos almost fall backwards by losing the weight.
“Woah, you alright?” Josy asked.
“Yeah, all good.”
“You’re coming for breakfast, too?”
“Yes, I’m just going to take a quick shower.” Carlos said, putting the jugs and board aside.

He came into the house fifteen minutes later, hair still a little damp.
“Morning, Carlos!” Judd greeted “Coffee?”
“Happily.”
“Alright then, take a seat.”
“Everything is self-explanatory I guess.” Josy said to him, already drinking coffee. Kyle was munching on some Bluey cornflakes with blueberries. He started with some cinnamon blueberry oatmeal, adding some more strawberries from the separate bowl.
“Why more strawberries?” Kyle asked.
“Because they have a lot of antioxidants, just as blueberries.”
“What’s antidoxies?”
“Antioxidants help your body fight against getting sick, help your body fight bad influence from outside and they are supposed to help against looking old.” Carlos explained while taking the coffee from Judd. Kyle nodded, leaned over the table and filled strawberries into his bowl. Carlos smiled and looked at Josy. She had a blank face and set down her coffee mug a little harder than necessary.
“Why does he not listen to me if I tell him to eat fruit?” she whispered.
“Because you are his mom.” Carlos said and Josy shook her head, taking a waffle.

After breakfast he got with Josy and Kyle into her car and drove to the shops. Carlos went to the bank first, getting some cash and changing some into a couple rolls of quarters. Josy had told him that some truck stops don’t accept credit cards. They went to the pharmacy next and Carlos knew that you could get a lot of heavy meds over the counter, but this was something else. He got some toiletries and a pack of an ibuprofen, you never know. He also got some socks.
They went to a store next, thankfully not as big as the Costco. Josy got some fresh produce, Carlos convincing Kyle that broccoli and spinach were a good idea, as they are both green and with that have a lot of kalium, making him smarter. Josy just shook her head when Kyle threw another broccoli in their cart. Carlos also got some nut mix and protein powder. While waiting at the till they stood next to a big basket of baby onesies, looking at a couple.
“Baby stuff.” Kyle said.
“Yes, baby clothes.” Carlos said with a smile.
“Are you having a baby?”
“No” Carlos laughed “A friend back home is going to have babies in a couple of weeks.”
“Babies?” Kyle asked.
“Yes, triplets. Three babies.”
“Oh jeez, I don’t think I’d be able to handle that.” Josy said with a laugh.
“YES, it’s just me!” Kyle said, smiling widely.
Carlos made them a paella for dinner.

The next day he found out how much work Josy actually had. Kyle was in daycare, as he was for three days each week. Josy took care of everything that had nothing with actively working on the car. Payroll, ordering, licenses, permits, reservations, taxes, legal, took care of sponsors and trying to acquire more. She also took care of their marketing and the social media.
“And you manage to do all of that and take care of Kyle?” Carlos asked while sitting in her office. Josy shrugged.
“I have to. Sometimes it works, sometimes there is work instead of a tv evening.”
“Can I help with something?”
“Do you even know how to do payroll or anything about American tax laws?”
“No” Carlos admitted “I know my way around social media, though. I could start some kind of on the road diary thing? Then you do not need to care about that.”
“You would just do that?” Josy asked.
“I do not have a truck license and if Judd is correct it is not easy to get one without an American driver’s license, so I’ve got quite some time during the drives and there are always some hours here and there.”
“One condition. We share everything on the cloud. We have some sponsoring stuff that we need to add in some posts and stuff.”
“Deal.”
“Do you have some editing software?”
“No, I normally just do it on the phone.”
“I’ll search for it.”
“I’ll get my laptop.” Carlos said, making his way to the appartement, taking a banana on his way.

He sat on the little couch in her office and waited for the program to install while she talked to a sponsor who apparently wanted to get out. He stayed silent and waited until she hung up, letting out a frustrated groan. “Are you alright?”
“Oh, sorry, I forgot you were sitting there.” She said “The sponsor is out. Meaning, you don’t get the double strength bumpers.”
“Oh” Carlos said “Well, what if I give something? I mean, how much do those things cost?”
“It is not allowed.”
“What?”
“As an employed driver you can not actively invest in the team. Apparently that would ‘force the team to keep you’ or something.”
“Weird, but alright. What would they think about Toto then?”
“Huh?”
“He is the CEO, team principal and the manager of one of his racers.” Carlos said and Josy stared at him “He is also kind of his dad as well.”
“Yeah, no, that sounds highly illegal.” Josy said, turning back to her computer. “But … if he is the CEO, he wants to spend as little money as possible, then he is also the manager of the racer, which means he wants as much money as possible for him, from which he also earns something ... because he is the manager. That sounds crazy. And terrible if you think that if there might be better offers for the racer, wouldn’t he hold them back from him as his team principal? But want it for him as his manager? I’m confused, I’ll just stay in my office.” Josy said and shook her head.
“Oh, the program is installed!” Carlos said happily, starting the set-up.
“Hey, how are you guys doing?” Judd asked, sticking his head in some time in the afternoon.
“I’m working and Carlos is taking over our social media.” Josy said, turning towards him “We lost a sponsor, though. I had to cancel the double strength bumpers.”
“Alright. Are you sure he is helping, though?” Judd nodded towards Carlos. He was sleeping, head fallen back on the sofa. Josy stretched over and hit his leg, waking him.
“Uuhm” Carlos said, rubbing his eyes and making Judd laugh.

Chapter 8: Welcome to Carlos' Diary

Summary:

Carlos starts recording his diaries and gets more races under his belt, as well as meeting a potential new sponsor.

Carlos spent the next days setting up a little plan and timetable for their ‘on the road’ diary.
He started filming on Thursday, a quick clip at the Austin airport and then them arriving with their trucks ‘checking if they are healthy’. He also filmed them driving to the circuit and arranging the garage and preparing everything.

“For all our non-yet really Nasfinity fans, let me introduce the track for this weekend: the Richmond Raceway, officially, the track is a short-track-oval, to specify it, it’s a D-oval, as you can see here” he held up a board with a drawing of the track “one of the straights is actually a light curve as well, making the track look like the letter D, fallen on its back. The track is 0.75 miles, which are 1.201km long. The curves here are not very sloped, about 14 degrees, main straight has 8 degrees and the opposite straight, the ‘real’ straight has 2 degrees. We are going to have 400 laps here, lap wise this will be the longest race up to date, if you compare the milage, Pocono was longer and there will be a couple more as well this season. Weather is supposed to be good, dry at least, not too warm, but dry is always an advantage. This is it for now, it’s Friday, enjoy the evening … and see you tomorrow hopefully!” He sent it to Josy to get a second opinion after cutting it. He had worn one of their sponsor’s shirts, if it was really visible, he didn’t know. They posted it the same night, calling it ‘The Carlos Diary’.

“Really?” Malcolm thought when he scrolled through social media and saw the post from Anderson. A diary? What the heck would that stupid guy have to say? He watched it anyway. Babbling about what the circuit looks like. Groundbreaking. He threw the phone aside and got off the kingsize bed in his hotel room, walking towards the shower.
“When I come back, you better be gone.” He casually said to the woman in his bed. He closed the door behind him, not even reacting to her jaw dropping.

The Richmond track demanded concentration. It had one long straight, and the rest were turns in different degrees and lengths. Always a little tilt on the steering wheel, exhausting his arms. They had a little different strategy. More aggression, aiming for the front. Carlos still had Josy in his mind and that they lost another sponsor. He didn’t know if the team knew, but it was not his place to tell them, either. On Saturday after qualifying, he was on his way from the garage to their trailers, stopping for a handful of autographs.

“Hey, Carlos Sainz, right?” a man asked.
“Yes, that’s right?” Carlos asked, looking at him with a questioning look.
“I am Gerald Whittaker.” The man said, stretching his hand out and shaking Carlos’.
“I apologize, but I don’t know what that’s supposed to tell me.” Carlos admitted.
“That’s alright. I work for Estrella Galicia. The American market, though, not F1. That’s why we never met before.”
“Alright, welcome? I’m sorry, I’m still not sure what I’m supposed to do.”
“Let’s say it like this. I work for a SPANISH beer company. You’re a SPANISH driver. We like that. We prefer to sponsor SPANISH sportsmen.”
“Welcome to the grid, Mr. Whittaker, may I show you our garage?” Carlos asked and they turned around, Carlos showing him around a little before bringing him to the engineer’s stand to Lucas, excusing himself for a made up reason and informing Judd, as well as texting Josy about it. He went back to the engineer’s stand a couple minutes later, seeing Lucas and Whittaker joke around together. He showed him some more on the stand and then Judd invited him to the race the next day.

“And he just showed up?” Josy asked Carlos.
“Yes, I was walking through the paddock after qualifying and he stopped me. I was really stupid at first and didn’t get what he wanted, but we managed. He looked at the garage, talked to Lucas for a while, they seemed to have some fun, and then Judd invited him for the race tomorrow.”
“Okay, what’s his name?”
“Oh, I forgot the first name, last name Whittaker.”
“Okay and what was the company?”
“Estrella Galicia.” Carlos said with Spanish pronunciation and Josy was silent “Are you still there?”
“Can you text me that name?”
“Of course.” Carlos laughed “How is Kyle?”
“He is good. On a kid’s birthday currently. He’ll probably come home, hyped up on cake, sweets and soda.” Josy said, groaning a little.
“Play catch.”
“What?”
“Play catch.” Carlos said “That’s what my parents did when I came from birthdays or something. For some reason, I ALWAYS won on those days. I was way too fast for my dad.”
“I’ll give it a try.” Josy said and they hung up soon after. She later sent a picture, a sleeping Kyle in the middle of the back garden. He sent back a thumbs up.

The race the next day was physically exhausting. The constant tilt on the steering wheel killed his arms. He started 24th, although he took off a little slower than he would have loved. He bumped his way through, risking even more, knowing that Whittaker was there. He wanted to at least finish 12th again, meeting their last success.
“Where am I?” Carlos asked, his arms heavy.
“You’re in thirteenth, thirty laps to go.” Lucas said.
“Alright then” Carlos muttered, making a plan in his head. He was alone on the inner line, no one next to him. Half a car length in front of him where two cars, next to one another. They entered the second turn, the real straight will follow. He floored the gas in the middle of the turn and pulled the car outwards at the same time, gripping the steering wheel tightly while not stretching out his arms. He rammed the two cars with a little more force than he had thought, his body being thrown forwards a little, his hands not wavering. The car on the inner line didn’t expect the hit at all and the rest of the turn did the rest, carrying the car towards the middle, hitting a couple of signs before reentering the track later. The car on the outer line tried to hold it, forcing Carlos to keep flooring his pedal and pushing the other car relentlessly. The turn ended and the track flattened again, irritating the other car’s line and making him turn outwards with squealing tires. The way was free now, the next car three lengths ahead. He tried to catch up and managed a little, but the race was over too soon for another manoeuvre.
“11th, good job, Carlos!” Lucas yelled.
“We all did, thank you guys!” Carlos yelled back.
When Carlos got back from the press room and some signatures, Mr. Whittaker was already gone. He asked Judd about it, who said it went well and that Mr. Whittaker would talk to his bosses.

Their next stop was the Martinsville Speedway.
“Hello everyone and welcome back to ‘The Carlos Diary’, which I still think sounds extremely self-centered, but here we are! This week we are racing on the Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virgina. This is one of the shortest tracks, only .53 miles, or .847km. It is called a paperclip track and we will do 500 laps here, which still blows my mind, but I signed up for it. We just arrived, connected our trucks, the guys are just bringing the car to the box and preparing everything, I’m not sure if you’re even interested in that part, but alright, now you know what they are doing. Uuuhm … I’m not really sure what else to talk about” he said, looking around the room “Oh, yes, just to answer that, some of you asked about Oscar and how he is doing with his pregnancy. It has been a while since I talked to him, I have to admit, all of this is still blowing my mind and let’s me keep forgetting to contact people. As much as I know he is happy and healthy and getting heavier, everything else should come from them directly. I was also asked when my parents will come to a race, that is answer I also don’t know for sure. My dad currently has a lot to do with his rally racing and his team, my mum has a lot of birthdays and other celebrations with her friends going on this year, so they are both busy. I hope they will come to some races, but we will just have to wait and see! I think that is it for now. Otherwise, you will get a little update with everything I forgot. See ya!” Carlos said and stopped the recording.

He leaned back in his chair and looked at his hands for a bit before taking a deep breath and starting to record again. “Hello everyone and welcome back to ‘The Carlos Diary’” he started and didn’t let the topic go off of racing this time, talking more about the track and that the weather is supposed to be dry and then talked about tires a little.

Chapter 9: Car checks and Doodees

Carlos qualified in 19th and was quite happy. Even though they had a week of, Carlos really felt the strain of the races getting to him.
The short circuit made it seem endless. Round after round after round. Carlos had to double blink and shake his head multiple times to stay concentrated. The first 100 laps held nothing special. Sanders managed to be stupid again and rolled out towards the middle, getting stuck on the grass, but that was it. He was a good qualifier, but as soon as there were other cars with him, he got nervous. In lap 134, a car towards the front, Sullivan, gave a big bang and apparently blew their cooling system, opening the hood and flinging it back onto the windshield, making him blind. He managed to steer to the inside, only scratching the car on the inner line before it could fall back far enough to let him through. He bumped another two cars, one giving space and the other he had to squeeze away, taking quite some risk, but it paid off for them at the end. They finished 12th, giving them another couple of points.

Race Control stopped by their garage just after they finished. Apparently they were under investigation, due to some accusation of them using ‘nonconfirmatory parts’ and ‘not registered parts’, which apparently means that you have different parts on your car than the ones you have officially registered with race control. There were no questions or anything, just Mike and Pete moaning when they heard the order.
“What does that mean?” Carlos asked “They are just going to check, right?”
“Yes. They will check all the car parts with the list and search through our storages. That is going to take hours.” Mike said.
“Well then, let’s get something to eat.” Carlos said.
“Nope” Pete said.
“Can’t do.” Mike added.
“What?” Carlos asked.
“We are not allowed to leave. We have to stay here and wait in the garage. We could try to hide something if we leave.” Mike said and Pete got up, opening a bigger compartment on one of the trolleys.
“Sour cream, oil & vinegar, paprika or barbecue?” Pete asked.
“Sour cream” Carlos and Mike answered and Pete handed each of them a snack bag of chips.
“Hey boys” Malcolm said, walking by with a burger in his hand “Getting checked?” he then smirked, bit into his burger and left again.
“I bet he made his team do this.” Pete said.
“I hate that fucking kid.” Mike added.
“He’s a dick.” Carlos added.
“Come on ladies, don’t lower yourselves onto his level. They’ll be done and gone soon and then we can go.” Judd said, walking towards them from the car in front of the garage.

In the end, they went to the Speedway office and asked if they could depart tomorrow, not having the energy to pack everything that night. They thankfully agreed, although warning them that the track itself will have an alarm system and that there were only two guards on the gate, not close to the trucks, as there would be no race going on. They roughly pulled together their things and went to bed. They had to leave the track by noon and managed to do so, being waved off by the guards at the gate.

I'm working late 'cause I'm a singer
Oh, he looks so cute wrapped 'round my finger
My twisted humor make him laugh so often
My honeybee, come and get this pollen
Carlos filmed Judd singing the song loudly, sending it to Josy with the emoji that scratched his head.
Josy answered with a wide eye emoji, followed by a laughing and crying emoji.

The drive was just over 2 hours and they arrived way too early to enter, so they stopped for lunch first, using a coupon Carlos had found while searching for online and social media marketing courses, making their diner experience half price.
Carlos decided on a course that was completely on demand, preferring it due to their constantly changing schedules and weird hours. Searching stuff online was alright on the road, but a whole broadcast? Not really, especially not on an interstate or highway. Race weekends were mostly off limits anyway. He could make his own schedule and go at his own speed. The first, two hour lesson was about the general laws and regulations. The video was good and interesting, but he was just exhausted afterwards and decided to watch it again the next day, taking notes of the things that are specifically important for them. He completed two more lectures before the weekend, having more time than usual due to them arriving so early. He also made a travel compilation video for their social media, using a little clip of Judd’s singing as well.
“CARLOOOOS!” they heard loudly from outside.
“Ooops” Lucas laughed.
“Did you film me singing in the truck?” Judd asked, coming into the common area in their trucks and Carlos stopped typing on his laptop.
“Told you it would bite your ass.” Leroy said to him.
“Josy agreed with the post.” Carlos said “She thought it ‘is hilarious and has to be in the compilation’, actually.”
“Are you trying to use my daughter as a shield?” Judd asked.
“A little bit.” Carlos said with a fake innocent smile “Does it work?”
“THIS time only.” Judd said, pointing his finger into Carlos’ face “You … ugh” he exclaimed and then left.
Their training went well, as did the qualifying. One of the other teams caused an accident during qualifying, damaging three other cars and destroying their own, not being able to start the next day.
They qualified in 12th, but had a bad start and fell back to 18th immediately. He spent the next 450 laps to try and catch up, bumping a car as well, but for the heavy action, he was always a step behind and finished in a satisfactory 13th.
They just drove a couple hours Sunday evening before stopping just after getting out of North Carolina. They started driving again early on Monday morning, wanting to get as many miles down as possible. Sadly, they got into too much traffic in Alabama, costing them a couple of hours. They still managed to arrive at their head garage in Austin on Tuesday evening, although an hour later as planned. They all parted into their own cars, Carlos driving with Judd again.

As promised to Josy, they made another stop at a Costco. It was Kyle’s fifth birthday this weekend and Josy had planned a big party. Josy had sent Carlos a long list and they loaded the cart with plastic cups, plates and cutlery, juice, some soft drinks, what looked like a mountain of snacks, bags of fruit, ingredients for a cake and food for the barbecue. He has never seen such a huge bag of chicken legs. Oh right, the parents would need to eat something, too.
“Hey look” Carlos exclaimed “Do you think he would like this?” he asked Judd and showed him the huge fire truck “It even includes the batteries for the lights and you can put real water in for the hose” he added with a huge smile “Dooodeeedooodeee” he then exclaimed and Judd raised an eyebrow.
“They never really grow up” a lady said from the other side of the lane, throwing a look to what seems to be her mate, currently comparing two police cars. Judd just shook his head.
“Or does he already have a truck?” Carlos asked.
“I don’t think so, no. He had one made of wood when he was smaller. But that could have also been a locomotive, a garbage truck or something.” Judd said “But ask Josy before you gift it.”
“Will do, oh, they also have matching wrapping paper!” he said, spotting the roll.
“We have neutral wrapping stuff at home.”
“But this has little firemen on it! Oh no, we won’t take that, there are only men on there. Here, little fire trucks! Oh please, let me get this!” Carlos said.
“You do realize you’re spending your own money on this?! You don’t need my permission to buy unnecessary wrapping paper.”
“Right, sorry … I don’t know where that came from.” Carlos said.
“Can we go now?” Judd asked “Or do you want to search for a bow that looks like a fire truck?”
“No, I’m good.” Carlos said and they drove home. They quickly stored away the drinks and food in the fridge and freezer in the garage.

Chapter 10: Bearclaws and flying cars

Summary:

Carlos and Kyle are going to the park for a bearclaw, and Kyle has an accident with the garage when they are coming back.

“And look, it works with real water!” Carlos said with a wide smile, showing Josy the truck as Kyle was already in bed.
“Please let him gift it. I’m scared he will start playing with it himself otherwise. He stood in the store making siren noises.” Judd said while sipping his beer, making Josy chuckle.
“Grandpa?” they heard Kyle asking from upstairs and in a shock moment, Carlos threw the truck on top of the kitchen cabinet. Judd quickly walked upstairs and Carlos looked at the fire truck, now being out of reach.
“That was smart.” Josy stated.
“I thought he would walk in. I panicked, alright?” Carlos said.
“If you lift me on the counter, I will get it down.” Josy said and walked around the island. Carlos helped her up, lifting her by her waist and she reached up to grab the truck, handing it to Carlos, before he helped her down again. He held her by her waist while she had her hands on his shoulders, setting her onto the floor slowly.
“I should go to my apartment.” Carlos said after a moment “Wrapping the truck before he sees it.” He said and grabbed the truck “Good night”
“Good night!” Josy said after him. She turned back, seeing her father stand on the top of the stairwell.
“He is a racer, Josy.” He simply said.
“Yes, I know.” Josy answered.

Carlos went to his apartment above the garage, getting something to drink and an apple, wrapping the truck. It wasn’t straight and it had some wrinkles, but it looked alright. He pushed it into the closet and then got to bed, leaving his laundry for tomorrow.
He was woken by something squeezing against his nose. He wiped against it and wanted to fall back asleep, just for something squeezing again. He wiped again and turned his head, hearing a little giggle.
“Is that my boy Kyle or did someone break in?” Carlos mumbled.
“Just Kyle” Kyle giggled.
“Shouldn’t you be at daycare?”
“Not today, today no daycare.” Kyle said and some rustling was heard, apparently Kyle climbed on the bed. “Mommy makes pancakes. She said she can make some with your powders.”
“And you are here to ask me if I want to come?” Carlos mumbled, now opening his eyes a little.
“Yes!” Kyle said with a wide smile, starting to hop on the bed. “We also have blueberries for the antidoxies!” Kyle said and Carlos chuckled.
“Alright, give me a couple of minutes to take a quick shower.” Carlos said, yawning.
“Okay, I open blinds!” Kyle said and hopped off the bed. Carlos pulled himself up and saw Kyle trying to push the heavy black out curtains open. Carlos took a quick shower and they walked over to the house.
“MOMMY! Carlos brought banana!” Kyle yelled and threw three bananas on the kitchen island.
“First: stop yelling, second: you never throw food, got it?” Josy said sternly.
“Yes, mom.” Kyle said.

“Will you be at my party?” Kyle asked Carlos during breakfast.
“Of course I will be there. How else would you get my present?” Carlos said.
“You are giving me a present?” he asked excited.
“Of course, you are only turning 5 once.” Carlos said with a smile.
“What is the present?” Kyle then asked.
“You will find out on Saturday.” Carlos said with a smirk.
“But I want to know now!”
“That is not how presents work, bud. You will get it on Saturday, and then you will find out.” Carlos said and Kyle started pouting.
“What are the plans for the day?” Josy asked “I have to work, so I am out.”
“I have a doctors appointment.” Judd said.
“Why?” Josy asked.
“Oh, just one of these old people check-up things.” Judd waved off.
“I’ll do some sports first and then do some of my marketing course.”
“And who plays with me then?” Kyle asked.
“You can come to the doctor’s with me if you are silent.” Judd said and Kyle looked sad.
“How about you show me the way around here? Your bike is ready, right?” Carlos said.
“Yes!” Kyle said, smiling widely “But … you don’t have a bike.”
“I will run. We will start a little slow at first and then we go faster. We can go around the park?” Carlos asked.
“Can we get a bear claw? When I am biking with mom, we always get a bear claw!” Kyle said.
“Well, let’s ask mom. Can we get a bear claw?” Carlos asked Josy.
“If you listen to what Carlos says, do NOT BIKE on streets and are NOT throwing tantrums, then you can get a bear claw.” Josy said to Kyle and then smiled at Carlos.
“YES! BEAR CLAW!” Kyle said excitedly, growling after it, imitating a bear. Judd chuckled into his coffee mug.

“I get my cape!” Kyle said just after he finished his pancake and ran upstairs.
“His cape?” Carlos asked.
“His superman cape.” Josy said. “He always wears it when riding his bike.”
“And a helmet?” Carlos asked.
“NO exceptions!” She said, raising her finger.
“Understood. I will go change, thank you for breakfast!” he said after they cleared the breakfast and went to his apartment, changing into his running clothes.
“I found my cape!” Kyle yelled happily while Carlos opened the garage, Kyle’s little bike leaning against the side.
“Very good. Helmet is tight?” Carlos asked, quickly checking the helmet and dropping two water bottles and an apple in the little basket on Kyle’s bike “Very good. Mommy knows we are going?”
“Yes!” Kyle said happily, taking his bike.
Carlos looked back when they left the driveway, quickly waving to Josy, who stood at the window in her office, waving back.
“Run you to the bear claw truck?” Carlos asked half an hour later.
“YES!” Kyle said and stood up on his bike, pushing the pedals as hard as he could, making the little flag on top of the pole at the back of his bike wave around wildly. Kyle won their little race by two bike lengths. The bear claw he bought for Kyle must have been the biggest bear claw anyone had ever made. It was bigger than his own hand. He instructed Kyle to sit down a little further on the grass and Kyle took off his helmet before Carlos handed him the bear claw. Carlos ate the apple while Kyle started on his bear claw.

After about half of the claw Kyle had to admit his defeat and Carlos wrapped the second half in the napkin, laying it safely into the little basket on the bike to take it home.
They entered the driveway and misjudged the speed of Kyle’s little bike against the speed of the garage gate opening, making it shake and give a thunderous noise when the metal sheets clanked against one another. The gate stopped, only a couple centimetres open. Kyle looked at Carlos with huge eyes. “Ohoh! Grandpa is going to be mad!”
“Oh, are you alright?” Carlos asked, first checking on Kyle.
“Yes, I’m good.”
“Did you hit your chest on the handle or anything?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Everything good?”
“Everything good.” Kyle said and they looked at the garage door. It had a little dent and some black rubber from the bike’s tire. “Grandpa is going to be mad.” Kyle repeated.
“Do you think?” Carlos asked.
“Are you both alright?” Josy asked, coming out of the house “I heard a crash.”
“I hit the door.” Kyle admitted, pointing at the garage door.
“Oh boy.” Josy said.
“He’s worried that Judd is going to be mad.” Carlos said to her.
“Well, he does love the garage.” Josy said.
“I have an idea!” Carlos said after a moment.
“What?” Kyle asked.
“Well, firstly, you will park your bike at the side, and none of this happened, and you are playing with your legos in your room. Then, mommy lends me her car and I will go to the hardware store and when Judd is coming back, no dent will be seen.” Carlos said. Josy looked at him a little worried, but handed over her keys. Kyle pushed his bike next to the garage and took off his helmet while Carlos opened the other garage door and drove off with Josy’s car.

“Hey Judd, how are you doing?” Carlos asked, calling Judd after entering the hardware store.
“I am coming from my urologist, what do you think?” Judd grumbled.
“Are you home yet?” Carlos asked.
“No, why?”
“Well, little story time … Kyle and I went for a run, or better said, Kyle rode his bike and we got a bear claw, well actually, that is totally unimportant. Fact is, your left garage door has a dent and some rubber on it.”
“WHAT?!”
“Everything is alright, I have an idea.” Carlos said and explained what he wanted to do.
“Alright, I will go and find some stuff to do, you tell me when you are done so I can come and ‘not realize anything changed’ at my garage.”
“Thanks Judd.” Carlos said and made his way through the store.
“Big project?” the cashier asked.
“Yes, a new garage door.”
“Oh well then, have fun!”
“Will do!” Carlos said. He drove back and quickly used the thin plastic to tape off the frame and stone of the garage before applying the first template and shaking the paint can. After he was done, he rolled all the plastic together and stuffed into the garbage can before texting Judd to park his car in front of the garage, as the paint still needed to dry. He went into the house and Kyle walked up to him.

“Is it gone?” he whisper-shouted at Carlos.
“Yes, it is. No dent to be seen at all. Now shhh.” He held a finger to his lips and Kyle nodded, walking back to his legos. Josy looked at him.
“Here, the car keys. It is where it was before.” He said “Is something wrong?”
“What did you do?” she asked.
“Nothing” he said with a smile.
“Does my dad know about that nothing?”
“Yes, he does.” Carlos said and Judd entered the house a couple minutes later.
“Ugh, that was a long day.” He exclaimed “Everything good with you guys?” he asked.
“Sure” Josy said while Kyle was too occupied by his legos.
“How did you do that?” Judd asked Carlos silently.
“They had these huge templates, you just have to apply them in the right order and fill in the holes with paint. It looks awesome though, doesn’t it?”
“Smooth operation, Carlos.” Judd said.
Kyle saw the new garage door the next morning, waking Carlos with his loud screeching. The dent was not to be seen anymore. The whole garage door was a huge mural of Lightning McQueen, flying and winking. Josy texted him he was nuts.

Chapter 11: Birthday Party

Summary:

Kyle's birthday party, as well as the Atlanta and Daytona race, both with 'Carlos Diary'

Josy made the cake on Friday afternoon while Judd took care of the people from the place where they rented a bounce house and a couple other outdoor games for the kids.
“How many people did you invite?!” Carlos asked when he saw Josy was actually making two massive sheet cakes, not only one.
“Twenty kids, parents unknown.” Josy said, spreading jam over the first base.
“What kind of cakes are you making?” Carlos asked, stealing a piece of strawberry from a big bowl.
“One vanilla cake with strawberry cheesecake filling and one chocolate.”
“With fondant, like, really American style?” Carlos asked.
“No, neither Kyle nor I like fondant, it is just covered in cream. It’s almost pure sugar anyway, so I am not unhappy about leaving that one out.”
“CARLOS! Where are the tables?” Judd yelled from outside and Carlos sped off. He ran into the garage and started pulling out the long fold-up tables they had, together with the benches.

The next morning was spent setting everything up, the grill, paper tablecloths, batches of napkins and the drink table with a huge icebox holding the drinks. Kyle spent over an hour sitting on the grass, watching the bounce house being blown up. Carlos set up the gift table and the first couple of gifts were placed, his own, as well as the ones from Josy and Judd.
Before they even knew what was happening, the first guests started arriving. Carlos spent most of the day running between the basement, the kitchen, the grill and the drink’s box, restocking and refilling things constantly.

The next week started with Carlos moving into a little hotel that was specialised on alphas in ruts. With no partner, this was the best solution for him.
He came back, the taxi dropping him off in front of the driveway and Kyle hopped out of the house and towards him, begging for him to play with him with the fire truck.

Their next race was in Atlanta. The Atlanta Motor Speedway. It took them two days again to get from Austin to Atlanta.
This was a way bigger Speedway with much more spectators than they had in the last races. They knew some potential sponsors would be there, so they took care that their car looked good, giving it some new paint here and there.

“Hello everyone and welcome back to ‘The Carlos Diary’, we are at the Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend, an intermediate circuit, so something else after that long stretch of short circuits. We have a 1.54 mile or 2.48km length on the ideal line of the circuit. This is called a quad-oval” he held up a map “Meaning, we have a little straight at the start and finish line, that is, like, pulled out a little more, the rest of the track is like a regular oval. We have an incline of 24 degrees on the curves and only 5 degrees on the straights, so, a lot of Gs travelling around us. I hope many of you are watching this weekend, we are expecting a lot of bumping” he winked “and a little bit of calculated chaos. See you next time!”

Training was mostly uneventful. It needed some getting used to, driving in a circle, but not really in a circle, and Carlos already tried to make up some scenarios for bumping. That would have to be timed perfectly, especially at the pulled out straight.
Josy called on Saturday evening after the qualifying, Carlos getting 14th, to tell them that Estrella Galicia decided to be one of their new sponsors. She would FedEx the new labels for his suit and the stickers for the car to the Daytona Speedway, their stop for next week. Their upgrades for the car that they were able to do thanks to them would be installed in their next break. New trimming and tank, which had been repaired too many times already.
Malcolm was raging again, having qualified in 8th due to missing the curb. Of course, that was the fault of everyone else, not him.

He had a good start, being able to push himself to the inner line shortly after the start, the car in 13th not having a good start.
After around fifty laps, four cars in the back bumped each other out in a chained collision, one underestimating his bumping force.
Somehow, Malcolm fell a little back and in front of him. After a third break testing from Malcolm, Carlos had enough and planned his manoeuvre for the pulled out straight.
He gave one short but hard bump at the inner back light of Malcolm’s car, followed by another hard bump, staying pressed against Malcolm’s car, forcing him to the inside of the track, spinning out and being stopped by a sideways crash against a wall. He was not fast enough to get hurt, though.
“YES! That’s my boy!” Senior yelled at the tv in their Madrid house, Reyes just shaking her head.
Carlos finished in tenth while Malcolm blamed his team again. He shoulder checked Carlos in the paddock, but Carlos couldn’t care less.

Their next stop, the Daytona International Speedway, was their biggest audience up to date, being almost sold out.
“Hello everyone! Welcome back to Carlos Diary and welcome to the first night race! Another city, another track and for this weekend … a different day and time! This week, training and qualifying will be on Friday, the race itself on Saturday night, starting at 10pm local time, I will blend in the other time zones later, I always forget which is where” Carlos said, starting to record “This is a tri-oval, a little bit different to Atlanta last week, also I am very proud, we are almost sold out, so a full house as well. We also have a new sponsor” he pulled up his t-shirt a little “Estrella Galicia, welcome to the team! I’ve got a lot of things to do today, so this will be it from me for today, but I hope you will stay tuned for this weekend, bye!” Carlos ended the recording and rewatched it, adding the blend in for the time table and then sending it to Josy.

“Alright, who wants something from the store?” he asked, walking into the garage.
“Chewing gum!” Lucas said loudly, not looking up from his computer.
“Donuts!” Mike and Leroy yelled.
“We’re out of milk.” Judd added.
“I already got that. Anything last minute?” Carlos looked around “Alright, I’ll be back!” he said and went to the store just half a mile from the circuit. Not a cost co, but still a big one. He bought all of the things they were missing, as well as the donuts and chewing gum. He walked back to the circuit and stored everything away while starting the rice for dinner. He made a paella with chicken and vegetables for them, turning off his alarm when going to bed, trying to sleep longer to not get too tired during training the next evening.
It was a short training though, three red flags for stupid mistakes from other drivers costing a lot of time. Qualifying was pretty chaotic. He was in the bigger group and they spread out nicely at first, but a couple of drivers seemed to have trouble with the front stretch at the finish line, not getting the corners right and loosing speed, impeding others.
Carlos ended up in 17th and wasn’t really happy.

The track was loud. People started arriving at 5 pm already, standing at the gates. Seats for this race were sold ‘by department’ meaning an area on the stand, but not a specific seat and people were eager to get the best ones. The gates opened at seven thirty and the people ran inside, starting to chant loudly and giving an energetic atmosphere. The sun went down and the huge light system went on all around the track, illuminating everything.
“Alright, off to another 200.” Carlos said.
“Safety first” Lucas said.
“Safe and smooth.”
“Go get them” Lucas ended their message before the start.

They had a rolling start, staying in formation. The safety car left the track and they drove towards the finish line, waiting for the red lights to go green. The lights turned green and they sped off, Carlos watching the car next to him, his opponent was not allowed to pass by before the line. They crossed the line and the car next to him immediately turned to the inside. He didn’t let him hit him first, though, giving a harsh swing right, his passenger door hitting his front wheel and front wing in a short but powerful hit. His car had a better grip on the track and he had a more stable position. The other car swerved right and he saw the driver rip the steering wheel left and right, oversteering and spinning out, smashing against the outside wall before being flung back and into the field, taking two other cars out with him.
“Well, that’s an early finish.” Lucas commented.
“I just reacted to his action.” Carlos said, trying to hide a smile.
“It was just a statement, not an accusation. Stay focussed.”
“Yes, mom.”
“Shut up and drive.” Lucas said, his smile obvious in his voice.
He managed two more bumps during the race, fighting his way up to 9th. Their first top ten finish in the past decade. Josy sent a video of Kyle jumping around the living room, screeching loudly.
They celebrated long that night, some of the other teams congratulating them.

Chapter 12: VIP 2 - Limited access

Summary:

Carlos is visiting the Miami F1 GP meeting some old friends.

As the drive from Daytona to Miami didn’t take long, they decided to only start driving Monday and Judd spoiled them for the night, they had dinner at a family-owned restaurant, sponsored by Carlos, followed by a night of stay in a little hotel not far from the restaurant, starting their drive to Miami the next day, arriving in the early evening, giving them enough time to get settled at the track.

Even though it was only Monday, they were able to go to the track right away. Carlos and Lucas made a trip to the store while the others hooked up the trailers and got the trucks levelled.

They had a little barbecue for dinner. They started working on the car the next day. Miami was important for them. A lot of potential sponsors were coming to this race, using this opportunity while also visiting the Formula 1 races, which were only twenty miles away. They got the dents out of the car and did some painting as well.
Carlos took some pictures and little videos of them, feeling useless otherwise, sitting around while the mechanics took care of the car.

When he logged into his own e-mail on Wednesday, he spotted an invitation. He went over to Judd immediately.
“Hey, you got a second?” he asked from the door of Judd’s room.
“Sure, what’s up?” Judd asked, closing his book.
“Well, I got invited to the F1 paddock on Friday.”
“Alright, you need a rental car, though, right? I have a membership somewhere, maybe we’ll get a discount.” Judd said and took a box out of his drawer.
The box Carlos knew by now held all kinds of membership stuff Judd had for personal use.
“You would be okay for me to go?” Carlos asked.
“Of course! Mario said he would send something, but you didn’t say anything, so I assumed he didn’t after all. Why shouldn’t you?” Judd asked confused.
“I don’t know. I need to make some calls first, though. Wait until you book something.”
“Okay, just come back when you decided.” Judd said, placing a membership card on the desk and Carlos walked back to his room, choosing a contact on his phone.

“Yes?” he asked, sounding cautious and a little bit suspicious.
“Hi Oscar, it’s Carlos.” Carlos said.
“Yes, I didn’t delete your number.” Oscar said, not much emotion in his voice “Why are you calling?”
“Uhm, I got an invitation for Friday, to visit the F1 paddock and watch the trainings.”
“Okay. Why are you telling me that?” Oscar asked, sounding confused.
“Well, I’m not actually telling you, I wanted to ask if it would be okay for me to go. Of course I wasn’t invited by McLaren, but I … I just wanted for you to be okay with this.”
“Uhm, okay. Which team invited you?”
“Andretti. Apparently, my team owner Judd knows Mario from like … way back.”
“Ah, okay, well then, feel free to go.”
“Really?”
“Yes” Oscar said.
“Thank you, Oscar.”
“I will … I will tell the others that you are coming, though.”
“Of course. Could you also please tell them that if they don’t want me to be there, they can message me today. I have to call them back tomorrow about the invitation.”
“I will let Lando put something in the group. Thank you for the gift, by the way.” Oscar said, his voice still a little stiff.
“Of course. Are you guys good?”
“Yes, we are. We travelled back to Monaco yesterday, so we are only half unpacked. Cisca stayed with me since the birth and she went with us, but I wanted to be close to my mum as well.”
“That’s understandable I guess.” Carlos said and then there was some silence “I think this is a good moment to hang up. I am really happy for you guys.”
“Congratulations on the 9th place, finally back in the top ten, huh?”
“Yeah, we are really happy about that. You watched the race?”
“No, we watched a best of after Logan told us that you got 9th. He watches Nasfinity when he has the time. He said something about having to be careful with that Malcolm guy, though.”
“Really? Why?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say any more.”
“Okay, thank you, Oscar. Goodbye.”
“Bye, Carlos.” Oscar said and hung up.

Lando looked at him with a raised eyebrow “He got invited to the paddock on Friday. Apparently, his team owner knows Mario Andretti. He asked if it was okay for me that he comes. He also asked for us to contact the others. If anyone doesn’t want him to come, they can tell him and he will not.”
“Alright, I will write something into the group.” Lando said.
Carlos did not hear anything back from him.

“Alright, I’ll go, see you tonight!” Carlos yelled through the trailer.
“See ya! Oh, by the way, Josy is arriving today, so no farting in the hallway when you come back!” Judd said.
“I will remember. Is Kyle joining, too?”
“Yes, but as much as I know he does not bring the fire truck.” Judd said with a grin.
“Alright, we will find other things to play with.” Carlos said and waved goodbye.

He had rented a car with Judd’s membership and drove to the Miami F1 circuit, showing his invitation at the entrance. He got his paddock pass ‘VIP 2 - limited access’ it said, something he hadn’t read for a long time. He was stopped by a couple of fans in the paddock before reaching the Andretti hospitality, Mario seeing him from inside and walking over to him. They went into the lounge and got some drinks.

“So, you are the new rising star” Mario said after they sat down under an umbrella on the terrace.
“Well, some might say so … I still think it is weird, I am thirty now, I’m not sure that is ‘rising star’ age.” Carlos laughed.
“It’s a big difference to this. Especially Ferrari.” Mario stated.
“Yes, it is. But I like it. It’s a lot of fun once you get used to it.”
“You miss it a lot?”
“Sometimes yes, most of the times … no. It is great here, I love Formula 1, but … that is a totally different kind of racing. I’m really happy where I am at the moment.”
“Yeah, I get that. Judd is a great guy. He still singing in the car?”
“All the time.” Carlos said and they laughed. An assistant walked over and whispered something to Mario.
“Well, I’d love to stay, but I have things to take care off, enjoy your day!” Mario said and left him.
He watched the first practice from the lounge’s balcony above the garage, interesting, but no bigger accidents except some little bumps against the walls.

Carlos made his way towards the Andretti hospitality, needing the toilet, when he almost bumped into Lando.
“Hey, there you are! I was looking for you.” Lando said.
“You were looking for me?” Carlos asked surprised.
“Well, I wanted to thank you in person for the baby gifts and of course” Lando handed him an envelope “the thank you card.”
“Oh, thank you, I didn’t expect anything like that.” Carlos said with a smile and looked at the envelope for a moment.
“Do you want to see pictures?” Lando asked after a little silence and Carlos nodded. Lando pulled some pictures up on his phone until Logan came up to them.
“Hey Lando you idiot! Momma hen Zak is running around looking for you! Press is waiting!” Logan said and Lando sped off, not even saying bye to Carlos.

“He talked about his babies, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did.”
“They look really cute, he shows everyone the pictures, if we want to see them or not.”
“Well, he’s happy.” Carlos said.
“Definitely. How are you feeling, being back here?”
“Actually, I thought I would feel worse or something? But I’m actually good. It’s fun watching you guys, being one of the wannabe know it all’s on the balcony.” Carlos said with a smirk.
“I can imagine.” Logan said with a laugh.
“Hey, now that you are here, I have to ask you something. You said to Oscar to stay away from Malcolm, why?” Carlos asked.
“He’s not a good guy.” Logan said shortly.
“Yeah, I know that. He’s an entitled little kid who thinks he’s better than everyone. He got aggressive after I pushed him out.”
“That’s not what I … look, I know I can’t tell you what to do, but you REALLY shouldn’t be seen with him. Not in a friendship like way, I mean.”
“But why?”
“Manipulation. Bribing people. Provoking others to start a fight and then play the victim. Using girls. The last part is … there are different stories.”
“Different stories?”
“He said, she said. No proof? No crime.”
“Stay away. Got it.”
“Personal opinion … just wait it out. One year max, then the media will pick it up and he’ll get crushed. I think it would be way better to be his enemy than his friend.”
“I’ll wait for the boom, except I stumble upon something earlier, then I’ll blow him up.”
“Deal.” Logan laughed “And you are happy in Nasfinity?”
“I am, yes.” Carlos said with a smile “I never thought I would race here or with Anderson, but it really is great. It is totally different from this, but … I like it.”
“That’s the most important part.” Logan said with a smile, then heard someone from the team call his name. They said a quick goodbye and Carlos went to the bathroom before making his way back to the lounge above the garage.

He had some snacks and stood at the balcony, listening to the interviews going on beneath him in the pit lane while eating some crackers topped with cream cheese and cucumber.

“Hey there, funny to see you here.” He got a slap on his back and someone took one of the crackers.
“Funny to see you, too.” Carlos said, smiling at Kevin.
“Why is it funny to see me here? Officially, I still have a contract here.”
“Officially, you are not racing. The kid is doing your job.”
“And he’s doing it quite well, little dipshit threw away my shirt because he thought it was garbage.”
“He threw away your shirt?” Carlos asked with a laugh.
“A Maverick’s jersey, actually. It has Nowitzki’s signature. Nico gifted it to me on my 30th. I made him search through the dumpster and give it back to me.”
“Okay, I probably would have done the same.”
“So, Nasfinity, huh?”
“Yep. Great racing. Different racing.”
“Seems like that, yes.”
“What about you?” Carlos asked.
“I don’t know.” Kevin admitted “People are not eager to employ a racer who already had a heart attack during a fucking race. I had some offers for training juniors and stuff, but … I’m not ready for that right now. I currently enjoy spending time with my wife and daughters.”
“You’re travelling around?”
“Yes, we do. We spent the last two months touring through the Caribbean, a lot of beaches, a lot of swimming. They are only this little once, you know. We’re starting a road trip through the US now, we’re not sure how long.”
“Well, not really, but I can imagine.” Carlos said.

They watched the second training together before Kevin got back to his hotel and Carlos drove back to the car rental place at their own track, handing in the car before making his way to the Anderson trucks.

Chapter 13: Miami Heat

Summary:

Logan visits the Miami race and meets Josy and Lucas.

“Hey Carlos!” Judd asked “Did you bring some of those cucumber crackers?” he asked loudly and the mechanics laughed.
“Really? People spend thousands of dollars to be in a lounge like that and they get salted crackers with cream cheese and cucumber. It tastes like nothing AT ALL! They didn’t even season the cream cheese or something, they didn’t even try!” Carlos said and the others laughed “I always wondered how it would be like up there, it is terrible. I mean, the view is amazing, but other than that? No, not worth it. They don’t even have a toilet there. You need to go to a toilet house in the paddock. VIP my ass.” The mechanics laughed louder.
“Welcome to Miami!” Carlos said to Josy and high fived Kyle, who sat on the floor, playing with some cars.
“I heard some people from Redbull are coming tomorrow.” A mechanic said when Carlos sat down with them with a sprite.
“They do. Sunday before their race. Max, Logan and someone from PR to take pictures.”
“But why?” Josy asked.
“PR. Redbull is a sponsor with the Keating team.”
“Oh, right. They’re going to visit you, too?”
“Maybe. Depends how it was planned for them.”
“What do you mean?” Josy asked.
“It’s possible that they will come here, talk to some people in Keating, get some pictures with their car and some stuff and then be driven back to their hotel.”
“That doesn’t sound like fun at all.”
“It’s not. It’s PR work. Just publicity.”
“Sounds really boring.”
“You do what you gotta do.” Carlos said, taking a sip.

“You look a little like Deadpool.” Logan said on Sunday, looking into Carlos’ garage and making the people in there laugh.
“Yeah, I think it’s awesome. Are you already done with your shootings?” Carlos said, hugging him quickly.
“Yes, and this definitely looks better than Captain America wearing Vision’s suit up there.” Logan groaned silently, nodding his head towards Malcolm, who yelled at a mechanic at the moment “What is wrong with him now?”
“Who knows. Something is always wrong and it is never his fault.” Carlos said “I’ve gotta go, make yourself comfortable if you want to stay.” Carlos got into his car, getting strapped in by a mechanic and making his way out the box.
“So, you are Logan.” A redhead said to him “I’m Josy.”
“Yes, Logan, nice to meet you.” He said, looking at all the documents she was carrying. “Can I help you with those?” he offered and she happily handed him most of them. “You’re looking for investors? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have looked.”
“Well, not really an investor, I guess.” She said and opened their truck “My dad doesn’t wants to share, which I guess is normal, but even with the better results now … we’re not completely competitive. My dad would prefer a bank loan, but we already have some running and the interest would be pretty high.”
“Hmm” Logan said, laying the documents on the desk in the little office “Who are you contacting for investments?” Logan asked and she dropped a couple of names.

“Those sound like big corporations.”
“Yes, they are. They are the easiest to approach and we are kind of running out of money.”
“But you got some good results these last races and I thought you got that new beer sponsor?”
“We do. The money went to the loans and to payroll, the last thing we want is not being able to pay our people.”
“Best approach in my mind. Do you have the pitch here?” Logan asked and Josy handed him a folder.
“You want to join at the wall?” she asked and he nodded, them making their way to the engineer’s place, Logan sitting down next to Lucas.
“You’re looking young.” Logan stated.
“I’m older than you.” Lucas stated, half distracted by the data on his screen “Congrats on the pole.”
“I’m Logan, not Lewis.” Logan said with a smirk and Lucas whipped his head towards him while Josy laughed.
“I’m so sorry, I’m really getting into a zone during races.” Lucas apologized.
“Don’t worry, I’m not really getting called a seven – time world champion.” Logan said to him “You’re starting 18th, right?”
“Yeah, had some troubles during qualifying.” Lucas said when the cars stopped in formation “There we go.” The race started and the cars sped away. At first it looked like the whole field just stayed in formation, moving in the two rows they started in. Then a car towards the middle of the pulk, two rows in front of Carlos, seemingly lost control, turning outside and into the wall first before being flung back and over the track, bumping and crashing into other cars. Carlos was lucky, starting on the outer row and being able to pass the little pile up on the outside. “Traditional Sanders” Lucas muttered and Logan looked a little confused.
“Sanders is like … the Mazepin of Nasfinity. Thankfully he only takes himself out … most of the time.” Josy explained.
“He seems new. I don’t watch every race, I have to admit, the time change is cruel.”
“You are right, though. He’s replacing their injured driver for at least another ten races. We are not considered the worst anymore since he started.” Josy smiled “And Carlos’ ninth last week helped that as well.”
“I can imagine. It has been your first top ten finish in, like, what? Thirteen years?”
“Thirteen years, five months, eight days.” Josy said with a smile. Due to Sander’s crash, three cars were out and Carlos was able to pass some cars that were impeded by it, now being 12th.

“Okay, how do you want to plan this?” Carlos asked, now being behind the Keating team car.
“Stick to the plan, you have the speed and talent. Hard, fast, careful, safely.”
“You do realize that those things don’t go well together, right?”
“Yep, but you know what I mean.” Lucas said.
“Then let’s get us to the front.” Carlos said and Lucas leaned back, taking a sip of water.
“You look really relaxed for a race engineer.” Logan said and Lucas shrugged.
“He knows what to do. This is not F1, I don’t need to constantly update him on how to take corners, break balance or tire degradation.” Lucas said and they watched Carlos for a bit, inching up to the Keating car, giving it a little nudge. The car went to the outside and Carlos passed him quickly, keeping an eye on him in case there would be a push coming towards him. He watched the driver closely, who seemed to be looking into his side mirror suspiciously often. He plans to hit my rear tire. Carlos thought. The were just about to enter the curve, Carlos not yet using his full speed. He saw the other driver gripping the wheel and he floored the pedal. He went into the curve to fast, passing the other car by a centimetre, his back breaking out and drifting a little while the Keating car, expecting Carlos as a hinderance, went into the curve, sliding sideways, trying to get the car back under control. He slammed through some plastic advertisements before just sliding out on the pavement, the rubber of his tires smoking. He managed to keep driving, but the cooling system failed a couple laps later. He went back onto an exit way, driving back to the pit lane.

“It’s way different seeing it like this than on tv.” Logan said and Lucas laughed before talking to Carlos, congratulating him to getting Keating to solve it themselves. Carlos laughed.
Logan and Max had to leave before the race ended, but they were able to follow the rest of the race in the car, which had a tv. Carlos ended up in ninth again.

Chapter 14: Open houses, new investors and hidden letters

Summary:

Carlos and Kyle are visiting an open house, a new investor is taking off some pressure and Josy receives a letter.

They had stocked up on some road snacks before leaving, having a twenty-hour drive in front of them, divided on two days, taking a break at a highway truck stop.
As usual, Carlos and Judd made a stop at Costco, stocking up on food and drinks.
“Hey guys!” Judd yelled when entering the house.
“Sshht!” Josy came from the living room “Kyle is sleeping!” she whisper yelled.
“Sorry” Carlos said, carrying a box with fruits and vegetables. He placed it on the kitchen island, taking out some bananas and apples before leaving to his little appartement. He watched some tv, but there wasn’t anything interesting for him, so he streamed a movie, falling asleep halfway through.

Carlos felt a weight settling on his chest and soon after, something poked his nose. Kyle. He smiled a little, not opening his eyes, yet.
“Is it morning already?” Carlos grumbled.
“It’s seven thirty, mommy asks if you want to join for breakfast.”
“Okay” Carlos grumbled.
“Are you getting up?” Kyle asked after a moment of silence.
“I would love to, but there seems to be a very big boy on my chest!” Carlos said with a wide smile, opening his eyes and tickling Kyle, who crawled away from him while laughing loudly. “Tell your mom I will join in ten minutes.”
“Okay!” Kyle laughed and left again. Carlos took a quick shower before going to breakfast, seeing them already sit at the breakfast table. As soon as Carlos sat down, Kyle eagerly picked up his toast and bit off a big piece. Carlos looked at him for a moment.
“He had to wait until you’re here.” Judd cleared up and filled Carlos’ coffee mug.
“Well, thank you for waiting for me.” Carlos said and took some bread.

“I can go faster!” Kyle bet an hour later, pushing his little bike to its limits.
“Oh man, you won again!” Carlos exclaimed, reaching the street corner a couple steps behind him.
“YES!” Kyle exclaimed loudly and they waited for the light to turn green.
“Come on” Carlos said and they crossed the street after the light turned, making their way to the park. On the circle back, Carlos saw a sign in one of the front yards. An open house. “Hey Kyle, let’s make a little stop here.” Carlos said and got his breathing under control before approaching the front door.
“Welcome!” the agent greeted them at the door.
“Hello, I apologize, we didn’t plan to come here, I was on a run.” Carlos said, explaining his sweaty shirt.
“No problem at all, sir. Take a look around, I will be here for any questions.” She said and handed him an info sheet.
Two stories, four bedrooms, five baths, open plan living and kitchen area. A farm style house with a wrap around porch and a detached double garage. It was a nice home.
“Why is the garden so small?” Kyle asked, standing at the big window to the backyard.
“It’s not that small, just smaller than yours.” Carlos said and looked at the garden. There was a terrace behind the porch, big enough for a table for eight people and a grill, and then a couple metres of grass, ending at a wooden wall to the other backyard.

“And then we looked at a house!” Kyle told his mom.
“A house?” she asked confused.
“Yes, it was for sale.” Kyle said and Josy nodded a little.
“And … did Carlos like the house?”
“He said it is a nice home, but I think the garden is small.” Kyle shrugged.
“Hmm” Josy just let out and Judd watched her in suspicion from the kitchen counter, preparing some sandwiches.

“Do you want to move out?” Judd asked Carlos after dinner.
“I don’t know. I feel a little bit like a squatter, but the house we looked at … it was nice, but compared to the money they want for it … no.”
“You’re not a squatter, you’re paying rent.”
“I pay you a hundred bucks and some groceries here and there.”
“And the space is finally getting used, that’s a good thing. You’re not a squatter.” Judd said and it was silent for a while.
“Thank you” Carlos then said.
“For what?”
“Everything. Giving me this chance. I guess that … do you know what happened? Why I couldn’t get another seat?”
“Yes” Judd said “I had the idea and tried to reach you somehow, then I was told … and that I should be careful if I don’t want Perez as my enemy. Even if this is the US, Mexico is not far.”
“And you still risked it?”
“Perez called me himself. He said that you deserve to be punished for what you did and if I wouldn’t hire you, I would be an asshole. He hung up and sent me your number.” Judd said and Carlos smiled a little “I told no one what happened.”
“Thank you”
“All good. I need to inform you about something, too. We have a new investor.”
“Investor or sponsor?”
“Investor. Him and Josy convinced me.”
“Who is it?”
“Pembroke Global Invest.”
“I don’t think I’ve heard of them.”
“It is a new investment company, based in Switzerland. It is owned by Logan Sargeant.”
“Oh, I didn’t know he was into … investing things.”
“He talked to Josy in Miami and then it went quite fast. The company already existed, he just didn’t invest into anything, yet. We are his trial run. Gets the bank off our back.”
“Good. I heard Lucas got an offer from another team?”
“He gets those once in a while, yes. Also from Nascar and Indy. He is a good race engineer.”
“Yes, he is. Will he go?”
“No. He says he’s not ready. He already signed for next year.”
“Good, that’s good.”

Carlos set the bags on the counter and Josy quickly turned towards him, hiding something behind her back.
“Are you alright?” he asked, smelling her sadness, the beautiful flowery scent turning stale and muffy.
“Yeah, everything good.” She said shakily, stuffing some papers into the pocket of her morning robe.
“Are you sure?”
“It is nothing that you have to worry about. Are you joining for lunch?” she asked, stepping to the stove.
“Happily” Carlos said and watched her put the pasta into the pot.
“Fifteen minutes” she stated simply, staring into the pot.
“Just … tell me when you need to talk or anything.” He said and took his own groceries out of the bags and to the appartement. Just some fruit and yoghurt, he mostly ate with them at the house anyway.
Lunch was silent, Judd looking back and forth in between them, kind of seeming to think it was Carlos’ fault, who just shrugged his shoulders at Judd.

He took a run after lunch, followed by some stretching and lifting, strengthening his neck and core. Kyle came back from daycare, ‘helping’ by watching him lift.
“Mommy is sad.” Kyle stated after a while.
“I know, but she didn’t want to tell me why.”
“I don’t like it if she’s sad.”
“Me neither.” Kyle said “I hugged her, but I don’t think it helped.”
“I’m sure she will tell us when she wants.” Carlos said.
“Still. I don’t like it. Do you have chocolate? She loves chocolate.”
“There is some in the drawer under the tv. Give it to her, maybe it will help.” Carlos said and Kyle walked off, taking some chocolate to Josy.
“Thank you for the chocolates.” She said at night after bringing Kyle to bed.
“Did it help?”
“A little.”
“Are you ready to talk?”
“No, I don’t want to talk about it until it turns real.”
“I don’t know what that means, but alright, it’s your decision.” Carlos said and left to his appartement soon after.

“This should be it. Fully stocked.” Judd said, ticking the last box on their list “Let’s go to the tills.”
“Thankfully. This was exhausting.” Carlos said, pushing the heavy cart, loaded with foods and drinks for their next stint. Only three races, but they had a long drive ahead of them to Darlington in South Carolina. They decided to take it slow, dividing the drive on three days. Kyle and Josy would join them this time, Kyle switching in between the trucks, playing different games with them.

Chapter 15: Candy bars and grid bunnies

Summary:

Anderson Motorsports has a new sponsor and Carlos meets an eager fan in the paddock.

P.S.: The word 'pit bitch' is a translation from the German word 'Boxenluder', which is mostly used for women like these.

“So we’ve got another new sponsor?” Carlos said, watching Josy carefully stitch the label onto the mechanics suits.
“Yup.”
“What kind of company are they?”
“Candy bars.”
“They any good?”
“You will love them when we take the pictures.”
“Do you like them?” Carlos asked.
“I don’t like coconut.”
“They have coconut?” Carlos asked, pulling a face.
“You eat them and they will be delicious … for the pictures. They are paying for your new reinforced bumpers.”
“We’re getting the double reinforced ones?!” Carlos asked excited.
“Thanks to the coconut, yes. Five of them for a start.”
“Ouiiiii” let Carlos out with a grin.
“What kind of noise was that?” Judd asked, walking into the trailer.
“We are getting the double reinforced bumpers!” Carlos said with a wide smile.
“Yes, you’re already starting with them today.” Judd said smiling “Thank Josy over there and Lucas is waiting for you, something about a strategy change.”
“Okay. Thank you, Josy” Carlos said, kissing her cheek and hurrying out the trailer, her eyes following him.
“Josy!” Judd said warningly “He’s a racer.”
“Yes, dad. I know that.” She said, continuing to sew. He looked at her for another couple of seconds, then left the trailer as well. Josy let out a deep breath.

Carlos walked towards the garage, where Lucas would be at this time while wondering why he had kissed Josy. He bumped into someone.
“Oh sor-“ he started but was cut off.
“Watch where you’re going, dickhead!” Malcolm said aggressively.
“I’m sorry, okay. It was an accident.” Carlos said.
“Of course it was, stupid spic.” Malcolm scoffed and walked off. Carlos just shook his head and walked into their garage.
“Just don’t let that prick get to you.” Lucas said to him “I know that’s easier said than done.”
“I’m trying. Up until now it seems more like kindergarten most of the time. Although I think that spic is a more serious word over here than in Spain.”
“It’s … well … I’m not sure if we can compare it to the n word, to be true, but … it is an insult none the less.”
“Okay, Judd said something about changing strategy?”
“Well, it’s not a complete change or something like that, it’s more … an adjustment. Now that we have the double reinforced bumpers, we could be a little more … daring, if you know what I mean.”
“I do.”
“But of course as always, think first, bump second.” Lucas said “We have five bumpers for now, but there are more ordered, although of course, we shouldn’t crash them all. We’ve got three races in a row now Darlington this weekend, Charlotte, Rockingham Speedway, then two weekends off. The delivery will be in that break.”
“Okay”
“Now about this race” Lucas started and laid out the changed strategy. It was more daring, used more bumping and force if necessary and needed to get from their qualifying spot in 13th as far to the front as possible “We’re all good?”
“All good.” Carlos said.
“Alright then, see you in an hour for the race.”
“See you in an hour!” Carlos promised. He was on his way towards the bathroom facilities when he was stopped by a little group of women, asking for autographs and pictures. He willingly complied.
“Could you sign my boob?” then one of them asked and Carlos’ eyes almost bugged out of his head when she pulled down her shirt and pushed her boob up to him.
“Huh? No, sorry, I don’t sign there. I sign arms, but that’s it for body parts.” He politely said.
“Oh come on, please!” she begged.
“No and that is a real no. I can give you one on your arm or on some paper if you want, but no other body part of you.”
“Fine” she rolled her eyes and pulled up a book for him to sign.

“Weird question” he started when he came back into their trailer “How many times do people ask for signatures on boobs?” Carlos asked and Judd laughed.
“You pulled some grid bunny?” he then asked.
“A what?” Carlos asked.
“A grid bunny.” Josy said with a smile “Those women that are running around, starting to ask for a boob or butt signature, then push that body part into your hand and try to … well … get you to drop your pants. They are not too rare actually. About five to ten at every race. They mostly hang around at the Bowen or Keating team, though. You want to tell us you don’t have them at F1?”
“Oh we do, we just don’t call them grid bunny.”
“What do you call them?”
“Well … we switched over to German and are calling them Boxenluder now.”
“Box-what?” Judd asked.
“Boxenluder. It’s kind of … pit bitch.”
“Pit bitch? That’s a great word.” Josy laughed “It sounds a little more demeaning though.” And Carlos agreed “So how many pit bitches did you have?”
“None.” He said.
“None? Not one? Like at all?”
“Not one. I don’t like this … what do you Americans call it … wham bam thank you ma’am?”
“Yes, we know what you mean.” Judd said “Did you sign the boob?”
“No, I don’t sign boobs. I only sign arms, no other body parts.”
“Really?” Judd asked.
“Yes. I had a fan ask me to sign their cheek once, because she wanted it to get tattooed. Freaked me out for life, I guess.”
“When did that happen?” Judd asked.
“When I just started driving for Torro Rosso, so in 2015. Refused to sign anything else than arms and hands ever since.” Carlos said.
“Her cheek?” Josy asked after a moment of silence.
“Yep. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know what’s going on in some people’s heads.” Carlos shrugged “I’ve got to change for the race, see you later.”

He went into his room, seeing Kyle play with some Legos on the floor. “Hey bud, you having fun?” he asked, messing Kyle’s hair while walking past.
“Yeah. Is the race finally starting?” he then whined.
“Yes, almost. You want to come with me to the garage in a bit?” Carlos asked while pulling his fireproofs and suit out of the closet.
“Sure!” Kyle said happily.
“Then you tell your mum and I’ll get changed and pick you up after, alright?” Carlos asked and Kyle sped out. Carlos closed the door and quickly changed before walking back to Josy, picking up Kyle and making their way to the garage. The area was filled with people by now, so he asked Kyle to take his hand so old Carlos wouldn’t get lost.

Chapter 16: Stupid bumps and pizza parties

Summary:

The Darlington race weekend is going on and Kyle is tired of burgers.

They did their spiderman handshake before Carlos stepped in the car, Kyle running over to Judd and being lifted in his lap before getting his earmuffs on.

The race in Darlington started soon after, Carlos holding with the group.
“Let’s try out how strong that enforcement is.” He stated a couple minutes in, bumping the car in front firmly, but not too hard. The car lost some speed after the bump, falling back and almost towards him before speeding back up. There was a car next to Carlos, but none next to the car in front of him. Apparently, the other driver didn’t get the hint “Alright then, you asked for this.” Carlos stated a minute later, the car still not getting out of his way.
He swerved a little to the right and bumped again, keeping the pressure on the other car and pushing them, slowly turning them left, towards the inside. He went of the gas a little, giving him one last chance to swerve to the right and let him through. “Last chance, bud.” Carlos let out and Lucas chuckled. He didn’t make space and Carlos had enough, flooring his gas and giving the other car a bigger bump, them getting towards the end of the curve and the placement towards the right side of the bumper doing the rest, turning the car left and onto the green.

The driver was able to rejoin further back in the field, but Carlos was able to go on, the car that was previously next to him now setting itself behind him, following him like a shadow while Carlos gradually sped up, closing in on the group of the five leading cars. Some laps later he had caught up, the driver behind him almost stuck at his rear by now.
“Don’t be stupid now.” He warned the driver behind him, who strengthened the grip on his steering wheel. “Oh my God, don’t you realize how stupid this idea is?!” He watched him closely, waiting for the right moment. There it was. Carlos swerved to the right at the beginning of the curve, the car behind him sped up too fast in the same moment, intending to kick him out. It was Sanders, the new worst driver of the grid, a replacement driver. He was too fast to stay in the curve now, the force would carry him towards the outside, so Carlos went a little further than necessary. He would lose some ground due to that, but he would stay in the race.
Sanders sped by him, violently crashing into the other car. The backlash of the hit let him loose control, weaving around a little bit before drifting off to the inside, his car twirling around itself. The hit had taken the other car by surprise, startling the driver and apparently letting him loose his grip on the wheel for a moment, carrying him to the outside of the curve, bumping the side of the car next to him. Number 66. Roger. The most seasoned and most experienced driver. Not good. Roger did a little swerve before bumping back with calculated force.

The other driver was overwhelmed by all of this happening in such a fast succession, hit his brakes too hard out of panic and fell back next to Carlos, who just copied Roger, swerving to the inside, but staying with his own strategy, pushing drivers off steadily. He felt the other car next to his, they turned back on the straight, both of their tires screeching on the asphalt. Carlos used the next curve to his advantage, giving a little space before pushing back again, forcing the other car inside and off the track. Due to the other car having a narrower turn and needing to slow down more to keep control he fell back some more, gravity taking care of the last bit of control when the other cars back wheels were behind Carlos’ car and lost their hold, instantly being carried towards the outside of the bowl “See ya” Carlos stated, watching the other car twirling over the track before hitting the outside wall and then rolling back towards the inside.

“Safety car” Lucas stated “You guys made a little mess there.” He continued, a smile was heard in his voice. The safety car continued for a couple of laps until all of the parts of Sander’s car were collected and the two cars were taken off the track. Carlos stayed behind Roger, the two of them having a good speed. Watching a ridiculous fight between Malcolm and two other drivers in front of them, bumping, but not really fighting for a win as it seemed. At one point, all three of them drove next to each other, Malcolm on the very outside and kind of squeezing the middle car, but neither one of them pulling back for second to give an additional bump or to let the middle car actually fall back behind them. Carlos looked into Roger’s back mirror and if he saw it right, Roger was laughing his ass off “Uuuhm, we only have five laps left right?” Carlos asked.
“Yes” Lucas agreed.
“I kind of like this result, I wouldn’t be able to catch up with the front.”
“I’m not even sure if I want you to participate in whatever … fight they have there.” Lucas said, his voice sounding a little confused.
“Yeah, I’m not sure what their plan is, actually.” Carlos said.

In the end, the race was decided by camera pictures. Malcolm had won by half an inch. Carlos had ended up in fifth, giving them a big push up the ladder. He parked his car and got out, seeing Roger walk towards him.
“Hey!” he greeted and Roger high fived him, then pulling him closer.
“Smart to not get into that weird fight there.” He said with a wink.
“Well, I didn’t know what they were trying to do there and I’d rather finish fifth than trying to meddle with whatever they had going on.”
“Maybe tried comparing their dicks or something, who knows. Great drive, keep it going, Carlos!” he finished with a slap to his shoulder and made his way back to his garage.
“Wow, a compliment from Roger.” Lucas said, stepping up to him and they hugged as well “Great race, man.”
“Great strategy. That new bumper is awesome!” Carlos said, looking at his bumper, which was barely dented. The side of his car had some big scratches, but none of them broke through the metal.

Kyle ran up to them, screaming out of joy and unused energy.
“Can we go get pizza!” Kyle tried to interrupt them, pulling on Carlos’ hand, who was talking to Judd “Can we go get pizza!” Kyle yelled again, pulling harder and jumping up and down “CAN WE GO GET PIZZAAAAAAAAA!” he then yelled on the top of his lungs, startling Carlos with his loud yelling.
“You can go and ask the team if we want pizza as a celebratory dinner, okay?!” Carlos said.
“But I don’t want burgers again!” Kyle moaned, complaining about their usual post-race food.
“Hey, Kyle, look.” Carlos said, crouching down to him “I know that we eat a lot of burgers. So why don’t you go around and ask our guys if they want to celebrate with pizza tonight? Then you suggest pizza to them and not only ask what they want, because they most likely would say burgers, then.”
“Carlos, do you want to celebrate with pizza?” Kyle asked with a smile.
“I would be very happy to celebrate with pizza.” Carlos smiled and Kyle went off, going through the team and asking if they want pizza.
“They all want pizza!” Kyle said to Carlos with a wide smile half an hour later.
“So, our little trick worked?” Carlos whispered to him.
“Yes!” Kyle nodded enthusiastically. They packed together the rest of their things and took their trucks to a pizza place not far from the track, ordering a couple of family pizzas to share before checking into their motel.

The next day they drove to Charlotte and parked their trucks at their motel close to the track, which was still in use by other racing series. They would only be approved to enter on Wednesday. On Tuesday morning Carlos and Judd went to a car rental, renting a car. The whole team had the day off and Josy and Judd decided to surprise Kyle with a trip to the next amusement park. Lucas, Carlos and Leroy decided to join them. Kyle almost flipped out when he realized where they were going, letting out an ear ringing scream in the car. The biggest benefit of it all was Kyle falling asleep in the car on their way from dinner to the motel after being hyped up all day, Carlos taking over the task of carrying him the half mile from the car rental to their motel.

Chapter 17: A return and a mangled car

Summary:

Someone is making an unexpected (and unappreciated) return.
Carlos has a fight on track that doesn't end too well.

tw: car crash including fire, possible severe injury

P.S.: If you read 'The perfect match - A New Year' as well, please read the chapter 'The one with the big bang' before this one.

The next day they got their trucks in place, Carlos guiding them from the outside again.
Carlos made his way back from the showers to the truck when he heard loud voices. He stopped for a moment, waiting if they would seize, but they got only louder and more aggressive. Carlos walked towards them, seeing Josy and some guy standing close to the entrance, fighting loudly.

“Hey, everything okay?” he asked from a couple steps away.
“Yes, we’re just talking.” The guy said, waving him off, but Josy looked at him, looking a little panicked.
“Talking sounds quite different.” Carlos said and stepped up to Josy “Are you okay?”
“He just wanted to leave. Then I’ll be okay.” Josy said and Carlos turned to the guy.
“You heard the lady.” He said shortly.
“I’ll be back.” He said harshly, then walked to the exit.
“Who was that?” Carlos asked after he was gone.
“Kyle’s stupid sire.” Josy said shortly.
“What did he want? I thought there is no contact?”
“There wasn’t. Apparently he wants some now. Or better said he wants Kyle now.” Josy said and walked back to their trailer.
“What do you mean, he wants Kyle?” Carlos asked.
“Exactly that. He wants Kyle to live with him. That was in the letter that you saw me hide.”
“He wanted for him to not exist at all, why does he want him now?”
“I don’t know.”
“But … he isn’t on the birth certificate, is he?”
“No, he’s not.”
“That means there would be a lot of steps before even being able to request seeing him. He would have to sue you to get a paternity test before anything else. Lawsuits take time. Maybe this is just some split of the moment idea.”
“Yeah, hopefully.” Josy said, entering the trailer.

“Mommy!” Kyle shouted, running up to her. “Hey baby!” Josy said, picking him up and cuddling him. Judd looked at her for a moment, then at Carlos, who nodded towards the outside, where he shortly informed Judd about what had happened.

“He finished in the top ten a couple weeks ago. Lando said he met him in Miami and apparently, he looked really good and happy.” Senior said.
“There is a race being shown on the sports channel tonight. Charlotte. Apparently, they didn’t find anything better to show.” She smiled nervously.
“Well then, let’s watch it.” He said and they settled down on the couch later, starting to watch the live broadcast. The drivers and cars were in front of their garages, Carlos would start 7th, his best position up until now. He looked good, they agreed on that. He got into his car and the drivers lined up. A couple laps in, one of Carlos’ intercoms was broadcasted, him stating that they were apparently racing harder today, but sounding amused by it.

Reyes got a little nervous watching. They were going at an incredible speed in a bowl. She had watched half of her life her husband racing in rally and Carlos in F1, but this somehow seemed different. It probably was the officially okayed bumping and pushing. Currently, there was some pushing in between the cars at the end of the grid, but no one was out yet. Reyes took a deep breath.
“Are you okay?” Senior asked her.
“Yes.” She said and he nodded.
A couple laps later, the camera was following the leading group of cars, Carlos in between them.
He apparently did some kind of breaking manoeuvre, bumping the car behind him to make it fall back. It worked for a moment, then the other driver sped up and crashed into Carlos’ car from behind, their bumper being lower than Carlos’ tail.
The other car rushed underneath him and flung him to the side, just when they entered the elevated curve.
The car turned onto the roof before flipping over a couple of times, making it’s way over the grass.
The car that bumped him lost control when Carlos’ side mirror crashed into his windshield and he also went towards the middle, although only twirling around, not flipping over.
Carlos’ car finally came to a stop, by now only a pile of banged up metal.

There was a collective gasp heard from the spectators, as well as from them in the living room.
The driver that caused the crash ran towards Carlos and his car, ripping open the door. He waved towards the middle, hurrying the first responders.
An ambulance was already on it’s way to them, the race itself paused. There was a fire starting under the hood of Carlos’ car, but there was already someone with an extinguisher, stopping it in seconds.
The medics pushed the other driver away and they watched on how the team principal rushed up to the wreck as well, yelling at the medics.
It took about ten more minutes, then Carlos’ helmet was switched to a neck brace and he was pushed onto a back board before rushed into the ambulance.

Reyes and Senior looked at each other for a moment.
“I’ll look for flights.” He then said.
“I’ll pack some things.” Reyes said, holding back some tears.
They were driving to the airport, Reyes on her phone and desperately trying to reach someone from the Anderson team.
“They won’t put me through!” she cried after hanging up yet again. Her phone started ringing. An American number. “Hello?”
“Hello, Mrs. Sainz? Reyes Sainz?” a man asked.
“Yes?” Reyes asked.
“Oh, thank God, his phone is all in Spanish and I don’t know Spanish. This is Judd Anderson. I’m Carlos team principal.”
“Yes, we know, how is he doing? We saw the crash on tv.”
“Oh, you did? Uhm, well, we are at the hospital, they are doing all kinds of tests of course, but … I think you should come over if you have the chance?”
“We are on our way to the airport, we should land tomorrow afternoon. Please text us for news?”
“Of course, I will.” Judd said and they hung up shortly after.
They were silent most of the time, just holding each other’s hand tightly.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally arrived at the airport in Charlotte, looking around for the cab area.
“Mr. and Mrs. Sainz?” a redhead asked them, looking nervous and quite flustered.
“Yes?” Senior asked, turning around.
“Oh wow, Carlos really looks like you. Uhm, sorry, I’m Josephine Anderson, I’m here to give you a lift.”
“Oh, okay, thank you.” They said and followed her to the parking area.
“How did you know which flight we would be on?” Reyes asked in the car.
“I didn’t, but there aren’t that many possible connections here from Spain. It would be either this one or in an hour.” Josephine said, still sounding stressed.
“How is Carlos?” Reyes asked, a lump in her throat.
“He’s unconscious. He has some broken ribs, they keep an eye on them for now. He has a pretty big concussion, a lot of bruising and swelling. My father and my son are with him.”
“Oh, you have a son?” Reyes asked.
“Yeah, Kyle, he’s four.” Josy smiled nervously.

They arrived at the hospital half an hour later and Josy guided them through the halls and into Carlos’ room. Judd sat on a chair, getting up as soon as he saw them come in.
“Hello, good afternoon, it is nice to meet you, I just would have wished for better circumstances.” He then turned to Josy “Lucas picked up Kyle a couple minutes ago, they’ll get dinner and he’ll take him to the motel.”
“I’m Carlos, this is my wife, Reyes. Did the doctors have any news?” Senior asked, shaking Judd’s hand.
“Not yet. They are a little scared that his neck got hit by debris and there could be more swelling, that’s why they insist on the mask.” He said and they stepped up to the bed.
“Oh, mi hijo.” Reyes let out, looking at her son. He laid in the bed, a couple of band aids showing. There was an open line running into one of his hands, the other one wrapped in a cast and an oxygen mask on his face.
Senior’s phone started vibrating a couple minutes later. “It’s Lando” he stated shortly and left the room while taking the call.

Chapter 18: Aftermath & Reconciliation

Summary:

Carlos Sr and Reyes are travelling to the US after Carlos' accident and get to know the team.

P.S.: If you read 'A New Year' and this story in canon, please read this chapter before the new chapter in the other story 'The one with the rain and the private moments' (Chapter 30).

“Hi Lando!” Senior said.
“Hey, thank God, I reached you! We heard of Carlos accident, is he alright?” Lando asked and there was some baby wining in the background.
“He got a whole bunch of bruises and a concussion but he is alright. Still unconscious, though.”
“But he’s going to be okay?” Lando asked.
“Yes, he’s going to be okay.” Senior said.
“Oh good. Is it alright if I tell the other drivers? I got some messages from them asking about it.”
“Of course, Lando, just keep it in between you guys, alright, I’m not sure what plan they have themselves.”
“Okay, will do. Give Carlos all of our best wishes, please?”
“Of course, Lando, now take care of that baby, will you? Whichever one it is, it sounds cranky.”
“Yeah, that’s Jacob. He pooped the moment you picked up and now complains about choosing the wrong moment. Call me if something changes, please?”
“I will. Now take care of the poop, Lando.” Senior said and they hung up shortly after. Lando sent a quick message into the driver’s chat, calming the others.

“Hola papa!” Carlos exclaimed when he saw his dad coming in, still a little weak.
“Mi hijo!” Senior exclaimed and hugged him, not too tightly to not hurt him.
“You didn’t have to fly over here, you could have called. Josy can take care of me!” Carlos said weakly.
“Are you high?” Reyes asked him after a little silence.
“I feel … flowy … did you meet Josy yet? She’s really great, why are you here, you could have called.”
“We tried but they are very secretive. Apparently, we need some kind of codeword to prove we are your parents. And we would have flown over anyway.” Reyes said.
“Why didn’t you give them the codeword? It’s the same as always! Did you meet Josy yet?” Carlos said, his eyes starting to close.
“I don’t … what is the codeword?” Reyes asked and heard Judd chuckling.
“Celica. Dad’s car. As always.” Carlos mumbled “You can have my room, I’ll stay here. You should meet Josy some time, she’s really great.” He then added, eyes already closed and starting to snore soon after.
“Uhm, yes, okay. Visitation is over soon anyway.” Josy said and they left the room.
“What would you like for dinner?” Judd asked Reyes and Senior in the car.
“Uhm … just, something, I guess.” Reyes said.
“Well, there’s a diner not far from our motel which is pretty great. I also … uhm … we don’t stay at the hotels F1 stays at. Just for info, if you want to go somewhere else, it’s totally fine. We treated ourselves to a motel not far from the track this weekend. It’s like … yeah, a good motel. Not a Four Seasons.”
“You do know I’m a rally driver, right?” Senior said “I could sleep in dirt if it’s necessary.”
“Oh, as we are talking about rally.” Judd said and turned around “Is it true that you got sand into your suit during your first Dakar and rubbed open your whole butt crack?” Senior didn’t answer but got deep red and Reyes tried to suppress a laugh.
“He laid on his front for days. He couldn’t even sit at the dinner table.” She let out after a bit, laughing together with Josy and Judd.
“It was really bad.” Senior tried to seize the laughter but only made it worse. They arrived at the diner not long after.

“MOMMY!” they heard a loud scream and then Kyle ran up to them, hugging Josy’s knees.
“Hey baby!” Josy said, picking him up.
“Is Carlos okay?” Kyle asked.
“He woke up and is fine. A little confused. He’s sleeping now. Here, these are his parents, Reyes and Carlos.” Josy introduced and Kyle stared at Senior confused.
“But Carlos is young. He is not! Did the accident do that?” he asked and Judd laughed loudly.
“No sweety!” Josy said softly while carrying him to the table Lucas still sat at “They just have the same name.”
“But why?”
“You have to ask Carlos.”
“But you said he’s asleep.”
“I mean his dad.” Josy clarified.
“Hey, old Carlos?” Kyle turned and asked “Why did you call your son Carlos?” Reyes suppressed another laugh.
“We really liked the name, so we called him Carlos. You can call me Senior if you want. Maybe that is easier.” Senior said before introducing himself to Lucas.
“So, your name is not Carlos?” Kyle asked, now even more confused.
“I … have two names. You can call me Senior and my son Carlos.”
“So, you’re not old Carlos anymore?”
“No, I’m just Senior, it’s a special nickname just for us, okay?” Senior winked at Kyle.
“Okay” Kyle said and settled down between Lucas and Josy. They ordered quickly while Kyle was eating the rest of his fries.

Reyes and Carlos signed in at the motel together with Judd before going to the room. They expected for it to look like his rooms always looked. Messy and only half-unpacked, a candy bar wrapper laying around of the candy he would deny eating and the bed unmade, sheets and pillows all over the bed, his worn clothes on the floor. It was only half of this right now.
His bed was unmade and there were a couple wrappers in the bin. His suitcase was open on the commode, a bag with what was probably worn clothing beside it. What surprised them most was the desk. His laptop, tablet and an open notebook with what looked like instructions for social media.
“Oh, yeah, we don’t have a social media manager or something like that so Carlos took over the channels and he takes some kind of online course in marketing.” Josy explained when she saw Reyes looking at the notebook.
“So, he’s actually the one taking care of your Instagram and all that?” Reyes asked.
“Yes. Instagram and our own website. We have a contract for the basis of our website, but the rest is on us of course. Or better said Carlos.”
“And he just took that as his task?” Senior asked.
“Well, it started a bit differently. We are a pretty small team and everyone has something to do all the time, pretty much. He felt useless and a little bad when he saw everyone bustling around. He was probably more aware as it’s such a small team, compared to Ferrari or some other team. He first cleaned and organized the storage rooms in the trailers, as well as the kitchens and when he realized my workload, he said he could take over this part.”
“What do you do in the team?”
“I do everything that doesn’t have anything to do directly with the car or maintaining it.” She said and they looked at her questioningly “I’m the team assistant, organizer, travel office, permit person, payroll, ordering, HR, work with partners, investors and sponsors, pretty much … everything except working on the car or being his trainer. Which is also a job he has right now. We don’t have a personal trainer.” Josy said.
“Wow. This really is different. Please, don’t take this in a bad way, Josy, it just is.”
“I know that it is. Even if he would race for the best team in Nasfinity, there would be a difference.”
“Yes, but … F1 and definitely Ferrari … it’s … something else, within the racing world itself. It’s … uhm everyone thinks they are high maintenance, the drivers, I mean, but those I met, they are just … normal. No one would raise an eyebrow at a room like this or a motel itself.” Senior said.

Chapter 19: Crazy ideas and replacement drivers

Summary:

Carlos is getting released from the hospital.
They are desperately searching for a replacement driver and find a solution not everyone will like.
Malcolm is Malcolm.

Josy drove back to the hospital the next morning after breakfast, bringing new clothes for Carlos, Reyes and Kyle insisted on coming with them.
“Good morning!” Carlos said to them, eating the last of his yoghurt “I want to apologize for whatever things I said in advance.”
“You didn’t say anything bad, maybe a little repetition, but that was it.” Josy said while Kyle climbed on the bed.
“Oh, okay, good. The nurses said I caused quite some trouble last night, apparently, I woke up and tried picking fights with anyone and anything I could, including a whiteboard.” Carlos said, holding up his right hand, whose knuckles were red and a little swollen. Josy tried desperately to hide a smile “But they said I can leave today, so that’s a plus. Do you guys have my phone? Did you put something out yet? We need to put something out, otherwise the rumours are going to crazy and it will damage rep and our sponsor’s relationships as well. Did the news pick something stupid up yet? I hope not, I hoped we could do it with a post. Did you bring my tablet or something?” Carlos babbled and Josy pulled out the tablet, put pulled it back before he could grab it.

“You only get it after promising to stay calm, alright? You need to heal.”
“I promise.” Carlos said and got the tablet.
“Good morning my beautiful child, thank you for acknowledging our presence.” Reyes said, dropping her handbag on the table while smiling at Carlos, who looked at her a little confused.
“Mama!” he said loudly, widening his arms to hug her, but also wincing due to his ribs “What are you doing here?”
“You had an accident, Carlitos! We saw you flip over on tv and the car caught fire!” she said.
“Oh right. Thank you for coming, I really love it.” Carlos said, hugging his mum “Can we save something from the car?” he then asked Josy, who shook her head.
“You wouldn’t be allowed to drive, anyway.” Reyes said.
“We could get someone to fill in. Better than not starting at all!” Carlos argued “We still have the spare in Austin, if we can get that to Rockingham and get a driver as well, we can start. Where is my phone?”
“You’re not allowed to have your phone, this is a hospital.” Josy reminded him.
“Okay, but they said they would release me today.” Carlos said, clapping his fingers on the tablet “I’m going to ask when they will release me.” Carlos said and got up, huffing a little uncomfortably and then went out the door. Josy and Reyes looked at one another, but didn’t say anything. Josy just unpacked the sweatpants, t-shirt and underwear they brought and tried to keep Kyle away from Carlos’ jelly. “Okay, they said I can go. Are these for me?” he asked, pointing at the clothes.
“No, I brought them because I want to change before we drive back.” Josy said sarcastically and Carlos thanked her, changing quickly in the bathroom before a nurse brought his papers and they were good to go, Carlos still moving a little slow and cautious with his broken ribs. Kyle was walking next to him, helping by letting Carlos lean on his shoulder.

“Okay, we need someone who can race, has at least a gold license, but is also reckless enough to drive in Nasfinity.” Carlos thought loudly, them already in the truck and driving to the Rockingham Speedway, and Judd let out a deep breath.
“And needs to be there in three days.” Judd added while Carlos’ phone chimed.
“Oh, as expected, but still – Logan and Max are not allowed, the team vetoed. Same for Daniel and Mick.”
“Damn, but okay. The other teams wouldn’t agree, either.” Judd said and entered the highway. Their intercom beeped.
“Hey guys, we’re going to go ahead and stop asap.” Josy said.
“Why, what’s up?” Judd asked.
“We want to avoid that Kyle has an accident.” Reyes was now heard and they saw the SUV pass them and speed up to the limit.
“Alright, hear you later.” Judd said while Carlos chuckled a little.
“Do you need a break, too?” Carlos then asked Senior next to him.
“No, I’m not four, I can hold it. We started an hour ago.” Senior said and it was silent for a while, Carlos switching between his tablet and phone, trying to contact people.

“Just out of interest … is there an age limit?” Senior asked after Carlos hung up another call, getting denied.
“No, but most people retire in their late forties or early fifties.” Judd said and Carlos saw his father gnaw his lip and squinting his eyes, leaning his head from side to side.

“No” Carlos said.
“I just want to overtake him!” Judd said, steering to the left.
“Not you, my dad.” Carlos said.
“I didn’t say anything!” Senior defended.
“I know you, and no. Mom would kill you.” Carlos said and they soon started fighting in Spanish.
“Hey, we’re back behind you now.” Judd heard through the intercom.
“Great. Good to have you back.” Judd said. Josy was barely able to understand him, loud shouting in the background.
“What is going on with you?”
“Carlos and his dad are having a little argument. I think it is not as bad as it sounds!” Judd almost yelled against the Spanish fighting in the background.
“Callate!” Reyes yelled loudly and the fighting stopped.
“Thank you” Judd said in relief.

“What are you boys fighting about?” Reyes asked, but the intercom stayed silent “Carlos Sainz Vazquez de Castro, what is going on?” she pressed.
“Papa wants to race for me.” Carlos said.
“Oh, he not too old?” Kyle asked from the back and Judd laughed loudly.
“I have the license and the time. Carlos is on the phone non-stop, but he can’t find someone.” Senior argued “Querida, it makes sense.” He added after a little silence and Josy threw a look at Reyes.
“If you kill yourself, I’m not coming to the funeral. I will bury you in an anonymous grave and not visit you, ever.” Reyes said and Josy’s eyes widened. It was silent a bit.
“Okay, but don’t sell my cars, give them to our kids, please.” Senior then said and Josy’s jaw dropped.
“Deal.” Reyes said and hung up the hand piece.

“He is really going to race now?” Josy then asked Reyes.
“He would have done it anyway. Saying these things is by now almost our daily communication.” Reyes explained.
“Uhu. Is it … do you get used to it? Your husband and son being in this danger all the time?” Josy asked and Reyes thought for a moment.
“Kind of. I always knew that my husband was a racing driver. He already raced when I met him. And it was clear quite soon that Carlos would go into some kind of racing. You’re getting used to it. You have to, actually. They have both been doing this for years, I trust in their experience. And I had the luck to only have seen a couple of broken bones and bruises. The accident last weekend was one of the worst I have seen either one of them in. I thought you would be used to it?”
“My father never drove on the highest level. He did junior categories and some things, but he went into management in his mid-twenties after an accident that messed up his spine. Then he built this team and now we are here. I have never seen him race competitively.” Josy explained.
“Oh, okay, it is different if they are friends or something.” Reyes said.

The spare car from Austin arrived on Friday around noon, and the mechanics started working right away, Senior and Judd helping them while Josy took care of the paperwork and Lucas worked on their strategy. Carlos was ordered to take care of Kyle, his ribs not allowing him to help building the car anyway. He spent the afternoon playing boardgames and playstation with Kyle.

“Oi, maybe you have a bigger size?” Senior asked, not able to close the zipper on the suit.
“Try this one.” Josy said and held one through the half-opened door “It might be a little loose, it’s three sizes bigger.”
“Better than too tight. If he rips it, he will get disqualified.” Carlos said, his smile noticeable in his voice.
“Fits!” Senior sounded a little too happy and Josy went to the common area.
“May I present, Carlos Sainz the first, but our second!” she said loudly and the two men entered behind her.
“Very neat.” Reyes said, pulling on the sleeves of the suit.

“It is great to meet another oldie but goodie here!” Roger said, greeting them behind the paddock and shaking Senior’s hand “Roger Millard, 66.”
“Carlos Sainz, 63.” Senior said.
“Oh, sorry, 66 is my race number, I’m 58. Feeling like 66 sometimes, though.”
“Oh well, then I’m number 12.” Senior laughed “This is Reyes, my wife.”
“It is great to meet you, I hope you will forgive me, but I am not going to be lenient on your husband.”
“I sure hope so, you haven’t been on my son so far.” Reyes said.
“My wife Claire is here somewhere as well, but … I don’t know where. Maybe I can introduce you later.” Roger said and then his name was yelled from his garage “I gotta go, see you on track.”
“See you on track.” Senior said and they went into their garage.
“Alright, first training, just get used to the car. It’s not THAT different to a Rally car, I think, different than the Dakar SUVs you have been driving, though. There is no bumping during training, this is a D-oval, less than a mile long, about 1,51 kilometres, a lap is over before you really know it, most likely. Don’t concentrate on speed right now, just get used to the car.” Lucas said, furiously typing on his tablet.
“Yes, understood. Get used to the car, don’t mind the speed. I got it, you already told me four times.”
“Sorry.” Lucas said.

“Ha, you need to top up your retirement fund?” Malcolm asked from the entrance of the garage, looking Senior up and down.
“Or, maybe I want to help my son and his friends. If you would have friends, you maybe would understand that.” Senior said and the mechanics chuckled.
“Be careful, old man. You might be in the coffin earlier than you thought.” Malcolm sneered.
“Oooh, now I’m scared.” Senior mocked and Malcolm walked off.
“I think he’s cooler than you.” Kyle said, looking up to Carlos.
“Yeah, I get that.” Carlos said “Papa, see you in an hour.” He slapped him on the shoulder and made his way to the engineer’s stand with Kyle, sitting him down on his knee and then putting on some headphones.

Senior did quite well, trying the different tires and speeding up bit by bit. No collision, just a yellow flag because Sanders managed to get off the track and onto the grass on his own. He buried his back wheels into the ground when he wanted to drive off and needed some marshalls to push him out of the little ditch he had created.
“How did he get his license?” Senior asked through the intercom.
“No idea.” Lucas answered.
Second training had some shorter and longer runs, testing the strength of the tires. Senior managed to qualify 23rd.
“He did better than you in your first race here!” Kyle said, smiling widely.
“Yes, he did.” Carlos nodded.

“Oh, mama’s paella.” Senior said later, sitting in the common room with the others, Reyes bringing the big pans with the paella over.
“And this is for you.” Reyes said, filling Kyle’s plate from a smaller pan and then adding two gambas.
“What are those?” Kyle asked, looking at the gambas.
“They are called gambas. It’s like a really big shrimp.” Carlos explained.
“Why do I get another pan?”
“Because this is a very special paella, just for you.” Reyes said and ruffled his hair while walking past to sit down.
“Do you want help to get them out?” Carlos asked and Kyle nodded, watching Carlos take off the head and open the gambas for him. Reyes watched them with a little smile.
“I’ll get the milk.” Lucas said after a couple of spoons and got some calls for glasses from the table, irritating Reyes.
“But I didn’t put in that much spice!” she argued.
“We know, we’re just too sensitive most of the time.” Leroy said with a smile.
“They’re good if you put in a third of our regular.” Carlos said “Probably should have told you that earlier.”
“Mine is good, no milk.” Kyle said.
“Thank you, young man.” Reyes smiled at him.
Senior and Reyes had decided to stay at an inn close by instead of squeezing into the trailers as well, and left after dinner.

Chapter 20: Racing business is family business

Summary:

Senior is racing for Carlos ... and gets in the way of Malcolm.
Josy receives an unpleasant letter and Carlos gets an idea to help her.

“Okay, let’s go.” Senior said and sat down in the car, helping Leroy to close the belts.
“Alright, wait for my go” Lucas said “Fall in line behind the green one, hold in your spot on the grid, anti-clockwise.”
“Copy” Senior said and drove out of the pit lane behind the green car, Sanders. They stopped in their boxes and the formation lap began soon after, followed by the usual flying start. Directly after they crossed the line, Senior saw Sanders speeding up and then turning towards the outside, trying to ram him.
“Seriously? Already?” Senior asked and went of the gas for a moment, Sanders then falling in line in front of him. He sped up again and bumped him a little. Sanders was completely confused and irritated by all of this and wildly waved over the track, taking out the two cars in front of him and then rolling towards the middle. Senior managed to get through the other turning cars and continue, two other cars behind him were not as lucky.
“Alright, ten laps down, you’re now in 19th, 490 laps to go.” Lucas said when the yellow flag was lifted.
“Nineteenth?” Senior asked.
“Retirement, engine failure.”
“Okay” Senior said and kept driving. He squeezed himself through two others thirty laps later before loosing three spots due to a slow pit stop. A long yellow flag was caused by Malcolm, making a car twirl around the track before slamming into the outside wall, flinging debris everywhere. Four cars out due to that. Senior had to take a deep breath after that one.
“Fifty laps to go, you are now 17th, everything is good.” Lucas informed him.
“Copy.” Senior said and saw Malcolm growing in his back mirror “Do I have to go aside to get lapped?”
“No. Bump him if you want to.” Lucas said.
“I think he’s going to initiate that first.” Senior said.
“Look at his hands. If he moves them to the top, he’s about to bump.” He now heard Carlos say.
“Thank you.” Senior said and kept an eye on Malcolm.

“Let’s see how tough you really are, grandpa.” Malcolm said and sped up, moving his hands to the top of the steering wheel. He didn’t even realize he did that. He sped forwards and up to Senior’s car, which suddenly and quickly moved to the outer line, setting himself next to him and then fell a little further back. A split second later he felt a hard bump on his right rear tire, Senior keeping his car against his, making his rear loose grip and turn him around. He quickly pushed the brakes and saw other cars pass him until one drove past too close to his driver’s side, smashing into his front light, the crash hard enough to move them both to the inside of the track and into retirement, having also damaged his front axle and tire suspension.
“Ka-Chow!” Senior exclaimed and heard Kyle laugh through the intercom.
“Yellow flag! Slow down. You caused quite some debris there.”
“Me? No, they crashed, I just … gave a gentle push.” Senior said and heard Lucas laugh.
“Alright, that was it.” He heard half an hour later “You finished fifteenth, that’s a point, thank you very much, Senior!”
“It was great, thank you very much for letting me do this.” Senior said.
“Thanks for jumping in, dad.” Carlos said.
“You’re welcome and I would happily do this again, if needed.” Senior smiled.
“No, you won’t.” Reyes said through the intercom and he heard Lucas laugh.

Senior drove into the pit lane and got out of the car, hugging Reyes and Carlos before feeling an aggressive push against his shoulder.
“Who do you think you are?!” Malcolm yelled at him.
“It’s racing, calm down.” Senior said, although shocked by this behaviour. Someone tried to pull Malcolm away already.
“You and your family should be really, REALLY CAREFUL!” Malcolm yelled even louder while being pulled away.
“That dude is nuts!” Senior exclaimed after they got into their trailer, being handed a bottle of water.
“Yep. He doesn’t like to lose.” Carlos said.
“Well, kind of understandable, but that? He looked like he would beat me up at any second. He has these, these thick veins in his neck like Vin Diesel, I don’t want to get beat up by Vin Diesel!”
“You almost sound scared, El Matador.” Reyes said.
“You did see him, right? But let us call it … cautious in his presence.” Senior said.
“That is a good description. Let us use that in the future.” Carlos said.
“Wait, he is like this all the time?” Senior asked.
“He pushed me against my car and called me a spic once. And he is like that to everyone. He’s not even nice to his team sometimes, at least that’s what I heard.”
“Why do they keep him if he’s such an ass?”
“He’s really good. And their biggest sponsor is actually his personal sponsor. Without them, they can’t hold the team.”
“That sucks.” Senior said.

Senior and Reyes had decided to fly back to Spain on Monday. Carlos, Josy and Kyle drove them to the airport before handing back the rental SUV and taking a flight to Austin. They had decided a couple hour flight would be better for Carlos than a two-and-a-half-day drive.
“Can we make a run for a bear claw?” Kyle asked Carlos on Tuesday.
“I can’t run, yet, Kyle. Not so soon after the accident.” Carlos said.
“But you trained this morning!” Kyle argued.
“WHAT?!” Josy yelled from the kitchen.
“I trained my legs with some weights, but trust me, my ribs are still hurting and it isn’t good if I train too much or go on a run now.”
“Oh” Kyle said in disappointment.
“How about we play some Lego?”
“Okay!” Kyle smiled happily and pulled the big box of Lego from the shelf.
“Okay, you guys play, I’ll be working upstairs.” Josy said and left.

“Wait, I don’t really know what that is.” Carlos said and pulled out his phone “Oh, alright there, shepherd’s pie … we can do that, let’s check if we have everything” Carlos said and they went into the kitchen “Alright, but you will help me with the vegetables.”
“Deal” Kyle said and Carlos sat up Kyle at the counter, making him peel the carrots while he prepared the potatoes and other vegetables for the pie.
“Hey, lunch is ready in ten minutes, are you joining or do you want me to bring you something?” he asked Josy after entering her office.
“What? I will come down. What? You cooked something?”
“Yes, WE cooked. Kyle and I. Shepherd’s pie.” Carlos said and left again.
“I made the carrots!” Kyle said proudly while Carlos filled their plates.
“They’re looking especially delicious.” Josy smiled at him and Kyle happily smiled back. They were interrupted by the doorbell.
“I’ll go, keep eating.” Carlos said and got up. He opened the door and saw a mailman waiting “Yes?”
“I am looking for Josephine Anderson?” the mailman said.
“Not exactly.” Carlos turned around “JOSY! It’s for you.” He said loudly and Josy came up to him.
“Hello” she greeted the man.
“Josephine Anderson?”
“Yes”
“Officially delivered.” He stated and pushed a big envelope into her hand.

“What the hell was that?” Carlos asked, watching the man get into a regular sedan and drive away.
“It’s from a lawyer’s office.” Josy muttered and opened the envelope, pulling out some documents. She quickly let her eyes fly over them before slamming the door closed.
“What’s up?” Carlos asked.
“You remember when you said that if Kyle’s sire wanted him he would have to go through court?”
“Yes?”
“He is threatening me to do just that.” She said.
“Seriously?”
“Yes. He wants full custody or his lawyer will bring me to court.”
“He can just do that?”
“Legally, anyone could want or ask for custody at a court. Then they check the relations or do parental tests and things.”
“Okay, got it. Still weird that he wants it all of a sudden. After more than five years of successful ignorance.”
“Who knows what’s going on in a guy’s mind.” Josy said and Carlos laughed while they went back to the table.
“Who was it?” Kyle asked.
“Mailman brought a letter for your mom.” Carlos said simply.

Carlos was in his appartement that night, reading a book, when something from an older tv show flashed through his mind. He pulled out his tablet and searched online before texting Josy.
Carlos: Are u still awake?
Josy: Yes?
Carlos: Could u come over 4 a minute?
Josy: Wait
He waited, and a minute later he heard the door downstairs open and Josy came up the stairs, a little out of breath.

“My God, what is wrong with you? I thought something had happened?” she asked after seeing him sitting on the couch in his sweatpants and t-shirt.
“I’m sorry, were you already in bed?” he asked, seeing her morning robe.
“I was laying down, but not sleeping yet. I would look a lot puffier then.” She said “What is going on?”
“This thing with Kyle’s sire … how serious do you think he means it?”
“The lawyer is legit, I even called them. I either give Kyle up willingly or he would go to court, they would do the paternity test and … with his family’s influence … he would get Kyle after a year long battle.” Josy said after taking a deep breath.
“I remembered seeing this on tv a while ago, so I googled and I found some things … you know, laws are different here than in Spain … you can just marry on paper here and things.”
“What are you talking about?” Josy asked and Carlos handed her the tablet.
“Law of married family and mated partnerships?” Josy asked.
“I also called one of these help lines. The law says that if you are legally married, the children are the children of the legal partner, except there is someone else listed on the birth certificate. And it also states” he picked up a little note “if there is no name on the birth certificate, the legal marriage states the official parent of the child.” Carlos said and Josy looked between him and the tablet a couple of times.

Chapter 21: Ideas, rings and new homes

Summary:

Carlos and Josy are continuing their conversation and make a drastic and life changing decision.

“I don’t like to guess in this situation.”
“Okay, then I will say it. If you marry me, I will officially be Kyle’s sire. He would be safe AND with you. If Kyle’s sire should still want him, he would have to get to the marital court first to get our marriage annulled, to get me off the birth certificate, so he can then try and implement himself as Kyle’s sire, which he would have to do at a separate court.” Carlos said and Josy looked at him like he was crazy “I know it probably sounds crazy, but I don’t think he would go through all that trouble. And if he would try and get the marriage annulled … I have an appartement in Madrid and another one in Monaco. Both countries would not expedite you because of a custody battle. And if you don’t like it there, I know a couple of people in other countries. I have enough money to care for both of you and … even if we can’t write that down … I would not interfere with Kyle. You are his mom, you decide.”

“I … I … Why? I mean … why would you do this?”
“Because you are a good mom. And Kyle loves you. You don’t deserve to get separated. And I can do something good for once.”
“For once?”
“I … did your father tell you anything, how I came here? Or why I didn’t get a seat in F1 or anywhere else?”
“No, why?”
“This is going to take a bit, feel free to sit down.” He said and she sat down with him on the sofa “A couple of years ago, I was in a relationship with another racing driver. Lando. We broke up after a while. Both of us being alphas and too competitive … it didn’t work out. The break up was amicable, but I still loved him … he met Oscar, got mated and I got jealous. One day … I went into his driver’s room … tried to convince him to start an affair … I pressed myself against him, rubbing my hips against him … he said no twice, but I didn’t stop … he finally pushed me away and then Oscar saw … he punched me in the face and only after that I … realized how crazy I was behaving and … what I did. That is inexcusable. It did not go public, but it went through the paddock and of course other managers and team bosses found out. That is why I couldn’t get another seat. My cousin had been my manager, after he found out what happened, he quit our contract and our friendship. My parents cut contact … the first time I talked to them again was after this accident. I lost my friends. I lost everything … and I deserved to lose everything. I would deserve to be in jail, actually. That I’m even here is some kind of miracle. That I’m racing is a miracle.”

“Wow” Josy let out a deep breath “That was a lot.”
“Yes, it was. But it is the truth and … if you should consider something as crazy as marrying me … you should know that.”
“Can I … I can’t decide this right now, here, and … I need to think.”
“Of course. Just … tell me when you decided.” Carlos said and Josy left soon after.

His phone rang, waking him up “Hello?” he asked sleepily.
“Hey, are you still awake?” Josy asked.
“I’m awake now.” Carlos said.
“Good.” She said, hanging up and he heard a key in the door downstairs.
“Do I need to get up?” he asked, half muffled by the pillow.
“Not really.” She said, coming into the room “I will marry you, but … we have to tell my dad the truth. Kyle can’t know the truth. He’s too small, if he … I don’t want to confuse him. For him … we’re getting married because we love one another.”
“I get that.”
“That counts for everyone else as well. I’m a little paranoid sometimes, so if you meet your parents in person, of course you can tell them the truth, but don’t e-mail or text or tell the truth during a call. Regarding Kyle … my word goes above yours. Neither one of us will try and change their nationalities. I have a life insurance, that stays in Kyle’s name only. I have no debt, but I also don’t have anything of big value. I have a savings account with some money, but it wouldn’t make a difference for you.”

“Everything you have stays in your name.” Carlos said.
“We would have to talk about living arrangements with my dad, we can’t live separately if we want people to believe us.”
“I … When I looked at that house with Kyle … I left my contacts with the realtor … what we could think about is, the next door neighbour wants to sell.”
“Which one?”
“Left. The Farmhouse one.”
“Oh, that one is nice! I have been inside once, it has so much light and a big fireplace- I’m getting weird. How much do they want?”
“A reasonable amount for the area and the size.”
“That is not helpful.”
“Let’s call it a wedding present. Both of us will be signed as owners.”
“Then … we’ll talk to my dad after he arrives.” Josy said and made her way to the stairs.
“Wait” Carlos said and she turned around “What kind of ring do you like?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just not one of these oversized ones. I’m not an influencer.” She said with a little smirk.
“Got it. No Kardashian ring.”
“Exactly. And no diamond. I would always worry it might be a blood diamond after all.” she said and left.

“You people are nuts, you know that, right?” Judd said the next evening after Josy and Carlos told him what they had planned.
“Yes, a little bit.” Carlos said.
“Dad, if he really tries … with the contacts his family has … I’m sure they would have a really good chance to take Kyle and I can’t let that happen.” Josy said.
“We will keep this between us, though.” Judd said.
“Absolutely. The less people know, the less they can talk.” Carlos said.
“Okay then, do you have a date already?” Judd asked.
“Tomorrow” Josy said and he widened his eyes “Kyle already knows. He doesn’t completely understand everything, I think, except that Carlos will move in with us.”
“But don’t worry, I already put in the offer, I’m waiting for an answer from the realtor.”
“Realtor?” Judd asked.
“The neighbours are selling their house. If we want to make this believable, we need to really live together.” Carlos explained.
“Right. Still. I’m going to miss you guys here.”
“We’ll be next door, not out of the world.”

“I didn’t even know they’re already gone.” Josy said, making her way through the house the next morning.
“Looks like fate.” Carlos smiled at her while Kyle ran up to them.
“Can I have that room?” Kyle asked loudly, looking out of one of the rooms facing the backyard.
“Sure” Josy said.
“Yes!” the boy cheered.
“When are you getting mated?” the realtor asked.
“This afternoon.” Carlos smiled, wrapping an arm around Josy.
“Then this seems really fitting. And your son seems to like this house much more than the one before.”
“Yes, he does.” Carlos said and looked at Josy “Do you love it?”
“I do.” Josy said.
“Well then” Carlos shrugged at the realtor “Do you have the papers with you?”
“In the kitchen, Mr. Sainz.” She said and they went downstairs, signing the papers. The filing would take a couple of days, then they would receive the papers in the mail.

Their wedding was in the late afternoon. A short appointment at the town hall, where they both set their signatures under the paper. Ten minutes, then they were back out, taking a couple of pictures before going to a nice restaurant for some dinner. Judd and Kyle where their only guests.
When Carlos had told his parents over the phone they were surprised and sounded a little suspicious, but he didn’t say anything else.

Ordered by Carlos’ assurance, Josy spent most of the next days online, preordering furniture and decorations for the new house.
The papers arrived on Tuesday and Carlos sat down with all the insurance papers and other documents, adjusting everything. He also called Judd’s regular lawyer’s office, informing them about the letter they received from Kyle’s sire, as well as their marriage. They asked to send them everything, so he scanned everything and e-mailed it.
The first furniture delivery arrived on Thursday morning and the company stayed for two days until everything was set up.
“We are still missing some decorations, but we will get those with time.” Josy said and placed some pictures on the mantelpiece, including their wedding picture.
“It looks beautiful. And homely. And there is colour.” He said, making her raise an eyebrow “You know, not one of these beige in beige with beige colour schemes.” He said and she nodded.
“Yeah, I don’t really like that. I mean … it looks calming somehow, but it does not look like a home to me.” Josy said.
“It doesn’t have life.” Carlos said and Josy nodded.

Kyle wanted a high bed with a slide. However he did it, he convinced Josy it would be a good idea Carlos didn’t know, but the boy managed to get one. The weekend was spent bringing their clothes and personal items over, although Kyle kept some things at Judd’s, in case there would be a sleepover. It took longest to set up Josy’s home office again, attaching all cables correctly and setting everything up.

Kyle’s room and two guest rooms looked over the back yard, Josy’s office, a bath and another room faced the street, the master bedroom was at the end of the hallway, including his and hers walk-in closets and a big master bath. Josy would sleep in here, Carlos in one of the guest rooms. If Kyle would realize, the reason would be that Carlos snores. The ground floor was a mostly open space, a double door leading from the foyer to the living area with open kitchen and dining room, completed by what they called the library, half separated by a built-in bookshelf from the living area, even bigger built-in shelves lining the walls behind it, and Josy chose a nice couch to place under the window.

“Do you still like it?” Carlos asked in the evening, sitting on the big, L-shaped couch in the living room.
“Yes, I do. Why did you doubt that?”
“Sometimes, you know … you only see the flaws after buying something.”
“It’s not a flaw … but I only realized today that there is no basement.”
“There is a big pantry and laundry room behind the garage.”
“I know, there is no need for a basement, I’m just … used to doing laundry in the basement. All houses I lived in until now had the laundry in the basement.”
“We could build a shed with a basement if you need it.” Carlos said with a smirk.
“Haha. No, I’d rather do the laundry in the same house.” Josy smiled “And it saves the stairs.”
“Yes, that makes it much safer as well.”
“It still all feels so unreal.” She said after a little silence.
“Yes, it does. But this will keep both of you safe.” Carlos said “I will go to bed, see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.” Josy said and also went upstairs soon after. She laid in the big bed, looking around. This room was massive. The size of Carlos’ former appartement. More than double the size of her former bedroom. It even held a couch and an armchair. And separate walk-in closets. Carlos had clothes in his, as well as some in the guest room next door. A book laid on the night stand on ‘his’ side of the nest, as well as a picture from his days at Torro Rosso, and one of his parents.

Chapter 22: Making house and cinnamon rolls

Summary:

Josy, Carlos and Kyle are moving into the new house.
Carlos finds out how 'wonderful' it can be to go shopping with a kid.
Another race at the Talladega Superspeedway is happening.

Carlos laid in his room. It was the second guest room, an empty room between him and Kyle, just in case. Was this crazy? A little bit, yes. But it was for a good cause. Helping Kyle and Josy. They didn’t deserve to be separated and he was able to help. He never thought he would get married for legal reasons, but here they were.
He fell asleep and woke a little earlier than his alarm clock and got up, the other rooms still silent. He went downstairs and made himself some coffee before preparing some ideas for their social media.
“It’s so early.” Kyle mumbled, rubbing his eyes while walking up to Carlos on the couch.
“Why are you awake, then?” Carlos asked, laying down the tablet.
“Hungry”
“Alright, I’m starting to get hungry, too.” Carlos said and picked Kyle up, carrying him into the kitchen and sitting him on the counter before checking the fridge and shelves “Okay, waffles, cinnamon rolls or oatmeal?”
“Ciminin roll.”
“Cinnamon roll it is.” Carlos said and pulled a package of the rolls out of the fridge, preparing them in a baking dish quickly before popping them into the microwave “Hot chocolate with it?” he asked and Kyle nodded. He started heating the milk on the stove while washing some fruit and taking Kyle off the counter, handing him some cutlery to set the table. “Would you look if your mom is ready for breakfast?” Carlos asked while the microwave beeped.
“No need, I’m already here.” Josy said, walking up to the table in her morning robe.
“Morning, mommy!” Kyle smiled widely.
“Good morning, baby.” She said and ruffled his hair before kissing it.
“Good morning. Coffee or hot chocolate?” Carlos asked, setting the dish with the rolls on the table, together with the fruit and some yoghurt.
“Coffee, please.” Josy said and Carlos went back to the kitchen, preparing her coffee and two hot chocolates for Kyle and himself.

They kept arranging and rearranging the house over the next days, getting settled.
“But I want pudding!” Kyle complained at the store.
“We already have ice cream and I know that your mum is making a cake, there is no use for pudding.” Carlos argued.
“But I want pudding!”
“We can get pudding next time. It would only go bad if we buy it now.”
“We can eat in car, mommy not know.” Kyle said and an employee quickly hid his laugh with a cough while restocking some shelves.
“I’m sure your mom will know. Moms always know somehow.”
“But then next week!”
“Next week we can get some pudding.” Carlos agreed and they continued working off the shopping list.
“Can we get gummi bears?” Kyle asked two minutes later and Carlos now knew what Josy meant.

“You look exhausted.” Josy stated when Carlos and Kyle came back.
“You were right. He didn’t win, though.” Carlos said, setting the bags on the kitchen island “How was work?”
“Good. All permits done and payroll is through. Banks are happy.”
“That is the most important. Were they … unhappy before today?”
“I wouldn’t call it that. Since Logan’s investment it has been going smoothly. Your success made an impact, of course. The prize money starts arriving now as well, so there is actual proof that we’re getting more successful.”
“Starts coming in? My first points were months ago.” Carlos said surprised.
“Pay out takes between three and four months.”
“MONTHS?! Why?”
“Don’t know. That’s how it is. How it’s always been, apparently.”
“But you can only give a complaint within an hour after the race finished, then the checks …. The next day the money transfer can go and there it is.”
“No, not here.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Like … two years ago they changed it to eight weeks, but stopped it after the fourth race, because it apparently was not manageable.” Josy said and Caros threw her a look while putting the groceries into the fridge “By the way, we set your start on Wednesday at six thirty.”
“Six thirty? That is before waking up!”
“You have a fourteen-hour drive.”
“Separated on two days, that’s … not even a regular working day if you think about it. Why start that early?”
“To get away from business traffic around the city and be comfortable on the highway.”
“Ugh” Carlos stated “Well anyway, I have a check-up with the doctors. Kyle is upstairs playing.” He said and took his keys.
“All good, see you later.”
“See you.” Carlos said and got back into his car.

“Breathing is well, no pain, no reaction to touch, everything seems good.” The doctor said.
“Meaning I’m good to race?”
“Yes, you are.” She said, typing on her computer “I sent the data over to the insurance company and … you will receive an e-mail soon with a final report, which needs to get forwarded to your team admin. They need to send it to the race organizers to clear you for the rest of the season.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.” Carlos said, putting his shirt back on.
“Now that you are not my patient anymore, can I ask you something?”
“Sure?”
“Would you go out with me?” she asked and Carlos was startled for a moment.
“I’m already taken.” He then said, holding up his hand with the wedding ring.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see that before.”
“It’s new, but … it’s there. And she was there before as well.”
“Alright. I wish you all the best.” The doctor said.
“Thank you. For you as well.” Carlos said and left the office soon after.

He sat in his car for a while, looking at the ring on his finger. He could have said yes. Went on a date with that doctor. But that would have put Josy at risk to lose Kyle.
He started the car and drove home, parking the car in the garage.
Josy and Kyle lounged on the big sofa, watching tv, and Carlos sat down with them.
“Everything good?” Josy asked silently.
“Yes. You’ll get the e-mail today as well.”
“Good. That’s good.” Josy said, setting her hand back on Kyle’s head, stroking softly.

Carlos looked at her hand, seeing the moissanite ring sparkle a little in the light. Three small-ish stones, set in a row, the one in the middle a little bigger. He had seen it by accident.
He had went to the jewellery store and looked around a little while the lady was busy with another customer. He looked over the ring display and after a couple of questions, he found out that this one fit exactly what Josy had wanted. Not too big. No diamond.

The lady had tried to sell him other rings, bigger stones, diamonds, multiple studded rows on the ring. He declined them all. He was only able to get this ring after telling the lady he would go somewhere else if she wouldn’t budge. Apparently ‘no omega would want a ring like that if she could have a diamond’. How wrong she was. Josy had loved it the moment she put it on.

Carlos sleepily put his suitcase in the truck, barely realizing that the others greeted him. He took a nap in the truck, waking up by the door slamming shut.
“What happened?” Carlos startled.
“I closed the door too hard.” Judd said “Sorry. Here, I brought you a coffee.” He said, placing two cups in the holders between them.
“Where are we?”
“Just passed the state lines. Needed a toilet break.”
“Oh, okay.” Carlos stretched and took a sip of the coffee.

They kept driving well into the afternoon, taking their break near Jackson, Mississippi.
Carlos shot a little clip for their diary before they had some dinner at the truck stop.
They arrived at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama shortly past noon.
Judd took care of their papers before they set up the trucks and started assembling the car while Carlos filmed and then prepared dinner.

“Hey, how is it going?” he asked on the livestream.
“Good so far. Kyle is about to go to bed.” Josy said and Kyle jumped into the frame.
“Hi, I’m not going to bed.” Kyle said waving, already in his pyjama.
“Oh, yes, you will.” Josy laughed and tickled Kyle.
“Hey Kyle, the earlier you go to bed, the earlier it will be the morning and you can go to daycare!” Carlos smiled.
“Oooh, yes! I’m going to bed.” Kyle said and Carlos heard him run up the stairs.
“Are you sure you never raised a child before?”
“I am. I would have noticed. But I had younger team mates.”
“That’s not really the same, though.”
“No, not really.”
“Did you hear anything else?”
“No, nothing.” Josy said and they were silent for a bit.
“Well then, your tv show starts soon, you should get your ice cream.”
“Yes, and I need to make sure Kyle is in bed.”
“Tell him good night from me.”
“I will. Good night, Carlos.”
“Good night, Josy.” Carlos said and they ended the stream.

The arena was massive. 175000 spectators. Almost completely sold out.
Their trainings went good, the track big enough for all drivers to race without impeding one another.
Except for Malcolm, who provoked other drivers and tried to make it look like he was too fast for everyone. He probably felt threatened because Roger was only five points behind him in the championship.

They qualified 13th, giving them a good starting spot.
The formation lap ended and they stopped in their spots, waiting for the lights to go green.
They sped off, Carlos gaining two places in the first corner.
They had the first yellow flag five laps in, three drivers at the back of the grid colliding and making their parts fly all over the track.

Carlos was unlucky during the restart, getting a push on the right back and turning a little, loosing a couple of spots before regaining his speed.
He didn’t give up and made his way up the ranks, bumping and overtaking, as well as pushing a car towards the middle, taking it out.

Malcolm himself seemed to be quite unlucky as well, loosing some spots after a collision with Roger that cost him a big part of his right front fender, freeing his tire.
Carlos sped up a little more, setting himself next to Malcolm and then a little further. He waited for the next corner and bumped Malcolm’s open tire.
“Aww, cute.” Malcolm said over the intercom.

Carlos sped up even more, setting his driver’s door to the open wheel. In the next turn, he steered inside again, tightly holding the steering wheel and pushing Malcolm to the inside steadily. Just before the end of the turn he ripped the steering wheel quick and hard to the inside, letting Malcolm loose control and spin to the middle.
“FUCKING ASSHOLE!” Malcolm yelled and pressed the gas pedal, making the tires dig themselves into the grass.
Carlos finished the race in fifth, although with a little luck as another driver in front of him had to end his race with an engine failure.
They celebrated with burgers and beer before leaving the next day towards Tennessee, where the next two races would be held.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 3 of The perfect match universe