[b][center][h2]Joel Nicolosi[/h2][/center][/b]

Joel was thinking about blasting down a tree-lined gravel path when he swiped his thumb to answer the call. He could envision hitting a jump running near a hundred over a sharp crest with the car rotating sideways as he sailed through the air. For some reason he thought he would hear a Finnish or English accent, though he had no idea where the person on the other end of his email hailed from, the idea just seemed to fit. Rallying wasn’t that popular in the US. Instead, what he got was some local chick and her piece of shit Ford Focus. He visibly deflated down into the old leather sofa even further as he listened to the girl, Dustynn, describe her plight. [i]You gotta be fucking shitting me…[/i] He thought to himself. What was worse was she was in some kind of rush and more importantly, didn’t even have money to get it towed.

As she gave her address… a local trailer park, he was working out in his head how he was either going to get out of it or… [i]nothing[/i]. His line of thinking wasn’t getting him very far and her voice was a familiar desperate and slightly impatient tone that all techs knew well. Involuntarily, his mind shifted from getting out of it, to perhaps finding an easy fix. He asked a few basic questions as he looked her address up on his phone. It wasn’t far and he truthfully didn’t have anything else to do other than sift through more mail or do some more work on Sio’s car without her knowing. Fortunately, Dustynn wasn’t far away at all, less than a mile from the YMCA. He resolved to do his civic duty and help her out, though he knew deep down he couldn’t just leave her stranded. She was from Southside and it was just the way things were done. It would have been no different if he’d found her in the parking lot. He was already going to need a change of clothes anyway and didn’t mind if his old black Caterpillar Equipment hoodie and worn cargo shorts got dirty. “Just sit tight, I’ll be there in a few. I’m just up here at the Y.”

Somewhere he could remember Tommy warning him about people, [i]stalkers[/i], calling and trying to set up meetings, but he, perhaps naively, thought no one would be stupid enough to make a stalker-call from the park where “Dustynn” apparently lived. He had some basic tools for off-roading in his Jeep, some jumper cables and his favorite 35mm wrench.  As he drove, he pulled up into a convenience store and bought a bottle of Coke, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket with a text, he checked to find a couple messages from Marlin, which upon reading, immediately gave him some mixed feelings, most of them pretty low. He was on his way to help a total stranger, but hadn’t even flinched a muscle about helping her on Friday night. In honesty, he hadn’t seen her, but Sio had picked them out no problem. He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened after they beat their hasty escape, but he was sure her trifling sister was likely the source of it. Shutting the door quickly from the cold as he jumped back in, he glanced up at some of the smoke stacks from the fabric plant in the distance, noting the white clouds turning low out of the towers- a sure sign that weather was on the way. He texted her back before cranking up:

[i][b]Told you that office stuff wasn’t for you[/b][/i]
[i][b]Glad you liked it[/b][/i]
[i][b]I’m planning on doing some flying myself[/b][/i]

He attached a picture of one of the Rebellion cars, a black and neon-orange striped Ford Fiesta soaring over a jump along with the email he received.

[b][i]Hopefully be meeting these guys this week[/i][/b]

He fired away the text and felt about the same as when he dropped off the package back at the airport. It wasn’t his intention to string her along. A few weeks ago, he thought she might be fun to date and they had a good time at the track, but after encountering her clinically insane family, with the possible exception of the grandfather, he had more than a few reservations. He shook his head as he drove along thinking on it. Still, she was devastatingly pretty. Then there was Sio and with that thought he tossed that drama right out of his mind as he rolled up into the trailer park and started scanning around for a silver Ford Focus sedan that didn’t take long to find.

The music inside the Jeep was thrumming along merrily, blasting outward through the softtop and he hoped they’d be paying attention enough to come outside or at least whoever Dustynn was would be closeby to her stricken car. If no one popped up he was hitting the road and they could tow that shit. He could feel eyes scanning all around him from behind highly-flammable curtains as he swung around and backed up next to the much smaller Ford to get his battery close enough for his cables to reach. The big tires of his Jeep were nearly level with the windows and the CB antenna bobbed slightly as he stopped and let the breakdown playthrough before he hopped out running a hand through his hair and propping his sunglasses up on his head. The smell of wood burning from the chip plant was heavy in the air and low to the ground like the smokestack exhaust reminding him to stock up on gasoline for his shop heater. He stuck his hands in his sweatshirt pockets against the cold and started towards the door.   


[b]Joel’s Playlist[/b]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCtjhpaDb7A[/youtube]