JUNE 20-WINNER

“Pop I swear I drove the car!” Kai implored. “They give you a few lessons then away you go; 165 mile per hour on a banked track. I won my heat!”

Mikey looked at the photo and furrowed his brow. The idea that you could throw 275 bucks down and race a race car around a track seemed a bit much to the man; but Kai seemed adamant about the experience and it wasn’t like his son to fabricate a tale just to have something to talk about. As it was Kai pretty much only spoke when spoken to so for the boy to prattle on the way he was about the Florida trip was remarkable.

“165 miles an hour Bucko, on a banked track. They just let you go off in an expensive machine like that and play.”

“Yup, there I am; see, in my suit, after I won. Florida’s great you can do anything down there. Disney, the raceway, the ocean we should go, you and me and Nancy someday.”

“This from someone we damn near had to hog tie and drag onto the plane.” Mikey said looking at Sebastian who sat nursing a beer quietly listening to the father and son debate the truth of the story. “Did you drive doc, where’s your happy, smiling picture?”

“Nah it was all Kai, 55 is fast enough for me Mikey.” Sebastian replied.

“Yea he was scared papa.” Kai added throwing a grin the doctor’s way. “You know him Mr. Safety and all. Isn’t that a cool suit? I might tweak my bike a bit and start running it on Thursdays over at Gamble’s Raceway. Give me something to do.”

“Bad idea Kai boy bad idea. I’m not lettin’ you do that. Grown or not you are still my kid!”

“Oh pop come on.” Kai uncharacteristically whined. “I can tromp around on a six inch wide I beam twelve floors up in thirty mile an hour wind but I can’t race my bike out at Gamble’s? What the f***.”

“No and that’s final.” Mikey said slamming the rest of his beer and glaring at Kai. “Final!”

Two hours later on the way back to the Lake house Kai began laughing, laughing hard. Sebastian had not heard him offer more than a slight chuckle in the six months he’d known the man.

“What?” The doctor asked looking across the truck at him incredulously.

“He believed me, all those years of lying to hide our problems finally paid off! I got him good. What a dope, and all I did was stick my head in the helmet and scrunch up behind the manikin; he’s not so sharp my pop sometimes; not so sharp!”