Beauty in the Night

Home : Stories by Zippit : Beauty in the Night

Summary: He won't waste what little he has.

AUTHOR: Zippit
EMAIL: zippit@cryptoffic.com
RATING: PG-13
CHARACTER: Casey Mears/Jimmie Johnson, Casey POV
PROMPT: Taming the Muse #129 - Black Out (7.74)
COMPLETED: January 19, 2009
WORD COUNT: 1,327
DISCLAIMER: If you recognize anyone in this piece, I am in no way affiliated with or know them personally. I am neither making a profit nor plan to do so. This is nothing more than an exercise in fiction. This is a result of an overactive imagination and I claim no truth to these words.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well I never thought I'd write this.
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Rolex 24 at Daytona - Daytona Beach, Florida - January 24th, 2009

I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since Samantha came. I adore her little fingers and toes but running around for diaper changes and bottle feedings doesn’t amount to a lot of sleep. Then there’s the place out in Phoenix, close to Trish’s family, but I don’t know how we’re splitting time. I need to be in North Carolina. There’s no chance I’m moving, not since I just bought the place on the lake last year. So I’ve been the adoring father and now I see what has Jeff so happy even if mine wasn’t exactly planned. An honest mistake and I wonder what her parents make of us not wanting a marriage. I don’t want to settle just yet. We both agreed on that. It wasn’t something we wanted right now. We have Sammy and we’ll do our best with her.

Maybe doing the Rolex isn’t such a good idea but the feel of a trophy shiny and cold in my hands right now might remedy the restlessness. RCR is a good team but I...miss HMS, the guys I’d gotten to really know over the past few years, Jeff, Junior, but Jimmie most of all. Being there had felt like slipping into my skin as if I’d been meant to be there. It was family...until something completely out of my control happened. I really hoped we could’ve kept it secret but nothing ever can be in NASCAR.

I’ll prove to everyone I’m more than just a last name. That racing talent does run in my veins. I just need some damn stability instead of a different crew chief and team year after year. So my brand name has lost some of its appeal and maybe I won’t be here longer than three years cause it’s obvious what the long term plan is here just like at HMS. I may not be that long term plan but I’ll do my best.

Look at the computer screen they’ve set up in our pit stall and watch the numbers hold steady in some spots while the time keeps running down. I should head to the hotel to get some sleep. They’ll call me if they need me. One last glance at the scoreboard before I slip out and walk toward the hotel they’ve reserved for us.

Daytona’s eerie at night. Quiet except for the hum of the cars on the track. There’s none of the fans cramming the garages, getting in our way as the crew tries to work and we try to get ready for the races. I think I like it better this way. It gives back some of the family aspect that’s been slowly stripped away as the fans have demanded more and more access.

Scrub my hands over my face then drag them through my hair. Trish is still in Phoenix with her family. We didn’t want to chance getting Sammy sick since North Carolina does have a winter season. It’s been a quiet few weeks since I’ve seen her. I had to be back for sponsors and hang around with the crew some. I’m not sure what Gil thinks of me. He wishes he was still with Clint, I know that. I just want this season to turn out like we all expect it to.

How could it not? Chase contending team, win contending team with good points finishes for the past two years. They were the only legitimate challenge for Jeff and Jimmie in ‘07. Smile when I see my ride out of here and hop on the golf cart with my PR rep Mitchell. He’s a good guy. Been with me through all of the moving around but most important is that he’s always believed in me. Not sure if that’s because we’re friends or because he likes his job. Either way, I won’t question it too much.

Lean back in the seat and close my eyes as Mitchell whisks me away. I can finally get some rest. The hum of an engine underneath me has finally made things feel more right than they have been since the season ended. Once we’ve made it to the hotel, he hands me a cardkey and says he’ll come get me if I’m needed. Walk inside, flipping the cardkey over in my hands.

I wasn’t surprised to hear Jimmie signed up for the Rolex. He must be looking for any sort of challenge. Even as unpredictable as Cup is, they’ve had it down pat for the last three years. There can’t be that much of a challenge in it anymore. Press the button for the third floor and lean against the back wall.

It’s something to think about. We’ve known each other for a long time now and here we are. He started out an unknown and I had the herald of a last name. He’s the three time Champion while I barely have anything noteworthy on my resume.

I could be bitter but I’m not. Someone like me, the Earnhardts, the Mears, the Foyts, they have to earn their way in the sport. I guess I’m just taking the long way but maybe on the other side I’ll finally have something to show. The soft snick of the card reader going green and I’m slipping inside my room to be greeted by the lights from the city pouring through the window. Strip from my firesuit and toss it on the bed. It’s useless I know but I want a shower.

It’s a small thing but I’ll take what I can get. Running around changing diapers, bottle feeding when Trish wants to sleep, routine shot to hell, it’s the small stuff I cling to when I can. The spray pounds down onto me and I close my eyes as I tilt my face upward into it. Everything sloughs off like a second skin ‘til I’m left with nothing but the quiet of my own mind and the rushing of water.

Towel dry and wrap it around my waist then eye my suitcase with the extra firesuit I should put on for when the pounding on the door comes because it will come. Either in a few hours time as scheduled or a few hours too early. Drag it out and toss it on the bed beside my other firesuit then pull open the door of our connecting rooms. I shouldn’t. But the girls aren’t here. It’s something innocent.

Walk into his room like it’s my own because wherever he is I know without needing to see it. It’s too dark to see anything here cause he’s pulled the curtains shut tight. He likes to sleep in the pitch black. Make my way to the bed unerringly and lean a leg on the bed before I crawl on. He scoots to the side, making room for me instinctively and I’m hit with the feel of sand whipping around us or maybe it’s the feel of dirt flying as we carve our own motocross trails in the backwoods of California.

Those days when we weren’t driven by ambition, when all we needed was each other and everything we discovered was new and not practiced. I miss that. I miss him. Slip onto the bed completely and lay down beside him. I’m not Chani and he’s not Trish but tonight in this stolen moment, we’re nothing more than those eager kids that wanted to play in the sand and dirt. Wrap my arms around him and rest my head on his shoulder. He sighs soft in response and presses closer to me. Close my eyes and breathe him in.

One night in who knows how long we’re us again. It doesn’t matter that it has to be dark for this to happen. It’s rare enough I’ll take what I can get. In a day’s time, this won’t exist any longer and we’re back to being friends. There’s beauty in the desert night’s memory and I won’t waste it.

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Zippit - zippit@cryptoffic.com