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Here was the thing. Nico had never really been into car races. It was not a thing he could ever remember having enjoyed, or having an interest in. But Percy and Jason insisted on inviting him over for every NASCAR and Formula 1 events, where he sat squashed between them in the sofa, trying to catch up on their cheers and bursts of awe. They often admired the sleek cars, the sounds of the engines, the drivers’ control, and the way they overtook each other in the turns. Nico was bored to tears. Right until he wasn’t.
It was a day like most others. Percy and Jason had heard about this other race. Some dirt race of sorts where the track was half dirt half asphalt. It sounded just as boring as everything else, but Percy and Jason were fresh out of college, and Nico was on winter break where, somehow, miraculously, they hadn’t been given coursework. He still had two more years to go.
This dirt race was a lot rougher than the other races he’d seen. The cars constantly pushed at each other and were reluctant to speed down. The track was much shorter than the race tracks he usually saw, and the dust flew so high in the air, even on TV you could hardly tell what was going on, yet somehow you still caught glimpses of the cars as they struggled to stay in the lead and got more battered by every round. Apparently, unlike the other races where the cars were barely allowed to touch without getting penalty, this race was all about rough housing each other, and Nico’s interest was piqued. There was something oddly fascinating about a race starting with six cars, just to watch two of them crash into the crash barriers, and one roll onto the roof (no harm came to the driver), leaving only three cars to actually finish the race. It was exhilarating, and Nico was hooked.
When spring break came around, Nico decided to go see one of the races in real life. He packed up a big lunch, some blankets for the still chilly spring weather, drinks, and a comfortable, fold-able chair. He decided to invite Percy and Jason, because there was no way on heaven, on earth, or in hell he would hear the end of it if he went on his own. They packed about twice as much as Nico, as though they were going for a sleepover. Jason decided to drive them, even though they all knew Nico had the nicer car.
It was fair to say, the road trip with the resident bros singing off key had been worth it to see the race up close in real life. The engines were so loud, and the speakers so shitty, Nico could hardly tell what was going on. Unlike the big races, the tracks were small enough to see from up high without any screens. Jason and Percy hollered next to him, barely sitting down, while Nico wasn’t sure he even blinked.
In that moment, a thought struck Nico that maybe, this was what he should be doing on the side to break out of the mundane college life that was nothing but tests and studies and random parties at some frat house — Nico still suspected he only got invited because he’d been close with the resident bros.
The thought of racing the dirt tracks stuck with Nico like glue over the next few weeks, until his search history was more racing than criminology. He even went as far as looking up the rules and requirements, and watching drivers tune their cars and paint them to look distinguished.
It took over his mind and seeped into his dreams. Him on the dirt road, the gravel flying around his car, not knowing whether or not he would make the rounds. Next thing he knew, he looked for a sturdy, older BMW and called Leo up to help him fine tune it; a project Leo seemed excited about to say the least. He started blabbering about motors and silencers, as if Nico understood any of it.
Nico painted the car himself. Not one to miss the opportunity for something slightly tongue-in-cheek — some might even call it ironic — he painted a rendition of the underworld on his car, with Thanatos standing menacingly on the hood of his car, and Cerberus the three headed dog growling on the rear. On the left-hand side, he painted Charon crossing the river, and on the right-hand side he drew Hades on his throne. It definitely didn’t look half bad, even Hazel agreed, once again lamenting Nico not opting to major in art. Art was never more than a hobby to him though. He wasn’t as passionate about it as Hazel.
What Nico didn’t expect — although he really should have, seeing as Leo could not shut up to save his life — was Jason and Percy tagging along to Nico’s first training sessions to be placed in the next race.
He was a bit unsure the first few times he circled the track, and maybe a tad too polite, but once he got the hang of the car and the difference between driving the gravel an the tarp, he started getting bolder. Some of the more expericende racers even shared advice on overtaking each other. The key to it all, seemed to be trying to overtake in the curves, because they were wider than the rest of the track. Nico tried it out the next few rounds, his car already carrying the bumps of his labour and his body shaking to the core whenever someone rammed into him. It was exhilarating and made him feel alive in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time.
And so, Nico di Angelo found himself in his first official race a couple of months later. The weather conditions were good. The sky was slightly overcast, but the clouds didn’t look heavy with rain. Rather, they were white, light, and fluffy, streaming across the blue sky lazily. Nico and Leo looked over the slightly battered car together and corrected some of the bumps while fine tuning the car.
Jason and Percy were somewhere in the stands, along with Nico’s entire friend group and his sister. Knowing Hazel, she was probably fretting and biting her nails, worrying the worst possible thing would happen to Nico. Nico would have to think of a way to make it up to her, even if coming was her own choice.
The juniors went first, and Nico found himself wondering what kind of parents let their 13 to 17-year-olds drive these kinds of races. They were pretty good though, he’d give them that. They didn’t rough house nearly as much as Nico’s age group, but they definitely took it seriously judging from their driving and light taps to each other.
“Next up is you,” Leo said, as if Nico wasn’t aware.
Nico grunted in response and put on his helmet. “You should probably get the duct tape ready.”
“Hermano, I have everything ready for a fast emergency. Including the fire extinguisher.” He held it up as if to demonstrate his point.
“You do know they have those out there as well, right?”
“Look, all I’m saying is that some of those cars we saw in the other races came out with really smoky engines. If you burst into flames here, I need to be ready.”
Nico rolled his eyes. Not that Leo could tell because of the helmet. “See you soon.”
“Good luck, Ghost King.”
Nico waved him off and got seated in his car, shutting the door behind him and rolling onto the track. He was racing against other newcomers, so it probably still wouldn’t be as crazy as when the experienced racers would go toe to toe. It might be a bit rougher than the juniors, though. Not that Nico thought it mattered beyond looking exciting.
They all got presented as they rolled onto the tracks. There were six of them, standing side by side. Nico gripped the wheel tighter, watching the goal box as he took a couple of deep breaths, visualising himself darting towards the first turn.
The green flag got raised in the box, then in the next swing. Having seen it from the tribunes before — and from reading up on it after — he knew those would raise on all posts to signal they were ready for the cars to come.
The goal post lowered their green flag again, and a guy came running in front of them with a little sign saying 5. Someone counted a bit in front of them, showing them their fingers.
Three. Nico revved his engine alongside the other drivers. Two. He tightened his grip and took a deep breath, training his eyes on the stop light. One. The last finger disappeared, and the light went green. Nico floored it and went flying to the first turn, shifting gears and pushing the breaks to drift. His drift was a bit shaky, but much better than first time he tried it where he flat out stalled. He shifted gears again, pushing the accelerator while keeping one foot near the clutch for the next gear shift.
They only did five rounds. A lot could happen in those five rounds though, and because of the rules, at least one of those rounds had to be done through the alternative route. It was a bit shorter than the other routes, and Nico had been debating since breakfast when to go for it. He’d decided to go for it his last round. That’s when he would need the leeway the most, and from what he’d seen, a lot of drivers had a habit of taking it on the first round just to get overtaken on the last round by someone who saved it. Nico wanted to be that someone who did the overtaking today.
He barrelled ahead on the gravel, thrusting the gears back and forth whenever he needed, putting Leo’s handiwork to the test. The gears gave some deep clicks and grunts every now and then, but otherwise held up beautifully.
Nico made the first round on a fourth place. The dirt got cast all around his car in a tornado of speed, the scent of oil clinging to his nose. He overtook one of the guys one his second round — number 045 — thought the guy tried to push him into the barriers to keep him away. Nico pushed right back, sending the guy swerving just as the turn ended.
He made the second round, now right in the heel of number 012 who was in second place. From what he'd heard, the driver of 012 was a woman who was merciless and ranking up soon. He pushed ahead to the turn, giving her a puff with the hood of his car to let her know he was there. She sped up a bit, sending gravel flying onto the hood and front window of his car, speeding up. Nico sped up as well, his heart drumming in his chest, making his throat pulsate. He licked his lips, thirsty for the win, speeding up to overtake her in the turn.
He got up on the side of her, unable to see her through the windows, but her car seemed to be Roman themed, the Goddess Bellona depicted all over its surface, as if to give the car extra strength in the face of the battle for gold.
They both sped up, and Nico shifted gears again pressing the clutch and the break to drift. This turned out to be a bad move. He was so close to Bellona he rammed into her, and in an effort to stay on all four wheels she swerved into him, throwing him so off kilter he actually went rolling.
It all happened so fast, he hardly registered it until he was on the roof of his car, just kind of dangling there while his brain caught up to the triple roll he just did. He looked out the window and realised he’d landed right across the track, and just in front of number 045 who could not speed down in time. Instead he did his best to swerve around Nico, hit the front corner of Nico's car, and swerved right into the barrier. There was a red flag flapping from the nearest flag post while Nico sat perfectly still, not one to play with fate by ignoring the rule about staying in your car until you were a thousand percent sure the tracks were abandoned.
When the tracks were abandoned, the nearest flag poster came running up to Nico while someone else dealt with the other guy. The flag poster looked inside, a walkie-talkie at the ready.
“You alright there?”
Nico looked up at her. She had her hair hidden in a cap and wore an overall. Her face was caked with dust. He gave her a thumbs up and went to unbuckle.
“I’d wait with that till the Samaritans are here.” She looked into the distance, giving a thumbs up, then raised the walkie-talkie to her mouth. “Ghost King seems to be okay, but I have him waiting to unbuckle till the Samaritans are here. Over.”
A crackled male’s voice responded. “Copy that. Over.”
Nico hung tight while the Samaritan car came closer. The car stopped and one of the Samaritans jumped out, giving the hood a clap before running towards Nico while the Samaritan car drove closer to the other guy who needed attention.
The Samaritan spoke shortly with the flag poster before she ran off, and he came towards the car. He bent down, smiling at Nico, and Nico might have short circuited.
The Samaritan was a guy who looked to be around Nico's age, with shaggy blond hair that curled around his ears and bright blue eyes. His smile looked so natural, and despite being so young, he already had subtle smile wrinkles around his eyes. His smile was so brilliant, Nico thought for a moment he might have fainted and was currently hallucinating. The Samaritan had an athletic build, his overall sitting snug on him.
“That was some flip you did there,” Sunny Samaritan smiled.
“Yeah,” Nico agreed. “How many times did I go round?”
“Three or four times, I think. Can you put your hands onto the roof of your car for me?”
Nico obliged, trying to pin Sunny’s accent. Sunny reached into Nico’s car.
“I’m going to unbuckle you, alright? I’ll need you to hold yourself up by your arms, and slowly manoeuvre down on your side after, so you don’t hurt your neck and so you can crawl out. Think you can do that?”
“I’ll try.”
Nico braced himself while Sunny unbuckled him. Sunny kept his hands close to assist Nico if he needed it, creating a moving slide to help Nico shuffle awkwardly out of his seat halfway on his side. He had to twist his body a tad unnaturally to succeed, but he eventually dragged himself out with the help if Sunny who took his hand and helped him onto his feet once he was out.
“Alright.” Sunny said, almost drowned out by the applause from the audience. “Let’s get you to the station for a check-up and let someone else worry about getting your car out of here.”
Nico obliged and let Sunny help him onto the Samaritan car that had made its way back to them. He hopped on, Sunny never leaving his side.
“What’s your name?” Sunny asked.
“Nico di Angelo. What’s yours?”
“I’m Will. Will Solace.” He presented his hand and Nico shook it. “So, Nico. What brings you to a racetrack?”
Nico shrugged and regretted it. His neck was slightly tender. He rubbed it. “Boredom.”
“Is your neck hurting?” Will asked.
“No exactly. Just feels a bit tender.”
“We should definitely have that checked to make sure it isn’t whip lash or something.”
Nico snorted. “Whip lash would be awful.” He leaned back against the soft cushions in the Samaritan car. “What brings you to a racetrack, Will?”
Will gave him a look and a half smile. “Collecting experience. I’m doing medical school so I can hopefully work at a hospital. Might do paediatrics, though. But, hey, experience is experience.”
Nico chuckled at that. “Done this long?”
Will shook his head. “This is only my third time out as Samaritan. My first time being allowed to do mostly solo stuff. Although Jane up front will oversee me.”
Nico nodded and had to rub his neck again. Will wrinkled his nose and hummed.
“I’ll definitely have to give your neck a look. It ain’t a good sign if it’s tender.”
Nico grunted.
They reached the Samaritan tent and Will followed Nico to a cot where he sat him down. He found a couple of tools out and started checking his eyes over, then his reflexes.
“Everything seems good there,” he said, writing notes while a ginger-haired woman stood leaned back, watching.
Nico assumed the woman was Jane. Will went back to Nico and reached out his hands.
“Alright. I’m gonna give some light squeezes to your arms and shoulders. You let me know if it hurts or feels uncomfortable at all, okay?”
Nico nodded, and Will went ahead, giving light squeezes to his arms from the wrist up. It didn’t feel any different from before Nico went rolling. Will started giving light pokes to his shoulders, making his way to the back, and when he reached Nico’s neck muscles, Nico gave a small hiss.
“Yeah. That’s a bit tender,” Nico commented.
Will hummed and wrote some notes, poking down Nico’s back and touching his spine lightly.
“This feel uncomfortable in any way?” Will asked.
“Not really,” Nico muttered.
Will hummed thoughtfully and wrote something else down.
“I’ll do the same to your legs and thighs now, okay?”
“Okay.”
Will went to work squeezing and poking Nico’s thighs, shins, calves, and ankles. Nothing felt out of the ordinary there either.
“Feels fine,” Nico said.
Will nodded and wrote something down. “I’ll check your neck again, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” Nico wasn’t sure about it, but he knew he had to endure for Will to do his job.
Will squeezed lightly at the neck, much to Nico’s discomfort. He heard Will muttering something about muscle tenseness before he touched Nico’s arms again. Will finished up his notes and went to Jane, speaking lowly with her.
“Alright,” Will came back with Jane in tow. “My verdict is that your head might have jerked when you went rolling, so you stretched some neck muscles a bit. I don’t think it’s whip lash, because you only seem to be tender in the sides. Jane agreed to prescribe you some special pain killers to take for the next three days, and she’ll submit my report to your local hospital and doctor. If your neck starts feeling more sore or stiff at all, you need to have it looked at, because it can be difficult to rule out whiplash completely. So be especially mindful of the feel in your neck the next twenty-four hours.”
“Got it.” Nico said. And, because he was feeling bold. “Would it be okay to ask for your personal number so I can ask questions if I have any?”
Will looked a bit bashful and looked at Jane. She shrugged. “We have some looser rules here than hospitals. One of the drivers is my cousin.”
Will nodded and ripped a small sheet of paper off of his notepad where he wrote down his digits. “Would it be okay to ask for an update if you end up feeling okay?”
Nico took the paper with a small smile. “Sure. Thanks for the help, Will.”
“No problem,” Will beamed.
Nico was released but had to sit out the rest of the race. Hazel chewed his ears out about getting into an accident, while the resident bros took turns describing how awesome that roll was. Bellona’s driver — whose name was Reyna — even came up to apologise and ask if he was okay. Nico took it all in stride, focusing on the positives, such as the fact he got a cute guy’s number.