Life's a Drag - Chapter 9 (Patreon)

When Sarah finally had a few moments to herself at the race, she wandered around a moment and spotted Lydia, Devin, Susan who was pushing a stroller and waved. “Hey.” she called out as they were loading up their stuff to head home.

“Hey Sarah!” Lydia called.  “Great race!”

“Yeah it was.” Sarah giggled as she approached them, “Next race I hope I race against Devin again.”

“Assuming his doctor says it’s okay,” Susan spoke up with a slight grin.  “Honestly, after riding with Lisa, I can safely say I never want to go faster than 70 ever again, but I won’t stop my kids from doing it.”

Sarah laughed and then got serious again, “Susan...  Can I talk to you for a second please?”

“Oh, of course sweetie.  Rob?” she called over to a tall man whose rump was sticking out of the front passenger seat, digging for something under the seat by the look of it.

“Ow,” he grunted, bumping his head.  “Yes dear?”

“Could you watch Holly for a minute?”

“Sure thing.”  Rob smiled as he came over to get Holly, and Sarah and Susan stepped away.

“Have you told them yet?” Sarah asked.

“Rob knows, but Devin and Lydia don’t.  We haven't found the perfect time to tell them.” Susan sighed.

“I’ve heard that before,” Sarah said, and then paused.  “Err... Sorry, that genuinely wasn’t about you, I promise.”  Sarah was getting better about not being a sarcastic smartass to Susan, albeit slowly.

“It’s fine.” Susan smiled softly.  “Actually I was going to call Amy and you today.  Lydia wants to have a sleepover and wanted to invite you.”

Sarah laughed a little.  “Wow.  That sounds great actually.”

“I think before everyone shows up might be the best time to tell her, and Holly is a bit young yet to even know what's going on.”

“I guess Lydia never talked to you about racing, either.  I told her you’d understand.”

“Nope, but Thomas Crown was her grandfather's name.” Susan winked.  “He was a NASCAR driver in the old days, when it was dirt tracks and rum runners.”

“Oh wow,” Sarah laughed.  “You want me to stop by before everyone shows up when you tell them?”  

“I’d appreciate if you could.  Hopefully it will soften the blow a little.  There’s no easy way to rip off a band-aid, as my mother used to say.”

Sarah giggled.  She didn’t hug Susan but shook her hand then headed over to talk to Lydia. “Heard you wanted to invite me to a sleepover?”

Lydia giggled.  “Mom told you huh?  Yeah, I haven’t had one since I was like ten.  I hope it’s not too dorky.”

“No way.  It sounds fun., You inviting Morgan too?” Sarah said half jokingly.

“And Crystal, Jenny, April...  Mae already said she can’t make it, but will definitely be there next time.”

“Never too old to have a sleepover with friends.” Sarah grinned. “I’ll definitely be there.  It’ll be a nice way to unwind after all the excitement today.”

“Devin’s going fishing with Dad that weekend, so I figured it was a great opportunity,” Lydia giggled.  “I hate fishing, so I’m like ‘Nah I’ll just invite some friends over’.”

Sarah leaned over and hugged Lydia as she whispered, “Devin wants his hat back.”  She winked. “See you later.”

Lydia giggled as she waved.  As Sarah walked away, she overheard Susan say, “That was some race,” as if she was leading into something else.

Sarah giggled, too, as she met back up with Morgan.  “Early dinner, or late lunch?”

~oOo~

The next week, like the end of her second big win, was a bit of a blur for Sarah.  She had to balance school, meeting with Cassandra and other marketing representatives, a photo shoot with her car, and she even had to film a commercial on wednesday that week for Ford.

By the time Saturday rolled around, she was too exhausted to even think about the races, or the sleepover.  For the first time in two years, Sarah spent her entire Saturday morning, vegging out - though she didn’t count the time she spent medicated as vegging out.

‘Mom wanted to know if you wanted to come over for lunch.’ Lydia texted her. ‘Said she had something important she wanted to tell Devin and me.’

‘O crap, almost forgot!’ Sarah texted back.  ‘Yeah that sounds great.  I need 2 stop by sporting goods 1st then will b there. :)’

‘Sure thing.’ Lydia texted back. ‘No idea why mom would want you there for a family mtng tho.’

Sarah breathed a relieved sigh at that.  If Lydia didn’t know, that meant she wasn’t the subject of rumors all over school by now.  She honestly hadn’t had time to even look into it - not that she cared too much, but she did care a little.  She hopped up off the sofa.  “Dad I’m going over to Lydia’s for lunch.”

“Sounds good Princess.  Meghan and I are going to be leaving for NY Sunday.   You going to be home by then?” Chris asked.  Sarah stopped halfway up the stairs.

“Oh, I totes forgot about that.  I should be home by ten or eleven though.”

“Sounds good sweetie.  Have fun at your friend’s place, and don’t let Susan get you down.” he chuckled.

Sarah laughed.  “I’m taking my emergency pack of pixie stix.”

“Sugar rush your way through it huh?” Chris laughed.

“Now that I’m no longer on anti-depressants, I figure it’s pixie stix or ice cream,” she called back before continuing up the stairs.  

After changing into a pair of jeans, and spending a good five minutes trying to decide between two tops, she tossed the other one, along with pajamas and another pair of jeans, into her school bag.  She grabbed a plain brown bag containing sugar sticks and tossed it in on top, then slung it over her shoulder, and grabbed her purse on the way out.

It took her a few minutes at the sporting goods store to pick a good sleeping bag, but she finally got a cute blue one with a racing stripe, paid for it and started on her way to Lydia’s.  They lived on the other end of town, closer to North Haven but still in the South haven district.

There was one thing Susan said to Sarah that always bothered her, which she found herself thinking about as she drove closer.  How did Susan even know Sarah - or Andrew - lived in South Haven?  

Chris moved her there a couple of years ago, and Susan had been there a year, so she came a year later.  But Mike and Chris both said they hadn’t heard anything from her since long before that.  It had to be Dad’s friend at the LAPD or something else, unless she looked Sarah up or something?  it really did bug her.  She pulled into the driveway and shut her car off.

The Kestons lived in a really nice house - easily the equal of Sarah’s or Morgan’s, which meant Rob was some kind of an exec or doctor or something.  No way they could afford it on a teacher’s salary, even at a private school.  Sarah tried to shut out the over-analytical smartass voice in her head as she got out and walked up to ring the doorbell.

Susan answered the door, “Hey Sarah; come in.  Lunch is about ready.” she said with a half nervous smile.  As Sarah stepped inside, she expected bare walls, perfect furniture, in short, a fake, perfect life.  

In reality, the walls were absolutely plastered with family portraits, mostly of Devin and Lydia when they were younger, one or two with another woman with Rob and the two kids, and near the door, a framed portrait of Susan, Rob, and all three kids.

The living room looked like a baby lived in the house, for certain, with Holly sitting right in the middle of toddler toys, napping on the sofa under a blanket with Rob apparently having just laid her down.

“Sorry about the mess,” he chuckled.  “I promised Lydia me and Dev would help her clean before her other friends got here.” 

“No problem.” Sarah giggled out.  “Too bad she’s asleep.  I kinda wanted to meet her.”

Rob chuckled.  “Oh, it won’t last.  I don’t know how Sue does it.  I swear Lydia and Devin were never this full of energy,” he said, adding, “Great race last weekend by the way.”

“Thanks, I took this weekend off for personal time.  I had such a big week.” she turned to head into the kitchen when she heard Lydia talking to Devin.

“Oh, hey Sarah,” Lydia said as she pulled a pan of cornbread from the oven.  “Can you believe I made this?  I didn’t burn it or anything - this time.”

Devin laughed.  “That home ec class is really paying off.  I still burn ramen,” he teased her.  “I”m thinking about taking home ec next semester at my school.”

“I actually made some food for dad last night.” Sarah laughed, “I swear I’m learning something in that class too.  Maybe I’ll try jalapeno cornbread next week.”

“Ooh, now that sounds good,” Susan said as she stepped around the corner.  “And that smells amazing,” she said proudly.

“It’s easy once you realize you just have to follow the recipe,” Lydia giggled.

“Most of the time,” Susan laughed.  “But eventually you get a feel for what recipes just aren’t going to work.  Like I found a cake recipe online that called for far too many eggs.”

“Mmm, cake omelet,” Devin laughed.

It didn’t take too long to get everyone around the table for lunch, Susan smiled at everyone, “We try to do a family meeting every weekend, we missed last weekend because we spent all saturday at the track and then we went out to eat.”

Lydia leaned over to Sarah, “It’s mostly to say how our week went, how schools going and stuff like that.”

“So,” Rob began, “Who wants to start?”

“I think Mom should since she said this was an emergency family meeting.” Devin spoke up.

“Well,” Susan sighed.  “There’s no easy way to tay this.  You guys knew when your father and I married, that I had a... colorful past.  I’ve never hidden that from you.”

“We practically had to twist your arms to start dating,” Lydia said, trying not to giggle.

“Well long before I meet your father, I was married to someone else, and I had a child with him, before I went all weird as your dad likes to call it.” Susan laughed, “Well.. Sarah and I just got a chance to reunite two weeks ago..” she flinched waiting for the yelling and screaming.

“Whoa,” Lydia said, surprised, but calmly.  “I always thought me and Dev got our love of racing from Grandpa,” she teased.  They were Susan’s step-kids, but they had adopted her as ‘Mom’ a long time ago.

Rob laughed, and Sarah spoke up, “My dad's side of the family comes from a long line of racers as well, and I believe mom’s side of the family is outlaws, rumrunners and such as well.”

Susan chuckled.  “You could say that, yeah.  Your great grandfather was a rumrunner, shot at least four times, and always went back for more.  His brother was a moonshine distiller, and his son drove booze across the border from Canada.”

“I was joking,” Lydia giggled.  “Our birth Mom was an ambulance driver.  We were doomed from the start.”

“Dad told me what he knew of your family anytime I asked.” Sarah winked. “Once in the 4th grade we had to do a family history project.”

Devin finally spoke up, “So I’m like Sarah Angels older brother then right?”

“By two weeks.” Susan laughed. 

“Speaking of though,” Sarah spoke up, “When you’re ready to race again I’ve got an in with a couple of sponsors.”

Lydia looked sheepish.  “Yeah, I need to get my car in to Isabella’s.  I wrecked the transmission.”

Susan chuckled.  “That’s right, ‘Thomas’.  I meant what I said the other day.  I never want to be in a car going that fast as long as I live, but if either of you want to race, as long as you do it right.”

“Absolutely,” Sarah said.  “That’s one thing we agree on.  If I ever catch one of you racing without safety gear, I’ll personally kick your butts.”  She giggled.

Devin laughed, “If it wasn’t for my safety harness I wouldn’t be here today.  I’m going to get uncle Dennis to start coming down and helping me with the car before races too.”

Rob cleared his throat, “Ok we kinda strayed from the meeting, Since Sarah is new I’ll go next.” he winked at Sarah, “So ComTek the company I own, just bought out Red Run Games this week, and we’re going to be publishing San Francisco Rally.”

“Ok that answers my question about the house.” Sarah laughed.

“You know,” Lydia spoke up, “You should like have the devs down sometime, let them feel what it’s like to be in a real street race like what Lisa did for Mom.”

“I’d loan them Angel One for that.” Sarah nodded.

Rob laughed.  “Actually that’s a great idea.  One of the biggest complaints about SF Rally was the physics feeling too arcadey.  We bought up the studio so we could invest and really breathe new life into the franchise anyway.”

Lydia smiled, “So my turn I guess, Since you guys figured it out, and Sarah already knew, I raced last weekend, and It was really fun, I even got 4th place, which was a gift certificate for dinner at Clovers and $100.”

Devin laughed, “Cool sis, Since Sarah wasn't here for the meeting after I got out of the hospital, Mine will be on that one, I donated the winning money from that race to the ASPA.”

Sarah giggled.  “I gave mine to Girls Who Code.  I didn’t feel right keeping it, and you didn’t want my half.”

“Na dad's insurance covered it, and since I didn’t win properly I felt the animals could use it.” Devin laughed.

“Your turn Sarah,” Lydia giggled.

“Ok, soo I did a commercial for Ford this week, which will be on the air monday. But I have some questions actually some that have been bugging me for awhile mostly towards Susan.” Sarah sighed.

“I’m not surprised,” Susan answered.  “We can talk after lunch if you want, or you can ask now, whichever you’re more comfortable with.”

“I’d rather get the dirty laundry washed now instead of waiting.” Sarah winked. “So the biggest one on my mind is, how did you know about me? I mean you only moved here what two years ago?”

“A year ago, actually,” Susan nodded.  “Your father and I had a mutual friend in the LAPD who... Well, I owed her a favor - now I owe her two favors.”  She chuckled.  “When I explained why I wanted to find you again, how I cleaned up my life, and even was looking for a teaching job again, that’s when she told me about South Haven.”

That answer made more sense than any she could come up with herself and Sarah nodded, “So you weren't really stalking me.”

“Actually,” Rob spoke up at that, “It was my idea to move here.  Susan initially resisted because she was afraid you’d think that.”

“But then the position at the private school opened up.”

“I don’t actually blame you for that, you had no idea I would be going there.” Sarah nodded, “Neither did I till I got the paperwork.”

Susan chuckled a little.  “When I looked up and saw the spitting image of myself at 15, I knew, although for a moment I thought I had died, and my young self was coming to yell at me.”

“I’m not going to lie to you, I was pissed off at you, I was going to leave.” Sarah sighed.  “Karmen stopped me, and Marcus got me to stop and think instead of just listening to my own blind rage.  Also for those who don’t know I used to be mom’s son Andrew, up till last month and then I started living full on Sarah.”

“That, I find hard to believe, “Lydia giggled.  “No offense,” she added quickly.

“None taken, I always got that as Andrew anyway, so it wasn’t much of a jump.” Sarah paused, “All that was because I don’t want to have dirty laundry here, we’re starting fresh..”

“Well,” Devin said, “Uncle Dennis used to be Aunt Ruth so.”  He grinned, causing Rob to laugh.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any dirty laundry, but I can at least confirm that.”  He paused to glance at his watch.  “Oh, we’d better get started on the living room if we’re going to get out of here before your friends start showing up.”

“Can’t believe Holly’s still out,” Devin laughed as he got up to help.

“Oh,” Lydia said, “I’ll take care of that guys.  You can still get a few hours of fishing in if you leave now.”

“Really?” Devin asked.  Lydia nodded.  “Thanks sis,” he said, hugging her.  Rob gave Lydia a wry smile.

“Oh go on,” Susan laughed.  “Devin’s still supposed to be relaxing.  Go fish.  Bring back something for us to fry up tomorrow,” she teased.

Sarah smiled as she went out to help as well. “So when Holly wakes up mind If I hold her?”

“Not at all,” Susan said.  “I’ve thought of bringing her in for both home ec classes.  Some of those girls have never even seen a toddler, and others have cousins, younger siblings, or they’re babysitters,” she chuckled.

“Yeah we have a module coming up about babies, but Miss Callender said we won’t be spending much time on it.” Sarah nodded.

“I was forced to do that ridiculous flour sack baby thing,” Susan laughed.  “I never dreamed I’d be teaching a Home Ec course myself.  But I promise my classes I wouldn’t put them through that nightmare,” she said as Holly stirred and yawned.  “Speak of the little angel,” she teased as she picked her up.  “You ready for lunch?” she asked.

Holly shook her head ‘no’.  She was watching Sarah.  Sarah hadn’t noticed it before, but Holly had straight blonde hair just like hers, and like Susan’s.  She definitely had Rob’s eyes, though.

Susan giggled.  “Holly, this is your other sister Sarah.”

“Swaha.” Holly smiled.

Sarah giggled softly.  “Hi Holly,” she cooed as Susan carefully handed her over.

~oOo~

The next morning, Sarah was actually the first one up, which surprised her.  She slept like a log, even despite Erica snoring right in her ear.  After getting up and tiptoeing over other bodies to go find a bathroom, she wandered into the kitchen for some coffee.

Susan was there in the kitchen, still in her bathrobe, leaning against the island counter and nursing a cup, herself.  She gave Sarah a wry smile.

“Coffee?” she asked.  Sarah nodded, and Susan glanced toward the coffee pot.

“I don’t suppose you have any creamer?” Sarah asked.  Susan chuckled.

“Right side second shelf in the fridge.  I can’t start my day without my English toffee,” she answered.

Sarah laughed a little.  “Yeah... Me too.  I guess I got that from you,” she said quietly as she poured some Coffee Mate into her cup.  She turned around to face Susan.  “... Can... Can I ask you something really personal?”

“Sure sweetie..” Susan smiled softly taking a sip of her coffee, “We’re supposed to be open and honest with each other according to Amy.” she winked.

Sarah nodded as she leaned against the island counter, took a sip of her coffee, and then looked up at Susan.  “... How did you end up an addict?  You were at a great college, you had a boyfriend, great friends...”

Susan nodded, “Pressure, and in highschool I used to do coke with my friends but I had thought I kicked the habit. Obviously I hadn’t, the thing is, my sponsor says once an addict always an addict.. Even if I don’t want to go back to that life anymore.”

“She doesn’t even like taking painkillers,” Lydia spoke up from the doorway.  “Freaked out the dentist when she told him she was only taking one ibuprofen a day after having her wisdom teeth out.”

“Holy shit,” Sarah laughed, looking up at Susan.  “Seriously?”

“Hey, we Madison women are tough.”  She winked at Sarah.  “Marrying Rob wasn’t on my top 10 at the time either, he kinda blindsided me.” Susan laughed,  “The twins were one the best things to happen to me after I came out of the dark tunnel of my life too.”

“Mom was pretty freaked about Devin’s accident because she was worried he’d get addicted to the painkillers.  But she was worried about you too - even before she knew who you were,” Lydia giggled sleepily as she poured herself some coffee.

“This is my only addiction.” Sarah winked holding up her cup of joe, “I don’t even drink much soda.  Dad used to call Juice soda when I was younger, got me drinking at least a glass a day.”

Lydia giggled.  “Mom does that too!  Oh, but we don’t keep orange juice.  You know what they do to that stuff?  It’s worse than soda.”

“Fresh squeezed orange juice is the best thing on the planet.”

“Oh, I love fresh squeezed,” Lydia nodded.  “It’s just the store bought stuff that’s packed full of sugar.  We visit the farmer’s market twice a month for fresh fruits and veggies, though.”

“I really... really appreciate you inviting me over Lyd,” Sarah said finally.  “Getting to see this side of Susan was worth the price of admission,” she laughed.

“I can never undo what I did,” Susan said, and shook her head.  “But that doesn’t mean we can’t make new memories.  I’m just so happy you’re letting me be part of your life again.”

“Me too,” Lydia giggled.  “Without you I’d never had the courage to come clean about wanting to race too.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Susan said, “I was talking to Karmen the other day.  Vice Principal Jones is interested in sponsoring a motocross racer in the next X Games.”

“Too bad I sold my bike to get the car,” Lydia sighed.  Sarah grinned.

“Stop by my house after school on Monday.” 

Lydia gave Sarah a confused look.  Sarah giggled, and Lydia shook her head slowly.  “You didn’t...”

Sarah giggled again.  “I did.  You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to track down either.  Totes worth it. Took me all day Friday to tweak it too.” she winked.

Lydia squeaked a little and hugged Sarah.  “You’re the best!”

“Yeah, well,” Sarah laughed, “I had help.  I’m a car monkey, not a bike monkey.  Erica and Melissa pitched in, and Isabella had to walk me through some things over the phone too.”

“I can’t wait to see it.” Lydia giggled, as Susan started cracking eggs into a large bowl.

Sarah’s career as a legal street racer was well underway, with more support than she had ever dreamed she could have.  What was more, she had by sheer serendipity reunited with her birth mother, and while they had a long road ahead to rebuilding burnt bridges, they at least were both willing to take those steps.

But as for what the future would hold?  Only time would tell.  With Devin rejoining the racing scene, could Lydia be far behind?  Would she have time to devote to both motocross and street racing?  Possibly, but that’s a story for another day.