It's been a few weeks since Nikki walked out of Josh's life. She's ignored phone calls. At times her best friend has taken the phone to either cuss Josh or flat out hang upon him. E-mails have gone unanswered or deleted. The silence is deafening, and in Josh's fashion, when something occurs that's drastic in his life, something about him changes along with it.

The blond frosted tips get buzzed off, leaving a half-inch of hair on his buzzed head. Even the clean babyface look is gone with a goatee. Even the shine in his eyes has dulled with the return of everything in a sarcastic tone.

Justin has also transformed. He's found a balance between the church, kicking it with his friends, and even his lover, Hilary. She's a spitfire and one who can push his buttons with ease. A wild child isn't the term that matches Hilary. She's all about drinking, pills, and partying are her hobbies, which confuses James and Josh on why he's dating her. All they do is fight and argue. Sometimes it's so far out of control one of them nearly gets hurt.

"Dude, this chick's going to make you crazy all over again," Alex states one Saturday afternoon in the backyard.

"Yeah, but it's worth it when we make up," Justin replies with a devious smile.

James maintains the grill while Josh swings in the hammock, remaining out of the conversation.

"If you say so dawg, but man, she is wild, and that's being polite about it. What do you think, Josh? Is our boy here just as nutty as his old lady?" James calls out behind the flying flames.

"Whatever..." He says with a huff hiding his eyes behind a pair of sunglasses from the sun.

Their attempts to pull him into any conversation falls short of even their low expectations. Unsure how to handle this new behavior, James seeks support from the last person possible to be pulled into the struggle to help.

The trump card stands at the back edge of the deck close to the sliding glass doors. Watching from a distance the only one of the four boys who knows she's there, James sees her between flames from the grill.

"Josh, get inside. I need to talk to you!"

Josh rolls-off of the hammock to his feet, walking inside. His hands in his pockets and head held low, staring at the ground.

"Take a seat; we need to have ourselves a little chat." Momma C insists, pointing over to the couch.

"Yes, ma'am," he replies, sinking into the cushion.

A glance at his appearance gives Momma C a single sigh before she digs into his pain.

"You've changed yourself again. I take it Nikki still hasn't agreed to talk."

"Gee, what gave you that idea?"

"Young man, watch the sarcastic tongue. I'm not your mom, I won't hit you, but I won't tolerate it much longer either."

Josh rolls his eyes plus crossing his arms while he sits there, listening to the lecture.

"Look, I know it's been rough, but let me into your world. Tell me what honestly happened between you and Nikki."

The breakdown of what happened leaves Momma C shaking her head in disappointment.

"You weren't drinking, right?"

Annoyed by now, Josh adds some sass to his attitude.

"For the millionth time, NO!" He sits forward, his temper getting the best of him.

"Maybe I should have been though with as many times as I've gotten asked about it. Hell, I could have several times over by now, but I haven't because I made a promise."

Momma C tries to bring his temper and blood pressure down a notch.

"Just cool down son, I was only askin' it's not like if you were that I was going to kick you out or anything. If you were, or are, then I could try to help you to get you to stop. Again, that's only 'IF' you were drinking. I believe you but take a chill pill."

"Well, don't worry about it because once I'm eighteen, I'm out of here. I know I've been a burden, so once it's clear for me to head out, I will." He explains expecting his time at the house is limited.

"Who do you think I am, your mother? You have a home here as long as you need it. You and James are closer than you think, but you're not hitting the streets to hustle and ruin your life. No sir, despite how you feel or think, you're a damn good kid who's had it hard."

Momma C gets out of the chair and helps Josh out of his seat from the couch. She wraps her arms in a mother's hug to try to comfort and ease his internal struggle.

"You may be hateful and angry, but I know that's just the surface. Nikki may have made a huge mistake, but she's the one who lost more, not you, okay." She tells him to break through that guarded barrier.

Josh shoves away, heading back to his room, making only one thing known.

"I'm moving down to the basement. I can't stay in that room anymore. I need to be able to come and go without making it known. I've been racing downtown most nights, making money that way. I make more in a few nights than James makes in two weeks with his little McJob." Josh divulges, letting his nightlife be known.

Nothing Momma C can say to him would make a difference. When Josh makes up his mind, that pretty much sums things up with little chance to alter his willpower. She shakes her head and moves aside when he begins to transfer his stuff from the back bedroom down to the basement.

"You know if you get caught, it's big trouble." She tries to persuade him not to be out racing.

"My problem, not yours."

"Hey! You live under my roof, so it is my concern and my problem. You're like a second son to me. Now, I can't stop you, but I'll ask you to slow down to think it through."

Josh snickers while carrying his things downstairs. He's anxious to drown out the memories of when Nikki was the largest part of his life. Once he's moved down to the basement, he kicks on his radio and flops on the bed, waiting for the sun to drop from the sky to head out for what does make him smile.

Close to nine-thirty, Josh slides from his bed, heading for the sliding glass doors leading out of the basement. With a twist of his key, his charcoal gray Probe fires up on all cylinders in a smooth fashion.

"That's my girl; let's go raise some hell." He comments to his car as he releases the clutch backing out of the driveway.

In an instant, he's speeding for Cruise Avenue where others wait for him to arrive since Josh has become one of the top young street racers.

James is in the living room when he sees the headlights flip up and Josh pull away. Wondering where he's going, James snags his keys, jumping into his Grand National. He's slowed down when Alexander is also curious about Josh leaving in a hurry.

Josh flies by Hilary's home, where Justin is slowly creeping down the steep driveway. He recognizes Josh's car's turbo spooling, and instead of heading home, he cuts the wheel left to pull up behind him until they reach Cruise Ave.

"Hey, what's going on, bro?" Justin asks, standing out of the sunroof of his Nissan.

"Came down here to have some fun. Get out and mingle, bub. Time to relax and maybe make some money beating these rich kids."

That's music to Justin's ears when he looks out at the sight of people and cars lining the vacant parking lot that stretches a block and a half.

"Bro f'real, this place has grown big time!" Justin says with excitement in his voice.

"This is where I've been ever since Nikki walked out. Here I have been building a reputation and even bumped into some old friends of your brothers."

Before they can walk down to join the group of friends, Josh was mentioning. Alex and James pull in, parking behind them, revving their engines. Josh waves them to follow as he walks away with Justin.

About a minute later, all four of them are nearly in the center of the raucous crowd. Music blares combined with people's laughter and having fun shows how different Cruise Avenue has changed.

"There he is, about time you showed up, ya little punk!" A male voice calls out, greeting Josh with a bro hug.

The other three watch as Josh smiles and becomes a different person. The tall young adult with a deep voice and dark hair seems familiar, but they can't place why he looks so friendly.

"Hey, Aiden, what's up, my brother? You ready to finally put your boys up against mine?" Josh greets him, nodding over to Aiden's friends standing by their rides.

"Oh, you still have it in your head that your boys can take down my crew! That is adorable; your boy Tyler and Justin's brothers couldn't ever beat us, so what makes you feel any different?"

Josh throws down the new cool, calm, and cocky attitude.

"Simple, we all have the one thing those idiots never had. We have the skill and attitude to take you down. I wanna shot at the CRX. Justin and Eddie there both have import rear-wheel-drive cars so that they can line them up. My boy James here can handle that weak ass wanna be Ford Probe knockoff with that MX-6 ya boy Dakota is driving. Lastly, a true import showdown between our newest friend here, Alex from Indiana, is about to conquer Rey's outdated Maxima."

Aiden stands there with an arrogant smile. After he calls out to his friends to join him, it's a rivalry stare down that captures everyone's attention.

"Alright, big mouth, you're on! Get ready to have your asses handed to you. We've dominated the strip in Ironton. Josh, you know that for fact coming down there and dragging us all back here. What makes you even begin to think that y'all can handle us? We're older, more experienced, and have better rides. You four are nothing but overconfident kids, but hey, you wanted us, you got us!"

The crowd goes wild with word about the races spread as fast as a wildfire destroying a forest. The focus is solely on Josh's team, finally getting a crack at Aiden and his crew.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Aiden yells as the crowd splits as everyone gets into place.

"I want Aiden last, Alex; you pull up first. Justin, you have the second-fastest car here, so go next. James listen, I've watched Dakota, and he's quick on the clutch, so leave it in Drive and stay hammered down; let the transmission do the work. I want Aiden going last; I'm going to burn that CRX if it is the last thing I do! We got this, with all the races up in K.C. these guys are nothing!" Josh says in his pep talk, getting his friends worked up and ready to go.

In a collective cheer, they all scatter into their cars, taking the lineup Josh suggested. Alex pulls up to the line waiting for his opponent. The crowd comes alive with even more energy as Rey pulls up, revving his engine, trying to intimidate Alex.

"See you at the finish line. Get ready to see my taillights, ya little bitch!" Rey shouts, trying to further dig into the mind games.

"Just shut up and go, love, yourself, Nissan boy!" Alex calls out, keeping his focus solely on the person spray painting the finish line on the road.

A beautiful young lady walks out in skimpy clothes from the crowd and walks out between the two cars throwing her hands up, prepared to let the racer's take off. They both focus, waiting for her hands to drop.

"GO!" The young lady screams, dropping her arms to free the Prelude and Maxima.

The Maxima gets the jump off the line, but it can't maintain the quick lead, with Alex's Prelude gaining distance until they cross the line.

"YES! That's one for us!" Josh yells over the crowd giving Aiden a slight push on the shoulder.

"Luck is all that was, nothing more, get your next racer ready!" Aiden replies, a little frustrated losing to a teenager.

The crowd gets even louder with James and Dakota lining up. James' stomach begins to tie in knots, with his nerves rattled by the pressure. Dakota seems calm with a smirk and a wink over to James getting in his head.

"You can do this. You can do this..." James repeats to himself, trying to calm his nerves.

"GO!" The waver screams with James, not paying attention. The Mazda gets an outstanding advantage, but it's a close race with James closing the distance but not enough to make it a two to nothing lead.

Aiden punches Josh in the shoulder with having it tied up at one apiece.

"HA! Your boy choked, get ready to lose the next two ya little punk ass bitch."

Josh looks over to Justin with a nod. Justin knows the pressure is on him, even more, to take the point and give them the lead.

From the parking lot to the starting line, Justin gives way to his attitude allowing all the experience to take control to help him prepare to expel it in this race. He swiftly inhales and exhales, feeling the extension between himself and his car. Eddie pulls up beside him in his late 80's model Mitsubishi Starion. Neither of them looks at each other or does any trash talk.

"GO!" They hear with a drop of the arms once again. The two cars squall the tires with smoke filling the air. It's neck and neck in this race until the very end as Justin barely crosses the line first.

"We'll need Max to tell us who won!" Aiden says with anticipation about to kill him.

One of the spectators goes down and gets the official nod of who won. After returning the word, Justin takes the 'W' by mere inches, giving Josh a gesture of victory and Aiden an expression of disappointment.

"We're up, kid, and you best be ready to lose. I'm not about to be bested by a group of teenagers!" Aiden groans, clutching his keys, feeling the pressure against him.

"You're going down. The mighty Aiden and crew are about to lose to kids!" Josh rubs in the insult, jogging over to his car.

It's not long before they get lined up, but before the signal person can raise her arms, Aiden changes the final race.

"Hold on, let's make this interesting," Aiden states, standing just out of his car door.

"Let's start here head to First Street, take that hard left, go down to Eighth Avenue. Race down to Hal Greer Boulevard and back across Third Avenue, and the first one back across the line here wins it all."

Josh leans out of his window after taking a moment to consider the substitute race from a desperate friend.

"Let's do it!" He calls out, getting back into position to take off.

Aiden gets back into his car after waving to the anxious crowd, ready to see a winner. The angst among the group soars even more with the final race. The two leaders of their respective teams wait to go. It doesn't take long before they're off speeding for the finale.

Josh takes an early lead down to First Street, but Aiden has the edge having the inside cutting the corner sharply. Josh takes notice that there's virtually no traffic out that night and diverts into the wrong lane with a drift giving him the lead.

He cries out in excitement, ready for the quick route down Hal Greer. Aiden gains back the lost ground but is still just behind the Probe.

"Damn man, this kid is fast!" Aiden says, pushing his car to its limit nearing the final left-hand turn.

Neither of them heeds the red light at the intersection of Hal Greer Boulevard and Third Avenue. The speed exceeds nearly forty-five miles per hour into the turn as they both almost lose control. The pressure mounts over them to win continues to increase. Aiden uses his experience to regain the lead, but Josh's turbo helps boost him back nose to nose down the right-hand merge onto Veterans Way.

The crowd can hear them coming, and within seconds a blur of Charcoal Gray and Forest Green soars across the line, followed by brakes locked up with the cars squalling to a halt. Once again, the crowd comes alive when they realize the impossible has happened, with Aiden crossing the line a split second after Josh.

Humiliated by the loss, Aiden pulls back into the parking lot with his head held low. He's hesitant to exit his car while the crowd surrounds him and Josh with exhilaration.

"Dude, that was completely badass!" Max comes up to say to Josh, giving him a colossal Latino bear hug.

"Yeah, boy, I knew we could do it, and we did damn it! We own Huntington, and pretty soon, we're going to take over Kanawha City!" Josh announces, raising his arms in victory released from Max's bear hug.

Aiden overhears him mention his next goal and walks up to congratulate the young men on their victory and discuss what he means by taking over K.C.

"Hey, congrats, man, you earned it, good race Hoss," Aiden says, giving Josh a handshake out of sportsmanship. "What's this about going to Kanawha City to take it over too. You drive up there to race?"

The boys come over, standing side by side, cemented together as a unit.

"You can bet your butt we make that drive. It's worth it; the cars, the women, and the experience will trump this place, hands down. We're heading up after school lets out. Y'all are more than welcome to roll with us." Justin offers speaking up for the team.

"Hey, we could use some new exposure. I mean, Josh did travel out to Ironton to get in good with us. We owe them, and besides, they did beat us, and if there's a secret to how they did it, maybe it's up there. Couldn't hurt right, Big A." Eddie pops off before any of his friends could respond.

In a single motion, Aiden extends his hand out. Josh takes it with a firm handshake not only to acknowledge the win for his team but accepting their offer to meet up to make the drive up I-64 to K.C. and see what they're missing out on all this time.

"Two teams, one goal, my friends, we go, we learn, and we kick some ass," Aiden states, still gripping Josh's hand.

"I like that plan, we'll kick it here until summer break, and then we show South Charleston how we do it here in Huntington. Let the rivalry burn again!" Josh says with his friends seeing a different side of him that he doesn't show anywhere except at the strip.

As the rest of the night unfolds, everyone keeps talking about the races and goes over to chat with both teams, who come together, creating new friendships. It's a night where tensions die down, and everyone enjoys their time until the late hours.