Felix stopped in at A1 Garage on his way home from university. His brother Dino worked there.

“Hey, Felix, how was varsity today?” Dino said, his head still bent down inside a car engine. He stood up and called to his boss Petros, “You see this boy? One day he’s going to be more successful than all of us. A big accountant in one of those glass buildings downtown.”

“Good,” Petros said, “then you can ask him for money for that bloody car of yours.”

Felix knew Petros was joking, and though he didn’t really like giving Dino money for his race car, he gave it because he loved seeing what Dino could do. He was a genius with cars. Everybody knew it. Felix too had seen how Dino would work on his own car in the garage when they had nothing else to do. Often Felix saw Petros standing next to a customer’s car Dino was working on, and listening and learning about what was happening and why his mechanic was doing it.

Dino said he could feel a car. He could feel if a car needed a different diff to get to its maximum speed, or a longer crankshaft, or a wider exhaust. A lot of the people he raced against on Saturdays at the street racing brought their cars to him. He liked to win, but he never cheated other racers when fixing their cars. Not because he had high morals or anything, but because he cared the most about the cars. The cars always came first.

“What you doing?” Felix asked his big brother.

“I’m adjusting the fuel injector. The mix is not perfect, not yet at least.” He took his head out of the engine and wiped his hands on the cloth hanging from his belt. “Where’s Miriam?”

Felix didn’t like talking about his girlfriend with his brother, but Dino often felt he had to play the role of father since their dad died six years before. “She’s coming by the house later. She’s got a late lab at varsity.”

“Chopping up dead people again?” Dino asked. Miriam was studying forensic science at UCT and Dino found that interesting. He liked hearing about the university that he never got a chance to attend. Not because he wasn’t clever, but because he needed to get working fast after their father died.

“No, today it’s a microbiology lab.”

“You two are getting serious neh?”

“I like her.” Felix didn’t want to talk about this. Yes, he liked Miriam – a lot. She was a serious person, and a loving one too. She came from a good family. Her parents raised three daughters on the Cape Flats and all three went to university. Miriam was the youngest. The other two had good jobs, the oldest was married.

“Listen, Felix, I don’t want to get in your business, but you be careful with that girl. There are girls you play with, everyone knows that. And then there are girls like Miriam. Girls like Miriam are rare, and if you get one, you need to treat her right. You need to treat her right and hold her tightly. Don’t mess it up.”

“OK Dino. Listen I gotta go. See you at supper.”

Felix headed for home. He smiled thinking about what Dino said. He was right though. Miriam was not a girl to be played with, but he didn’t intend to. Though they never talked about it, he was going to marry Miriam one day. After university he was going to ask her, and she was going to say yes. He had everything planned out, their whole life. That’s how Felix was. He had it all planned out in his head, but it was a secret – for now.

*****

“So, you coming to the races with me on Saturday?” Felix asked Miriam. They sat on the back stoep watching Dino fiddle with his car.

“You know those races scare me. Anything could happen, running races on the public roads and all,” Miriam said.

Dino poked his head out of the car. “We got guys directing traffic. We’re careful there, not like other places. Nothing’s gonna happen.”

He went back to work. Felix took Miriam’s hand. “Come on, please. You know I want to see Dino race. It’s a big one this weekend. If he wins he could make a lot of money. It’s important to me. Please say you’ll come with me.”

Miriam struggled to say no to Felix, ever. “OK, fine. I’ll go. But I’m staying far back. If you run up to the road, don’t think I’ll be going up there with you. I don’t want to get hit by a car.”

“That’s fine. Thanks.” Felix kissed her on the cheek. He would have kissed her on the lips except that even though Dino seemed to be working on his car, he had eyes everywhere.

“What are you going to do when I buy my own car and start racing?” Felix said.

Miriam looked at him. “Buy your own racing car? You mean you want to be a street racer?”

“Sure why not?”

“Are you crazy? Besides the fact that street racing is dangerous, where are you going to get all of that money? Dino is always buying parts for his car. Pulling out things, replacing other things. By now he could have bought a house with all of that money.”

“But he makes money too.”

“Still. I don’t like the idea of you getting involved in street racing like that. I don’t think your mother would like it much either. Dino probably already gives her sleepless nights.”

“Yeah, well. For now, I’m just a spectator. It’s not like I have any money for a car even if I wanted to buy one.”

“Good,” Miriam said. “I hope it stays that way.”

***

Tell us: What do you think about illegal street racing?