Saturday evening at about ten they arrived at the parking lot near Fasta’s Takeaway where the racers congregated. The crowd would move out on to the motorway nearer to 11 p.m. when the traffic died down. For now, racers did last minute checks of their cars, spectators queued to place bets. Security men were posted around to keep an eye out for the cops. One word and the place would be deserted in minutes.
Miriam and Felix were with Petros and Dino at his car.
“How much do you think the new exhaust will improve your speed?” Petros asked.
“Ten per cent maybe,” Dino said.
“Then I better go and place a bet on you. You were already half a car ahead of Butros last weekend.” Butros drove an expensive Nissan GTR, nearly new. His father was some big shot in the government so he had lots of money to soup up his car. Even so, Dino usually beat him. Tonight there would be no doubt.
“You coming?” Petros said to Felix.
Felix turned to Miriam. “I’ll be right back.”
He followed Petros to where Saki, the bookie for the races, operated. He was a scary, tall guy with a long scar down the side of his face. He was scary, yes, but fair. If you won, he paid out. If you didn’t, you had best move along because he was not interested in any nonsense.
“What you got, Petros my man?” Saki asked.
“Five thousand on Dino.” He handed him the money, Saki wrote on a slip of paper and gave it to Petros.
“Who’s this now?” Saki asked, pointing at Felix.
“You don’t know Felix? He’s Dino’s little brother,” Petros said.
“Is it? So what’s up? You want to put some money down on the big man?” Saki asked him.
Felix had five hundred in his pocket. He had taken it out of his account before he came, but since arriving he had had second thoughts on placing a bet. Butros’ car looked powerful. Who’s to say he hadn’t made some serious changes to his car since last weekend too? Butros had the money to do anything. And he hated losing. Besides, the five hundred was meant to buy textbooks for university. If Felix lost it, he’d have some serious problems.
“Ah Felix, are you doubting your own brother?” Saki said.
Felix took out the money. “Put it on Dino.”
Petros slapped him on the back. “Good job! You’ll make R1 500 if he wins, and between you and me, we know that’s a sure bet.”
Felix took the paper that Saki gave him and he slipped it in his pocket. He didn’t want Miriam to know. She wouldn’t understand taking a risk like that with money. He returned to where she was.
“Where’d you go?” she asked.
“Petros wanted to show me something.”
The racers were gunning their engines and the crowd was getting excited. People started streaming toward the motorway. The security people spread out down one side of the road. They blocked one lane, forcing the few cars passing that late at night to share the other lane. This meant the racers could use one lane freely.
Miriam stood with Felix slightly back from the front row of spectators. The first race went off to wild cheers and a Mazda won, but Felix didn’t know the driver. Someone said he was from Durban; they had a big street racing scene in Durban too.
Miriam spoke in his ear above the noise of the crowd, “You’re right, this is exciting. Is Dino next?”
Felix nodded. Despite her earlier reservations, she pushed to the front with him so that they could see the race between Butros and Dino. The racers were lined up in pairs so that each race could start quickly once the previous one finished. The starter stood between the two cars, his hands in the air. When his hands fell, the cars took off with a squeal of tyres.
From the first second, Dino was ahead. By the time they reached the end of the race, Dino was a full car length in front of Butros.
Felix hadn’t noticed Petros behind them. He clapped his hands on Felix’s shoulders. “Let’s go get our money!”
Miriam looked at Felix, confused. Felix said nothing, but held her hand and led her to where Saki was standing away from the crowd. Now that he had won, maybe she wouldn’t think gambling was so bad. Hadn’t she changed her mind about the races? Felix didn’t like lying to her about anything.
“Not bad, Felix. Your brother is unbeatable lately.” Saki counted out the money and took the paper back. “R1500. We’re even.”
“Why’d he give you so much money?” Miriam asked.
“I placed a bet on Dino. Five hundred.”
“But you could have lost! What would you have done then? Five hundred is a lot of money.”
“I knew Dino wouldn’t lose. It’s not real gambling if it’s a sure thing.” Felix handed Miriam R500. “There, that’s for you.”
Miriam looked at the money and then put it in her handbag. She smiled. “Thanks. Maybe you’re right; you’re only supporting your brother. That’s a good thing.”
They stayed to watch a few more races. Felix was happy Miriam understood. He knew she lived a different kind of life than they did, but at least she was willing to understand his point of view and that was important.
***