That was when I went for Derik’s funeral. There was a terrible accident the week after I got my NHRA license. He never got to see me compete but I swore I’d win every single time for him. I know he was watching and helping me because I won all but two of my races. I wasn’t racing at the tracks though, I was doing the illegal drags. After my second loss I took the car in and had everything redone so it could be an everyday driving car with a decent engine. She’s my baby. It’s what I have left of Derik. He wound up becoming a great friend. He was a very patient teacher that had me in stitches most of the time with his cockiness. I miss him. Jack and I are back to our pre-dating selves. Tasha and I, of course, made up and I’ve come a long way with my therapy. She and Danny were worried about me for a while. I had the fuck it attitude toward everything after Derik passed. You know the kind, where it doesn’t matter what you do because we’re all going to die anyways? Yeah, I went through a couple of phases.
