Racing for Freedom by Bec Botefuhr Page A

trembling with rage and emotion. Slade is the reason she’s dead. Slade…Slade. It’s all his fault? No, god no, it can’t be. I hear the sound of the charger pull up beside me when I’m a few blocks down, but I don’t stop. I can’t look at him right now. I can’t.
    “Dash, get in the car.”
    I keep running, my hair is stuck to my face and I’m freezing. From the inside out, I’m cold and depressed. Slade pulls the car over and leaps out, running over and gripping me. I punch his chest over and over, pummeling my tiny fists into him.
    “HOW COULD YOU?” I scream.
    “Dash, please, listen.”
    “You killed them!”
    “No, god, no Dasha. I didn’t.”
    “You did, you were drunk, you caused that line up!”
    He grips me and shakes me so hard my teeth rattle together. I reach up and slap him, then I raise my hand to do it again but he grips it. He drags me over to his car and opens the back door, shoving me in. I struggle and scream , I don’t want to listen to him. He shoves me down onto the seat and firmly puts his body over mine. I struggle and squirm, but he’s too heavy. He leans over and pulls the door shut behind us.
    “Let go of me Slade, get off me!”
    “No,” he whispers. “Not until you listen.”
    “I don’t want to listen!” I scream. “I hate you.”
    “It wasn’t me, Dasha! It wasn’t my fault.”
    “It was your fault.”
    I could see the torture in his eyes when he said the next words.
    “No, it was your dads.”
    I reach up to slap him again but he pins my hands above my head. My body is squirming beneath his, but he won’t budge. His body is hard over mine and we’re both soaked. He lowers his face down and I can smell him. God dammit, I hate him, I do. I do. I do.
    “You will listen to me Dasha, because it’s time this came out. It wasn’t my fault that happened. I was going slow , yes, I was drunk and angry. I caused a line up because I was all over the place. I’d just pulled over and cars were starting to pass me. We were on a straight, your dad was speeding because he’d been drinking. He hit those cars, he should have seen them from a mile away but he wasn’t paying attention. He hit them, he could have stopped. I took the blame, for years, I took it Dash. He tried to have me charged, but they couldn’t find me guilty, aside from drink driving, my car was pulled over at the time of the accident. I blamed myself for years, he blamed me, he still does, but he knows who did it, why do you think he hides? I fucked up Dash, I should have never gotten into that car and part of me will always be at fault for that, but your dad should have seen those cars, he should have seen them…he was drunk Dash.”
    “No,” I whimper, shaking my head from side to side.
    “Yes, baby.”
    “NO!” I scream. “He would have told me.”
    “No, because he hasn’t admitted to himself that it was him, he’s still blaming me. Why do you think he hates me so much?”
    “He would have told me.”
    “He doesn’t want to accept it, Dash!”
    “No…no…”
    “He only got away with it because I took the blame, they never questioned him. I got done for drink driving, but because I didn’t directly cause the crash, I got away with manslaughter.”
    I stare up at him and tears stumble down my cheeks. “Why would you take the blame?”
    “Because I caused the lineup. I knew he was drunk when I got out of my car at the scene, I could smell it on him. The cops didn’t question it then, they were only looking at me. I let them blame me, I was protecting him even when he didn’t deserve to be protected. I was protecting you , Dash, because I couldn’t break you further than you were already broken. You were about to lose your mum, I couldn’t have you lose your dad too.”
    “You…did it for me?”
    He nods, staring deep into my eyes. “I’d do anything for you Dash, I wish you knew that.”
    “You could have lost your career.”
    “You lost your mum, it wasn’t exactly much