Night of Thunder

That’s why he was the Si

He turned his iPod way, way up until his anthem blasted melancholy from his brain.

Si

Go

Sea won’t you hide me?

Run to the sea

Sea won’t you hide me?

But the sea, it was a boilin’

All on that day

Now it was on to business. He looked up at the towering speedway, its circularity gone this far under its shadow, so that it was just a wall of girders and walkways on the underside of the steep auditorium seating. Next to it, silver in the August heat, was the faux-streamline building of the speedway headquarters, which looked to him like a Greyhound station in about 1937. It sat atop a shelf of land, and down here, beneath it, was the grid of lanes of NASCAR Village and all its little retail outlets. A gully, some kind of drainage arrangement full of dirty water, split NASCAR Village in two. But there were two bridges across the cha

He moseyed over to the far side of the gully and found exactly more of the same for another square mile or so, the tents and booths, the walkways, somewhat tackier here, the sense of bizarre for the pilgrims where everything was a holy relic of the faith, all for sale and not cheap. Beyond the village was the hill that lay at the end of a long scut of ridges trending down from the north. He let his gaze fall upon the tip of the hill probably a mile off and six hundred feet up, through mud and inclined forests. He knew that, as in many old fables, paradise lay atop the mountain. I have been to the mountaintop, wasn’t that it? But before you got to the mountaintop you had to cross a river and a plain, bringing fire and destruction along with you. What was this, the Bible?

Ah well, he thought, continuing with his map: Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.

TWENTY-FIVE

The caravan left at 4 A.M. to avoid Race Day traffic and observant eyes and to get set up early. It consisted of the Reverend Grumley in the lead car, Brother Richard driving, and two senior Grumleys, a Caleb and a Jordan, both of whom promptly fell asleep, in the back. In the second vehicle, a truck which bore the name PINEY RIDGE BAPTIST PRAYER CAMP carried most of the heavy equipment the long day’s toil would demand. The third, a van also bearing the name of the camp, consisted mostly of man- and firepower. The fourth, a pickup, bore as its loads the tents and over ten thousand bottles of water, as well as ice, coolers, NASCAR hats, T-shirts, King Richard cowboy straw Stetsons, Kyle Busch caps, and other NASCAR trinkets that would justify their presence at the location. The fifth, another van, contained more men, though these were the humbler Grumleys, the tire-change team, and others with various and sundry little tasks, according to the master plan.

The five vehicles moved through a desolate, almost-unlit Mountain City, across Iron Mountain-the spot where Si

There was no chatter. Brother Richard drove with his usual deft touch, the car alive in his hands, while the Reverend stared glumly into the darkness.

A cellphone rang to the tune of “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here.”

The Reverend took the phone from his powder blue suit jacket and examined the caller ID.

“His master’s voice,” said Brother Richard. “Who else’d have the number and call at this hour?”

“Yes,” said the Reverend into the cell.

He listened.

“Yes, again.”

He listened some more.

“Absolutely.”

A few more seconds passed.

“I guarantee it. They are well prepared. I myself am here to lead. It will happen exactly as pla

Brother Richard could tell he was cut off.

Finally he said, “You have my assurances. And I have yours. Then I will see you when we are home free and ready to celebrate.”

He put the phone away. His dark mood was not alleviated.

“That’s the big boss,” said Brother Richard. “That would be the gent that actually thought this up, as it clearly lies beyond the Grumley IQ pool. He’s got his doubts about you, Reverend, I can tell. He wants reassurances, guarantees. A big pair of dice are about to be rolled and, nervous as a cat like the rest of us, he just wants to make certain you have covered all the bases, right?”

The Reverend was silent.

“Sure would like to know who’s on the other end of that phone. Got my ideas. Yes, I do.”

“I ain’t at no liberty to discuss certain business arrangements with a rogue like you, Brother Richard. Don’t think I didn’t notice your head went unbowed during my words with the Master before we left. That is a ticket to damnation, sir.”

“I am already thrice damned,” said Richard. “Which ain’t nothing to you, old man, you are probably thirty-eight times damned or some such, for all your si

“Hellfire,” said the old preacher man. “Damnation Road. Streaks of fiery lightning. Endtimes. That’s your fate and you will rue it when Satan opens the door with his big smile and welcomes you to the flames of eternal torture.”

“Hoochie mama,” said Richard. “I like it. The sea be aboilin’, the moon be ableedin’, and the Si

“We be Scots-Irish border-reiver heritage. This talk does us no good.”

“Did he remind you he had video of you and-”

“Shut your mouth,” snapped the Reverend.

“Them boys back there, cousin or brother or both at once, are sleeping the sleep of the purely i

“Nevertheless, shut your mouth.”

“Touchy, touchy. But I did learn something interesting today. Yes, I did. I see now the nature of your relationship with the fellow who runs you.”

“You know nothing.”

“Tell me if I’m wrong. He’s somebody you knew before. He’s somebody close to you. He may even be family. First off, I hear something troubled in your voice, and I hear you let him cut you off, when no one other than me ever cuts you off. So he is familiar to you. An old sponsor? Someone who saved your life? A cellmate? Someone who’s profited off you as you’ve profited off him over long standing? I hear intimacy. Damn, who’d a thought? But that ain’t all.”

“Do tell, Brother. You are so full of yourself. Pride goeth before the fall.”

“Sir, I done already fallen, which is why I consort with your likes. The second reason is, when this is done, there’s got to be a transfer, almost like a dope deal. You will deliver him the swag, he will take his lion’s share, you and the boys will squabble over what’s left. This is a tricky transaction, I know, I’ve driven kingpins to and from enough buys. Usually there are a lot of guns involved for security, paranoia is ru