Chapter 12

Rikiina Valmaat won the Finnish Cup Junior Division ... and didn't start all the races. She missed tammikuu, January. helmikuu, February. maaliskuu, March. and huhtikuu, April. She missed the first three because her brother was her brother and she missed April because her brother was a transferee. Yeah, confused me too.

Her brother was an ass of the first water. Rikiina was a better driver when she was twelve than he was when he was seventeen. That's not to say he wasn't good ... he was good enough to win the Junior F-Cup but his personality sucked.

So for three months of races, a better driver stayed home and grouched while an older and wiser brother raced. (Older and wiser were his words ... not necessarily the truth.) Then he was arrested speeding between stages: Not smart.

Because he was a minor in the eyes of the court, David's income was listed the same as Dalmar Valmaat ... and Dalmar Valmaat's official income ... including bonuses and options ... was on record as being 54.5 million Krona ($6.5 million USD) a year, the court fined David 863,160.3 Krona ($103,000USD) and 20 hours of community service.

The community service was court ordered to be harvesting hay with a scythe ... which is how I got to be David on his world and he got to be David on mine.

Now and again, when I had just finished giving 17 year old Wendy Valmaat the several massive, earth shaking orgasms that she begged for ... I managed to wonder how that other David was doing on my earth. Just until I caught my breath...

When my brain started functioning again ... I stopped worrying.

Da had promised me a job more suited to my education:

My job? Dal made me team coordinator ... not manager ... coordinator. Wendy became the manager. Wicked Stepmom was assigned the position of Public Relations ... and sponsorship acquirer. She was a schmoozer and conniver and would have made a great supply sergeant.

The support group mechanics were the rest of my sisters and half sisters. We all got paid in a manner of speaking. There was a budget, we ate out of that budget, the team lorries came out of that budget. Parts, cars and tents were part of the budget. Salaries ... except Riki ... were paid out of the budget.

Usually we ran out of money before we ran out of month ... but we all got to eat, sleep in the team lorry and enjoy our community traveling sauna ... together ... mostly.

Riki won what she won, and supported herself with her winnings. The reason she won after starting so late? No mistakes ... no wrecks ... no offs ... she wasn't as fast as she would be after she moved up to adult but she was fast enough to win every remaining race.

First place garners 25 points, second;18, third;15. The fourth, which is 12 points, through ninth drop 2 points each place and tenth is one point. Everyone lower than 10th is an also ran and collect no points. The first four months of Junior racing had no repeat winners and the previous winners were lucky to add one or two points per additional race finish. Second, third and fourth place finishers seldom placed in the races before May, when Riki started winning everything.

She turned sixteen, continued to race in Finland as a junior until the Paris to Monte Carlo. She declared Adult status and entered as a privateer semi sponsored by Subaru and Valmaat and placed second in the Monte Carlo. After the Carlo the racers returned to Finland and Sweden to race on the Lakes. And that was completely unfair to the pros.

There is an assortment of stand seating and the price of the seating depends on the turn. The ice races have laps ... they aren't a modified straight line. The plows get out on the meter thick lake ice and make a road course 7 to 15 kilometers long with lots of 180 degree turns, high speed straights and nasty switchbacks and the shortest race was 15 laps on the short track and the race on the 15K was five.

When that ordeal was over the next race was 12 kilometers on the freshly plowed backroads ... always including The Hill. The fans drive to their favorite watching spot and park their cars in a farmers field. Every one knows you could freeze to death out in the field so there is always liberal human antifreeze ... Finnish made Ström Vodka, the only vodka made with potatoes, French Brandy, beer, Scottish Scotch and English Whisky being the most popular.

We're not talking about or spreading rumors of copious amounts of home distilled alcohol of the 151 proof ... or higher ... that comes in quart jars ... no sir ... not talking about that.

The libations make getting home to the hotels ... interesting.