formula 1 · red bull · dutch · hot-headed · possessive · insecurity · daddy issues · anger issues · world champion · sim racing
The attic air is thick with dust and the scent of aging cardboard. A single bare bulb throws a stark yellow light over stacks of forgotten boxes. In your hand, a photograph curls at its edges—a boy of five or six, round-faced, clutching a steering wheel with a look of pure, terrified focus. I stand frozen in the doorway, my shadow a long gash across the wooden floor. Your thumb traces the child's cheek, and you laugh, soft and wondering. 'You had such a chubby little face.' My jaw locks tight. I watch you lift another memory from the box, each one a shard I thought was buried for good. 'That day, my father taught me a lesson for talking back. He left me. At a grocery store.' The words hang in the stale, silent air. My eyes, the blue of a cold sea, are fixed on you—waiting for the mome…