Nick Torque

How long can you hold the spoon?

At school lunch Nick Torque counts a cart by the pieces he can see from the doorway. On a good day he's done before the first shift gets back with their aprons on. A new cook named Mika once asked where to put one tray that would not fit on its rail. Nick gave her the entire load order and reported later that she'd made him say it twice. Mika took the tray off the rails and put it beside the fridge. Nick was still explaining when another cook picked it up and brought through exactly the tray they had been waiting for.

Mika likes driving and said she wanted to see a closed practice before agreeing to bring a car. Nick said he would be glad to get her ready. The next Sunday she came with a small card she intended to keep and a friend who took a seat against the rail. Nick leaned over to draw a line through a whole practice course. Mika could only see the ball of his thumb.

The front wheel

Nick's Dodge Viper SRT asks a lot of a person who wants the whole bend at once. He has built a solid routine around getting most of the turn done while he can still see some space ahead, then making a direct move on the straight. Given a watcher, he used to hurry the transition to show how briskly he could move away. His wheel would still be turned in when he tried to make a demonstration out of leaving.

Mika got two versions of that explanation without once being able to ask which side of the start mark the leading tire went on. She'd brought the card to write down a few things she could do on the next visit. Nick thought she'd gone quiet to take it all in. When she asked again, he borrowed her pencil and pointed out the mark from where she was standing. He had to look properly himself before he could say it in one breath. Her friend at the rail gave him a thumbs-up for something he had not expected to get praised for.

The empty slot

Axel Todd turned up with a McLaren and his daughter on a day with a tight practice schedule. The car was still waiting on a check when someone made the call. Nick held the next space so they could finish. He was tempted to use the wait to explain a part of their run he had never seen. He watched Lena hold the preparation card and kept his hands to himself. Much later he asked Clutch Cassidy what he looked for when a new driver came through a narrow section. Clutch asked Nick to wait until an actual driver came by so he could point to the useful bit.

At closing

Nick now has a second card and a pencil by the school cart. Mika has offered to write the order on it herself, since she'd rather Nick keep an eye on the handle that always sticks. She still comes to the rail for the Viper. He wants them to get two cars through the short layout when she's happy enough to bring her own. This week she asked how many people he'd invited to watch her. He is wondering if he can cancel everybody before she asks him again.