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The cops wanted to know where Dom was. Brian said he didn't know. They asked where his car was. He told them it was with Dom, wherever he was. His superiors weren't pleased, the FBI weren't pleased. All they had were two dead Trans, a dead kid who'd bet a car that wasn't his, a shot injured thief in hospital and no sign of anyone else. Brian had shrugged when he was picked apart. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing he could do. Nothing mattered to him anymore. He'd walked away when they were still yelling at him. Someone yelled something about if he walked away now, he'd never get that badge he wanted and he wouldn't even have a job. He didn't turn back.
He went back to Harry's place. Brian told him everything. The undiluted truth, nothing left out. His cover as a new street racer, his love for Mia and dislike of Vince, his close friendship with Dom and then his decision, to let the king of the streets and wanted criminal drive away. Everything. Harry was silent for a long time
"You've told me the truth" it was a statement not a question
Brian nodded and cracked a bittersweet smile
"Yep, you're the first to know everything"
Harry looked at him as he sat behind the counter, hands playing with a spare part. Brian felt as though he could look through him; see everything from his inside out. He didn't smile, just let it happen. It was good not to pretend anymore. It was good not to be yelled at. Harry knew him; he'd been the first one to accept him unconditionally, no tests of loyalty or fractured cliques. Harry liked his workmanship and trusted him.
"Why'd you come here Brian? Aren't there cops everywhere lookin for your hide?" Harry asked finally after a long pause
"Nah, I'm no longer their concern, just another punk street racer for them to round up" he said lightly
"Why'd you come back here Brian?" Harry asked again
"I wondered if I could keep my job here" Brian said, looking at Harry straight in the eye
Harry looked at him again, looking deep within, it felt like that anyway. Brian looked back, waiting, knowing an answer would come soon.
"Yes Brian you can" Harry replied at last "it don't pay well as you know but I'm willing to keep you here, besides I like your company and you're good with the racers"
"I thought I was just a snowman, another newbie for them to test out their wheels on"
"You had Dom's stamp of approval, everyone knew he liked you"
"Not anymore, he's gone, Leon, Letty, Mia, no one here to vouch for me"
"That approval'll stay Brian" Harry said "it'll stay until the day Dom steps down, he may be gone but he's still king here and they're just waiting for him to return, they know he will but for now Hector and Edwin'll manage things just fine"
Harry slowly got to his feet, taking the two empty mugs with him from the counter. Brian was silent, deep in memories and thought. All the things he'd seen, been part of in his short time here. He'd made a deeper impression than he'd ever know. He's become friends with the man who owned this place, in a way that no one else had
Harry moved to the backroom and was about to go through and leave Brian when he stopped and turned.
"You know why you came back don't you?" Harry called softly; Brian snapped out of his trance and looked at him questioningly "you belong here"
*
The Mexican sun blazed hotter than anything else Dom imagined. It didn't hurt, just pierced his skin. It wasn't too good on his cuts either. He ran a hand over his head, the blood from a cut on it streaking in its wake. His head felt like it wanted to explode; it was too full with everything that had happened. Mostly full of two images; Letty and Brian.
Letty as she sat in the back of Leon's car. Stripped of all her bravado and attitude. Shaking and injured, blood peppering her skin. She'd looked at him so scared. He'd never seen her scared like that. Never. Letty was tough, shit she was toughest chick he knew. She was one of the guys and his girl all in one. But at that moment, he'd truly seen her. Her fright and her anger. He'd see her again soon.
Brian as he stood in front of him, holding out a keychain. Brian's car keys. The cop was giving him a car. If it had been a movie, Dom would have laughed and called it unbelievable. But now, he believed. Brian had let him escape. He'd turned himself in effectively and was probably getting fried right now by his superiors. He wondered what Brian would say
"I owe you a ten second car"
That was what he'd said and that was what he'd given him. Dom had never expected it and it had happened. He didn't know what to think. He didn't want to think about it now. It was turning his brains to shit anyhow. As he lazily turned the steering wheel, he winced at the pain of his shoulder. It was slowly fading but it still hurt. A reminder. He didn't have far to go and then he'd be with his family. What was left of it.
*
Sit and watch. That was all Letty did mostly. That and work on Leon's car. It wasn't in too bad shape, just a little damaged here and there. It was what was under the hood that mattered and that was pretty much still intact.
There was silence everywhere here. Leon was silent, working on his car or drinking endlessly. He didn't want to stop. No one tried to stop him or try to talk about it to him. If they did, they'd all feel the pain and not want to deal with it. Jesse was dead. Mia had held him in her arms afterward; she'd told them that Dom had cried before taking off after the Trans and taking them down. With the help of Brian.
Mia was silent. She spent her days cooking for them, coming up with new things to create in the kitchen or writing in her diary. She'd appeared a few hours after Letty and Leon had arrived, blood staining her top and an empty look on her face. Dom was coming soon she'd said. She wouldn't talk about Brian, Letty had tried to talk to her about it but Mia just shook her head and walked away. The pain was too fresh to touch yet. She didn't even have a photo to remember him by, just the memories. She was locked into her own loneliness. The man she loved was gone
Letty knew how that felt. That's why she watched and waited. Sat outside the house watching the horizon. They were in Mexico, the very place Dom had told them to go. Only he wasn't here. Letty continued to work on that car until the sun died. She had to do something rather than go back to an empty bed. Mia had to do that too. She understood, the sadness so obvious in her young eyes.
"Do you want some food Letty?"
Mia's soft voice broke through Letty's thoughts. She started and turned around smiling. Mia was walking towards her from the house. She looked like a gypsy with a flowered bandana covering her hair. Letty had been working on the car but now was sat on the hood, watching the sun. Mia sat down beside her, waiting for her speak. She knew the words would come. They were all very deliberate with their words now.
"How's Leon?"
"OK, he's eating more, he's channel surfin right now, just staring at the screen"
"It's all he does, stare, work, stare, work, drink, a lot"
Mia cracked a smile. Letty was struck by the fact of how beautiful she looked. She realised she hadn't seen the smile for a bit. They'd had nothing to smile about.
"Yeah he's got a routine all right, he needs one right now"
"Still missing Jesse?"
"How can he not? Jess was a little brother to him"
"To all of us"
They let the comment fill the silence between them. It was comfortable as they both looked out at the orange stained sky. It was so beautiful, like a painting and it stirred both the very different girls' hearts. Letty turned her gaze to the beach she could see, pain slicing through her as she remembered Dom's last face-to-face words to her
"You and me on a sandy beach in Mexico"
That was his dream. Now here was the beach and it was in Mexico, Letty was here but where was Dom? When Mia had pulled into the driveway last night, Letty had asked her and Mia had told her he'd gone to make amends and that he was coming soon, following Brian and the two Trans Brian was trailing in his father's car. The car he'd never driven.
Mia looked at her friend; she seemed lost in thought. Mia could see in her eyes she was thinking about Dom, her eyes were sad. She sighed and gently reached over for one of Letty's hands. Letty looked down as the sister of her man held her hand gently and smiled. Mia knew; Mia knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. But unlike Mia, Letty was going to get that love back. Her love was coming back soon, she just knew that. Brian wouldn't ever come back, he was exiled now. Exiled from everything probably; his job, both his lives. He was in limbo with no where to go. Letty knew that Mia desperately wanted to talk to him but felt guilty about even thinking about doing it; Dom would disapprove, a lot and Dom's word was law in this family. He was everything to Mia; father, mother, brother and friend. He was everything to Letty too. Everything to people on the street circuit, the king, commander, leader. With that came respect you couldn't measure.
Letty looked back at the house. She could see the flickering lights of the TV set and Leon's outline watching it, an un-seeing expression on his face. It made her ache inside to think of him there, empty. He wasn't speaking, just working and watching. It was like he was permanently under water and needed to be brought back to the surface soon before he disappeared.
Watching and waiting. Letty returned her gaze to the road the wound towards and past the house. The road that soon Dom would drive down. Soon. How soon? She sighed, it sounded like a strained breath, hard to get out of her constricted chest. She frowned, willing herself to keep the tears in. No one saw her cry. Mia squeezed her hand lightly and smiled when Letty turned her way. Letty noticed that Mia had tears in her own eyes and wrapped an arm around her
"Oh baby, its ok, cry all you want, you need to" Letty whispered into her hair
Mia nodded, the tears spilling freely from her eyes. She'd lost so much; her boyfriend, Jess who was like a brother to her, Vince who was lying in some hospital somewhere so that when he recovered he'd be arrested and it felt like she'd lost Dom. Letty held her silently, steadying Mia's shaking form as she watched and waited. Her eyes never left the road. She couldn't stop watching. Not until Dom was back would she stop watching and waiting when another piece of their shattered family was brought back to them.
The cops wanted to know where Dom was. Brian said he didn't know. They asked where his car was. He told them it was with Dom, wherever he was. His superiors weren't pleased, the FBI weren't pleased. All they had were two dead Trans, a dead kid who'd bet a car that wasn't his, a shot injured thief in hospital and no sign of anyone else. Brian had shrugged when he was picked apart. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing he could do. Nothing mattered to him anymore. He'd walked away when they were still yelling at him. Someone yelled something about if he walked away now, he'd never get that badge he wanted and he wouldn't even have a job. He didn't turn back.
He went back to Harry's place. Brian told him everything. The undiluted truth, nothing left out. His cover as a new street racer, his love for Mia and dislike of Vince, his close friendship with Dom and then his decision, to let the king of the streets and wanted criminal drive away. Everything. Harry was silent for a long time
"You've told me the truth" it was a statement not a question
Brian nodded and cracked a bittersweet smile
"Yep, you're the first to know everything"
Harry looked at him as he sat behind the counter, hands playing with a spare part. Brian felt as though he could look through him; see everything from his inside out. He didn't smile, just let it happen. It was good not to pretend anymore. It was good not to be yelled at. Harry knew him; he'd been the first one to accept him unconditionally, no tests of loyalty or fractured cliques. Harry liked his workmanship and trusted him.
"Why'd you come here Brian? Aren't there cops everywhere lookin for your hide?" Harry asked finally after a long pause
"Nah, I'm no longer their concern, just another punk street racer for them to round up" he said lightly
"Why'd you come back here Brian?" Harry asked again
"I wondered if I could keep my job here" Brian said, looking at Harry straight in the eye
Harry looked at him again, looking deep within, it felt like that anyway. Brian looked back, waiting, knowing an answer would come soon.
"Yes Brian you can" Harry replied at last "it don't pay well as you know but I'm willing to keep you here, besides I like your company and you're good with the racers"
"I thought I was just a snowman, another newbie for them to test out their wheels on"
"You had Dom's stamp of approval, everyone knew he liked you"
"Not anymore, he's gone, Leon, Letty, Mia, no one here to vouch for me"
"That approval'll stay Brian" Harry said "it'll stay until the day Dom steps down, he may be gone but he's still king here and they're just waiting for him to return, they know he will but for now Hector and Edwin'll manage things just fine"
Harry slowly got to his feet, taking the two empty mugs with him from the counter. Brian was silent, deep in memories and thought. All the things he'd seen, been part of in his short time here. He'd made a deeper impression than he'd ever know. He's become friends with the man who owned this place, in a way that no one else had
Harry moved to the backroom and was about to go through and leave Brian when he stopped and turned.
"You know why you came back don't you?" Harry called softly; Brian snapped out of his trance and looked at him questioningly "you belong here"
*
The Mexican sun blazed hotter than anything else Dom imagined. It didn't hurt, just pierced his skin. It wasn't too good on his cuts either. He ran a hand over his head, the blood from a cut on it streaking in its wake. His head felt like it wanted to explode; it was too full with everything that had happened. Mostly full of two images; Letty and Brian.
Letty as she sat in the back of Leon's car. Stripped of all her bravado and attitude. Shaking and injured, blood peppering her skin. She'd looked at him so scared. He'd never seen her scared like that. Never. Letty was tough, shit she was toughest chick he knew. She was one of the guys and his girl all in one. But at that moment, he'd truly seen her. Her fright and her anger. He'd see her again soon.
Brian as he stood in front of him, holding out a keychain. Brian's car keys. The cop was giving him a car. If it had been a movie, Dom would have laughed and called it unbelievable. But now, he believed. Brian had let him escape. He'd turned himself in effectively and was probably getting fried right now by his superiors. He wondered what Brian would say
"I owe you a ten second car"
That was what he'd said and that was what he'd given him. Dom had never expected it and it had happened. He didn't know what to think. He didn't want to think about it now. It was turning his brains to shit anyhow. As he lazily turned the steering wheel, he winced at the pain of his shoulder. It was slowly fading but it still hurt. A reminder. He didn't have far to go and then he'd be with his family. What was left of it.
*
Sit and watch. That was all Letty did mostly. That and work on Leon's car. It wasn't in too bad shape, just a little damaged here and there. It was what was under the hood that mattered and that was pretty much still intact.
There was silence everywhere here. Leon was silent, working on his car or drinking endlessly. He didn't want to stop. No one tried to stop him or try to talk about it to him. If they did, they'd all feel the pain and not want to deal with it. Jesse was dead. Mia had held him in her arms afterward; she'd told them that Dom had cried before taking off after the Trans and taking them down. With the help of Brian.
Mia was silent. She spent her days cooking for them, coming up with new things to create in the kitchen or writing in her diary. She'd appeared a few hours after Letty and Leon had arrived, blood staining her top and an empty look on her face. Dom was coming soon she'd said. She wouldn't talk about Brian, Letty had tried to talk to her about it but Mia just shook her head and walked away. The pain was too fresh to touch yet. She didn't even have a photo to remember him by, just the memories. She was locked into her own loneliness. The man she loved was gone
Letty knew how that felt. That's why she watched and waited. Sat outside the house watching the horizon. They were in Mexico, the very place Dom had told them to go. Only he wasn't here. Letty continued to work on that car until the sun died. She had to do something rather than go back to an empty bed. Mia had to do that too. She understood, the sadness so obvious in her young eyes.
"Do you want some food Letty?"
Mia's soft voice broke through Letty's thoughts. She started and turned around smiling. Mia was walking towards her from the house. She looked like a gypsy with a flowered bandana covering her hair. Letty had been working on the car but now was sat on the hood, watching the sun. Mia sat down beside her, waiting for her speak. She knew the words would come. They were all very deliberate with their words now.
"How's Leon?"
"OK, he's eating more, he's channel surfin right now, just staring at the screen"
"It's all he does, stare, work, stare, work, drink, a lot"
Mia cracked a smile. Letty was struck by the fact of how beautiful she looked. She realised she hadn't seen the smile for a bit. They'd had nothing to smile about.
"Yeah he's got a routine all right, he needs one right now"
"Still missing Jesse?"
"How can he not? Jess was a little brother to him"
"To all of us"
They let the comment fill the silence between them. It was comfortable as they both looked out at the orange stained sky. It was so beautiful, like a painting and it stirred both the very different girls' hearts. Letty turned her gaze to the beach she could see, pain slicing through her as she remembered Dom's last face-to-face words to her
"You and me on a sandy beach in Mexico"
That was his dream. Now here was the beach and it was in Mexico, Letty was here but where was Dom? When Mia had pulled into the driveway last night, Letty had asked her and Mia had told her he'd gone to make amends and that he was coming soon, following Brian and the two Trans Brian was trailing in his father's car. The car he'd never driven.
Mia looked at her friend; she seemed lost in thought. Mia could see in her eyes she was thinking about Dom, her eyes were sad. She sighed and gently reached over for one of Letty's hands. Letty looked down as the sister of her man held her hand gently and smiled. Mia knew; Mia knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. But unlike Mia, Letty was going to get that love back. Her love was coming back soon, she just knew that. Brian wouldn't ever come back, he was exiled now. Exiled from everything probably; his job, both his lives. He was in limbo with no where to go. Letty knew that Mia desperately wanted to talk to him but felt guilty about even thinking about doing it; Dom would disapprove, a lot and Dom's word was law in this family. He was everything to Mia; father, mother, brother and friend. He was everything to Letty too. Everything to people on the street circuit, the king, commander, leader. With that came respect you couldn't measure.
Letty looked back at the house. She could see the flickering lights of the TV set and Leon's outline watching it, an un-seeing expression on his face. It made her ache inside to think of him there, empty. He wasn't speaking, just working and watching. It was like he was permanently under water and needed to be brought back to the surface soon before he disappeared.
Watching and waiting. Letty returned her gaze to the road the wound towards and past the house. The road that soon Dom would drive down. Soon. How soon? She sighed, it sounded like a strained breath, hard to get out of her constricted chest. She frowned, willing herself to keep the tears in. No one saw her cry. Mia squeezed her hand lightly and smiled when Letty turned her way. Letty noticed that Mia had tears in her own eyes and wrapped an arm around her
"Oh baby, its ok, cry all you want, you need to" Letty whispered into her hair
Mia nodded, the tears spilling freely from her eyes. She'd lost so much; her boyfriend, Jess who was like a brother to her, Vince who was lying in some hospital somewhere so that when he recovered he'd be arrested and it felt like she'd lost Dom. Letty held her silently, steadying Mia's shaking form as she watched and waited. Her eyes never left the road. She couldn't stop watching. Not until Dom was back would she stop watching and waiting when another piece of their shattered family was brought back to them.