Disclaimer: I do not own the Fast and the Furious, it's characters, or situations. I am making no money from this work of fiction.
A/N: Welcome to the inner workings of Dom's mind. I alluded to this in the companion fiction Art Imitating Life. You don't have to read that one to enjoy this fic however, it definitely explains who Daphne is and Han's work in greater detail. This story will take you from Dom's time in jail right up to the beginning of the first movie. It should span six years of time giving me plenty to say, but I'll let the work speak for itself.
Coup D'état
Chapter 1: Incarceration
I would never be a senior in high school. I have my right arm and a three quarter torque wrench to thank for that. I'm lying awake on this cold metal bunk, my cell mate snoring on the bunk beneath me. I'm not angry, just sad and resigned. Sometimes I get confused but tonight I am very sad and resigned. I think I am starting to accept that I am eighteen and I am going to miss out on the next two years of my life. The whole high school senior experience was gone the moment the wrench hit Linder. I wouldn't get to take my girl to prom, I wouldn't graduate with my best friends, I wouldn't get to break the faces of the boys who were trying to push up on my sister.
I missed my family. I missed them, and yet I refused to let them come to visit me. They tried a couple of weeks ago but I refused to make a visit list. I didn't want anyone to see me in here. It would just remind me of what I was missing out there, of the freedom of the garage, of the rush of the streets. It only took me a week and a half to realize why jail was horrible. You remember how free you are on the outside, how you could take small decisions for granted like what shoes you wanted to wear or when to take a shower. I wasn't strong enough to resist the oppressiveness of this place knowing they could flit between this life and their life whenever they felt the need to check on me. So I kept them away and I thought about them, waiting for a time when I would be strong enough, composed enough, to allow contact between our separate existences.
I should have known that my refusal to let them come to me wouldn't stop them from keeping in contact. A month into my sentence I received a surprise when I went to check my commissary balance. I needed some new socks, the previous pair mysteriously disappearing while I was having lunch the day prior. I knew I had to be able to figure something out regarding my meager balance, knowing that I hadn't earned enough to buy a pair of socks yet. I was shocked when I saw a hundred extra dollars in my account. For a moment I wanted to question it and then my lips ghosted into a smile. Vince or Han, possibly both, must have sent this to me even though I was refusing to see them. Happily I got my socks, thankful I wouldn't have to get a start in the favor-trading business around here.
Thinking of the socks is what got me into a nostalgic mood tonight. According to the calendar my cell mate was keeping, I knew that Halloween would be coming up in a week. I sighed heavily contemplating the decision I was making. I wanted to be selfish, to give in to calling to check in. I wanted to hear their voices. I was ready to torture myself. Childishly I wanted to know if they missed me even though it was my self-imposed isolation that was keeping us apart. So the next night when I was allotted fifteen minutes to make phone calls I took the opportunity to call my house and see if anyone was home. For a moment I felt nervous. What if nobody was home? What if Mia no longer lived there? After a few moments I heard a cool female voice telling me that the receiver had accepted the call.
"DOM!" I recognized the voice immediately, my heart racing in my chest. Letty. My girl was there, apparently spending enough time at the house that she felt comfortable picking up the phone.
"Hey baby," I replied, my voice rough with emotion. It felt both wonderful and awful to speak to her. I could tell she was shocked that I called and her voice took on this fragile, feminine quality that she normally didn't display.
"We miss you man," she said quietly still fighting for control of her emotions.
"I miss all of you too."
"I miss you."
"Its ok baby," I could feel that she needed the reassurance.
"God I miss you," she told me again. This was painful to bear.
"Hey is anyone else there?"
"What? The gang's all here," she said excitedly. I was glad. As much as I wanted to hear her voice it was hurting me that my call had thrown a wrench in her system.
"I love you. I don't have much time. Can I speak to my sister?"
"Wait hold on," she rushed out before passing the phone to Mia.
"Dom! How are you?" Mia asked her voice overly perky.
"I'm good, I…"
"Are you getting enough to eat?" she cut me off, eager to get as much out of me as she could. Such a worrier my sister could be.
"Yeah and…"
"We decorated everything for Halloween," she continued. Mia loved to decorate for the holidays, quickly going overboard if you let her. Dad used to let her have free reign except in his garage space. Wait, did someone put the brakes on her this year or did she demolish the garage?
"Mia," I said slowly, deeply, "did you do the garage?"
"No I did not do the garage," she said in a crabby tone. Clearly someone, most likely Vince, had put their foot down on that issue.
"Good."
"Gosh no one will back me up on that," she replied glumly.
I hastened to change the subject, "Are you ok at the house?"
"Yeah I'm cool. Everyone's been really cool."
"Glad to hear it."
"I can't wait until you get back."
"Neither can I Mi. Listen, can I speak to Vince?"
"Stay safe bro."
"No, you stay safe sis. Stay out of trouble," I said, flipping into big brother mode, "And keep the decorations out of the garage."
"Ok ok," I could tell she was rolling her eyes.
"I love you little sis."
"I love you."
"Bye."
"Bye," she relayed to me before passing the phone to Vince.
"Yo man," Vince greeted me, his voice rougher than I remembered.
"Yo. Ya gettin' into fights with Mia so soon?"
"Whatever," Vince said, his temper rising slightly. They must have had the decorating discussion recently if he was feeling sore enough for the mention of it to affect his tone.
"I am surprised you could resist her," I teased. Mia's tenacity was Toretto legend.
"I am standing firm on that one," Vince replied ruefully.
"Way to man up Vince."
"You know it," he said before we both laughed. It felt good to laugh.
"So how are things at DT?"
"Business is good," I took that to mean that he was keeping things running smoothly.
"Thanks for looking out for it for me, for looking out for Mia and Letty…" I started but Vince cut me off, clearly uncomfortable with the direction I was heading.
"Everything will keep till you get home," he assured me.
"Sure. Hey your commissary kept me in socks. Keep it coming," I said half joking, mostly serious.
"Aigh't holla," he finished, handing the phone to Daphne.
"Hi Dom," Daphne said, her silky voice alight with wit. Han's girlfriend was so sharp that it made it difficult to follow her conversation if you didn't give it your undivided attention.
"Hey Daphne."
"You in denial yet?" the question caught me off guard. There would be no dancing around where I was with her.
"No. Resigned, but not in denial," I was surprised that I was able to tell her the truth.
"We could pretend it was like eternal summer camp," she offered brightly, not allowing me to fall into a foul mood.
"Summer camp?" I questioned disgustedly. I don't know why but the image of boy scouts all dressed alike in their uniforms immediately popped into my mind. I shuddered.
"You're right that is a worse hell," she said with laughter in her voice.
"How is Mia, seriously?"
"She's doing well Dom."
"And Letty?"
"Yes, Letty too."
"Keep an eye out for everyone, Han included," I told her, knowing she would protect them to the best of her ability. She'd keep them from making silly mistakes. Han had a winner on his hands with this one.
"I will."
"Bye Daphne."
"Bye," she told me before passing the phone to Han.
"Hey Dom."
"Hey Han, what's good? It sounds like everything is ok without me," I told him. I didn't mean for it to come out with a jealous edge. This call was really starting to affect me.
"We're maintaining," he told me in his calming voice.
"I'll bet," I couldn't help the dryness in my voice, "Are all of you staying at the house?" It suddenly dawned on me that maybe I had nothing to fear. If they were all still working at the café and the garage, perhaps they were taking up residence in the house too.
"No but we chill here a lot," he told me.
"Oh, you can all move in if you want," I told him eagerly. I was desperate to be useful somehow. I sighed, "I don't want Mia staying at home by herself."
"She's not, Letty's here," he replied quickly. I was reassured by the fact that Letty was staying there to keep Mia company.
"I didn't mean to leave her behind, to leave her alone," I said quietly. I was feeling melancholy all of a sudden.
"You haven't," Han said in his even tempered way. I was glad I saved these worries for him. He wouldn't let on how weak I was acting at the moment.
"Listen, I will write to you guys and try to call again in a couple of months. I just don't want to get into a regular habit…"I decided on the fly. I would make the effort but I didn't want them getting too used to the contact. It was still very difficult for me.
"That's cool." The guard tapped the phone with his night stick, swirling his fingers around to tell me to wrap it up.
"Well I have to go," I told him reluctantly.
"Yeah, be careful man and don't drop…" Han warned me. I started to laugh cutting across him. If only my worries were about the proverbial soap in the showers. I grinned, thinking of my missing socks. If only he knew. I was in more danger trying to keep my incidentals than getting taken advantage of in the showers.
"Jerk. Don't go there. Bye."
"Bye Dom," he chuckled. The phone disconnected and I immediately sat up, ready for my bunk.
I am happy to retreat to the relative quiet to reflect on the state of my family. Mia might be the only one of them related to me by blood but the rest of them were my family too. Vince and I had been best friends since we met in the third grade. I'll never forget how we started hanging as long as I live. Vince has always had this indescribable appetite which has been known to get him into loads of trouble. On this particular day Vince's mother apparently forgot to pack his lunch, at least that's what I thought that at the time. He was staring at everyone eat their sandwiches with a forlorn look in his eye. I caught him staring at my sandwich and gave him the evil eye. I was well behaved in class so the look caught him by surprise. Vince sized me up, figuring I was a pushover, then proceeded to stalk across the lunch room, ripping off my sandwich and chips in the process. Before he could feel smug about it I proceeded to whip his ass right there in front of the teachers and my classmates.
The two of us were hungry, scratched, and bleeding slightly as we sat in the hallway waiting for the principle to finish talking to our parents. My father came out and I immediately hung my head. I didn't want to see the disappointment in my father's eyes. Fighting in school was high on his didn't-I-raise-you-better-than-this-what-were-you-thinking lecture list. As I got to my feet, Vince's mom came out, grabbing his arm to pull him out of the chair.
"Damn it Vince," she said angrily, dragging him down the hallway. My father and I followed, a frown marring both of our faces. "Why are you always getting into effing trouble? Over some kids lunch no less?"
"Mom," he said angrily, not struggling to release himself from her grip but trying to keep pace with her so they could make a quick getaway, "I wouldn't have taken his if you'd given me a lunch." She stopped walking, smacking Vince before lowering her face to his, sticking one of her fingers in his face.
"You listen and you listen good," she growled, "I don't need this sass from you."
"Yeah, you need a drink," Vince shot back. I was impressed he was still talking back. I thought he should have still been finding his teeth after that slap. His mother seemed stunned by his words too. She bent her head to one side then straightened up, reclaiming his arm.
"You're right, I do. Let's go," she told him as they made their way outside. My dad and I stood on the sidewalk stunned. I looked at him with wide eyes.
"I feel real bad papa," I told him. I pitied Vince. I understood why he took my lunch and I felt bad for giving him the business about it. Dad looked at me, his frown still in place.
"Then you know what you have to do," he told me in his deep contemplative voice. And I did. The next day I asked my mom to make two sandwiches: one for me, one a peace offering to Vince. When I approached him at lunch he eyed me warily. I silently offered the sandwich which he accepted with a handshake and a grin. We've been road dogs ever since.
Letty's been in the family almost as long as Vince. Her family moved into the neighborhood when she was ten. I was twelve at the time and at that funny space between being a kid and being a teenager. Vince and I were spending time with my dad in the shed behind the house. He was working on his charger, graciously letting us hand him tools, patiently explaining exactly what he was doing. My mom had been gone a year by now and we were finally starting to get into a normal routine around the house. Dad still tried to spend as little time as possible in the house. He said everything inside reminded him of her. That particular afternoon I was getting highly annoyed. This girl with curly dark brown hair that was almost black kept stalking back and forth past our driveway. She'd been up to this for the last three weeks. At first I thought it was kind of funny but now it was just driving me nuts.
Just as I was getting ready to yell at her though, I heard Mia's voice loud and clear, "Would you puleaze stop stalking my house!" I turned to look at Vince and we burst into laughter. My dad looked up from his work, finally noticing the girl who was still as a statue at the mouth of the driveway, her face oriented towards our front lawn. A casual observer would have thought she was embarrassed or scared. But after seeing her for the past three weeks, I knew that she was livid. She'd let some of her temper get the best of her when I would give her a sneering look as she passed.
"I'm not stalkin' your house," she shot back, her jaw tight, her fists balled at her side. This sent me and Vince over the edge again.
"Then why have you been prancing around here for the last three weeks?" Mia countered her temper still high. My dad got up, approaching the girl. I was expecting her to bolt but she stood her ground.
"Look mister," she huffed, her jaw still tight, "I'm not stalkin' your house. I've been tryin' to look at your car."
Vince and I looked at each other again grinning widely. This chick was getting more entertaining by the minute. But my dad didn't seem to find her crazy. Instead he lowered himself to one knee so they could be at eye level. They stared at each other for a moment before he spoke, his gruff voice making her jump a little.
"What's your name?"
"Letty," she said quickly, "What's yours?"
Dad chuckled, the sound rumbling in his chest, "Call me Mr. T."
"Like the wrestler?" Dad laughed again.
"Yah. So you want to peek under the hood huh," he said, feeling her out.
"Yep. You're making progress but I can't see all the details when I'm walking past. The sidewalk is kinda far from the garage," she brazened out.
"You mean when you stalk by," Mia said crossly. Dad looked over to the lawn with his sharp look. I knew Mia was rolling her eyes but she didn't say anything else.
"I tell you what," my dad said after giving her another appraising look, apparently impressed by Letty's boldness, "we'll ask your parents. If they say yes, then you can come learn with Vince and Dom." My mouth fell open. Letty smiled wide before frowning slightly.
"Can you ask now?" she sounded suspicious. It would take her some time to realize that Tony Toretto did not renege on a promise.
"Yeah, but what's the hurry?"
"She's already wasted three weeks prancing around on the sidewalk," Vince yelled out, still amused. I have a derisive snort of laughter which sent him and me into a fresh wave of laughter. Letty blushed. Dad took pity on her and went with her to ask her patent's permission right away. I was expecting her to return with him that afternoon but she was clearly trying to show us that she had some restraint. Instead she showed up the next day after school ready to work.
I was expecting Letty to be a pain in the backside, asking a whole bunch of questions and slowing down the whole operation. She surprised me with her general knowledge of basic things like tools, seeming content to just watch and learn rather than ask questions. Over time I just learned to treat Letty like I with the other kids at school, just another student. She and Mia eventually made up, their friendship odd because of their differing preferences: Mia loved to accentuate her feminine side while Letty was happiest as one of the boys. But sometimes when Letty would sleep over, those two would sit up well into the night sharing secrets, their relationship budding into kinship. They'd even got as far as telling other people that they were sisters for a while. I think they quashed that after they realized that Letty's feelings for me were more romantic than brotherly. It would take me a while to figure that one out though and even longer to act on it.
My fourteenth year was filled with changes. Dad had started to race on the circuit. His whole crew became extended family, filling our back yard and our house with laughter, beer, and barbeque. The family barbeque grew out of this after race ritual. Additionally, my voice started to change, I grew at least a foot, and I started to go girl crazy. That's how I met Han. Carmen, Hector's cousin, had finally gotten breasts. Every guy in our grade wanted to test drive them out including me. I had finally worked up the courage to ask her to the homecoming dance when I saw her talking to this lanky Asian kid. My eyes narrowed. Who the heck was he? And then he did something unforgivable: leaning casually against the lockers, he reached out and tucked a stand of her hair behind her ear before pulling her towards him to whisper something. Carmen blushed, giggling, and shaking her head in the affirmative. I knew that she was going to the homecoming dance with that kid and it pissed me off that he got to her before I did.
I ended up taking Joi Tran to the homecoming dance. She was pretty for thirteen even if she was still pretty flat in the chest department. Being beaten to the punch by that kid had really rankled so I made sure to practice all of my moves on Joi. I held her hand, brushed the small of her back when she walked in front of me, slowly pushed the hair off of her face before whispering in her ear. Joi was blushing so much it should have been indecent but it bolstered my confidence. That's why when I returned from the bathroom and saw Han flirting with Joi I snapped. My stride got stiffer as I approached, my jaw set. What did he think he was a lothario?
"Yo," I said with an edge. My hands were balled into fists in my pockets. Han grinned.
"Maybe later you'll give me some joy," he told her, causing her to blush. My fingers itched to punch him for the innuendo. He turned to me again and grinned, then left to rejoin Carmen. That kid had nerve.
"What was that?" I asked Joi, my voice still edgy.
"What? Who, Han?" she stammered flushing a deeper shade of pink. Annoyed at the whole situation I walked away, leaving Joi to fend for herself the rest of the dance. I should have known that it would hurt her feelings though. As the dance was ending I walked outside to look for Vince and wait for my Dad to pick us up. Five minutes later I felt someone shove me in the back. I turned around, my fists ready, to face Johnny, Joi's big brother. Joi was standing a few feet away her face wet with tears. Crap. Johnny was going to defend his sister in the same way I would if someone had treated Mia callously. I took a step forward, understanding his position and yet unable to back down.
"You made my sister cry," Johnny said, his voice menacing, his eyes flashing with anger. I shrugged, feigning more nonchalance than I felt.
"She made herself cry," my voice was hard and filled with defiance.
"Well I'm going to make you cry next Toretto," he told me before swinging his fists. And there I was rolling in the grass with Johnny Tran, fists flying with a crowd swelling around us. After about a minute I felt myself being lifted off him.
"What is going on here boys," my father demanded. I snuck a look at my dad's face which was livid. I knew I was going to get the fighting talk all over again. Not eager to answer I looked at Johnny who was looking firmly at the ground. Once he realized that neither of us would talk, my father turned and stalked off to the car which forced me to follow. As I passed Han he was doing his best not to laugh but failing miserably, the corners of his mouth turned up but his lips pressed tightly together. I was well on my way to hating him.
The following day I was outside cutting the lawn. Dad's punishment was chores and a ban from the garage for two weeks. I loved the garage so the punishment felt cruel and unusual. It didn't help that Vince and Letty rubbed my nose in it. They found the whole situation hilarious, the irony of someone beating on me for his sister's honor was classic. They knew I'd do the same for Mia in an instant. I reached the edge of the grass and made to turn the lawn mower around when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to face Han. My features went from surprised to furious in less than ten seconds. He had the grace to take a step back before speaking.
"Look, I came to apologize," he told me holding up his hands in front of him to keep me at bay.
"Get off my lawn," I growled menacingly.
"I didn't mean for my internal competition with you to escalate to a fist fight," he continued holding his ground. I frowned.
"Internal competition?"
Han nodded before adding, "I got Carmen. You got Joi." This was a game to him?
"Let me get this straight, are you keeping score or something?"
"No," he said slowly rolling his eyes. "I like Joi, Joi likes you, you like Carmen, I got even." I was floored. Han was jealous of me? Here I was, angry that he asked Carmen out, but he was angry because Joi must have turned him down first.
"You know," I said in a slow and measured voice, "I was going to ask Carmen out. It would have saved us all this," I told him gesturing towards my busted lip and the stationary lawn mower.
"Yeah, but this way was extremely entertaining," he grinned again. I took an involuntary step forward which he side stepped. "Besides, I would prefer not to be some chick's second stringer."
I got it. The fight left me. I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. Han took this as a good sign, extending his arm for a hand shake. I returned the gesture. I turned to face the lawn mower eager to finish this chore before lunch. To my surprise, Han stayed and helped by raking up the clippings and pulling the more challenging weeds from the flower bed. From that point on Han and I made sure we'd never tread in each other's yard when it came to girls. We also became close friends. It just so happened that Han liked cars as much as the rest of the family did so Dad ended up with a fourth student to add to his rag-tag school of automotive arts.
Han has always been my most secretive friend. I feel like I know him yet he keeps a lot of himself hidden. I know that when I have something on my chest that I can't tell Vince, I can tell Han and he'll listen with the added bonus of keeping it quiet. He's got this calming temperament, rarely getting visibly angry or sad. He's pretty thoughtful too. When we first started to race we needed to upgrade our cars and he ended up supplying the money for the parts for not only his own car but for me and Vince too. He never asked us to help him and he was very careful to keep the rest of the family away from his work. Considering that work almost got him blown up, I can see how it was easy for him to make the decision to shoulder that burden alone. Sometimes I look at the cars that we race and I feel a twinge of regret that I may have forced my best friend into a life of crime with my obsession to win. But Han doesn't hold a grudge or place any blame on me so for his sake, I make it as easy as possible for him to slip away when he needs to do a job.
Han brought Daphne into the fold. They got together around the middle of junior year of high school. I never would have bet Han would be willing to date one girl exclusively but she was good for him. Han doesn't get around nearly as much as I do, but when he does it usually never goes past two nights. Vince, Han, and I were just getting our feet wet in the underground racing scene when he started taking her out. First it was to one of my Dad's races, and then it was out to dinner, followed by a foray into the street races. I gave her a chance when Vince felt wary to trust her with the secret. I just knew that if Han thought she was cool then we had nothing to worry about. She proved it time and time again, keeping our secret quiet from Letty and Mia until I was ready to let them in.
I realized that Daphne would be a permanent fixture in our lives one night at the races. The crowd was just getting together, doing the meet and greet while waiting for the main event to set up. Han was sitting on the hood of his car with Daphne behind him, her left leg carelessly hanging off the side of the car, her right flush against his side. They were sitting there casually, Han slowly eating his snack while Daphne surveyed the crowd. Letty, Vince, and I decided to check out some of the other cars before deciding on whether or not one of us would race tonight. As we completed a circuit, deciding to head back so a decision could be made, we noticed Han doing something completely out of character. He handed Daphne his snack. Han never let anyone touch his at-race snacks, not even Vince at his most menacing. He started stroking her leg absently before leaning back, reaching for her hair as he did so. I was even more surprised when he planted a long leisurely kiss on her lips before she handed his snack back to him. Han resumed eating while Daphne resumed perusing the crowd as if all of this hadn't happened. I wouldn't have believed it myself, the whole episode occurring in a three minute span.
Those two are never really demonstrative in public and I could understand why. The display was quick but sensual. I felt like a voyeur for witnessing it. I noticed that the three of us had stopped walking somewhere during that episode and I grinned as we started to move again. Letty's face looked as embarrassed as I felt, but only the gentle cracking of Vince's knuckles gave away his discomfort. When we joined them, no one mentioned what had just occurred, and I went on to win the race that night. Han never had to tell us but we knew that he really cared for Daphne. I'm glad she is part of our family. It's hard not to respect Daphne when she was so smart and helpful. When my Dad died she decided to spend her free time helping Mia run the café. I knew she was there now, watching over Mia and Letty, making sure that everyone kept up with school not just the businesses. And I knew she was there supporting Han, even when he was engaging in some dangerous business dealings.
Thinking about my family, my thoughts swirling their faces around in my mind, I slowly drifted off to sleep. Who could know how much life I would miss during this incarceration?