"So, you expect me to drop everything and go to Brazil?" I asked into the phone in my left hand. I reached down and took a marker away from one of my twins, Charlie, to keep him from staying awake all night coloring again as Brian tried to convince me once more. I was trying to make him sweat, but I knew he would have something that would ultimately sell me to going.
"C'mon, Perry, we need a girl like you," he pleaded with me. "You're smart, funny, intelligent-"
"Keep sounding like my ex and I might go to Brazil to kill you. Okay, so why am I needed? You kind of just gave me small talk before saying 'Hey, I need you to come to Brazil' and expected me to just come." I picked up my sleeping girl and placed her on the couch, kissing her forehead. "I mean, I can't just go if it's dangerous. I have two kids, Brian."
"I know, Perry, I know. We need you for a final heist. You still have a record, right?" I didn't say anything. "The grand prize is a huge, Perry. And I know that you need it." I looked at Charlie, who was trying so hard not to go down for his nap, playing with an unsharpened pencil. "Perry, think about the kids. You have to do this. Mia can watch them or we can get Vince's wife to watch them."
I sighed, looking between Julianna, still sleeping, and Charlie, yawning widely before making a decision. "Fine, Brian. But this is for the kids. Once this is over, I'm done with the criminal life. I'm done racing, doing jobs, and you only call when you're having a kid or something has happened. When do I need to be in Brazil?"
"Tomorrow. Pack your bags, Per."
I walked into the place Brian told me to meet him and felt a tension in my shoulders sag as I saw him a bit away. "Ah, here she is now. Perry, come on up here!" He smiled broadly at me and I walked up, pulling my shades to rest on my head, pulling my bangs back in the process. "This is Perizada O'Conner, better known as my little sister Perry. By the way, any of you touch her, and I might just kill you. She might first." He turned back to me. "Is that good? When everyone gets here, I want it clear that you're off limits."
"Haven't you heard from Charlie recently? Even Uncle Brian has to stand in line with Uncle Dom. Hear that, Toretto?" I called back to the buff man in order to ignore Brian and his protectiveness. "By the way, where in the hell is my hug? Ain't seen ya for damn near seven years and I don't get a 'hi' after all that we went through together? That's cold, man."
"I didn't even know you were coming," he chuckled. "Welcome back, Perry. It's been too long, hasn't it? Haven't seen you since LA at Jess's service. How are my kids?"
"Julianna is definitely not ADD. Charlie has the attention span of about half a second. And I'm just fine." I smiled at him falsely, still deeply saddened by Jesse. "Kids are wondering about their father though. I was hoping that you, me, Vince, Leon, and Mia could get together so they could know the kind of people their father used to hang out with. Then I saw ya asses on the news. By the way." I slugged my brother in the face. "I suddenly feel slightly better."
"Okay," he said, rubbing his jaw tenderly. "I deserved that. I think I really did deserve that one." He moved his jaw as Mia came in and jumped into my arms. "Now, you're not allowed to steal my girlfriend slash wife slash mother of my child." I looked at Mia for confirmation before squealing like a two year old. "Jesus, I'm regretting inviting you."
"Oh, puh-lease. You'd be nothing without me. I've always been your distraction, bro. That's why I spent those two years in juvie with you." I flipped my hair. "Got any guns? Security wouldn't let me through with mine. Fucking cops..."
"Yeah, I was once a fucking cop, so watch your mouth, sis. Yeah, Gisele should be messing around with them. Ask her for something as most of it is probably hers... All of it is actually." Dom and Brian shared a look before shrugging. I face palmed before leaving them, Mia jumping on my back for a piggy back ride. "What? I thought you loved me Mia!"
"I do! I love your sister more!" Mia called back as we both laughed. I let her down as we neared another woman who had her gun pointed at... "Holy shit! Roman!" I ran and jumped in his arms, making him fall back on his ass. "Roman!"
"Perizada O'Conner?! Didn't expect to see you here, baby girl!" He rocked us back and forth before we both got up as two other people, obviously a couple, spoke to each other in Spanish walked in. I was clueless as to what they were saying. As Roman got into a fight with them, I opted to go back to the new woman on the obviously new team.
"Got a gun I can carry? Airport security caught me with mine and wouldn't let me keep the bitches." She looked at me with slight interest. "Don't make fun of my girls. I had Iris and Isis with me too. My youngest babies..." I faked a tear. "So, got anything for me. I promise I'll give 'em back safe and sound."
She plucked up too glocks and handed them to me. "Keep them. They can be your new Isis and Iris. Take care of them for me? I don't give my guns away easily unless I think the person will take care of them. Don't prove me wrong."
A Korean stood next to us as Rome continued his argument with the male and female. "I thought cockfights were illegal in Brazil."
"I promise, Roman doesn't care. If being black was illegal in the US, he'd still be there in white paint," I chuckled. " I would know." I grabbed an eraser out of my pocket and threw it at him. "Yo! Shut up about ugly. You're all ugly compared to my lovely Mia. Right, baby?" I spun Mia around in a full circle. I wrapped her in my arms and everyone but Roman gave us a weird look, even the new guy who arrived in time for my comment. "Jeez, people, no need to stare. She's my brother's girl. I only stole his high school boyfriend."
"Whoa! What're you talkin' about, Perry? Second thought, I don't even want to hand you or them the ammunition. Yo, check this out." Brian was shaking the hands of the newly arrival and Rome as he introduced them. "This is Tej, best circuit man on the east coast. And this is my boy, Roman Pearce. We go way back, even pulled that job in Miami." I inclined my head politely at Tej.
"Now, what was this about a high school boyfriend?" Mia asked me, turning back to that subject. I grinned as Brian and Roman paled.
"Let's just say that Brian and Roman experimented. A lot. I don't know who was bottom though." I laughed as everyone backed away from my brother and his best friend. "Yo, yo, I was joking. I went after his girlfriend's other boyfriend. I call it Brian's boyfriend because his girlfriend's other boyfriend is a lot to say and Brian was shoving his tongue down the slut's throat when she had a boy down her throat a few minutes before... Just not his tongue."
Mia laughed at me. "There's my girl. I missed youz so much!" My best friend wrapped her arms around me and I pushed her back, feigning sneaking around.
"Shh, Brian can't know about us, baby. What happened in LA has to stay a secret... Brian would die if he knew about our affair while he was there and our nights of passion- Haha!" Brian went to grab for me and I slipped away. Dom watched me with a smile while shaking his head. I slid over the table, using it as a barrier between us. "Run, Mia! Run before he catches you! I shall protect you, my darling!" I reached my hand out to her as bait for Brian. He took it, reaching out for my arm. I grabbed him jerking him halfway across the table before jogging away, hiding behind Han and Gisele.
Mia was laughing so hard that she looked like she would die. So she didn't notice that Brian was behind her until it was too late. He captured her and I yelled, "Nooooo!" Dom laid a hand on my shoulder, chuckling as I suddenly became rather serious. Or about as serious as I got most of the time. "Alright, alright. I'm done being entertainment for the next few hours. You know how to make me stop being dumb."
"So, what's all this about, Dom?" Han asked.
"Yeah, man. Why did you drag us halfway across the world?" Tej added.
"Because we got a job," Dom said with a grin, patting my shoulder and walking away for us to follow.
He nodded before we all gathered around a map with ten areas circled. "Alright, so our target's name is Hernan Reyes. He runs the drug scene down here and hasn't been busted because he doesn't leave a paper trail," Brian said as he stood next to Dom, leaning slightly over the map. "No paper trail means no banks. No banks means-"
"Wait, Hernan Reyes?" I asked for confirmation. "Damn, Bri, you're living dangerous. No shit on the huge ass check."Everyone stared at me. "Sorry, continue on."
Brian gave me a weird look but continued on with what he was saying. "Anyway, no banks means cash houses. Ten of them, to be precise. All of them spread throughout the city."
"And we're hitting them all," Dom said in his usual way that made me look up to him so much.
Tej looked at Dom with doubt. "All of them?" I shook my head. Dom nodded and confirmed it, saying "all of them" once more. Roman opened his mouth next.
"This sounds crazy. You bring us to a whole 'nother country so we can rob the dude who runs it? Sounds personal to me," he said, his eyes splitting to me. "Is that what this is? I thought it was business, and I know personal ain't good for business. I got love for y'all and everything, but I can't do this, homie." Roman began walking away and I was the one to respond.
"I think personal is perfectly fine as long as it's one hundred million dollars. Hell, I say that it is perfect for business." Rome turns back around jaw dropping.
"Say what? A hundred... See, sometimes I be over thinking, man, and you know we just met, and..." I chuckled and shook my head again. Roman rejoined us and Dom went to explain further.
"What we take, we split it even."
"Shit... That's a little over eleven million apiece." Tej figured out before I could. "I am so down for this, man."
"Eleven million? Sounds like a lot of vaginal activity to me."
"Yo, don't wanna hear it, bro." I held my hands up. "I haven't gotten laid in a looong time."
"How long?" Brian asked with an undertone.
"Since the kids." He nodded in understanding and approval. "I haven't even gone a date since they were born. Full time mom sucks... Although this counts as my vacation for the next five years."
"You're a mother?" Giselle asked, eyes wide. "You don't look like a mom. Where are your kids? At home with their father, I bet."
Brian and Dom cast wary looks her way. "He's, um..."
"The father died before he could know about them. I was trying to tell him when he did something that ultimately led to being a huge mistake that costed blood on someone's hands that costed blood on my own," I answered. "I'm still working on filling the void. Julianna and Charlie would never approve a guy that isn't their father anyway. I left them with an old friend named Vince. I don't have too much doubt that he'll take excellent care of both of them."
Mia stood beside me and wrapped my hand in hers. I shrugged her off after a moment before sitting in the back even more. "So how are we going to pull this off? To pull off ten safe houses at one time requires a shit ton of heat and more people than I think I can get for you, brother. More than I dare to try to get together to be perfectly honest. I cringe at the very thought." Brian smirked. "Oh, goody. I don't have to call in too many favors... hopefully."
"My darling sister," Brian said smoothly, wrapping an arm around me. "Do you think Dom and I would call you here without a plan?"
"Yes, I have little to no doubt you'd do that. Dom wouldn't, but you would for sure. Remember juvie?"
"Okay, I didn't have Dom back then."
"You had that asshole Ivan."
"Did you hear that's he married with two kids?"
"Holy shit, he settled down? Talk about taboo."
"So, wait," Tej said as Brian opened his mouth. "How do you have so much faith that this will even work?"
"Yeah," Roman chimed in. "Normally you're the pessimist. Or at least you were back in juvie."
I clicked my tongue and shook my head. "Ye of little faith. Darling, I am still a pessimist."
"I agree with Tej," Han said, eating another chip beside me. "Why are you so easily accepting this is possible?"
I let a smile take over my face. "There is only one person insanely brilliant enough to think of it, and only one person brilliantly insane to actually go through with it. Those two happen to be best friends."
"So you're trusting their insanity?" Gisele confirmed.
"Of course I am. Where so ya think Mia and I got it from. We had some type of role models. It just happened to be our darling big brothers."
