"Thanks for picking me up." A gruff and unshaven Dominic Toretto threw his bag in the camero that Jayzen was driving.
"No problem." She smiled, almost triumphantly. It was funny how he had been so hard to crack to get him to talk to her and now here she was, a few months later, picking him up from prison. Her rock star sunglasses and her upswept blonde hair made her look much older than what she was really was and Dominic couldn't help but think how great she looked. Then he chided himself. He had promised himself no more relationships no matter what, he had learned his lesson.
"You know, I am so popular, I decided to be nice and let you be the lucky one to pick me up." He replied cockily, making her roll her eyes and shake her head. He even laughed at himself seeing as how he knew no one in this state, and the thought of anyone picking him up after what he had put his friends through was even more outlandish. That made him have a pang of homesickness and guilt. The combination of the two was not a good combination when alone, much less when they attacked a conscience together.
"I am sooo lucky." She shot back, making a sharp left turn to head out of the prison and down the long, dusty road that would eventually lead out to the barren interstate.
"Yeah, I know. That is what I said." Dominic leaned back in the bucket seat, his smile making her laugh.
"So, glad to be out or what?" She asked, taking the gravel road just like it was a highway, almost making him uncomfortable. He tried to relax and almost felt like he was a wimp. Him, king of the streets, scared of a little girl's driving.
"Yeah. I don't know why. Don't look like much is in this state but yeah." He replied, his eyes taking in the surrounding scenery.
"Yup, just us hicks out here, ya know." Jayzen mocked a hillbilly accent and kept a straight face, pretending to be offended at his last comment.
'That's not what I meant, and you know it." Dominic squinted, the sun beating down on his baldhead.
"Sure." She taunted, taking a turn so fast onto the interstate that the tires squealed. He missed that sound, the smell of the rubber from those nights they would race. He vowed to get back to California as fast as he could. He grunted to himself about the money situation and tried to focus on the situation at hand: this girl's driving. He might make it back to California. Then again, he thought, he may not.
"Oh hell." She hit the steering wheel as she hit the highway, noticing a cop car following her.
"Oh no. Take it easy. I am not going back." Dominic tried to be nonchalant and reach for his seatbelt, something he should have already had on with this blonde's driving.
"He is gonna pull me over." Jayzen said, her voice a note higher than her usual tone. She was trying to keep it together and not lose total control.
"Calm down. If you start flippin out, he'll know you are up to no good." Dominic advised. What was he saying? He wasn't doing anything bad. Then it dawned on him, it wouldn't matter if he was the one doing something bad. What if she was doing something bad? He suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He had a gut feeling something was up, especially the way she was driving and acting suspicious.
"Easy for you to say." She snapped.
"How so? If I get pulled over with you, an underaged minor, I likely go back to prison. Hell, I haven't even been out one full hour." Dominic sighed, watching the cop from the rearview mirror talk on his radio. "What trouble you in? You are up to something, right?" He asked, reading her look on her face.
"Don't act like you know me oh so well." She rolled her eyes, but now chewing on her lips.
"Fuck." Dominic hit the dashboard, knowing he should have just walked out on foot.
"I didn't say I was in trouble." She objected to his assumption.
"You didn't have to." He replied dryly. Next thing you knew, the cop had his lights on and the siren began to wail.
"I can't get pulled over. I won't get pulled over." Jayzen sat up in the seat, now looking determined.
"You are NOT out running this cop. That will just make it worse." Dominic objected as she stepped on the pedal and picked up speed.
"Watch me." She said, flooring it full force now.
"Oh hell." Dominic sank in the seat, dreading to imagine the outcome of this one.
"What happened to MR I rule the streets and I'm so tough tough guy?" Jayzen asked, her voice thoroughly irritated as she frowned, concentrating on staying on the road and ahead of the cop car.
"You don't know me enough to say that crap." Dominic grabbed the handle of the car.
"Well, your reputation says enough about you, I don't need to know you. You gonna help me drive or do I need to tell these cops you made me do this?" Jayzen growled as the cop closed in. She was nearing a dead end road and was becoming quite panicked.
"You better not. Let me out right now." Dominic rolled his eyes. "I have a hard time believing you would do that." He said, challenging her with a raised and inquisitive eyebrow.
"Try me." She shot back, still on the dead end road. She blew her hair out of her face and was wondering what the hell she was going to do now. The end was so close. "Ok, so I wouldn't. Please, you gotta be used to running from the cops. Please help me." She begged, slowing down.
"Don't slow down, be calm." Dominic ordered, his voice taking that authoritive voice that he often had when things were crazy nuts in California. He fought the inner voice that told him that voice was the one that got him and his friends in the biggest mishap of their lives.
"Easy for you to say." Jayzen said, pointing at the dead end she was about to come to.
"Okay, get to the end as fast as you can, and spin around. You have been driving a stick for a long time, right?" He asked, his confidence in her absent but he figured asking might give him a better sense of security.
"Yeah, like two weeks." She said, glancing in her mirror.
"Shit.' Dominic said, now panicked. "Floor it now and turn!" He yelled, grabbing onto the gear, moving her hand off the stick to shift.
"I'm trying!" She yelled, her feet not wanting to work with her brain.
"TRY HARDER." He yelled, this time not playing nice. It was do or die time for the two of them. He wasn't sure what kind of trouble she was in but he knew he wasn't going to go back to the penitentrly and that was that.
"Stop yelling." She said, her look of relief priceless as they made the turn and was leaving the cop in the dusty trail of her car.
"There. See what yelling does?" He asked, grinning as she took a side road and then another side road. It seemed like they had lost the cop. "That look was damned priceless. I coulda sold it on ebay." He chuckled.
"What look? What is so funny?" She asked, her blondeness coming out in her. The sun was setting and she was getting further into the woods and back roads. He hoped she knew where the hell she was going, for the both of their sake.
"That I'm scared shitless look. That look is the best out of all the girls I have taught to drive." He kept on grinning and being amused.
"I don't find it all funny." She growled defensively.
"I do." He countered. "Tell me you know where you are going." He said, not knowing if he wanted to hear her answer or not.
"I do, thank you very much." She huffed, pulling into a secluded area of the woods by a pond. It looked like a hideout that had been handmade, the leaves and trees that formed a tunnel over the car was too perfect, he noted.
"Good. I was getting kind of worried there. You being blonde and all. You know what they say about blondes." He kept up the teasing, ignoring her stare. He could feel her icy blue eyes drilling a hole through her sunglasses.
"Shut up. We almost get pulled over and you want to crack blonde jokes. What a tough guy you are." She spat.
"What, you can't handle a ticket or two? Why you running, anyway?" He asked, watching the sun start to set. It was just as beautiful as the sunset in California, he noted. It looked like there was a rain cloud headed their way and he breathed in the air. Not as nice as the air when it rained in California.
"Don't worry about it. And I don't think a stolen vehicle is just grounds for a ticket." She said, counting the seconds until he processed what she had just said.
"This car is stolen?" He sat up, his muscled torso tense now. "When I asked for a ride, you coulda told me no. I didn't need you to steal a car." He exploded, his voice booming.
"Get off your high horse. I didn't steal it for you, jackass." Jayzen replied defensively.
"What, is that all you Arizonians can do for a hobby?" he asked, knowing he was being a pure jackass now.
"Oh, you are just being stupid now." She laid her head back on the seat's headrest, suddenly feeling exhausted. She took off her sunglasses and rubbed her eyes.
"WHO THE HELL HIT YOU?" he asked so loudly it made her jump. She had forgotten that he was unclued as to the latest events in her life.
"Stop yelling at me.' She whimpered this time, holding her head. She turned her head towards the road, listening to a car coming down the road. She was holding her breath they didn't turn in to the area she was at.
"You gonna tell me since we are gonna be here for a while?" he asked, his voice quiet now, realizing he might have scared her.
"Nope. Not your business. There's some fried chicken I made in the picnic basket behind my seat. Take it and eat it. I figured you were probably hungry." She muttered, her embarrassment too much to confront right now.
"It is my business. I mean, we're fugitives together. You got my whole life history out of me. Why can't I have yours?" He asked, trying to make her smile.
"You don't need it." She replied simply as he worked on getting the picnic basket from the backseat. He took in a deep breath and felt like he was in heaven. 'You can cook? I might have to have you teach me." He said, opening it up and taking a drumstick.
"I can see that one. Big bad Chef Dominic. Bring your unruly poultry on down to Ze Chef Zominic and zwee can get them under control." She mocked an Italian accent and had to laugh. Even Dominic smiled at that one. That was a funny mental picture.
" I can see it. Can't you?" He asked playfully.
"Yup, a dirty white muscle shirt, a big butcher knife, a chef hat and a cigarette out of your mouth with your biceps flexed. I can so see it." She giggled.