Chapter 2
Amber rays of light flowed in through the open window, illuminating the dim room. The bedroom was sparsely furnished, with only a bed, a wardrobe, two bureaus and a few shelves that were cluttered unframed photos and tacky figurines. Kip and Lily didn't know why they kept the figurines. They were kind of like souvenirs from the cars they boosted. You know the things drivers usually put on their dash boards, nodding dogs, plastic jesus' etc. Well anyway, they would take one of these 'souvenirs' with them after they dumped the car. It was like a tradition of some sort. The house was full of them, an ode to a life of crime as Lily put it.
The walls were painted in some kind of taupe like colour that they both hated but were too lazy to do anything about it. I mean, it wasn't like they spent much time in the apartment anyway. They only went back there for four reasons, to shower, to change clothes, to sleep or to engage in other bed activities. So as you can see, not much time to worry about the colour scheme in the rooms. The wood paneled floor was littered with several laptops, car blueprints, tools and dirty clothes that they had ripped from their bodies and thrown to the floor in a fit of passion yesterday morning. If they were truly honest with themselves, they would say they lived like slobs. Not that they really cared. Lily did occasionally attempt to clean up but she'd always get distracted. Either that or Kip would come home and mess it all up again.
The king size bed held a motionless Kip and Lily. They had moved since they had fallen asleep and now Lily's whole right side lay over Kip. One of arms was flung over his neck, while his arms were wrapped protectively around her waist.
The sun morning rays lapped at Kips eyelids and slowly teased them open. As soon as he had opened them though, he quickly shut them and groaned in distaste at the brightness. After a few minutes of debating whether to go back to sleep or not, he finally opened his eyes wide and turned to look at the clock on the bureau.
'Damn, 7:30. I suppose that means I gotta get up.'
He had only gone back to sleep at five o'clock. Not that he had slept much. He may have been able to act calm on the outside, but inside he was a wreck. He looked down at Lily who was spread across him. He thought momentarily about waking her up, so he wasn't alone, but he opted against it. He gently rolled her off of him until she was lying on her back. She moaned slightly in her sleep at the disturbance, but she never woke. He got up from the bed and looked down at her. She looked so peaceful and sweet. He couldn't help but wonder if this was what the real Lily was like, behind all the false fronts, pain and anger. He had always thought before he met her, that he was hard done for. That he had had a hard life with never having met his dad and having his brother Memphis leaving six years ago. But when he'd met her he realized that his life had been a walk in the park, even if he didn't admit that aloud.
Snapping out of his thoughts he walked over to a pile of clothes on the floor and began to search through it, for something wearable. He's and Lily's clothes were mixed together in the heap and as he sorted through then he couldn't help but smirk at the recollection of yesterday mornings events. She was a wild cat. The things she can do could make any man squirm with delight.
Finally he retrieved a pair of jeans, a dirty white wife beater and a black, long sleeved shirt and quickly got dressed. Time to go play nice with Memphis he thought with a groan. He didn't really want his brother here and certainly didn't want to accept his help. He hadn't seen him for 6 years since Memphis had deserted him. He was like a stranger and as far as Kip was concerned, he didn't have a brother. Lily was his only family now. She was the only reason he was letting Memphis back into his life. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed help to protect her.
Walking towards the door he spared one more glance back towards Lily's sleeping form before turning and exiting the room. He walked down the corridor, towards the kitchen and was startled slightly when saw Memphis sitting at the table, reading a paper. Memphis heard him walking in and raised his head up to look at Kip, smiling in greeting.
"Hey"
"Hey" Kip mumbled as he walked towards the sink to get a drink of water. "So… Did you sleep well? I know the couch isn't that comfy but it's all we had for ya" He asked as he turned back to face Memphis.
"No, no, it was fine. Is, err, Lily up?" Memphis said as he struggled to remember her name.
"No, she's asleep. She didn't get much sleep last night." He paused momentarily in thought and then continued speaking. "How about some breakfast?" He asked grabbing a pan from the counter and walking towards the stove.
"Listen, you really don't have to…" Memphis began saying as he rose from his seat and walked toward Kip.
"Oh, hey, you come down here and save my ass, it's the least I can do" Kip interrupted smiling.
"Ok then"
An odd silence hung in the air. Kip lit the stove then went to the fridge to see if there was any food in the house. All he could find were some eggs, half a can of refried beans and some chopped up bits of bacon.
'Well I guess this will have to do' he thought.
He walked back towards the stove and then realized he didn't have any cooking oil.
'God damn! What am I supposed to cook this shit with?' He complained to himself.
Then he spotted a half empty bottle of Bud light on the counter.
"Well, it could work.' He contemplated.
He picked up the bottle and pored some of the liquid into the pan. It hissed and spit up a bit but it seem like it could work. The silence in the room was beginning to irritate him so he decided to make small talk.
"So, I heard you were pumpin' gas some place up north or something, right?"
"Yeah and working with kids" He said absently as he looked at odds and ends placed on a shelf by he cabinet. Like the bedroom shelves it had various little figurines and old awards on it. One caught Memphis's eyes in particular and he picked it up. It was an award kip had one when he was eight years old for coming first in a 100 yard dash.
"Oh, really?" Kip spoke as he placed the bacon and beans in the pan, before finally cracking the eggs and adding them to the culinary delight he was making. Lily always made fun of his cooking. She always said that his cooking was like legalized murder.
"First place….I remember this" Memphis said as he held the award out slightly so Kip knew what he was talking about. Kip glanced up before quickly looking back down at the frying food.
"Oh yeah, that was a, that was a long time ago." He stuttered. He remembered it also, like it was yesterday. Times were good back then, just him, Memphis and mom all together as one happy family. He wished he could go back to that sometimes, but wishes where for people who'd abandoned reality. Well, that's the way he always thought about anyways.
He picked up the salt and began to add some onto the brown, greasy, now indistinguishable food that cooked in the frying pan. But as he did so the cap on the salt sprinkler sprang off causing a container full of salt to spill into the pan.
"Shit" He mumbled as he tried to spoon out some of the salt to no avail
Memphis watched him with a slightly amused expression on his face.
'Still haven't mastered cooking yet then bro" he considered. But his amused attitude soon changed when he remember that he would have to eat that disgusting concoction. He decided take his mind off what was to come by engaging in more banter.
"So have you spoken to mom? Does she know about this whole thing?" Memphis queried.
"No, no, no, she doesn't and, uh, I don't think she should. You know she, she works really hard, and this, this, she doesn't need to know about any of this stuff."
"But she will find out soon enough if things go wrong"
"I know, I know" Kip said quietly. He was about to add more when he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. He turned away from the stove to face the doorway and Memphis followed suit.
Lily had woken from bed a few minutes after kip to an empty bed. She had heard Memphis and Kip talking and had decided to get a shower first before she faced the reality of the situation her and Kip were in. After her quick shower she had dressed in a low cut tube top, skin tight jean and wedges. She haphazardly placed her damp, wavy blonde hair in a ponytail and walked out of the room and down the corridor towards the kitchen.
As she entered the room she put on a fake but entirely believable bright happy smile. She was feeling like crap but she always plastered that big smile on her face. She walked straight over to him without saying a word and embraced him tightly and he returned the gesture. When they loosened their grips on each other she pulled back slightly and looked up at his face, smiling timidly.
"Hey" she said delicately.
"Hey" he replied gruffly as he pecked her cheek
"Hey, Memphis right, we haven't been properly introduced have we? My names Lily" She said, stretching her hand out, across the table.
"Nice to meet you Lily" He said, shaking her hand and smiling back to her in return.
Lily crinkled her nose and sniffed the air. It smelled like a mixture of burnt egg and bacon with a tinge of beer. She looked over to see what kid was doing and shook her head, inwardly groaning. The last time Kip had decided to test his culinary skills it hadn't ended well.
"And what may I ask is that enchanting smell" She asked seriously but her face showed she was struggling to hold in her laughter.
"I'm making Memphis a thank you breakfast" He answered as went to fetch a plate from the cupboard.
"Wow. Then Memphis is a very lucky boy then isn't he" She said as she turned to face Memphis, a taunting smile on her face.
Memphis was starting to worry more now about eating this meal. Just as he was thinking about making a run for it Kip placed the food in front of him. Memphis didn't know what to make of it. He couldn't even tell what was in it. He picked up his fork and poked at it, like it was some half dead creature ling in the road.
"Mmmm, that looks good" He heard Lily's taunting voice say.
Memphis looked up and gave her a mock glare before finally building up his courage and spearing a piece of the offending food with his fork. He quickly placed the food in his mouth, but it didn't stay there long. The fusion of bacon, eggs, beans and beer mixed with a container full of salt was not good. He choked on it after a few chews and immediately spat it back on the plate, coughing and spluttering all the while.
"Its good" He said quickly and unconvincingly when he had obtained some composure.
Lily had burst out laughing, unable to keep it in.
"Well baby it looks like your still terrible cook" she said as she rose from her chair and kissed him on the cheek and then turned back to Memphis.
"Kips cooking experiments are legendary to every fire-fighter and doctor in the Los Angeles area. You could get one of those T-shirts that say 'I survived Kips cooking and all I got was this lousy T-shirt'. There very popular among the survivors. I hear that they even have support groups now, You should go." She stated in mock seriousness.
Memphis began laughing and Kip glared at her, whipping the towel out so it hit against her butt.
"Hey! I'm not that bad a cook" He complained.
"Awww, it's sweet that you think that. But try telling that to all the helpless victims and of course lets not forget the firemen who had to put the out the fire in our old scorched kitchen" She said sweetly.
"You burnt you're kitchen down?" Memphis interjected, still laughing.
"Yes but that had nothing to do with my cooking. A wash cloth caught fire by accident."
"I know baby but you're cookin' still sucks." She said as she patted him on the back.
"Oh yeah?" he said in ma mock menacing voice.
"Yeah" she said bringing he face inches from his. "Now back up off me buster, I'm gonna go feed Iggy Pop okay"
"I'll feed him" Kip offered.
"No, I won't let you make him a victim too." She said in a dramatic vioce as she walked out the door. Kip smiled at her retreating form.
"Iggy pop?" Memphis questioned.
"My iguana"
Again they we're left in silence.
"So, I'm guessing that you and Lily are an item." Memphis stated.
"Yeah, yeah we are" He said as he sat down opposite Memphis.
"Is it serious?"
"I guess, I mean we, we don't talk about it much." He answered flippantly
"How long you been goin' out?
"'Bout two years now."
Memphis nodded, taking it all in. He hadn't expected to hear they had been dating as long as they had.
"She seems… nice"
"Yeah, she's great"
"So…What's her story?"
"What ya mean?"
"You know, where's she from? What she does? How'd you two meet?"
Kip was a little hesitant at sharing this information. Not only did he not fully trust Memphis, but also Lily hated talking about her past, or anybody else talking about it in fact. And he really didn't want to awaken her vicious temper this early in the morning. He realized that Memphis wasn't exactly going to let the subject so he gave the edited version of her history
"Well, she's originally from LA then moved to Detroit. She moved back to get away from her foster parents, they were real scumbags. We meet a few years ago while she was bo… ah, tuning my car and we've been together ever since. She does a bit of everything for work, used to work at Benny's garage down the road until she quit so we could concentrate on the job. That's all there is to know about her I guess" He realized that he himself didn't know much more than that about her life
"She got a second name?" Kip rolled his eyes. Ever the inquisitor was Memphis
"Torretto"
Memphis nodded again, processing the information. Sure Torretto was a popular Italian name but he just could shake the connection to Dominic Torretto from his mind. There was something in her look and attitude that scream familiarity.
"How do you guys wind up with the job?"
"Ah well, Carter approached me about it. He knew I was your brother and had heard about all the work we'd been pullin' so he thought we'd be up for the job. Not really much else to tell" Kip shrugged, as if it meant nothing.
Memphis looked at him in disappointment. He wished Kip who'd show some maturity over his actions but he was still acting like a little kid. Kip noticed the look Memphis was giving him and sprung to his own defense. He stood up and walked over until he was standing in front of Memphis.
"Look, you know, I got everything under control, okay."
Memphis was about to reply when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked over towards the stove and noticed that because Kip had left the stove on, it had set fire to the remaining beer left in the pan, causing flames to spew up in to the air. He looked back up to Kip.
"The kitchens on fire" He said calmly.
Kip turned round slowly and his eyes immediately widened.
"Shit!" He exclaimed as he ran towards to stove and began to use the tea towel he had in his hands to try and douse the flames. He hit it repeatedly with the cloth but to no avail. He was definitely losing his cool.
Memphis got up from his seat at the table and walked towards the counter picking up a tub of baking soda.
"Uh, man" He heard Kip say kind of desperately.
Memphis walked over to the stove and opened the tub, dumping its contents into the pan and effectively halting the flames.
Kip panted slightly in exhaustion and Memphis gave him exasperated look before going back to the table and sitting down.
Again silence hung in the air.
"Hey, Memphis" Kip said getting his attention.
"It's good to see you" He said in a heartfelt manner. Memphis nodded his head in return. It was if though they had shared at moment and hey were both taken back to a time before all the anger and madness.
"It's good to see you to Kip" He returned smiling
'If only it was on better terms' Memphis thought.
Memphis was going to add more but as he was about to speak, Lily came strolling back into the room and walked over to the sink to wash her hands, then turned to walk to Kip.
"I've feed him. I think he might be… God, what is that smell?" she said stopping in the middle of the room.
"I had a little accident" Kip stated.
"He set fire to the kitchen again" Memphis added.
Lily shook her head and giggled lightly.
"I suppose I should try and act surprised that you managed to do it, yet again"
She sauntered over to him and kissed his check.
"Don't worry baby, cooking just ain't your thing. You're good at other things though." She said seductively as she ran her fingers up and down his chest.
"Oh really" He said as he leaned down to kiss her lips. But before he could reach his target her hand pushed him back slightly.
"Oh no, you need to have a shower. You smell like shit"
"You're so kind"
"I know, I'm like Mother Teresa or something. Now go."
"You're comparing yourself to a nun? I've never known a nun to do that thing you do with you're…"
"Go! And I'll clean up your mess" She aid interrupting him.
Kip shook his head and walked towards the door and exited the kitchen. Lily walked towards Memphis and looked at the contents of his plate in disdain.
"Ewww. Let me get rid of that and get you something edible." She said picking up his plat.
"Thanks"
She stalked over to a cabinet above the counter and looked into it.
"How's corn flakes sound?" she asked as she pulled out the box.
"That sounds fine"
She reached into a cupboard by the fridge and produced a bowl. She poured some cornflakes into the bowl and then reached over to the fridge and took out a carton of milk. She opened it and then brought it to her nose to sniff it. As soon as Lily did, she rapidly pushed it away.
"Errr, breakfasts off. I'll have to owe you one." She said as she poured the offending milk down the sink.
"That's okay, I really wasn't hungry anyway."
She threw the empty carton in the trash can then walked over to the dining area and threw herself down on the chair opposite Memphis. She picked up a car magazine that lay on the table and began to read through it, putting her feet on the table as she did.
"So, Kip tells me that you and he meet while you were tuning his car"
Lily stifled a laugh as she lowered the magazine.
"Well that's not how I remember."
"So how did you met?"
"Well, I was kinda boosting his shitty honda at the time. But he said he liked my style and we just kinda hit it off" Memphis smiled and nodded. He paused for a second. The next subject he was gonna tackle wasn't an easy thing to come out with but if he was gonna work with her he needed to know about her past and what made her tick.
"You got family in LA?" He asked casually. He watched out of the corner of his eye as her face hardened slightly before she recovered from her mistake and relaxed.
"Nope" She answered stoically. "Why'd ya ask?"
"Kip said you were originally from LA, so I figured you'd have some ties here"
"Well, Kip says a lot doesn't he?" She said testily before bringing the magazine up in front of her face.
Memphis watched her curiously. She had a very strange attitude. The vibes she was giving off now were those of a grade A bitch and yet to seconds ago she was as sweet as pie. He wondered which one was an act and which was the real Lily. He didn't really know her but he guessed that the bitch attitude was just an act, a defense to ward off those around her. Her attitude now was a defense to his probing into her past. So what was she hiding or hiding from? He pondered.
They sat there for what seemed an eternity. The atmosphere was tense and the only sound was the occasional flicking of pages from her magazine
Kip walked in to the room and was oblivious to the tension. He walked over to Lily.
"Smell me" He said smiling.
Lily glanced up at him, barely acknowledged him before turning her gaze back towards the magazine.
Kip knew that somehow he'd managed to get himself in deep shit. He raked his mind to try and figure out what it was that he had done but couldn't think of anything. He decided to change the subject to something more constructive.
"So, how's this gonna work? I mean, are you me and Lily gonna start doin' our homework soon?"
"Well first we need to get a team together. And that's where are problems begin. I got a hold of Otto and he's in. But that still leaves us with a pretty big problem. We can't do this with a team of four, we need more help. Any suggestions?"
"Hey man, I don't know anybody else who's crazy enough to do this shit, just you." Said Kip
Memphis looked at Lily who seemed tense and trying hard to avoid eye contact
"What about you Lily?" He asked her directly. She raised her head and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Nope" She answered. "What?" She asked at Memphis's questing gaze.
"This is important Lily, the situation is beyond games"
"I have no idea what you're talking about" She said with finality. Memphis wondered for a moment if he had read the situation wrong, that maybe she wasn't who she thought she was. But the red blush of anger that was appearing on her skin convinced him. If it wasn't true she wouldn't be getting so angry. He had backed her in to a corner and he decided to go in for the kill.
"Your second name is Torretto, as in Dominic Torretto. You're his kid sister aren't you?" Her look of shock was clear for everyone to see as she spluttered her retort
"I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice had lost all confidence.
"Yes you do. Do you still have contact with him?"
"He's not part of my family!" She shouted rising from the table.
"I knew Torretto had a kid sister and you seem round about the right age." He said calmly ignoring her outburst.
"Wait a minute, I'm confused. You're Torretto's sister?" Kip asked, a look of confusion marred his face. He couldn't believe he been as stupid to not connect the two of them sooner. Memphis and Lily ignored him, too engaged in the standoff they were now having.
"He is nothing to me" She said as she took a step back from the table, trying to put distance between her and the conversation. But Memphis wasn't backing off
"Does he know you're in LA?" She scoffed at his question
"He doesn't know where I am or even that I'm alive and I'd like to keep it that way"
"Well, I think now would be the time to make contact and start bonding, 'cause there is no way we can do this on our own. You two have managed to get yourselves in a whole lot of trouble and now you have to decide what's more important, your pride or you and Kip's life." He stated in an authorities manner. Her eyes narrowed into feline slits.
"They won't do it" she ground out.
"Well, why don't you let him decide that? He's an excellent driver and so the rest of his team. We'll need them"
There was a moment of silence before Lily abruptly walked over to the coat rack.
"Fine" Her voice was full of angry and irritation. She hastily put on her leather jacket
"Wait Lily I'll come with you" Said Kip as he went to get his coat to.
"No! I'm not in the fucking mood for your shit" She shouted as she stormed out the room.
"Lily…" Kip called after her but he was cut off by the slamming of the front door.
"Shit…" He sighed.
"She seems nice" Repeated Memphis as he returned to his paper, ignoring the glare Kip was sending him.