B pulled the Skyline into the driveway and parked. She looked over and saw Leon blinking at her. "There ya go big guy. Home safe and sound." she couldn't keep the grin off of her face. The boy was trashed.
"Thanks Doll." he blinked again.
"You need help getting inside?"
Leon shook his head back and forth slowly. "Nope."
"Okay." B slid out of the car and did walk around to at least help him out of the car.
"You needin some help out here."
B turned to see Dom and Vince sitting on the picnic table watching her unload Leon. She grinned. "Just returning your friend here."
Nomi, the strawberry blonde from the first day walked up silently, from where she'd parked on the street. She didn't say a word just took in the scene.
"Nomi, right?" Dom asked. At her nod he pointed to Vince. "Nomi, this is Vince. Vince, Nomi." The two nodded at each other. "What'd you do to him?" he asked in amusement when Leon just barely managed to get out of the car and stay standing."
"He and Frannie did shots. To see who could handle their booze better." Nomi smirked.
"Who won?" Vince asked grinning at his blitzed friend.
"Neither of them." B snickered. "They both toppled off their chairs with the last shot."
"I had such a good time." Leon slurred. "It was awesome. The club was awesome, you guys were awesome."
"That's good Cookie." B gave him a pat on the shoulder. "We had a good time with you too. You're always more than welcome to join us."
"That would be awesome." he blinked. "Can my boys come with next time?"
"Anyone you say is cool Bud." B promised.
"I got him." Vince murmured and moved forward to help his friend into the house.
"Thanks for getting him home B." Dom said as they watched the other two men make their way to the house.
"Dude was snockered. We'd never have just left him to get home on his own." Nomi answered.
"Not our way." B added. The two women turned and began to walk down the drive. "See ya around Toretto." B called back over her shoulder.
"You damn well will." he murmured.
Brin had just finished putting the exhaust on a Harley back together when she heard the telltale sound of a familiar Celica. The anger rolled over her instantly. For a moment her hand gripped the wrench tightly, but then her normal calm broke through and she relaxed letting the tool drop harmlessly to the ground. Looking around she saw that Nomi had recognized the engine, as well as Tia who had come out of the office. Brin was glad that Spades and Frannie had gone to get something to eat for the crew.
Brin let the arms of her coveralls drop off her shoulders. She wore a white stained wife beater underneath. It was an older tank, well worn, and stretched tautly across her breasts. She didn't bother to remove the entire coverall. She headed to the open garage doors slowly, counting under her breath to keep her cool.
Once out in the sunlight she could see her former partner Claire, Allison, and Marla getting out of his tricked out Celica. She waited patiently not saying a word.
Claire was only about two inches taller than Brinley. He was wirey and was an avid tennis player in his spare time. He had short, spiked black hair and muddy brown eyes. Normally his face was pinched in a perpetual sneer. The man never seemed happy. Brin and Claire had met ten years before. They'd gone into business in Detroit, but then he'd gone to prison. When he got out of prison the entire group had made the move to California. When Claire had gotten involved in illegal activities again, and the incident with Tia had occurred, Brin had made the break. She didn't regret it for one instant. Claire on the other hand had not been pleased.
He approached and stood silently.
"There something I can help you with Claire?" she said calmly and pleasantly.
"Just thought I'd drive by, see the new shop B. Not even a sign?" he asked keeping up the pretense of friendliness.
"Sign comes in next week." B shrugged. "So, that all?"
"Actually, I wanted to know why Nick Andrews cancelled my contract with Harley." Now anger edged his words.
"And you're asking me this because? I have no idea why. We're currently waiting for approval for our application. Did you pay your fees and get your application in on time?" She was guessing he hadn't. She'd always taken care of most of that for the business. Claire liked to act the big man, but in the end he was only a second rate mechanic. The only reason he'd been co owner is because of the money he'd put up.
"I'll bet you told him to cancel the contract you bitch!" Allison snapped.
"You wanna go there Allison?" B turned a cold eye on the woman who took a step back. "Because we can."
Marla took a step forward and Nomi walked slowly out of the garage. The strawberry blonde leaned up against the building and began to clean under her fingernails with a knife.
"I think I made it perfectly understandable when I so politely suggested you stay on your side of town, and we'd stay on ours." B stated bluntly. "You're breaking that understanding. I'm going to be lenient this time. Don't make me regret that Claire."
He sneered. "You aren't in charge B. Maybe you should remember that. It's not gonna just be me you have to deal with. You fuck with us, my new partners might have to get involved. They won't be so pleasant with you."
"There a problem out here?" Dom asked stepping out from his garage and eyeballing the little group who was facing off with B and Nomi.
"You're an idiot." B told Claire shaking her head. "You've gotten yourself and your people mixed up with criminals. You fucked up Claire, so we left. You fuck up with them, they'll bury you." B looked at Dom. "No problem here Toretto. Claire and his friends were just leaving. Weren't you Claire?"
Claire turned to head back to the car. "Allison? Show her."
Allison rushed B. Marla made to move forward and Nomi stood straight with the blade in her hand. She seemed extremely relaxed, like someone who knew how to use a blade, and Marla backed down. Allison moved to B who slammed her curled fist outward. She crouched down at the same time, missing the punch aimed for her face. B's hand slammed into the brunette's gut, and Allison doubled over. B grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the Celica. She shoved the girl forward, kicked her in the ass and sent her into the hood of the Celica.
"Get off my property." she said with a completely cold, blank face.
As soon as the Celica drove away Nomi flipped her blade closed and headed back into the shop. Brin watched it drive away and took several deep breaths. She turned to see Dom regarding her out of thoughtful eyes.
"Well, it certainly hasn't been boring since you guys moved in." he smiled slightly.
Her grin was rueful. "Sorry. Believe it or not we moved to this side of town looking for some peace."
"That guy isn't the type of person to just let go and look for peace." he responded pointing in the direction the car went.
"Well, he'll have to learn then won't he?"
Dom nodded. "So, now he's mixed up in some bad shit."
"Yeah, and I can just thank god we got out of there before that happened." she sighed. "He's an idiot, and eventually he's going to get himself or someone close to him killed."
"What made you break off your association with him?" Dom really didn't expect an answer.
B looked at him for a moment. "He started hanging out with some bad element. Not doing business yet, but hanging out is just the first step. Frannie and Tia had just started going out. Allison didn't like that. One night there was too much alcohol and she cut Tia up. Sliced her face."
"She wanted Tia to herself?"
"No, she wanted Frannie to herself." Brin explained. "Allison and Frannie had been in a relationship before we left. They broke up before we ever came here. Then Frannie met Tia and was instantly smitten. They're good for each other."
"Ahhh, and Allison decided Tia was stepping on her territory."
"Exactly." B nodded. "After she cut her up I decided enough was enough. I took my people and left. My family."
"But you didn't think of all of your group as family?" Dom asked leaning back against his building.
"Very astute of you Mr. Toretto." she grinned. "No, I did not think of everyone in that group as family. Allison and Marla have always been violent. I was so relieved when Frannie broke it off. Tana and Brillo, well, they turn a blind eye to anything Claire does. Tana is Claire's sister, and Brillo is their cousin. Brillo is a hound constantly sniffing after Mouse."
"You know a lot of colorful people Ms. B."
"Oh indeed I do Mr. Toretto. There's also Micah, my ex, but he doesn't really roll with Claire anymore. He hangs out with us sometimes, but mostly that's just in hopes he'll get into my bed again."
Dom's eyebrows rose. "And what're the chances?"
"Slim to none and slim was never in the building." she smiled up at him saucily.
Vince sighed as he entered the courthouse. He hated these court dates. He wondered how much the total fine for this whole thing would end up being. He hadn't thought he'd get caught running from the last street race, and in fact he'd just parked in his driveway when the cops tagged him. Vince hadn't thought they could do that, but then what the hell did he know.
He'd just taken a seat when someone cleared their voice right above him. Looking up he saw the blonde who'd borrowed their phone a few days before. "Vince, right?" she smiled. Today she wore a beige with black trim pantsuit that showed off her curves.
"Yeah. You're Jemma." he blinked.
She laughed lightly. "That's right Jemma Paulson. What're you doing here?" she asked and took the seat next to him.
He sighed. "Court appearance." Vince told her what had happened to get him the ticket.
"Can I see it?"
He handed her the ticket and watched as she frowned over it. "This doesn't seem right. You want some help? On the house?"
"Sure."
Not even half an hour later Vince and Jemma were leaving the courtroom. Not only had there been no fine, but all charges had been dropped and the officer had been reprimanded.
"I can't believe you got me off on that." he was astounded.
She shrugged. "No one got your license plate. They saw a car similar to yours in the vicinity. That certainly doesn't mean you were there."
"I was." he told her.
"I know." she assured him with a grin. V couldn't help but grin back.
Spades and Mouse stood on the front stoop waiting for someone to answer the door. A moment later it opened to reveal a disheveled blonde man. He was young with a wiry build, and his dirty blonde hair was tousled. Currently he only wore jeans. He blinked at them. "Um, you got the right house?"
"Yeah, we're looking for Leon." Spades announced giving the man's chest a glance. There was interesting scarring across the muscled area.
He nodded. "Leon!" he bellowed back into the house. "You wanna come in?"
The two girls stepped into the house. "I'm Mouse, and this is Spades." The dark haired girl announced bouncing on her heels.
"I'm Jesse." he muttered nervously. Leon entered the living room where they stood still buttoning his jeans. "Um, you want a drink or something?" he remembered to ask.
"No, that's cool." Spades answered. "What happened to your chest Dude?"
"Got shot up." he shrugged.
"Hey Spades, Mouse, what's up?" Leon asked rubbing his eyes.
Mouse felt faint. Boy, he sure had a nice chest. "You left your car in my wallet." she told him. Then she shook her head. "No, that wasn't right. You left your wallet in my car." she flushed.
He took the item from her. "Thanks Mouse, I appreciate it." he grinned. Today her hair was in two milkmaid braids, and she wore cut off denim shorts and a tank top that advertised Corona beer. Damn she was just the cutest thing. "I see you've met Jesse. He's our genius. He'd get a kick out of your website and shit."
Mouse gave Jesse a glance. "Cool. We'll have to chat some time." Right now she could practically smell the interest oozing off of Spades. The blonde was still eyeing the man. "Well, we'd better get back to the shop. See you around?"
"Definitely." Leon promised.