It had been a year since the trial. A year since Dom had been taken to Lompoc and locked away in a cell half the size of his room. He looked outside the barred window at the recreation area where group C were having their daily excersize and games. Dom was in group E. Each group had two hours outside. Another two hours in the 18 year olds cell didn't matter to him.
Why should it? He'd spent a year there already...
Sighing, he sat down on his two inch thick cot and rested his elbows on his knees, staring at the cell across from him. Jason was across from him, sitting in the same position. The two young adults often played this game with eachother, seeing who could stare the longest without cracking a smile.
This time, Dom won.
"So, what are you so happy about over there Jason?" he asked his friend. The boy stood up and walked over to his bars so that he could drap his arms out into the asile. "I got notice today that I'm getting out soon," he said, grinning at Dom. Dom raised his eyebrows and nodded his head. "Very nice," he commented, coming to mimick Jason on the bars. "How soon?" he asked, leaning his forehead against the bars.
"About two weeks. My parole went through. Apparently, I'm decent enough to go back into society now," he continued, chuckling at his joke. Dom nodded his head. "Of course you are man. I don't know one guy in here who doesn't deserve to get more than you."
Jason nodded his head at Dom. "'Cept one." He looked at Dom pointidly. Dom smirked and looked down at the floor, shaking his head. "I've got at least a year left," he informed his jail mate. "Yea, but you'll get out. You've been well behaved, not one write up for you, you don't give anyone any trouble around here...you'll get out Dominic. They'd be crazy not to let you go."
The mentioned nodded his head at Jason and went to go sit back on his cot in the same position that he was in before.
"Don't worry about it Dom," Jason called to him, going to lean against the back wall of his cell.
~*~*~*~*~
"Letty! Where is my bathing suit?!" Mia called to her friend from the top of the stairs. Letty, who was in the kitchen, groaned and put the box of cereal that she was holding down on the table. "I don't know, it was on the bathroom hook the last time I checked," she called up the stairs.
"Well, it's not there."
"Well, I don't know where it is...maybe it walked off somewhere!"
"Yea, probably into your bed-room!"
Letty stuck her tongue out at Mia. "You can go ahead and look in there," she began to climb up the stairs, "you're not gonna find it." Mia raised an eyebrow at the girl and then turned and headed towards her friends bedroom. Letty shook her head, grinning the entire way. She wasn't going to find it in her room...
Wait a second.
Letty bit her lip as Mia opened up the door into her room and flicked on the light switch. "Hey, uh Mia?" Letty called to her, walking towards her own room where Mia was standing in the door way. "What?" Dom's sister asked, going further into the room. "Maybe it's downstairs...in the wash...you know that mom went on a laundry spree earlier this week..." Letty said half-heartedly. She knew where the bathing suit was. It was on her bed. She'd used it to go to a pool party that Mia hadn't wanted to attend.
"Not in here, huh?" Mia said, catching a shade of purple on the bed that did not go with the colors of the comforter that was on Lettys sleeping area. She picked up the top part of her bathing suit and turned around, glaring at Letty with an eyebrow raised as if to say, "What is this?" Letty gave a pearly white grin and waved at Mia. "Well, I couldn't find mine, what did you want me to do?" She asked in defense of her actions. Mia only shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We gotta go shopping for new ones anyways..." She clicked her tongue against her cheek and then looked at Letty.
"Do you have to do anything today?"
Letty shook her head, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms. "What're you thinkin' about?" she asked.
"Well, I have money from my job," Mia began, flopping on Lettys bed and leaning back on her elbows. "How much money do you have?"
"I have $40 bucks of my own money...why?" Letty asked, stepping into the room now, her brow furrowed a little. "You think you could bum another $20 off so that you can get a new bating suit?" Mia asked. Her friend shrugged her shoulders. "I can try, hang on, they're out in the garage," she answered, leaving the room and Mia. The latter flopped back fully on the bed and sighed to herself. Rolling over on her stomach, Mias eyes caught site of a framed picture of her brother sitting on the car that he and his father were fixing up so that Dom would be able to race her when his time came. Gently, she reached out her fingers and lightly traced her brothers face with them.
She missed him.
Badly.
"Hey, I'm good. They gave me $40 instead of $20-hey, Mi, you alright?" Letty said as she came back into the room. Mias head shot towards Letty and after the initial shock of her coming back into the room wore off, she nodded her head slowly. "Yea, I'm okay." She got off the bed and came to stand next to Letty. "I just miss him, that's all," she smiled at her friend. Letty nodded in understanding. "Me too...but a year from today, he'll be home."
"Hopefully," Mia said, walking down the hall to her room that Letty's parents had helped her set up a year back, "that's only his parole term. If they don't let him go at the parole hearing, then he has to stay in longer."
"But he'll get out," Letty followed her to her room and hung inside the doorway a little bit, "we haven't gotten any word of misbehavior from him or the lawyers. Everyone says that he's doing good in there." Mia nodded her head, searching through her mass of clothes to find something appropriate to go to the mall in. "I know," she said taking off her raggidy shirt and putting on a blue speghetti strapped one. She turned around and nodded again to Letty, as though to reassure herself that Dom would be coming home in a year. "Come on, go get ready to go. We've got some shopping to do!" Letty rolled her eyes and walked to her room, quickly changing into some cargo shorts and a black sleevless shirt of her own. When she came out, Mia only shook her head.
"What?" Letty asked defensively, splaying her hands in front of her.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Mia answered, going down the stairs with Letty right at her feet, but she turned around when she reached the bottom. "Maybe you can bum some more money off your parents so that you can get some more...feminine clothes?" Mia suggested, leaning against the front door.
"Christ sakes, I am not going to ask my parents for anymore money..."
"Moneys on the table by the door, chiquita," came her fathers voice from the kitchen. Letty furrowed her brow and looked towards the kitchen. "Papi, you don't have to!" she called to him. "Mias right, baby. You should dress more like a girl more often. You don't look that bad, you know? Got your pop's good genes in you, ya know?" Her father came out, a cup of coffee in his hand, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Go have fun," he told her, smiling at both the girls.
"Thank you, Papi," Letty said, giving him a hug, which he returned. "We'll be back after dinner...say 7:30 maybe?" Letty asked, and her father nodded his head. "7:30's fine, babe. I'll see you then, now get out of here. Mia," he said, adressing the older girl, "don't let her come back with anything that resembles or can be made into guys clothing, you hear?"
Mia grinned at him and Letty. "No problem," she answered, opening up the door and gesturing for Letty to follow her. "Come on Let, let's get you some stuff!"
~*~*~*~*~
"What about this?" Letty asked, holding up a guys under shirt. Mia sighed and shook her head, slapping Letty upside the head lightly. "I'll say it agian for the 14th time...No Guys Clothes. None what-so-ever!" Mia took the shirt from Letty and hung it back on the rack. Letty groaned. "What are you trying to do? Make me into some kind of Latino barbie?"
"No. A Latino princess would be the term that I would use," her friend corrected her, taking a red tank top off of a rack and holding it up to Lettys face. "Go try this on," she said. Letty begrudgingly took the shirt and turned to head for the locker rooms, but Mia grabbed her shoudler. "And take this with you!" She handed Letty a jean skirt with a chainlink belt attatched to it. Taking the skirt, Letty mumbled and grumbled all the way to the changing rooms.
When she came out however, Mia was nodding in approval. "Very nice...turn around please," she said, circling her fingers in the air. Letty did so, and when she turned to face her friend again, Mia had a grin as wide as the Hudson River on her face.
"You're buying that," she said. Letty heaved a great exagerated sigh and shuffled her way back into the dressing rooms, coming out a few mintues later with her grubbies on. "What did I do to deserve this?" she wondered aloud as she went up to the counter of the store to pay for her things. Mia walked beside her, as though she was making sure that Letty bought the clothes. "You became a tomboy, that's what," she answered, taking the bag as the clerk handed it to her with Letty's new garments tucked inside it.
"There ain't nothing wrong with being a tomboy. I like being a tomboy. At least I'm not running around worrying about stupid stuff like if a strand of hair is out of place or if my nails aren't the right length...stupid shit like that." She and Mia walked out of the store heading towards the food court. "I need food," Letty announced walking into the crowded court and looking around at all the restauraunts available to her. Mia nodded in agreement, shifting her clothing bags (and she had alot of them) to her other arm. "I'm hitting McDonalds," she said, and Letty nodded. A Big Mac combo sounded really good right about then.
When they'd gotten thier food and settled at a table, the girls dug into the burgers and fries. Letty had gotten her Big Mac combo, but Mia had opted for a double cheese-burger combo. "You always get that," Letty noted, as she put a fry in her mouth. "Yea, and you always get that," Mia retorted taking a pickle out of her cheeseburger and popping it into her mouth. "Jeez, it's getting loud in here," she commented, raising her voice just a little. Letty however, didn't answer her. Instead, her focus was directed towards the entrance to the food court from the parking lot. A huge crowd was gathered just in front of the doors, and that was where the yelling was coming from. "What's going on over there?" Mia asked. Letty shrugged her shoulders.
"I dunno...why don't we go and see?" With that, she got up and left the table. "Letty! Wait up a sec!" Mia came up behind her shortly, and the two headed towards the growing mass of bodies near the exits. "Looks like we're not the only ones that are inquisitive today," Mia said, nodding her head towards the security gaurds that were beginning to approach the area, some with cautious steps.
Suddenly, an explosion of cries, gasps, and general fight sounds were heard and the crowd began to move out. Through the spaces, the girls could make out two or three people on the ground. But there was something strange about this gathering. The only two factions that were to be seen were oriental people and hispanic people.
"Mia, isn't that that Hector guy? You know, the one that Dom hung out with before all that crap happened?" Letty asked, pointing to a short, stocky bald man of about 19 years old. He was standing back with the group of latino's, who were all dressed practically the same. Baggy jeans, over sized jackets, and alot of jewelry on thier necks. Mia nodded her head. "Yea, I think that's him...but I don't know who the oriental guy is...or who the rest of them are for that matter. Maybe one or two of them were around when Hector came to call, but that's about it."
The security gaurds were beginning to break up the fight by now, and those that could were starting to leave the mall in a hurry. Mia and Letty hurried towards the exits right along with those that were with the factions that had been fighting. "Look, there goes Hector!" Mia shouted through the crowd, pointing towards the red car that Hector was getting into. As the girls went through the doors, their ears were assulted with the sounds of revving engines and squeeling tires. Never in her life had Letty seen so many suped up cars. Some of them had lighted wheels, neon lights underneath, some even had turbo engines that had fire exploding out of the back.
"Jesus..." Letty whispered as the cars began peeling out of the mall lot. Soon enough, they were all gone, and Mia and Letty were left standing on the walkway leading back into the mall. "Wonder what that was all about," Letty asked as she and Mia walked back inside to get thier things. Mia only shrugged. "Those guys are drag racers I think. I over heard Dom talking to Hector once. I think he was trying to get into that world, but I'm not sure..." she sighed as she picked up the bags that had been left at the table. "If Dom does what I think he's going to do once he gets out of prison, I guess we'll find out." Letty nodded, taking her share of the bags and following Mia once again towards the exit.
"I guess so."
Why should it? He'd spent a year there already...
Sighing, he sat down on his two inch thick cot and rested his elbows on his knees, staring at the cell across from him. Jason was across from him, sitting in the same position. The two young adults often played this game with eachother, seeing who could stare the longest without cracking a smile.
This time, Dom won.
"So, what are you so happy about over there Jason?" he asked his friend. The boy stood up and walked over to his bars so that he could drap his arms out into the asile. "I got notice today that I'm getting out soon," he said, grinning at Dom. Dom raised his eyebrows and nodded his head. "Very nice," he commented, coming to mimick Jason on the bars. "How soon?" he asked, leaning his forehead against the bars.
"About two weeks. My parole went through. Apparently, I'm decent enough to go back into society now," he continued, chuckling at his joke. Dom nodded his head. "Of course you are man. I don't know one guy in here who doesn't deserve to get more than you."
Jason nodded his head at Dom. "'Cept one." He looked at Dom pointidly. Dom smirked and looked down at the floor, shaking his head. "I've got at least a year left," he informed his jail mate. "Yea, but you'll get out. You've been well behaved, not one write up for you, you don't give anyone any trouble around here...you'll get out Dominic. They'd be crazy not to let you go."
The mentioned nodded his head at Jason and went to go sit back on his cot in the same position that he was in before.
"Don't worry about it Dom," Jason called to him, going to lean against the back wall of his cell.
~*~*~*~*~
"Letty! Where is my bathing suit?!" Mia called to her friend from the top of the stairs. Letty, who was in the kitchen, groaned and put the box of cereal that she was holding down on the table. "I don't know, it was on the bathroom hook the last time I checked," she called up the stairs.
"Well, it's not there."
"Well, I don't know where it is...maybe it walked off somewhere!"
"Yea, probably into your bed-room!"
Letty stuck her tongue out at Mia. "You can go ahead and look in there," she began to climb up the stairs, "you're not gonna find it." Mia raised an eyebrow at the girl and then turned and headed towards her friends bedroom. Letty shook her head, grinning the entire way. She wasn't going to find it in her room...
Wait a second.
Letty bit her lip as Mia opened up the door into her room and flicked on the light switch. "Hey, uh Mia?" Letty called to her, walking towards her own room where Mia was standing in the door way. "What?" Dom's sister asked, going further into the room. "Maybe it's downstairs...in the wash...you know that mom went on a laundry spree earlier this week..." Letty said half-heartedly. She knew where the bathing suit was. It was on her bed. She'd used it to go to a pool party that Mia hadn't wanted to attend.
"Not in here, huh?" Mia said, catching a shade of purple on the bed that did not go with the colors of the comforter that was on Lettys sleeping area. She picked up the top part of her bathing suit and turned around, glaring at Letty with an eyebrow raised as if to say, "What is this?" Letty gave a pearly white grin and waved at Mia. "Well, I couldn't find mine, what did you want me to do?" She asked in defense of her actions. Mia only shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We gotta go shopping for new ones anyways..." She clicked her tongue against her cheek and then looked at Letty.
"Do you have to do anything today?"
Letty shook her head, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms. "What're you thinkin' about?" she asked.
"Well, I have money from my job," Mia began, flopping on Lettys bed and leaning back on her elbows. "How much money do you have?"
"I have $40 bucks of my own money...why?" Letty asked, stepping into the room now, her brow furrowed a little. "You think you could bum another $20 off so that you can get a new bating suit?" Mia asked. Her friend shrugged her shoulders. "I can try, hang on, they're out in the garage," she answered, leaving the room and Mia. The latter flopped back fully on the bed and sighed to herself. Rolling over on her stomach, Mias eyes caught site of a framed picture of her brother sitting on the car that he and his father were fixing up so that Dom would be able to race her when his time came. Gently, she reached out her fingers and lightly traced her brothers face with them.
She missed him.
Badly.
"Hey, I'm good. They gave me $40 instead of $20-hey, Mi, you alright?" Letty said as she came back into the room. Mias head shot towards Letty and after the initial shock of her coming back into the room wore off, she nodded her head slowly. "Yea, I'm okay." She got off the bed and came to stand next to Letty. "I just miss him, that's all," she smiled at her friend. Letty nodded in understanding. "Me too...but a year from today, he'll be home."
"Hopefully," Mia said, walking down the hall to her room that Letty's parents had helped her set up a year back, "that's only his parole term. If they don't let him go at the parole hearing, then he has to stay in longer."
"But he'll get out," Letty followed her to her room and hung inside the doorway a little bit, "we haven't gotten any word of misbehavior from him or the lawyers. Everyone says that he's doing good in there." Mia nodded her head, searching through her mass of clothes to find something appropriate to go to the mall in. "I know," she said taking off her raggidy shirt and putting on a blue speghetti strapped one. She turned around and nodded again to Letty, as though to reassure herself that Dom would be coming home in a year. "Come on, go get ready to go. We've got some shopping to do!" Letty rolled her eyes and walked to her room, quickly changing into some cargo shorts and a black sleevless shirt of her own. When she came out, Mia only shook her head.
"What?" Letty asked defensively, splaying her hands in front of her.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Mia answered, going down the stairs with Letty right at her feet, but she turned around when she reached the bottom. "Maybe you can bum some more money off your parents so that you can get some more...feminine clothes?" Mia suggested, leaning against the front door.
"Christ sakes, I am not going to ask my parents for anymore money..."
"Moneys on the table by the door, chiquita," came her fathers voice from the kitchen. Letty furrowed her brow and looked towards the kitchen. "Papi, you don't have to!" she called to him. "Mias right, baby. You should dress more like a girl more often. You don't look that bad, you know? Got your pop's good genes in you, ya know?" Her father came out, a cup of coffee in his hand, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Go have fun," he told her, smiling at both the girls.
"Thank you, Papi," Letty said, giving him a hug, which he returned. "We'll be back after dinner...say 7:30 maybe?" Letty asked, and her father nodded his head. "7:30's fine, babe. I'll see you then, now get out of here. Mia," he said, adressing the older girl, "don't let her come back with anything that resembles or can be made into guys clothing, you hear?"
Mia grinned at him and Letty. "No problem," she answered, opening up the door and gesturing for Letty to follow her. "Come on Let, let's get you some stuff!"
~*~*~*~*~
"What about this?" Letty asked, holding up a guys under shirt. Mia sighed and shook her head, slapping Letty upside the head lightly. "I'll say it agian for the 14th time...No Guys Clothes. None what-so-ever!" Mia took the shirt from Letty and hung it back on the rack. Letty groaned. "What are you trying to do? Make me into some kind of Latino barbie?"
"No. A Latino princess would be the term that I would use," her friend corrected her, taking a red tank top off of a rack and holding it up to Lettys face. "Go try this on," she said. Letty begrudgingly took the shirt and turned to head for the locker rooms, but Mia grabbed her shoudler. "And take this with you!" She handed Letty a jean skirt with a chainlink belt attatched to it. Taking the skirt, Letty mumbled and grumbled all the way to the changing rooms.
When she came out however, Mia was nodding in approval. "Very nice...turn around please," she said, circling her fingers in the air. Letty did so, and when she turned to face her friend again, Mia had a grin as wide as the Hudson River on her face.
"You're buying that," she said. Letty heaved a great exagerated sigh and shuffled her way back into the dressing rooms, coming out a few mintues later with her grubbies on. "What did I do to deserve this?" she wondered aloud as she went up to the counter of the store to pay for her things. Mia walked beside her, as though she was making sure that Letty bought the clothes. "You became a tomboy, that's what," she answered, taking the bag as the clerk handed it to her with Letty's new garments tucked inside it.
"There ain't nothing wrong with being a tomboy. I like being a tomboy. At least I'm not running around worrying about stupid stuff like if a strand of hair is out of place or if my nails aren't the right length...stupid shit like that." She and Mia walked out of the store heading towards the food court. "I need food," Letty announced walking into the crowded court and looking around at all the restauraunts available to her. Mia nodded in agreement, shifting her clothing bags (and she had alot of them) to her other arm. "I'm hitting McDonalds," she said, and Letty nodded. A Big Mac combo sounded really good right about then.
When they'd gotten thier food and settled at a table, the girls dug into the burgers and fries. Letty had gotten her Big Mac combo, but Mia had opted for a double cheese-burger combo. "You always get that," Letty noted, as she put a fry in her mouth. "Yea, and you always get that," Mia retorted taking a pickle out of her cheeseburger and popping it into her mouth. "Jeez, it's getting loud in here," she commented, raising her voice just a little. Letty however, didn't answer her. Instead, her focus was directed towards the entrance to the food court from the parking lot. A huge crowd was gathered just in front of the doors, and that was where the yelling was coming from. "What's going on over there?" Mia asked. Letty shrugged her shoulders.
"I dunno...why don't we go and see?" With that, she got up and left the table. "Letty! Wait up a sec!" Mia came up behind her shortly, and the two headed towards the growing mass of bodies near the exits. "Looks like we're not the only ones that are inquisitive today," Mia said, nodding her head towards the security gaurds that were beginning to approach the area, some with cautious steps.
Suddenly, an explosion of cries, gasps, and general fight sounds were heard and the crowd began to move out. Through the spaces, the girls could make out two or three people on the ground. But there was something strange about this gathering. The only two factions that were to be seen were oriental people and hispanic people.
"Mia, isn't that that Hector guy? You know, the one that Dom hung out with before all that crap happened?" Letty asked, pointing to a short, stocky bald man of about 19 years old. He was standing back with the group of latino's, who were all dressed practically the same. Baggy jeans, over sized jackets, and alot of jewelry on thier necks. Mia nodded her head. "Yea, I think that's him...but I don't know who the oriental guy is...or who the rest of them are for that matter. Maybe one or two of them were around when Hector came to call, but that's about it."
The security gaurds were beginning to break up the fight by now, and those that could were starting to leave the mall in a hurry. Mia and Letty hurried towards the exits right along with those that were with the factions that had been fighting. "Look, there goes Hector!" Mia shouted through the crowd, pointing towards the red car that Hector was getting into. As the girls went through the doors, their ears were assulted with the sounds of revving engines and squeeling tires. Never in her life had Letty seen so many suped up cars. Some of them had lighted wheels, neon lights underneath, some even had turbo engines that had fire exploding out of the back.
"Jesus..." Letty whispered as the cars began peeling out of the mall lot. Soon enough, they were all gone, and Mia and Letty were left standing on the walkway leading back into the mall. "Wonder what that was all about," Letty asked as she and Mia walked back inside to get thier things. Mia only shrugged. "Those guys are drag racers I think. I over heard Dom talking to Hector once. I think he was trying to get into that world, but I'm not sure..." she sighed as she picked up the bags that had been left at the table. "If Dom does what I think he's going to do once he gets out of prison, I guess we'll find out." Letty nodded, taking her share of the bags and following Mia once again towards the exit.
"I guess so."